Period Drama Moments That Altered My Brain Chemistry
How do you do, fellow kids?
I've been in a period drama frame of mind recently, and I started reminiscing about a couple of my own personal Defining Moments™ when it comes to said genre, and this post snowballed into being from there. The title is pretty self-explanatory; I'll be sharing some scenes or fragments of scenes from various historical dramas that live rent-free in my mind. These are the moments I tend to rewind an ungodly number of times whenever I'm watching whichever show in which they appear.
Brace yourselves for a lot of caps lock and emoji usage up ahead; I didn't even try to mask my inner teenage fangirl in this post. (In fact, you might say I deliberately pulled her out of storage. Dusted her off and flaunted her, you might say.) Also, 'ware spoilers. Only a couple of the following moments are spoiler-y, but there are one or two.
Most of these moments come from stories I first experienced as a very wee tot, but there are a handful of more recent discoveries, as well. Bottom line is, they're all amazing and iconic and trendsetting and you should go watch all of these shows post very much haste if you haven't yet had the pleasure.
Enough palaver. Let's get to the good stuff.
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THE SUPERIOR VERSION of Sense and Sensibility for so many reasons, on so many levels. (Also, as a fun fact, my favorite period drama.)
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| IT'S THE DEATH EYES FOR MEEEEEE |
↠ "Yes! Yes! I love her! I love her with every breath I breathe!" — Belle (2013)
This boy is so dramatic and I love him for it. Like, the line is so cheesy and over-the-top on its own, but in context it's quite satisfactory.
(I remember watching this in the theater when it came out and I'm pretty sure A Shocked Hush™ fell over the entire audience when this moment happened. That, or cheering. One of the two. It was a very engaged audience, God bless.)
↠ "I would rather die a thousand deaths than see my mother's dress on that spoiled, selfish cow!" — Ever After (1998)
🤌🤌🤌
↠ "Breathe. Just breathe." — Ever After (1998)
A cultural reset fr. (With the dress? And the eye makeup? And the wings? And the lighting? And the vertical pan camera angle? Get out of town.)
↠ "Now hand me that key or I swear on his grave I will slit you from navel to nose." — Ever After (1998)
DANIELLE DE BARBARAC THE WOMAN YOU ARE
↠ "I could peel you like a pear and God himself would call it justice." — The Lion in Winter (1968)
Probably the single most hardcore thing I've ever heard in my life???!!
(Plus the entirety of this movie, tbh. It's so so so good.)
↠ the flashbacks at the end of Tuck Everlasting (2002)
That montage, tho 😩
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↠ the "Unsummoned Before the King" sequence in One Night with the King (2006)
LISTEN, say what you will about this movie, but this scene?! The doors opening?! The repeated shots? The music? The drums? The walk down the hall? The acting? The silence?? The violins?? The flashbacks to her parents with each step?? The scepter? Mordecai?! XERXES STOPPING THE SWORD WITH HIS HAND?!?! You can't tell me ANYTHING.
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↠ "Sara!" — A Little Princess (1995)
With the music and the run and the hug and the rain — ✋ðŸ˜ðŸ¥¹
↠ the last 30-40 minutes of Goodbye Christopher Robin (2017)
"Where to?"
"Home, I should think."
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"But your own childhood —"
"Was wonderful. It was growing up that was hard." STOPPPPPPPPP
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| *weeping* |
↠ the final reunion/"proposal" scene in Far from the Madding Crowd (2015)
Quite possibly my favorite period drama proposal scene of all the period drama proposal scenes.
↠ every interaction between Matoaka and Rolfe in The New World (2005), especially the first hug in the meadow, the playfulness in the wheat field, and the reunion in the garden after she meets with Smith
I'm very fragile about them.
(I mean, have you ever seen anything so lilting and bittersweet and gentle?)
↠ the abolition of the slave trade in Amazing Grace (2006)
(Really, this movie in general. So good.)
This, followed by the bagpipe version of the hymn playing over the end credits?! 😩
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↠ the instrumental version of "Carol of the Bells" playing during the "Is there a place for us?!" scene in The Nativity Story (2005)
No kind of epic is as epic as Christmas epic.
