In addition to loving films and mini-series from the Regency period, and England in general, I also really like wuxia, which are movies featuring martial arts heroes, set in a past historical period, and usually with some sort of love interest.

One of my favorites (perhaps my favorite movie, actually) is House of Flying Daggers, starring Takeshi Kaneshiro, Zhang Ziyi, Andy Lau, and directed by Zhang Yimou. As its Wikipedia entry says, it is more of a love story than most wuxia films, which is perhaps why it is my favorite.

What I love about movies like these (historical period pieces with lots of romance) is that in viewing them the period comes alive, far more than just reading a book about the time. In setting people–real people with foibles, and quirks, and strengths–in a certain period of time, with certain mores, it really makes the history seem like a reality, and not just something from the past.

That’s why I love reading historical romance–I get what it might have felt like to be a person in that time, reacting to the realities of life.

Have you ever seen a wuxia film? What other historical periods have you seen on-screen?