Indeed, the movie makes no claims to be a documentary, but is rather a historical film.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Depardieu has worked in Russia before, appearing in a historical film on czarist Russia and in ad campaigns.

CNN: French star Depardieu ditches France for Putin's Russia

The movie is a horror film masquerading as a historical pageant.

NEWYORKER: Elizabeth

In other words, it's what you would expect from a Hollywood feature film based on a historical event.

CNN: Latino should have played lead in 'Argo'

In between, there is barely a pause for thought, and the film works hard as a historical solvent rinsing away the traditional enmities between the white man and the Native Americans, and conjoining the good, the bad, and the ugly into a battle with their common foe.

NEWYORKER: Cowboys & Aliens

Cindy Lee Garcia, who had a small role in the film, told Gawker.com that she and others were given a script for a film and that it would be a historical drama set in the Middle East.

BBC: Q&A: Anti-Islam film

This is always a problem for film makers who tackle historical themes, especially recent ones about which viewers can be expected to know a thing or two.

ECONOMIST: Recent events on film: Up close and historical | The

The Palace said the film contained "major historical untruths and a series of purely fictional scenes".

BBC: Prince Albert II of Monaco criticises Grace Kelly film

For example, Bombay veteran Shekhar Kapoor directed the British historical drama Elizabeth, which was nominated for a best film Oscar last year.

CNN: Once Again, With Attitude

The Historical Association told the BBC the reference to King John was not in its lesson plan but in an article it had published, in which the point was to show pupils that film depictions of historical figures "may not be a true representation of the past".

BBC: Gove criticises 'Mr Men' history teaching