Period Pieces on Netflix
Last updated April 29, 2024
Casanova
2005 | NR | 3.8 out of 5 StarsAging Casanova reflects on the romantic adventures of his youth, in particular a love triangle with his one true love. The legendary lothario seduces a string of women as he escapes prison, engages in a duel and more in this fast-paced miniseries.
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White Vengeance
2011 | NR | 3.8 out of 5 StarsAs all of China falls into chaos during the final years of the Qin Dynasty, two brothers, powerful warlords Liu Bang and Xiang Fu, engage in a bloody battle to ascend the imperial throne -- and to win the love of one woman.
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A Child Called Jesus
1987 | NR | 3.8 out of 5 StarsRe-creating Jesus's life from age 3 to age 12, this miniseries fills in what happened after his birth, when his family moved near Egypt to evade King Herod's persecution. Produced for Italian television, the drama was filmed in Tunisia.
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Les Miserables
2000 | NR | 3.8 out of 5 StarsGérard Depardieu leads a star-studded cast in this TV miniseries, starring as Jean Valjean, a former prisoner who reinvents himself as a wealthy benefactor -- but whose past continues to hound him in the form of the heartless Inspector Javert.
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Les Miserables
2000 | NR | 3.8 out of 5 StarsThis adaption of the classic novel by Victor Hugo stars Gerard Depardieu as Jean Valjean, a Frenchman jailed for 19 years for stealing bread. Though he finds redemption and turns his life around, Valjean must still elude police inspector Javert.
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The Journey of August King
1995 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsYoung widower August King encounters Annalees, a runaway slave, in the woods of North Carolina in 1815. Rather than let Annalees's cruel owner catch her, August decides to risk his own life to help her reach freedom in the North.
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The Way We Live Now
2001 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsBased on the 1875 novel by Anthony Trollope, this sharp-edged miniseries artfully satirizes the greed and hypocrisy of upper-class Victorian society. The main story revolves around Augustus Melmotte, a mysterious financier who settles in London.
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Catherine Cookson's The Gambling Man
1995 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsAmbitious rent collector Rory Connor hopes to parlay his skill at playing cards into bigger things: buying a shipyard with his brother. But a run-in with the criminal underworld complicates his plans.
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Pride and Prejudice
1980 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsPreoccupied with status, Mrs. Bennet (Priscilla Morgan) will do just about anything to make sure that her five daughters marry into well-to-do families in this BBC series based on Jane Austen's classic novel. The second eldest daughter, Elizabeth (Elizabeth Garvie), has complete distaste for her wealth-obsessed circle, especially the conceited and affluent Fitzwilliam Darcy (David Rintoul). But what she doesn't realize is that Darcy feels the same way she does.
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Rob Roy
1995 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsIn this lusty epic, Scottish cattle drover Rob Roy MacGregor is forced to go on the run and to fight for his liberty -- and his integrity -- after a conniving British blue blood steals money intended as a loan to MacGregor.
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Shakespeare in Love
1998 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsYoung Shakespeare (Joseph Fiennes) is forced to stage his latest comedy, "Romeo and Ethel, the Pirate's Daughter," before it's even written. When a lovely noblewoman (Gwyneth Paltrow) auditions for a role, they fall into forbidden love -- and his play finds a new life (and title). As their relationship progresses, Shakespeare's comedy soon transforms into tragedy. This bittersweet romance won seven Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Actress.
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The Ghost and the Darkness
1996 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsWhile working for a railroad baron in colonial Uganda, engineer John Patterson finds his construction efforts stymied by a series of lion attacks. Grizzled hunter Charles Remington is called in to head the desperate effort to kill the animals.
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Catherine Cookson's The Gambling Man
1995 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsAmbitious rent collector Rory Connor hopes to parlay his skill at playing cards into bigger things: buying a shipyard with his brother. But a run-in with the criminal underworld complicates his plans.
