211 Films & TV Shows Set In Asia During The Middle Ages
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Mulan Joins the Army
🇨🇳 China The 6th CenturyThis movie is based on the famous Chinese folklore that is more than one and a half millennium old. The same folklore was what the Disney animation Mulan is based on, and similarly, it was what many Chinese movies/operas/plays based on.
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Alexander Nevsky
🇷🇺 Russia The 13th CenturyThe mighty epic of 13th Century Russia...of the "Battle on the Ice" when the invading German hordes led by the Teutonic Knights were driven from the soil of Russia - forever. — When German knights invade Russia, Prince Alexander Nevsky must rally his people to resist the formidable force. After the Teutonic soldiers take over an eastern Russian city, Alexander stages his stand at Novgorod, where a major battle is fought on the ice of frozen Lake Chudskoe. While Alexander leads his outnumbered troops, two of their number, Vasili and Gavrilo, begin a contest of bravery to win the hand of a local maiden.
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Two White Snake Ghosts
🇨🇳 China The 12th CenturyThe white snake demon transforms into a beautiful woman when she is attracted to a man named Khouw Han Boen. The two marry. Later, Han Boen finds out that his now-pregnant wife is the white snake demon in disguise.
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The Cave of the Silken Web
🇨🇳 China The 7th CenturyOne of the earliest cinematic adaptation of Chinese classic novel Journey to the West. When seeking for food alone, Tang Xuanzang was kept prisoner by seven spider monsters who took the form of seven beautiful women. The Monkey King and the other two of Xuanzang's disciples managed to rescue him with the help of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva/Guanyin. They renounced the desire for lust and continued the quest for Buddhist Scriptures.
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Othello
🇨🇾 Cyprus 🇮🇹 Italy The 16th CenturyEven without the benefit of sound, the 1922 German adaptation of Othello seems more operatic than Shakespearean. This may be due to the casting of Emil Jannings, to whom restraint and subtlety were strangers. Werner Krauss, of Cabinet of Dr. Caligari fame, is on hand as the duplicitous Iago. Appearing as the unfortunate Desdemona is Lea Von Lenkeffy, better known as Lya de Putti. Produced on an elaborate scale, Othello may not be true to the letter of Shakespeare, but is undeniably a smorgasbord of visual delights.
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Nathan der Weise
🇮🇱 Israel The 12th CenturySilent movie adaptation of Lessing's play. Set in Jerusalem during the Third Crusade, it describes how the wise Jewish merchant Nathan, the enlightened sultan Saladin and the (initially anonymous) Templar bridge their gaps between Judaism, Islam and Christianity.
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Jerusalem Liberated
🇮🇱 Israel The 11th CenturyThe film is set during the Crusades and describes Godfrey of Bouillon's conquest of Jerusalem in 1099.
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Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages
🇮🇶 Iraq 🇮🇹 Italy The 1910s The 1st Century The 16th CenturyThe Cruel Hand of Intolerance — The story of a poor young woman, separated by prejudice from her husband and baby, is interwoven with tales of intolerance from throughout history.
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Marakkar - Arabikadalinte Simham
🇮🇳 India Indian Ocean The 16th CenturyThe Lion of the Arabian Sea — ‘Marakkar Lion of the Arabian Sea’ portrays the courageous life-events of a rebellious naval chief, Kunjali Marakkar the fourth, who fought against the Portuguese in the ancient times. He was the fourth naval chief of the Calicut Zamorin. The film revolves around him who was also the first Indian Naval Commander and Indian freedom fighter for the war against the Portuguese. He is said to have won 16 such battles with his impeccable strategies and fighting skills.
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Nilachaley Mahaprabhu
🇮🇳 India The 15th CenturyNilachaley Mahaprabhu was a 1957 Indian Bengali biographical film directed by Kartik Chattopadhyay, based on the life of 15th-century mystic Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who started his spiritual journey and Hindu reform movement, part of the Bhakti movement during his years at Nilachal, the shrine of Jagannath at Puri. It stars Asim Kumar in the titular role with Dipti Roy, Sumitra Devi, Ahindra Choudhury, Bhanu Bandyopadhyay, Nripati Chattopadhyay and Chhabi Biswas in supporting roles.
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Ivan the Terrible
🇵🇱 Poland 🇷🇺 Russia The 16th CenturySergei Eisenstein’s final film, was a projected three-part historical epic/biopic on Czar Ivan Grozny commissioned by Joseph Stalin, documenting the tyrannical tsar’s rise to power and descent into paranoia and madness. Eisenstein managed to complete the first two parts of the trilogy, but the second film was banned by the USSR until 1958, halting production of the Part III. After Eisenstein’s death in 1948, most of what was filmed for Part III was seized and destroyed.