Ten Great “True Stories”
Not everything in Hollywood is as fantastical as it seems, sometimes the real drama comes from real life.
‘The cinema is an old whore; like the circus, who knows how to give many kinds of pleasure.’ Legendary Italian director Federico Fellini once said. It is a language made of many images to either humor or to contradict its audience. However, when Tinsel Town is tired of producing works of creative art by producing remakes, prequels and sequels, it often turns to remarkable real-life events for inspiration. Many of these films have captured and gripped the audiences’ attention with the films’ nature and content, and true stories tend to give a sharp edge because the audiences are inclined to associate with them at a personal level. Of course, these often need to be spiced up for entertainment purposes, but true stories can be inspirational, and give the flavor of the time the film is based. The following are the Top 10 choices from my own collection. They do represent diverse historical periods and subjects, although choosing an assortment of genres has been attempted.
1. GoodFellas (1990) (Martin Scorsese): Scorsese’s high spirited and well acted GoodFellas is based on Nicholas Pileggi’s fictious novel Wiseguys. A tale of Henry Hill (Ray Liotta), a mobster, and his wife Karen (Lorraine Bracco), who were placed under the federal witness protection program after Hill makes the decision which is his only way to save his life after becoming the target of both the mob he relied on and the Feds. After a brief beginning, the film flashes back eight years to Hill’s boyhood in 1955 impoverished Brooklyn and his extreme fascination in becoming a gangster more than growing to be the president of the Unites States – every mothers dream of her son, as well as his allure with the Mafioso figures around him, such as Jimmy Conway (Robert De Niro) and Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci), who in a split second can become a mean, moody man who can snap from the good-humored and jovial to the poisonous and deadly. Sucked into the world of petty crime, where he differentiates himself as a ‘stand-up guy’ after being forced to make the decision of choosing jail time over ratting on his accomplices, from that moment on, he is a part of the family. However, he quickly learns that due to his ethnicity as half-Irish, he can never become a true member of the crime family; a ‘made guy.’ Filmed by Michael Ballhaus, it is complete with superlative and clever scenes using dark humor, talented voice-over narration and surprisingly cruel violence. An exquisitely cast and masterfully crafted piece of filmmaking, the films’ narrative has no powerful ending or great metaphorical spine like The Godfather, but it is otherwise a captivating tale that could not have been any more authentic.
2. The Bang Bang Club (2010) (Steven Silver): The tale of four high-adrenaline young and light-skinned South-African photojournalists based in chaotic apartheid-torn South Africa in 1994 and their careers. The story narrates the real-life tale of Gref Marinovich (Ryan Phillippe), Kevin Carter (Taylor Kitsch), Joao Silva (Neels Van Jaarsveld) and Ken Oosterbroek (Frank Rautenbach); all of them shown as rebels that the audience can sympathize with due to the world they live in. Using their cameras for personal snapshots of war crimes, and risking their own lives to illustrate the first free multi-racial elections, the film explores the danger and thrills as well as the moral and ethical questions of modern reporting- revealing the truth whilst remaining detached from the outlandish images they sell and suffering psychologically along the way. Based on the 2001 memoir of the same name by Marinovich and Silva, the film does not dig deep into the minds and psyches of the main characters, but still, they are shown effectively as uniquely heroic as well as tragic. The battles leading to the end of the Apartheid are portrayed with an epic scope and it is intriguing that a vital historical story can still achieve the ‘big-screen’ treatment.
3. Papillion (1973) (Franklin J. Schaffner): An enduring classic, this grungy prison drama is based on the autobiography, published in 1969 of a wrongly convicted murderer and fugitive, Henri Charriere, a prisoner who successfully escaped from Devils Island French penal colony after sentenced a life of hard labor. Steve McQueen plays a great performance of the aggressive Charriere, also known as ‘Papillion’ (due to a renowned tattoo), who claims to be wrongly convicted. He also meets a counterfeiter named Louis Dega, played by Dustin Hoffman, who befriends Papillion after he saved his life, showing appreciation by aiding him in his many escape attempts, which are worth your patience, as well as smuggling food after Charriere was placed in solitary confinement. This motion picture goes through struggle, betrayal and tragedy, yet it also gives a tribute to the unquenchable thirst of the human spirit. It may have certain elements of Escape from Alcatraz (1979) or Shawshank Redemption (1994), however the narrative in this particular film unfolds slowly and effectively and making the two main protagonists persuasive to the audience. Cinematographer Fred Koenekamps work is remarkable, and the musical score by Jerry Goldsmith maintains the attention and concentration of the audience.
