Best Period Pieces
by nantini | created - 13 Aug 2017 | updated - 13 Aug 2017 | Publicbritish, victorian, european, 15-18th century, edwardian, victorian, bronte sisters, french, 1800-1930s era and periods. costumes! shakespeare
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1. The Wings of the Dove (1997)
R | 102 min | Drama, Romance
An impoverished woman who has been forced to choose between a privileged life with her wealthy aunt and her journalist lover, befriends an American heiress. When she discovers the heiress is attracted to her own lover and is dying, she sees a chance to have both the privileged life she cannot give up and the lover she cannot live without.
Director: Iain Softley | Stars: Helena Bonham Carter, Linus Roache, Alex Jennings, Charlotte Rampling
Votes: 10,290 | Gross: $13.72M
2. Chéri (2009)
R | 86 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
The son of a courtesan retreats into a fantasy world after being forced to end his relationship with the older woman who educated him in the ways of love.
Director: Stephen Frears | Stars: Michelle Pfeiffer, Rupert Friend, Kathy Bates, Frances Tomelty
Votes: 10,571 | Gross: $2.71M
3. Downton Abbey (2010–2015)
TV-PG | 58 min | Drama, Romance
A chronicle of the lives of the British aristocratic Crawley family and their servants in the early twentieth century.
Stars: Hugh Bonneville, Phyllis Logan, Elizabeth McGovern, Brendan Coyle
Votes: 160,225
4. Tess (1979)
PG | 186 min | Drama, Romance
A strong-willed young peasant girl attracts the affection of two men.
Director: Roman Polanski | Stars: Nastassja Kinski, Peter Firth, Leigh Lawson, John Collin
Votes: 15,090
5. Jane Eyre (2011)
PG-13 | 120 min | Drama, Romance
A mousy governess who softens the heart of her employer soon discovers that he's hiding a terrible secret.
Director: Cary Joji Fukunaga | Stars: Mia Wasikowska, Michael Fassbender, Jamie Bell, Su Elliot
Votes: 80,882 | Gross: $11.24M
6. Orlando (1992)
PG-13 | 94 min | Biography, Drama, Fantasy
After Queen Elizabeth I commands him not to grow old, a young nobleman struggles with love and his place in the world.
Director: Sally Potter | Stars: Tilda Swinton, Billy Zane, Quentin Crisp, Jimmy Somerville
Votes: 14,355 | Gross: $5.29M
7. Emma (1996)
PG | 120 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
While matchmaking for friends and neighbours, a young 19th Century Englishwoman nearly misses her own chance at love.
Director: Douglas McGrath | Stars: Gwyneth Paltrow, James Cosmo, Greta Scacchi, Alan Cumming
Votes: 35,668 | Gross: $22.20M
8. Elizabeth (1998)
R | 124 min | Biography, Drama, History
The early years of the reign of Elizabeth I of England and her difficult task of learning what is necessary to be a monarch.
Director: Shekhar Kapur | Stars: Cate Blanchett, Liz Giles, Rod Culbertson, Paul Fox
Votes: 92,479 | Gross: $30.08M
9. The Young Victoria (2009)
PG | 105 min | Biography, Drama, History
A dramatization of the turbulent first years of Queen Victoria's rule, and her enduring romance with Prince Albert.
Director: Jean-Marc Vallée | Stars: Emily Blunt, Rupert Friend, Paul Bettany, Miranda Richardson
Votes: 57,304 | Gross: $11.00M
10. Pride & Prejudice (2005)
PG | 129 min | Drama, Romance
Sparks fly when spirited Elizabeth Bennet meets single, rich, and proud Mr. Darcy. But Mr. Darcy reluctantly finds himself falling in love with a woman beneath his class. Can each overcome their own pride and prejudice?
Director: Joe Wright | Stars: Keira Knightley, Matthew Macfadyen, Brenda Blethyn, Donald Sutherland
Votes: 254,106 | Gross: $38.41M
11. The Duchess (2008)
PG-13 | 110 min | Biography, Drama, History
A chronicle of the life of 18th-century aristocrat Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, who was reviled for her extravagant political and personal life.
