Subject: Legends & Mythology
Humans tell stories, whether it’s the ancient Celtic bard, the Chinese sage, or the Malian griot. In this modern age, national identity is often rooted in these ancient tales, just as much of the future will create its own mythology with our movies and Internet memes.
Ilya Muromets
- Director: Aleksandr Ptushko
- Release Date: 1956
- Production Country: Soviet Union
A crippled Russian peasant given a giant's magical sword rises up and saves his homeland from hordes of rampaging nomads—only to be betrayed afterward and thrown in the Tsar's dungeon. Meanwhile, his young son is captured and adopted by the nomad khan, who raises the boy to be a great warrior and sets the stage for an epic showdown between the father and son when the nomads invade Russia again.
Immortals
- Director: Tarsem Singh
- Release Date: 2011
- Production Country: United States
When his family dies because the Olympian god Zeus sticks to his strict policy of noninterference, Hyperion sets out to release the ancient enemies of Olympus, the Titans; however, his plans for vengeance are stymied by a young man named Theseus. Meanwhile, the other Olympians attempt both to surreptitiously aid his efforts and to convince Zeus that their interference could be required in the end.
In Search of Myths and Heroes
- Director: Jeremy Jeffs
- Release Date: 2005
- Production Country: United Kingdom
The stories of the Queen of Sheba, Shangri-La, King Arthur, and Jason chasing the Golden Fleece have captivated the western world for centuries, but is there anything to them beyond myth and legend?
Jason and the Argonauts
- Director: Don Chaffey
- Release Date: 1963
- Production Country: United Kingdom, United States
Jason is sent by his Uncle Pelleas to search for the Golden Fleece, a great adventure for which Jason recruits a hardy band of warriors and heroes, all of whom he'll need given the raft of monsters and dangers he must face in his quest—and that doesn't even count the dangerous wiles of Medea.
Jason and the Argonauts
- Director: Nick Willing
- Release Date: 2000
- Production Country: United States
Returning to his father's court after twenty years, Jason's uncle orders his death, but Jason makes a deal to save his own life: he will journey into the wilds of the ocean and far lands to bring back to his uncle the famed Golden Fleece. Gathering a crew of heroes and adventurers, he sets out on his journey, but his greatest enemy—and ally—will be the priestess Medea.
King Arthur
- Director: Antoine Fuqua
- Release Date: 2004
- Production Country: United States, United Kingdom, Ireland
Arthur and his Sarmatian Knights fight Saxons and Woads as the Roman Army prepares to leave Britain.
L'ira di Achille (Fury of Achilles)
- Director: Marino Girolami
- Release Date: 1962
- Production Country: Italy
In nine years of war, the Greeks have yet to defeat the city of Troy. In the Greek camp, King Agamemnon and the great warrior Achilles are quarreling, causing unrest among their own men while the Trojans watch and hope that they can exploit these events for their own purposes and gain.
La genèse (Genesis)
- Director: Cheick Oumar Sissoko
- Release Date: 1999
- Production Country: France, Mali
A wealthy man, Jacob is lost in grief and worry as he both mourns his son who has disappeared, and fears the wrath of his brother who had nothing left after Jacob stole his birthright. But when a local tribe kidnaps Jacob's daughter, his remaining sons exact a brutal revenge, leading Jacob to realize that perhaps he should have paid more attention to what he had rather than what he might have lost (or may still lose).
La guerra di Troia (The Trojan Horse)
- Director: Giorgio Ferroni
- Release Date: 1961
- Production Country: Italy, France, Yugoslavia
Aeneas, son of the goddess Aphrodite and a prince of Troy, fights with Hector and other heroes in defense of their city against the Greek invaders, but when the Greeks flee and leave behind a great horse as an offering, Aeneas dares to hope that the war is over and life can return to normal.
Le fatiche di Ercole (Hercules)
- Director: Pietro Francisci
- Release Date: 1958
- Production Country: Italy, Spain
In order to win the hand of the fair Iole, Hercules must complete a series of labors, during which he winds up in the company of Jason and his Argonauts and becomes an essential part of the Quest for the Golden Fleece.
Les quatre cents farces du diable (The 400 Tricks of the Devil)
- Director: Georges Méliès
- Release Date: 1906
- Production Country: France
The devil kidnaps two travelers and gives them a private tour of hell before he consigns one of them to suffer there permanently.
Liang Zhu (The Lovers)
- Director: Hark Tsui
- Release Date: 1995
- Production Country: Hong Kong
Set in 4th century CE, a wealthy young girl masquerades as a boy to enroll in school and falls in love with an industrious but poor fellow student.
Lola Casanova
- Director: Matilde Landeta
- Release Date: 1949
- Production Country: Mexico
Dolores finds herself one of the few survivors of an Indian attack and is carried as a captive back to their home, where she attracts the attention of one of the young men. Though at first she is reluctant, she eventually comes to return his affections, but what will she do when she is given the chance to return to the comforts of her "civilized" life?
Medea
- Director: Pier Paolo Pasolini
- Release Date: 1969
- Production Country: Italy, France, West Germany
Medea sacrifices everything in order to help Jason win the Golden Fleece, but when she returns to Greece with him, she finds his gratitude somewhat lacking; then, when he exiles her and decides to marry another king's daughter, Medea calls on the powers she once had as high priestess in order to have her vengeance.
Medea
- Director: Lars von Trier
- Release Date: 1988
- Production Country: Denmark
King Creon of Corinth offers Jason both his daughter and his kingdom, but Jason must first put aside his wife, Medea, and their two sons. Medea obtains refuge in Athens, but before she leaves her marriage, she has one final gift for her former husband and his new wife—and she's sending his sons to deliver it.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
- Director: Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones
- Release Date: 1974
- Production Country: United Kingdom
The air speed of African swallows and uppity peasants are the least of King Arthur's worries as he and his knights search for the Holy Grail.
Mulan
- Director: Tony Bancroft, Barry Cook
- Release Date: 1998
- Production Country: United States
In China during the 5th century CE, a young girl takes her father's place in the army and becomes a hero.
Ofelas (Pathfinder or Veiviseren)
- Director: Nils Gaup
- Release Date: 1987
- Production Country: Norway
Algin agrees to guide enemy warriors to his people's main village in order to save the shaman of their tribe, but has secret plans to revenge the warriors' murder of his family.
Orazi e Curiazi (Duel of Champions)
- Director: Ferdinando Baldi, Terence Young
- Release Date: 1961
- Production Country: Italy, Yugoslavia
In an attempt to avoid a long and bloody war, the armies of Rome and Alba Longus agree to a single battle between their greatest warriors—coincidentally each a set of triplets. Early on in the fight, two of the Roman warriors are killed, but the remaining brother manages to separate the Alban warriors and hunts them down, one by one.
Prince of Jutland (Royal Deceit)
- Director: Gabriel Axel
- Release Date: 1994
- Production Country: Netherlands, United Kingdom, Denmark, France, Germany
The original Danish source material for Hamlet informs this story of a Danish prince who must regain his rightful throne after his uncle murders his father and marries his mother.