To see cities and towns recreated as they were 20, 50 or 100 years ago, to look at the clothes people wore, to hear patterns of speech that have since become outmoded: all of these things remind us that the past was a real place, peopled with human beings who cared about the same things we do, who faced challenges that nearly broke them and who found delight in the same joys we ourselves treasure. And movies based on true stories put us in touch with the past in a visceral way. Sometimes we’re drawn to the library or bookstore, so we can read more about what really happened.

But a vivid, enveloping film can draw us close to the spirit of an event or a person in ways that make us want to expand our view.