Director: Saul Dibb | Stars: Keira Knightley, Ralph Fiennes, Dominic Cooper, Charlotte Rampling
Votes: 77,761 | Gross: $13.82M
12. The Affair of the Necklace (2001)
R | 118 min | Drama, History, Romance
In pre-Revolutionary France, a young aristocratic woman left penniless by the political unrest in the country, must avenge her family's fall from grace by scheming to steal a priceless necklace.
Director: Charles Shyer | Stars: Hilary Swank, Simon Baker, Jonathan Pryce, Adrien Brody
Votes: 5,022 | Gross: $0.43M
13. Pride and Prejudice (1995)
TV-PG | 327 min | Drama, Romance
While the arrival of wealthy gentlemen sends her marriage-minded mother into a frenzy, willful and opinionated Elizabeth Bennet matches wits with haughty Mr. Darcy.
Stars: Colin Firth, Jennifer Ehle, Susannah Harker, Julia Sawalha
Votes: 74,742
14. A Royal Affair (2012)
R | 137 min | Biography, Drama, History
A young queen, who is married to an insane king, falls secretly in love with her physician - and together they start a revolution that changes a nation forever.
Director: Nikolaj Arcel | Stars: Alicia Vikander, Mads Mikkelsen, Mikkel Boe Følsgaard, Trine Dyrholm
Votes: 43,829 | Gross: $1.55M
15. Amadeus (1984)
R | 160 min | Biography, Drama, History
The life, success and troubles of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, as told by Antonio Salieri, the contemporaneous composer who was insanely jealous of Mozart's talent and claimed to have murdered him.
Director: Milos Forman | Stars: F. Murray Abraham, Tom Hulce, Elizabeth Berridge, Roy Dotrice
Votes: 365,605 | Gross: $51.97M
16. The Importance of Being Earnest (2002)
PG | 97 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
In 1890s London, two friends use the same pseudonym ("Ernest") for their on-the-sly activities. Hilarity ensues.
Director: Oliver Parker | Stars: Rupert Everett, Colin Firth, Frances O'Connor, Reese Witherspoon
Votes: 21,993 | Gross: $8.38M
17. Brideshead Revisited (2008)
PG-13 | 133 min | Drama, Romance
A poignant story of forbidden love and the loss of innocence set in England prior to World War II.
Director: Julian Jarrold | Stars: Matthew Goode, Patrick Malahide, Hayley Atwell, Thomas Morrison
Votes: 12,074 | Gross: $6.41M
18. Atonement (2007)
R | 123 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
Thirteen-year-old fledgling writer Briony Tallis irrevocably changes the course of several lives when she accuses her older sister's lover of a crime he did not commit.
Director: Joe Wright | Stars: Keira Knightley, James McAvoy, Brenda Blethyn, Saoirse Ronan
Votes: 248,341 | Gross: $50.93M
19. Molière (2007)
PG-13 | 120 min | Biography, Comedy
Imprisoned for debt, playwright Molière is rescued by an aristocrat who needs his help in order to seduce a young marquise.
Director: Laurent Tirard | Stars: Romain Duris, Fabrice Luchini, Laura Morante, Edouard Baer
Votes: 5,907 | Gross: $0.64M
20. Dangerous Liaisons (1988)
R | 119 min | Drama, Romance
A scheming widow and her manipulative ex-lover make a bet regarding the corruption of a recently married woman.
Director: Stephen Frears | Stars: Glenn Close, John Malkovich, Michelle Pfeiffer, Swoosie Kurtz
Votes: 64,065 | Gross: $34.70M
21. Versailles (2015–2018)
TV-MA | 52 min | Biography, Drama, History
In 1667, 28-year-old all-powerful king of France, Louis XIV, decides to build the greatest palace in the world - Versailles. But drained budget, affairs and political intrigues complicate things.
Stars: George Blagden, Alexander Vlahos, Tygh Runyan, Stuart Bowman
Votes: 13,467
22. Harlots (2017–2019)
TV-MA | 45 min | Drama
Brothel owner Margaret Wells struggles to raise her daughters in London during the 18th century.