↠ "I'm Hub McCann. I've fought in two World Wars and countless smaller ones on three continents. I've led thousands of men into battle with everything from horses and swords to artillery and tanks. I've seen the headwaters of the Nile, and tribes of Natives no white man had ever seen before. I've won and lost a dozen fortunes; killed many men; and loved only one woman, with a passion a flea like you could never begin to understand. That's who I am." — Secondhand Lions (2003)
TAKE US TO CHURCH, BOBBYYYYYYY
(This entire movie is so iconic. Good golly gosh, it's fantastic.)
↠ Beth's death in Little Women (1994)
(Plus the entirety of that movie. Such a formative story for me.)
Thomas Newman back on his menace behavior ðŸ˜
↠ the overture sequence in Much Ado About Nothing (1993)
Lives were changed.
↠ every single interaction between Rebecca of York and Brian de Bois-Guilbert in Ivanhoe (1997)
LISTEN, I know that there has never been a single more problematic character than Brian de Bois-Guilbert in the history of fiction, okay? I KNOW THAT. BUT I ALSO CAN'T HELP IT OKAY I LOVE HIM AND HE MAKES ME SAD AND I COULD FIX HIM. And Ciaran Hinds' fantastic performance in this adaptation did me NO FAVORS in getting over him. ("I am rich enough —" "To buy me diamonds?" "To buy you books." AND I OOP —)
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| HELP I'm obsessed with them ðŸ˜ðŸ˜ it's fully unhealthy |
↠ "Oh Happy Day" and the entire last race sequence in Secretariat (2010)
Catch me over here s c r e e c h i n g with joy. (Internally. Not externally.)
↠ Jim McKay tossing the gun away during the duel in The Big Country (1958)
He's an icon, he's a legend, and he is the moment.
↠ Tom Harte backhanding a rapist across the face with a pistol and then shooting his thumbs off in Broken Trail (2006)
"You like to spoil women? Do you?!"
I'd have shot him somewhere ✨else✨, personally 😇, but I ain't complaining.
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| still from a different scene because I cannot find even one single picture from this part in the show *harrumph* |
↠ THE STAGECOACH SCENE IN BROKEN TRAIL (2006)
If you know, you know.
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| literally could not love them any more if I tried |
↠ the opening shots of the Alps and the Austrian countryside in The Sound of Music (1965)
if I don't get to experience those mountains and valleys with mine own two eyeballs and mine own two legs at least once in my lifetime then what pray tell has been the freaking point ðŸ˜
↠ Georg ripping the Nazi flag apart with his bare hands in broad daylight in The Sound of Music (1965)
I'm not a Georg girlie myself but when it comes to this part I do see where y'all are coming from. *nods*
↠ the entirety of a little television series produced by the BBC in the early 2000s called Robin Hood
Never ever ever getting over these characters, I fear. ♡
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This post was a ton of fun to create. It's been a while since I've gone full feral on some beloved shows, so please fangirl with me. 😄
What are some of your favorite period drama moments?
Oh my goodness it's been so long since I've seen Ever After, but it's SUCH a good one! I watched it for the first time with my best friend in high school, and we had a blast. What a good memory. :D
ReplyDeleteWAIT there's a historical drama based on the book of Esther? WUT. I NEED IN MY LIFE IMMEDIATELY.
WAIT ALSO FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD? WHAT??? I loved that book and I'm pretty sure I need to watch the movie ASAP.
(Oh my gosh though the Carol of the Bells in Nativity Story is just...dang. I still remember the first time I realized that was the music and my little mind was blown.)
Oh my wooooooord I forgot about Georg ripping the flag apart! I haven't watched that movie in WAY too long, and I'm been craving it really badly.
Watching Ever After with the girls is an elite experience. :D
DeleteTHERE IS AND I, PERSONALLY, THINK IT'S FANTASTIC. The soundtrack ALONE, Samantha . . .
Ooh, yes! If you liked the Far from the Madding Crowd novel, I definitely recommend the 2015 adaptation! I read and enjoyed the book before watching it and was not at all disappointed. If I recall correctly, I actually liked the movie more.
(YESSSSS, so glad you also had that experience with the "Carol of the Bells" music in The Nativity Story. It's a MAGNIFICENT choice. *chef's kiss*)
Right?! I forget about the flag part a lot, too! And then it's always such a delightful surprise, hehe.
