When I was ten years old, my mother told me that a famous American film Gone with the Wind will be playing at the movie theater in my hometown of Kyiv, Ukraine. A real Hollywood blockbuster! I had to see it.

“It’s a four-hour movie. You understand what that means, Alina?”

I understood perfectly. It meant sitting upright in the dark, and no rude behaviors such as talking, drinking, eating or getting up for any reason, including the bathroom. Soviet kids did not put their feet up while chewing their popcorn, slurping their Coca-Cola and chit-chatting with their friends. I’m still a cheap date because I’ve never got used to eating while watching a movie.

Gone with the Wind exceeded all my expectations. I gaped at the sweeping shots of the cotton fields and Civil War battles. The beauty of the actors, their gorgeous clothing and the passionate stories had me mesmerized. When little Bonnie died in a riding accident, I buried my head into my mom’s shoulder and cried. Though my legs barely could move after four hours of sitting, and my bladder was bursting, I left the theater awed with Hollywood moviemaking.

In my forties, when I was working from home because of the pandemic, I’ve once again found myself drawn to historical fiction movies and mini-series. The addiction became so great that I started writing my own books. The intrigues of royal courts and the lives of the poor people, the magnificent ballrooms, the dingy workhouses, or my favorite, the sailing ships. I found that not only Hollywood but many studios around the world produce amazing historical fiction and capture stories of their cultures. Here are some that I’ve fallen in love with during my childhood in the 1980s as well my recent favorites.

England

The most impactful mini-series I’ve watched was Hornblower. It was the only series I watched twice and will happily watch again. Ship battles, near-death escapes, duels, rivalries, and honor. The best part of this story was Horatio Hornblower’s friendship with Archie Kennedy, something that’s missing in the books. Those stories sparked my Hearts and Sails series.

I enjoyed many more British tv series such as Downton Abbey, Poldark, Outlander, among others.

 

Germany

My favorite German miniseries are Charité and Charité at War. Medical historical drama at its best. It had me hooked from the first moment: a young woman, moaning from abdominal pain, staggered into the crowded hospital, and where a young doctor noticed her and rushed her into the operating room. The medical scenes had me holding my breath. While I was fascinated by the storytelling, the biggest surprise was in the last episode. Almost all the characters were based on real life people, many of them Nobel Prize winners in medicine.

Charité at War was just as powerful, if not more. While I rarely watch World War II movies, because they are heart wrenching, this one was not to be missed. Also based on real-life people and events, it showed the hospital in its darkest time, when the medical workers are divided between following the government orders or rebelling against them. Horrors such as euthanasia, eugenics, and unethical medical testing are juxtaposed with examples of courage, personal sacrifice, and willingness to do the right thing.

 

Australia

One of the first foreign mini-series shown in USSR was Australian All the Rivers Run. People left work early to watch it. A beautiful and emotional drama, set on the on the paddle steamer, as it powers through Australian waters. The beautiful love story and the trials of the heroine’s life had my family at the edge of their seats, including the eight-year-old me. It’s a story of bravery, love, triumph over devastating injury, and self-discovery.

Russia

Since I’ve recommended many tv-series, I want to switch to a movie. My favorite movie in my childhood was Moscow Doesn’t Believe in Tears. Set in 1958, it’s a story of three small-town young women starting a new life in Moscow. Katerina’s path is a story of an underdog, a girl charmed by the big city and man out of her league, then of a single mother struggling to care for her baby while working and studying, and finally a powerful executive who has everything but a man who deserves her. On the other hand, Lyudmila succeeds in her schemes and marries a popular hockey player but learns that money and fame are fleeting. And finally, Tosya demonstrates that it’s ok to stay a small-town girl in your heart, and enjoy simple life, even when living in one of the world’s largest cities.  It’s a movie about sisterhood, love, and forging your path. The movie captures the era with the songs, poems, and historical mentions.

In the last ten years, Russia filmed many epic historical mini-series, but the one that stood out to me the most was Ekaterina about Catherine the Great.  The young Empress’s rise to power is a story perfect for TV. She starts out poor and unknown, comes to the glamorous Russian court, marries the mad tsarevich, then plots to take the throne herself.  While the actress did not resemble Catherine the Great physically, and likely some of the scenes were imagined or exaggerated, this series was extremely compelling and beautiful to watch.

 

Ukraine

I very much wanted to recommend a Ukrainian movie or a TV series, but everything I’ve watched was made by Russian filmmakers about Ukraine, and I chose not to feature them. The closest to historical fiction made by Ukraine and filmed in Ukraine I could find was Svaty (The In-Laws). The project was collaboration between Ukrainian and Russian movie studios, started in 2008. Volodymyr Zelenskyy (before he was elected President of Ukraine) was the head of the Ukrainian studio in charge of the production. While not exactly a historical fiction, the series features older actors that give it a nostalgic feel. It’s a humorous sitcom of a couple going on vacation and leaving their daughter with both sets of in-laws. Since one side are the city people and the other are from the rural area, the ideas on how to care for their beloved granddaughter often collide and result in hilarious situations and dialogue. The first season was shot in Kyiv, and it was lovely and surprising to watch how much my birth city had changed by 2008. Svaty has multiple seasons and spin-offs.

 

Brazil

After being charmed by the British Jane Aire and the Australian All the Rivers Run, my family, as well as the rest of the Soviet Union, was glued to their TVs to watch  Escrava Isaura, a Brazilian telenovela. It was the longest tv project we’ve ever seen, 100 episodes.

The setting was 1860s Brazil, and it told the story of the enslaved woman Isaura, the daughter of a mixed-race slave and a white overseer. The modern audience would likely find many issues with how the enslaved people were portrayed, and how the rich white man (Alvaro) becomes the hero by freeing them and marrying Isaura.  But in 1988 my family enjoyed the story, the music, and the exotic names and words. Everyone who had a dacha began calling it their fazenda.

Israel

The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem is set in Israel when it was under the British rule and shows the conflicts between Ashkenazi Jews and Sephardic Jews, British soldiers and the rebel fighters, as well as Jews and Arabs. At its core, it’s a story of three generations of strong women in the Ermoza family. The family survives political turmoil, violence, as well as domestic dramas. Most interesting to me was how each generation of women viewed their duties and relationship with their husbands.

 

United States

In our days of Netflix, Max and Amazon Prime, among many other streaming platforms, so many historical series pop up that no one can watch them all. The best one I’ve watched recently was Gilded Age. It had all the elements of an amazing period drama: the decorum of high society, the struggles of the servants, the rebels breaking through the norms. New York, that I know for dirty subways and garbage bags on the streets, shined with grandiosity and glamor. It was a time when people made or lost their fortune, adhered to tradition or broke the rules. It’s a gorgeous serious for any historical fiction lover.