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Thu 28 Aug, 2014 08:19 pm
I saw this question asked elsewhere and thought it was interesting:
What MOVIE, based on a true story, do you think is the best of breed? It can either be because you think it is the most accurate, the most cinematic, or something else. I'm limiting it to movies because I know we have some serious history buffs here and if I included books it could get wild.
I pick "Badlands" as my favorite. I think it told the story well and the photography was amazing.
What are your picks?
Lincoln
As the Civil War continues to rage, America's president struggles with continuing carnage on the battlefield and as he fights with many inside his own cabinet on the decision to emancipate the slaves.
Director: Steven Spielberg
Writers: Tony Kushner (screenplay), Doris Kearns Goodwin (book)
Stars: Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, David Strathairn
The Elephant Man (1980)
A Victorian surgeon rescues a heavily disfigured man who is mistreated while scraping a living as a side-show freak. Behind his monstrous facade, there is revealed a person of intelligence and sensitivity.
Director: David Lynch
Writers: Christopher De Vore (screenplay), Eric Bergren (screenplay), 3 more credits ยป
Stars: Anthony Hopkins, John Hurt, Anne Bancroft
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I was going to say Seabiscuit, until I realized it was the book that made me hold my breath.
I'll think about this...
@edgarblythe,
I'd forgotten about the Elephant Man. It was a very memorable movie based on a true story about Joseph Merrick. I also enjoyed Lincoln, and the portrayal of him by Daniel Day Lewis who was just too perfect. I believe it won the Best Picture award.
@cicerone imposter,
I think so too. If I had filmed Lincoln, I think I would have given the ending more time to develop.
The Longest Day, the all-star version of D-Day. It's far from perfect and leaves a lot to be desired from a historical point of view. But it doesn't really do violence to historical detail and it's first-rate entertainment. The kind of thing you can safely show an 8th grade class studying American history. (Almost ignores the British-Canadian-Australian-New Zealand role in the invasion.)
There were two westerns, Jesse James and The Return of Frank James, Starring Tyrone Power and Henry Fonda, that I enjoyed. I don't claim they were that accurate, but the American Historical Society at one time recommended them. The first ends with the shooting by Robert Ford. The second takes up at that exact point to tell Frank James's story.
@Lustig Andrei,
Lustig Andrei wrote:Almost ignores the British-Canadian-Australian-New Zealand role in the invasion.
And the Belgian, Czechoslovak, French, Greek, Dutch, Norwegian and Polish, roles.
@boomerang,
Milagro Beanfield War. It was very true to the book. A couple of characters were combined into one, but it really worked better on screen by doing so. That, and two others by Jack Nichols were called the "New Mexico" trilogy. The others never made it to the screen, and it's just as well.
ETA: Might not have been based on a true story, but it was based on actual fiction.
@Frank Apisa,
Unter Bauern: Retter in der Nacht ("Saviors in the Night"): it was exactly like what I've been told by my father ... and what Marga Spiegel told my uncles.
Quote:NYT's Review Summary
Recounts how some courageous farmers in the Muensterland region gave refuge to Marga Spiegel's husband Menne, herself and her daughter under false names in their farmhouse between 1943 and 1945. The farmers succeeded in achieving the seemingly impossible: protecting the whole family for two years and saving them from deportation to the death camps without themselves having to pay with their own lives or being punished in other ways by the German government in those days.
SAVIOURS IN THE NIGHT
Goodfellas (1990)
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Hotel Rwanda (2004)
Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
Godzilla (1954) (at least I think it's based on a true story. I've never been to Tokyo. I assume it's still a smoking heap of rubble)
@joefromchicago,
joefromchicago wrote:
Goodfellas (1990)
After Henry Hill died (of natural causes) I read a story that a Mafia guy had said he was a fantasist and they had never planned to kill him, in fact he made them laugh with his stories.
Great topic boomer...gonna have to think of some .
@contrex,
contrex wrote:
After Henry Hill died (of natural causes) I read a story that a Mafia guy had said he was a fantasist and they had never planned to kill him, in fact he made them laugh with his stories.
There's always that danger with basing a movie on a supposedly true story. Unless it's a documentary, a movie can, at best, be "true-ish." There were a couple of movies that I might have listed but which, I thought, departed so much from the facts that they're not so much based on a true story as they are loosely associated with it. Like
Amadeus, for instance.
@joefromchicago,
Don't get me wrong, Goodfellas is one of favourite films, I especially like Joe Pesci's character. One thing you can say about Amadeus is that it has great music.
@contrex,
I also think that the movie overplayed Amadeus' as a woman chaser that took up too much of the movie's time.
"The Return of Martin Guerre" which takes place in sixteenth century France is based on an actual court case recorded in 1560.
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