Complex sentence: The courthouse is part of the iconography of American life and is equivalent to the city hall as the symbol of the municipium in European free cities, then often shown in American cinema (recently in "Peyton Place" or "Back to the Future").
Split into simpler sentences: The courthouse is part of the iconography of American life and is equivalent to the city hall as the symbol of the municipium in European free cities. Courthouses are often shown in American cinema (recently in "Peyton Place" or "Back to the Future").