Films Based On True Life Events

24 August 2013

Rebellion

Films based on true life events are almost always guaranteed to garner widespread notice and accolades.

Not only do they educate the current generation about events before their time, they can also bring attention to the darkest elements of humanity, and the brightest. Here’s a look at just a few films that have brilliantly turned life into art.

- Rebellion (2013)

Mathieu Kassovitz’s thrilling, action-packed Rebellion tells the real-life story of a French tribe in New Caledonia who attacked a police precinct taking 30 innocents hostage, as Special Ops officer Captain Philippe Legorjus (Matthieu Kassovitz, Haywire) is tasked with freeing them.

A connection is formed between the Captain and lead terrorist Alphonse Dianou (newcomer Iabe Lapacas), but as negotiations become increasingly hostile, it becomes clear that the rebels have nothing to lose and everything to fight for.

Kassovitz was nominated for a César award along with co-writers Benoît Jaubert and Pierre Geller for a Best Adapted Screenplay.

- Argo (2012)

Much like Rebellion, the Academy Award-winning Argo, directed by and starring Ben Affleck, tells the true life story of the Iranian hostage crisis that lasted 444 days.

Affleck plays CIA agent Tony Mendez, who bravely undertakes the dangerous task of entering Iran under the guise of a film producer and rescuing six American embassy workers who are hiding in the home of the Canadian ambassador (played by Victor Garber).

Despite several historical inaccuracies and some controversy regarding the portrayal of Iranians, the film received universal accolades, winning the César Award for Best Foreign Film, as well as the BAFTA and the Academy Award for Best Film.

- Jarhead (2005)

Based on U. S. Marine Anthony Swofford’s memoirs Operation Desert Storm, Sam Mendes’s war drama stars Jake Gyllenhaal, brother-in-law Peter Sarsgaard and Jamie Foxx as an eccentric band of characters and their efforts during Operation Desert Storm.

The film received mainly positive reviews, and Jake Gyllenhaal earned a San Diego Film Critics Society Special Award for his body of work.

- Catch Me If You Can (2002)

The story of the precocious Frank Abagnale Jr. brought together some of Hollywood’s biggest names: With Steven Spielberg at the helm, Leonardo DiCaprio stars as Abagnale and Tom Hanks is the obsessive FBI agent who finally catches the teenager after he forges millions of dollars in fraudulent checks.

Abagnale had very little involvement in the production of the film which featured several variations from the actual events.

The film performed incredibly well at the international box office, and Christopher Walken, who played Abagnale Sr., won a BAFTA for his role as Frank Abagnale Sr.

- Hotel Rwanda (2004)

Based on brutal real life events, Hotel Rwanda stars Don Cheadle as the soft-hearted hotelier Paul Rusesabagina, who sheltered 1,268 refugees during the Rwandan Genocide in 1994.

With over a hundred years of tension brewing between the Tutsi and Hutu tribes, conflict becomes inevitable and the Hutu militia initiate the genocide that would end the lives of over 500,000 people.

Rusesabagina himself was heavily involved in the filmmaking process from the beginning. Cheadle and British actress Sophie Okenedo both earned Academy Award nominations, while director Terry George and Keir Pearson were nominated by the British Academy Film Awards for their screenplay.

- The Perfect Storm (2000)

With a star-studded cast including George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg and Diane Lane, The Perfect Storm, based on Sebastian Junger’s nonfiction novel of the same name, tells the story of the ill-fated Andrea Gail crew that was caught in the Perfect Storm of 1991 when they venture out on a late season fishing expedition.

Despite mixed reviews from critics, and controversy over the authenticity of Junger’s book, the film was a massive box office success and come awards season, was nominated for two Academy Awards.

- Proof of Life (2000)

Taylor Hackford’s Proof of Life was inspired both by the U. S. Vanity Fair article 'Adventures in the Ransom Trade' and Thomas Hargrove’s own book about his kidnapping and release thanks to negotiator Thomas Clayton.

Russell Crowe plays a composite of Clayton in Terry Thorne, who comes to the rescue of husband and wife Alice (Meg Ryan) and Peter Bowman (David Morse) when Peter is kidnapped in a fictional South American country.

The affair between the two leads Russell Crowe and Meg Ryan, then married to actor Dennis Quaid, largely overshadowed the film, which received a generally unenthusiastic reception from critics.

Nevertheless, Proof of Life earned several nominations from the Blockbuster Entertainment Awards, as well as a Satellite Award nomination for Danny Elfman’s score.

- Alive (1993)

Starring Ethan Hawke and John Malkovich, Alive tells the story of the Uruguayan rugby team and their struggle to survive the brutal Andes after their plane crashes.

Surrounded by death, Nando Parrado (Hawke) and his teammates forge their way through the harsh weather with hope and resourcefulness.

The film garnered largely positive reviews despite controversy over casting actors with Northern European physical characteristics as opposed to Southern European characteristics that would more accurately resemble the real life crew.