That opening meme though XD this post gives me ALL THE DOPAMINE
ReplyDeleteSense & Sensibility 2008 is peak period drama for me. It's so lush and immersive while also being beautifully subtle and melancholy. I feel like they truly Elevated (TM) the source material; as good as the novel is, I think the 08 miniseries is even better. Especially with Colonel Brandon; they really looked at the solid, reliable, morally upright but slightly wet-fish love interest from the book and were like "what if we gave him a bulldog jaw and a sexy growl though." And you know what? they were rIGHT
Such a nostalgia rush from reading through all these. It took me right back to the good ol' period drama fangirling days of our teens <3 So glad you shared this!!
The meme makers coming in clutch for the period drama community. xD I'M SO HAPPY THIS POST GIVES YOU ALL THE DOPAMINE *huggles*
DeleteYou're 1000% correct, and as Ariana Grande put it, you should say that with your CHEST. I rewatched S&S '08 the other week, and it made me think again how it's the definition of what period drama should be -- because it is so genuinely dramatic, but in the best possible way, and as you say the cinematography is so lush and immersive while never feeling artificial or overdone. There are so many little moments sprinkled throughout that are "superfluous" on the surface but that actually further the story so critically despite their subtlety. And I agree, the miniseries is even better than the novel. :D The makers and David Morrissey were really doing the Lord's work with their interpretation of Brandon, and we thank them for it. xD
Eeeek, thank you! It was so fun to dive back into that feeling from The Good Ol' Days while writing this post. Thanks for reading and commenting! <33
Those all look like such fun!!
ReplyDeleteI love Sense and Sensibility, and practically everything by or inspired by Austen. Will have to check some of these others out, too! Thanks for sharing :D
They are genuinely so fun! Glad to have a fellow S&S lover, and hope you enjoy some of the others if you ever give them a try! Thanks for commenting. :D
DeleteI did also think this 2008 sense & sensibility was a better version. I still don't much care for Colonel Brandon but at least he's good fellow.
ReplyDeleteEver After was good but I will always remember that scene where Da Vinci said to the prince, "But she's your match!" or some other word but I remembered the prince said, "I will not yield!" Then he went and tried to save her which means he did yield. I just like the idea that a person can change for the ones they love.
Ah, a little princess. I don't think that's how it ended in the book but I do like the ending in the movie.
I was so depressed by Beth's death. I think that movie ruins the book for me. I guess it's a bad idea to watch a movie before reading the book. I never finished the book.
I watched Broken Trail because of your gushy or rather, poignant review and I liked it but I didn't love it but I really do enjoy the scene you mentioned below. It's just so sad.
Pride and prejudice with Matthew Mc-something, can't remember how to spell his name - he have such a great voice. I thought that adaptation was almost perfect, at least the casting was. And Little Dorrit tv adaptation - Matthew was also in that but it was good. There was a scene where they were in the debtor prison where he tells her she's too good for him and that she should forget about him but she refused but she still keeps on loving him even when he keeps trying to tell her to leave him.
Have a lovely day.
Yes!! I'm glad to have others who prefer the 2008 S&S, as well!
DeleteHaha, yes, the prince's little tantrum up on the parapet with Da Vinci is kind of sweet and funny when you think about the fact that he yielded approximately 0.8 seconds later. xD The couple in that movie is such a good example of that idea you mention, the idea that people can change based on their interactions with their loved ones.
Yep, if I recall correctly, the dad actually does die in the book, but I don't mind in the slightest that they changed that for this adaptation, haha.
Beth's death is gutting. It seems like I always cry over it, no matter which movie I'm watching or if I'm reading the book. It's been a while since I last read the book, so I'm curious to see what I'll think of it whenever I reread it.
I'm honored you watched Broken Trail after my review! And glad you liked it even if you didn't love it; I completely understand that.
That version of Pride and Prejudice is so visually gorgeous! And I loved Matthew's and Claire Foy's interactions in Little Dorrit. (Claire Foy being the actor who played Amy.)
Thanks for commenting and have a lovely day.
Your blog has become a source of comfort and inspiration, and I'm thankful.
ReplyDeleteI am so honored to hear that. Thank you for reading and happy April. <3
DeleteAbsolutely LOVED your post, Olivia~~
ReplyDeleteI'm 100% behind what you said re 2015 FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD's ending. It's SO chef's kiss. I rewatch it yearly xD
Thank you!! Haha, yes, the 2015 FFtMC ending is fantastic! The movie always feels very autumnal to me. ;D
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