Yes, we've had a lot of response to this thread, but it seems
to me that there is more. We've kicked around good ideas for titles.
Now how about a serious discussion of WHY and HOW we
would use films to enhance a medieval (or other) history course?
With every single film mentioned herein, there are at least as
many interesting historical problems relating to how the 20th
century views `the middle ages' as there are concerning the
middle ages themselves; you could do a course in the history of
1900s culture through a series of `medieval films', which I think
would be both enormous fun and worthwhile.
So, for starters, WHY show a film to a medieval history class?
To give them `atmosphere'?? A tangible sense of time and place
(and don't worry about more detailed historicity)?? To engage
in a serious historical problem or series of events (in which case
`Stealing Heaven' is, in my view, rather faithful to the H+H up to the
last part of the story)?? Because you want to get out of lecturing
one day?? And with what preparation or followup, or accompanying
reading?
Now THOSE, it seems to me, are interesting questions.
Larry Poos
POOS@CUA.EDU
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