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The following are reviews of movies that are set in the 12th or 13th century. We all know how Hollywood loves to obscure things; if they feel they don't have to do research, they won't! For these reasons and others I don't watch too many movies, but when I do they're always about historical things. So here goes nothing:

The Lion In Winter starring Peter O'Toole and Katharine Hepburn. The portrayal of the times is actually mostly correct. I especially love the chickens in the way when Eleanor and Henry go to greet Philip of France. The clothes of the men are decent, though Henry is shabbily dressed for a king. He needs to lose the 15 shades of brown. The men are decent... The only thing I can think of that is wildly wrong is the texture of the tunic fabric fabric and the huge metal spikes on the neck of Richard's outfit.
.The women are a different story. The cote that Alais of France wears is laughably wrong. It has a bodice that laces except it doesnt lace all the way across and you end up seeing some bit of green fabric underneath. She doesn't look to be wearing any underdress as the "cote" (which is too tight for the period anyway...) appears to be all one piece.

Eleanor's outfit is decent, but she keeps wrapped up all through the movie so you only see the mantle, which happens to be the same color as her red bliaut. The most glaring thing wrong is the veil setup. The whole of the veil goes under her chin and ends up being folded and pinned to the hair at the top of her head. Maybe they were trying to go for the veil and wimple effect?

Eleanor's ladies in waiting (though you only see them for 5 seconds) look to be properly attired. The armor on some of the men is out of period, as they should be wearing maile chausses instead of plate armor on their legs. The livery they wear is also incorrect.

On the whole it is a decent movie, but I would verify each garment with period sources. The plot and dialogue are wonderful too. It's a very dialogue-driven movie; the chief action is a mock-battle on the beach, a short jousting scene, and Henry & co. walking around various parts of the castle.

Side note: Apollonia writes to tell me that Henry always vexed his tailors because he wouldn't stand still for fittings (and I believe it, too) and often wore clothing that made him look like a peasant, though no one would mistake him for one. I thank her for contributing, as I didn't know that. A similarly antsy king was Henry VIII, though he was always splendidly dressed.

Braveheart starring Mel Gibson and Sophie Marceau It is absoloutely awful. I just want to scream. The French Princess wears polyester velvet and acetate "silk" dresses and completely incorrect heraldic surcotes (which she shouldn't even *be* wearing!) and *fuming* Mel wears armor that is about 200 years too early for the period, Bronze Age Celtic face paint (why, oh why does he have blue face paint on) and kilts! A kilt in the 13th century. The other players are just as bad, with Robert Bruce wearing the "family plaid" which they didn't even have till the 17th century... The story is bad too. Don't waste your time or rental dollars :)