Legends of the Fall is a 1994 epic

Epic film

An epic is a genre of film that emphasizes human drama on a grand scale. Epics are more ambitious in scope than other film genres, and their ambitious nature helps to differentiate them from similar genres such as the period piece or adventure film...

 drama film

Drama film

A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...

 based on the 1979 novella

Novella

A novella is a written, fictional, prose narrative usually longer than a novelette but shorter than a novel. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula Awards for science fiction define the novella as having a word count between 17,500 and 40,000...

 of the same title by Jim Harrison

Jim Harrison

James "Jim" Harrison is an American author known for his poetry, fiction, essays, reviews, and writings about food. He has been called "a force of nature", and his work has been compared to that of William Faulkner and Ernest Hemingway...

. It was directed by Edward Zwick

Edward Zwick

Edward M. Zwick is an American filmmaker and film producer noted for his epic films about social and racial issues. He has been described as a "throwback to an earlier era, an extremely cerebral director whose movies consistently feature fully rounded characters, difficult moral issues, and plots...

 and stars Brad Pitt

Brad Pitt

William Bradley "Brad" Pitt is an American actor and film producer. Pitt has received two Academy Award nominations and four Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one...

, Anthony Hopkins

Anthony Hopkins

Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins, KBE , best known as Anthony Hopkins, is a Welsh actor of film, stage and television...

 and Aidan Quinn

Aidan Quinn

-Early life:Quinn was born in Chicago, Illinois to Irish parents. He was brought up as a Roman Catholic and raised in Chicago and Rockford, Illinois, as well as in Dublin and Birr, County Offaly in Ireland. His mother, Teresa, was a homemaker, and his father, Michael Quinn, was a professor of...

. The film was nominated for the Academy Awards

67th Academy Awards

The 67th Academy Awards, honoring the best films of 1994, were held on March 27, 1995 at the Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, California. They were hosted by well-known comedian and talk show host David Letterman....

 for Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction (Lilly Kilvert

Lilly Kilvert

Lilly Kilvert is an American production designer. She has been nominated for two Academy Awards in the category Best Art Direction.-External links:...

, Dorree Cooper

Dorree Cooper

Dorree Cooper is an American set decorator. She was nominated for an Academy Award in the category Best Art Direction for the film Legends of the Fall.-External links:...

), and Best Sound (Paul Massey

Paul Massey (sound engineer)

Paul Massey is a British sound engineer. He has been nominated for six Academy Awards in the category Best Sound. He has worked on over 150 films since 1982.-Selected filmography:* Legends of the Fall...

, David E. Campbell

David E. Campbell

David E. Campbell is an American sound engineer. He won an Academy Award for Best Sound and has been nominated for five more in the same category...

, Chris David

Chris David (sound engineer)

Chris David is a British sound engineer. He was nominated for an Academy Awards in the category Best Sound. for the film Legends of the Fall. He has worked on over 170 films since 1982.-External links:...

 and Douglas Ganton

Douglas Ganton

Douglas Ganton is an American sound engineer. He was nominated for an Academy Awards in the category Best Sound. for the film Legends of the Fall. He has worked on over 70 films since 1975.-External links:...

), and won the category for Best Cinematography

Academy Award for Best Cinematography

The Academy Award for Best Cinematography is an Academy Award awarded each year to a cinematographer for work in one particular motion picture.-History:...

.

The film's timeframe spans the decade before World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 through the Prohibition

Prohibition in the United States

Prohibition in the United States was a national ban on the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol, in place from 1920 to 1933. The ban was mandated by the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, and the Volstead Act set down the rules for enforcing the ban, as well as defining which...

 era, and into the 1930s, ending with a brief scene set in 1963.