"The historical backdrop against which Glory transpires is mostly historically accurate. In fact, a great deal of effort went into getting the details correct. The main events shown in the film happened much as they are depicted, some of the key characters (Shaw, Frederick Douglas, etc.) existed, and the outcome was as Zwick presents it. Many of the secondary characters are either partially or entirely fictionalized, but they are intended to represent a broad cross-section of the types of men who joined the Massachusetts 54th. The danger in this approach is that it becomes easy to trivialize the individuals, turning them into types rather than people. Fortunately, Jarre's screenplay avoids the trap. The characters in Glory never seem less than three-dimensional."
Though not all of the characters in the film Glory are based on real people, a handful, like the narrator, Colonel Shaw, actually existed during the Civil War. Many other aspects of the movie are historically authentic, as well. A large amount of the director's effort was spent perfecting small details. While plenty of the characters playing smaller roles were created solely for the movie, their personalities and backgrounds give an accurate representation of the nature of soldiers in the 54th Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. The screenplay goes above and beyond mediocracy by excellently developing these fictional characters instead of making their personalities paper-thin or overly stereotypical.
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