The story of the life of China’s last emperor is a source of constant debate by historians because not that much is known about the period. Even today, scholars are still trying to put together an accurate picture of events and when they took place.
Therefore, the film The Last Emperor, cannot claim to be entirely accurate, but director Bernardo Bertolucci and writer Mark Peploe went to tremendous lengths to depict what is known. Details of the emperor’s life may be vague, but the depiction of the royal family’s opulent lifestyle and the shocking politics of the time are considered by many to be spot on.
Downfall
"Downfall," tells the story of the German Chancellor's last days and succeeds, at least partially, to make one of the most hated men in history somewhat relatable. This portrayal caused quite a stir because many people felt that the Chancellor should not be humanized.
Although not much information exists about what actually took place in the bunker in the last ten days of his life, director Oliver Hirschbiegel tried to be as accurate as possible.
Selma
The 2014 historical drama, "Selma," is based on Dr. Martin Luther King’s march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, to secure equal voting rights. SCLC activist and former Mayor of Atlanta, Andrew Young, told The Washington Post that the depiction of the relationship between Johnson and King "was the only thing I would question in the movie.
Everything else, they got 100 percent right." Director Ava DuVernay and writer Paul Webb also got points for recreating important historical scenes, like the attack by local police and state troopers on the peaceful protesters, which became known as Bloody Sunday.
Suffragette
Suffragette, which depicts British women’s struggle to win the vote in the 1910s, is different from other films on this subject because it focuses on working-class women. Laura Schwartz, an Assistant Professor of Modern British History has praised the way the focus was on life-like characters who worked in a laundromat.
The fictional East End laundry workers Maud Watts (Carey Mulligan) and Violet Miller (Anne-Marie Duff), gave a voice to the experiences of real-life suffragettes of the time.
Tora! Tora! Tora!
Although it may have handsome leading men and a lot of explosions, Michael Bay’s film, "Pearl Harbor," is not exactly ripped from the history books. The film "Tora! Tora! Tora!," is actually the closest to telling the story of the attack on Pearl Harbor as it happened.
To make things look even more real, parts of the film were shot on Yorktown, an actual aircraft carrier, which was provided by the Navy before being decommissioned.