Stars: Lesley Manville, Kate Fleetwood, Holli Dempsey, Eloise Smyth
Votes: 6,646
23. The Age of Innocence (1993)
PG | 139 min | Drama, Romance
A tale of nineteenth-century New York high society in which a young lawyer falls in love with a woman separated from her husband, while he is engaged to the woman's cousin.
Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Daniel Day-Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffer, Winona Ryder, Linda Faye Farkas
Votes: 52,073 | Gross: $32.20M
24. Victoria (2016– )
TV-PG | 60 min | Biography, Drama, History
The early life of Queen Victoria, from her ascension to the throne at the tender age of eighteen to her courtship and marriage to Prince Albert.
Stars: Jenna Coleman, Adrian Schiller, Jordan Waller, Tommy Knight
Votes: 21,871
25. The Borgias (2011–2013)
TV-MA | 50 min | Crime, Drama, History
In the fifteenth century, Pope Alexander VI tries to control all power in Italy with the help of his several sons, through murder, intrigue, war, and marriage alliances.
Stars: Jeremy Irons, François Arnaud, Holliday Grainger, Peter Sullivan
Votes: 47,797
26. The House of Mirth (2000)
PG | 135 min | Romance, Drama
A woman risks losing her chance of happiness with the only man she has ever loved.
Director: Terence Davies | Stars: Gillian Anderson, Dan Aykroyd, Eleanor Bron, Terry Kinney
Votes: 7,065 | Gross: $3.04M
27. The Tudors (2007–2010)
TV-MA | 60 min | Drama, History, Romance
A dramatic series about the reign and marriages of King Henry VIII.
Stars: Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Henry Cavill, Anthony Brophy, James Frain
Votes: 67,688
28. Marie Antoinette (2006)
PG-13 | 123 min | Biography, Drama, History
The retelling of France's iconic but ill-fated queen, Marie Antoinette. From her betrothal and marriage to Louis XVI at 15 to her reign as queen at 19 and to the end of her reign as queen, and ultimately the fall of Versailles.
Director: Sofia Coppola | Stars: Kirsten Dunst, Jason Schwartzman, Rip Torn, Judy Davis
Votes: 100,418 | Gross: $15.96M
29. Shakespeare in Love (1998)
R | 123 min | Comedy, Drama, History
The world's greatest ever playwright, William Shakespeare, is young, out of ideas and short of cash, but meets his ideal woman and is inspired to write one of his most famous plays.
Director: John Madden | Stars: Gwyneth Paltrow, Joseph Fiennes, Geoffrey Rush, Tom Wilkinson
Votes: 212,590 | Gross: $100.32M
30. Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)
R | 128 min | Horror
The centuries old vampire Count Dracula comes to England to seduce his barrister Jonathan Harker's fiancée Mina Murray and inflict havoc in the foreign land.
Director: Francis Ford Coppola | Stars: Gary Oldman, Winona Ryder, Anthony Hopkins, Keanu Reeves
Votes: 190,967 | Gross: $82.52M
31. Gosford Park (2001)
R | 131 min | Comedy, Drama, Mystery
The lives of upstairs guests and downstairs servants at a party in 1932 in a country house in England as they investigate a murder involving one of them.
Director: Robert Altman | Stars: Maggie Smith, Ryan Phillippe, Michael Gambon, Kristin Scott Thomas
Votes: 79,833 | Gross: $41.31M
32. Howards End (1992)
PG | 142 min | Drama, Romance
A businessman thwarts his wife's bequest of an estate to another woman.
Director: James Ivory | Stars: Anthony Hopkins, Emma Thompson, Vanessa Redgrave, Helena Bonham Carter
Votes: 28,538 | Gross: $25.97M
33. A Room with a View (1985)
Not Rated | 117 min | Drama, Romance
Lucy meets George in a Florence pensione and the two share a brief romance before Lucy returns home, where she becomes engaged to Cecil. However, it isn't long before George unexpectedly enters her life again.
Director: James Ivory | Stars: Maggie Smith, Helena Bonham Carter, Denholm Elliott, Julian Sands
Votes: 39,247 | Gross: $20.97M
34. Macbeth (I) (2015)
R | 113 min | Drama, History, War
Macbeth, the Thane of Glamis, receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. Consumed by ambition and spurred to action by his wife, Macbeth murders his king and takes the throne for himself.
