❖ Cinematic Curriculum ❖

THE BRITISH EMPIRE
IN FILM & SERIES

From Elizabethan expansion to the handover of Hong Kong

1583 AD - 1997 AD

Phase I

1583 - 1707

Elizabethan Foundation

Charters and privateers - colonial footholds in the Atlantic - the monarchy as imperial driver

FILM Elizabeth (1998)

⟡ Elizabeth is the definitive cinematic foundation story.

Phase II

1707 - 1776

Atlantic Empire and Colonial Wars

North American expansion - French and Indian War - the imperial contest for the Atlantic world

FILM The Last of the Mohicans (1992)

⟡ Mohicans is the strongest cinematic window into this colonial war.

Phase III

1776 - 1857

East India Company and the Raj Prelude

American loss shifts imperial focus - company rule expands across India - imperial administration hardens

SERIES The Jewel in the Crown (1984)

FILM A Passage to India (1984)

⟡ Jewel in the Crown gives the long-form Raj perspective.

Phase IV

1837 - 1901

Victorian Expansion

The global high-water mark - industrial might and colonial consolidation - empire as worldview

SERIES Victoria (2016)

FILM Zulu (1964)

⟡ Victoria is the domestic lens; Zulu is the colonial battlefield lens.

Phase V

1914 - 1945

World Wars and Imperial Strain

Empire fights two global wars - mass mobilization - the imperial center begins to fracture

FILM Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

FILM Darkest Hour (2017)

⟡ Lawrence captures the Middle East front; Darkest Hour centers London.

Phase VI

1947 - 1970s

Independence Movements

India, Ireland, and the colonies demand self-rule - the empire unravels from its edges

FILM Gandhi (1982)

FILM Michael Collins (1996)

⟡ Gandhi and Michael Collins give non-British perspectives on the imperial collapse.

Phase VII

1952 - 1997

Late Empire and the Handover

Post-war decline - Suez and the end of imperial power - Hong Kong handed over in 1997

SERIES The Crown (2016)

⟡ The Crown is the definitive late-empire domestic portrait.

THE BRITISH EMPIRE ENDS

1997 AD

FILM Feature Film

SERIES TV Series

MINI Miniseries

DOC Documentary

DRAMA Docudrama

⟡ parallel / optional