Details about Catherine Cookson's The Gambling Man
Lillie
1978 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsAmbitious and talented Lillie Langtry journeys from an advantageous but stifling marriage to success on stage in Victorian England and, in the process, becomes one of the world's most famous women while attracting a string of powerful lovers.
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Scott Joplin
1977 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsBrilliant African American composer Scott Joplin (Billy Dee Williams) fights against racism to break into the music business at the end of the 19th century, finally achieving success with a novel ragtime tune called "The Maple Leaf Rag." As ragtime becomes wildly popular, Joplin gains fame and fortune but longs to create a masterwork in a "respectable" genre. Clifton Davis and Art Carney co-star in this biographical drama.
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The Conspirator
2010 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsRobert Redford directs this gripping historical drama that follows the efforts of young lawyer Frederick Aiken as he reluctantly defends Mary Surratt, a Confederate sympathizer accused of conspiring to assassinate President Abraham Lincoln.
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Ironclad
2011 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsBacked by his "Magnificent Seven," a principled Knight Templar defends Rochester Castle from the ruthless King John and his advancing armies, who seek to rule England's free men by force -- no matter what the Magna Carta might say.
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Mrs. Brown
1997 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsGrieving widow Queen Victoria (Oscar nominee Judi Dench) withdraws into sadness for years until plainspoken manservant John Brown (Billy Connolly) disrupts her mourning. But as their friendship grows, it results in personal and political ramifications for both of them. Exquisitely filmed and fueled by sparkling performances, director John Madden's period drama brilliantly portrays the woman behind an empire and the man who helped her live again.
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The Man in the Iron Mask
1998 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsWith France on the brink of revolution thanks to the reign of callous King Louis XIV, the fabled Musketeers reunite and hatch a scheme to replace the sovereign with his unjustly imprisoned twin brother in this star-studded swashbuckler.
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Masterpiece Classic: Mansfield Park
2007 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsSent to live in an estate with her wealthy aunt and uncle, fish-out-of-water Fanny Price (Billie Piper) struggles to find her place in the dizzying world of high society's glitz, glamour and sexual politics. Directed by Iain B. MacDonald, this made-for-television adaptation of the Jane Austen classic also stars Jemma Redgrave, Maggie O'Neill, Blake Ritson, Douglas Hodge, James D'Arcy, Rory Kinnear and Catherine Steadman.
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Lillie
1978 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsAmbitious and talented Lillie Langtry journeys from an advantageous but stifling marriage to success on stage in Victorian England and, in the process, becomes one of the world's most famous women while attracting a string of powerful lovers.
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Under the Greenwood Tree
2005 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsAdapted from Thomas Hardy's novel, this charming tale follows schoolteacher Fancy Day, who returns to the bucolic hamlet of Melstock to look after her ailing father. To no one's surprise, three disparate suitors are soon courting the young beauty.
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The Agony and the Ecstasy
1965 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsCharlton Heston stars as Renaissance artist Michelangelo, who begrudgingly paints the Sistine Chapel for imperious Pope Julius II (Rex Harrison) in this epic adaptation of Irvine Stone's novel directed by Carol Reed. While the novel covers Michelangelo's life from birth to death, the film focuses on the battle of wills between the perfectionist artist and the impatient Pope who commissions (and eventually commands) him to paint the famed chapel.
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The Way We Live Now
2001 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsDuring the 1870s railway boom, ordinary people are blinded by wealth in this miniseries adaptation of Anthony Trollope's satirical novel. When financier Augustus Melmotte moves his business and his family to London, rumors emerge about his past.
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Topsy-Turvy
1999 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsAfter their production of "Princess Ida" tanks, Arthur Sullivan (Allan Corduner) and William Gilbert (Jim Broadbent) start a cold war that threatens to end their long-lasting partnership -- but friends and associates work overtime to bring them back together. The result is their classic play "The Mikado." Mike Leigh's thoughtful musical comedy-drama garnered four Academy Award nominations and won for costume design and makeup.
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