Director: Justin Kurzel | Stars: Michael Fassbender, Marion Cotillard, Jack Madigan, Frank Madigan
Votes: 52,519 | Gross: $1.11M
35. An Ideal Husband (I) (1999)
PG-13 | 97 min | Comedy, Romance
London 1895: Cabinet minister, Sir Chiltern, and bachelor, Lord Goring, are victims of scheming women.
Director: Oliver Parker | Stars: Rupert Everett, Julianne Moore, Peter Vaughan, Minnie Driver
Votes: 15,083 | Gross: $18.54M
36. War & Peace (2016)
TV-14 | 379 min | Drama, History, Romance
As the Russian conflict with Napoleon reaches its peak, five aristocratic families face the possibility of their lives being changed forever.
Stars: Paul Dano, James Norton, Lily James, Adrian Edmondson
Votes: 20,342
37. Rome (2005–2007)
TV-MA | 52 min | Action, Drama, History
A down-to-earth account of the lives of both illustrious and ordinary Romans set in the last days of the Roman Republic.
Stars: Kevin McKidd, Ray Stevenson, Polly Walker, Kerry Condon
Votes: 153,069
38. Boardwalk Empire (2010–2014)
TV-MA | 55 min | Crime, Drama, History
An Atlantic City politician plays both sides of the law by conspiring with gangsters during the Prohibition era.
Stars: Steve Buscemi, Kelly Macdonald, Michael Shannon, Shea Whigham
Votes: 170,338
39. Vikings (2013– )
TV-MA | 44 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Vikings transports us to the brutal and mysterious world of Ragnar Lothbrok, a Viking warrior and farmer who yearns to explore - and raid - the distant shores across the ocean.
Stars: Katheryn Winnick, Alexander Ludwig, Gustaf Skarsgård, Georgia Hirst
Votes: 414,024
40. Game of Thrones (2011–2019)
TV-MA | 57 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Nine noble families fight for control over the lands of Westeros, while an ancient enemy returns after being dormant for millennia.
Stars: Emilia Clarke, Peter Dinklage, Kit Harington, Lena Headey
Votes: 1,734,820
41. Poldark (2015–2019)
TV-14 | 60 min | Drama, History, Romance
Ross Poldark returns home after American Revolutionary War and rebuilds his life with a new business venture, making new enemies and finding a new love where he least expects it.
Stars: Aidan Turner, Eleanor Tomlinson, Jack Farthing, Beatie Edney
Votes: 25,144
42. Upstairs Downstairs (2010–2012)
TV-PG | 60 min | Drama
A new family and their servants live at the London townhouse at 165 Eaton Place in 1936.
Stars: Keeley Hawes, Ed Stoppard, Adrian Scarborough, Neil Jackson
Votes: 5,437
43. Excalibur (1981)
PG | 140 min | Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
Merlin the magician helps Arthur Pendragon unite the Britons around the Round Table of Camelot, even as dark forces conspire to tear it apart.
Director: John Boorman | Stars: Nigel Terry, Helen Mirren, Nicholas Clay, Cherie Lunghi
Votes: 56,863 | Gross: $34.97M
44. Gladiator (2000)
R | 155 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A former Roman General sets out to exact vengeance against the corrupt emperor who murdered his family and sent him into slavery.
Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen, Oliver Reed
Votes: 1,326,164 | Gross: $187.71M
45. Braveheart (1995)
R | 178 min | Biography, Drama, History
Scottish warrior William Wallace leads his countrymen in a rebellion to free his homeland from the tyranny of King Edward I of England.
Director: Mel Gibson | Stars: Mel Gibson, Sophie Marceau, Patrick McGoohan, Angus Macfadyen
Votes: 951,175 | Gross: $75.60M
46. Peaky Blinders (2013– )
TV-MA | 60 min | Crime, Drama
A gangster family epic set in 1900s England, centering on a gang who sew razor blades in the peaks of their caps, and their fierce boss Tommy Shelby.
Stars: Cillian Murphy, Paul Anderson, Helen McCrory, Sophie Rundle
Votes: 327,155
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