Don’t you just love anachronisms in films? … Well, no, I don’t!

We all know what an anachronism is.  Simply put, something that is said or done or appears in a film, play, radio play or book that cannot happen in the time the action is set because it did not happen until sometime later.

Imagine, if you will an audience taking place between the young Queen Victoria and her Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne.  She asks him what the time is.  He would not slip back the cuff of his left sleeve with his right forefinger, look at his wrist and tell her that it is just after noon.  This would not be possible, as wristwatches were not developed until the 20^th century to help pilots who needed accurate and easy to read timekeepers to help them to navigate aeroplanes to their destinations.  Lord Melbourne, therefore, no matter how up to date he was, could not own a wristwatch.

Many anachronisms appear on our screens, some we notice, some we do not – but there will always be somebody who picks up something.  If the film, say, is a real attempt to depict a particular historical event, then those producing it should try to get as much accuracy as possible.  However, some films do not make much of an attempt at historical accuracy in pursuit of telling a rip-snorting story that will appeal to a modern audience.

My general gripe is about archers in various Robin Hood type stories or many set during medieval battles.  Imagine, if you will, the company of archers ready for the word of command, the captain steps forward and shouts “Fire!” at the top of his voice.  In my mind’s eye, I can see the bowmen relaxing their strings, looking around concernedly and shouts of “Where is it?”, “Has anybody got any water?” and “Ooh heck, be careful, I am down to my last set of bowstrings!”

The command “Fire” did not come in until firearms were in general use on the battlefield (17^th century perhaps?) and until then the command would have been “Loose!” or “Shoot!” 

Our great scriptwriter: William Shakespeare concluded his play “Hamlet” with a speech by Fortinbras, prince of Norway, that ends:

“Take up the bodies, such a sight as this

Becomes the field but here shows much amiss

Go, bid the soldiers shoot.”

Finis

I expect to carry on wincing every time I see Robin Hood looking heroic and shouting out “Fire!” to his fellow outlaws.  Please feel free to shout out: “He wouldn’t say that!” to the screen when you hear it.

Finally, “The Lion in Winter”, the wonderful film starring Peter O’Toole as King Henry II and Katherine Hepburn as Eleanor of Aquitaine.  Three little quibbles here.

Their meeting was held at Christmas-time and Queen Eleanor brought Christmas presents with her, I do not think that they would have given Christmas presents to each other at that time.  Gifts, yes, but the concept of a Christmas present is something that came in much later, I think.

At one point, Henry says to Eleanor that she “would lower her democratic drawbridge to anyone.”  Democratic?  Henry regarded himself as an absolute ruler subject only to the constraints of his barons and the Church.  The idea that the people (peasants in his eyes) had a right to govern themselves would be laughable to him and it is doubtful that his tutors would have included this word (from Classical Greek) in his vocabulary when he was in education.

The word “democracy” only appears in the English language in 1574 (*) – I am sorry but I do not know where it was written down first.  It would definitely not have been in use in Henry II’s time.

Finally, near the end of the film, in a chilly room, late at night, Henry and Eleanor are talking together, when they hear a wolf or wolves howling outside.  One says, “It’s like a jungle out there.”  A jungle!  Twelfth Century Europe and the British Isles were, at the time, covered in forests inhabited by outlaws, wolves, deer, badgers and wild boar and barely a tiger in sight.  The word “jungle” does not enter the English language until 1776 (*).  The word comes from Hindu, Marathi and Sanskrit sources and originally meant waste land, dry ground, land overgrown with underwood, long grass or tangled vegetation.  Once again, a word that neither Henry nor Eleanor would ever have used.

But, in the Great Scheme of Things – it does not matter a jot!  I think that any film is an unreliable witness to the world we live in.  Consider this: “Never let the truth get in the way of a good story”.  The screenwriters, producers and directors of a film will never get it completely right, so, despite what I said earlier, please do not jump up and shout out that something is wrong, wrong, wrong.  Just sit back, relax (or try to) and enjoy the film with everybody else in the cinema.  Wince quietly, gnash and grind your teeth, then go home and write about it.

Happy viewing!

(*) The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary – Third Edition reprinted with corrections – 1964.