4. Psycho (1960) (Alfred Hitchcock): Alfred Hitchcock, the grandfather and master of suspense completely changed the tone of thriller in cinema. For this masterpiece, the great director took inspiration from the story of Ed Gein, an insane American murderer and body snatcher. The films’ protagonist, named Norman Bates, played by Anthony Perkins in a spell-binding and timeless performance, is surrounded by a film which contains striking melodrama, graphic violence and climax. A manipulative film that illustrates human despair, Hitchcock’s masterful and hypnotizing visuals combine with memorable sequences (that shower scene) and orchestral score has defined thriller cinema and endures 50 years after its original release. Psycho makes the audience feel both paranoia and exhaustion, and its reputation has survived for many years as one of the most suspenseful horror films of all time.
5. The Aviator (2004) (Martin Scorsese): A biopic which can only be described as epic and passionate. An original tale based on billionaire and alluring tycoon Howard Hughes (Leonardo DiCaprio), a visionary who experiments with Hollywood as well as attempting to raise his aircraft and building a major airline, TWA. Two decades are shown of Hughes’ success and downfall, which leads to his isolated insanity. Scorsese’s passion is mirrored onto the eccentric yet charismatic character, which manages to engineer a sympathetic audience. Scorsese’s eye for detail and dynamic pacing on visuals provide a dramatic setting for the protagonists’ masterful performance. A film that effectively reveals a great man’s tragic attempt in convincing himself of continuous victory that will never happen.
6. Public Enemies (2009) (Michael Mann): A historical crime drama based on Bryan Burrough’s Public Enemies: America’s Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-43. Director Michael Mann immerses you in the world of John Dillinger, here a charming bandit played by Johnny Depp, who was at his time an unstoppable criminal that no jail could place under custody. Famous for simply robbing banks, the American public believed he was responsible for the Great Depression. His operation continuously makes headlines, causing the president of the newly formed FBI, J. Edgar Hoover (Billy Crudup) to unleash Purvis (Christian Slater), the agent that had more field experience that Hoover himself, to employ wit and cunning betrayal in an attempt to capture America’s criminal mastermind. Apart from the lack of a few emotional connections to the characters, dramatic tension and the rise of Public Enemies, Mann’s film very well adheres to Dillinger’s well-documented, historical and political context of realistic shootouts and unbelievable jailbreaks, exploring the elimination rather than the bringing to justice of a mobster with an obsessive need with dirty money
7. The Departed (2006) (Martin Scorsese): Another first-class film from renowned director Martin Scorsese, who scores again with another mob-based film. With a fine cast, from Leonardo DiCaprio as Billy Costigan, an undercover cop playing criminal and Matt Damon as Sergeant Sullivan, a criminal playing cop in a Boston crime gang run by Jeff Costello, played by Jack Nicholson; all of whom are challenging each other for the “gold turkey” prize. A remake of 2002’s Internal Affairs, the film is brutally violent and beautifully crafted, emphasizing the relationship between good cop/bad cop and showing Scorsese’s artistic personality since GoodFellas, transforming into his familiar American crime cinema that will leave you spinning.
8. Catch Me If You Can (2002) (Steven Spielberg): A journey retelling the story of Frank Abagnale Jr, FBI’s youngest “Most Wanted”. Played with charm by Leonardo DiCaprio, he finds himself emotionally disturbed following the divorce of his parents after his father falls into extreme debt with the Internal Revenue Service. Passing himself as a substitute teacher at the tender age of 16, this allows him to successfully find further lucrative ways to deceive others by posing as various professionals. This catches the attention of FBI agent, Carl Hanratty (Tom Hanks), who will stop at nothing to place the forger behind bars. Spielberg’s spirit can be clearly seen throughout the film, an adventurous story that makes you feel good about yourself, for not being cheated by the various schemes…yet.
9. The Black Dahlia (2006) (Brian de Palma): Similar to that of ‘Jack The Ripper’, director De Palma adapts James Ellroy’s novel to the screen telling the story of one of the most notorious unsolved murders in the history of Hollywood. With a 40’s setting, the film stars Aaron Eckhart as Lee Blanchard and Josh Hartnett as Bucky Bleichert, both detectives aiming to solve the ‘not so average’ murder case (more like the butchering and dissection) of struggling actress Elizabeth Short (Mia Kirshner) in 1947. With certain and unique visuals such as mistaken identity and films within films as well as subtle references to De Palmas love for Hitchcock, The Black Dahlia is a enthralling piece of art that explores the ghosts that may or may not haunt our life without the presence of any clues. Where is Scooby Doo when we need him?
10. The Exorcist (1973) (William Friedkin): A revolution for the horror and supernatural genre, The Exorcist, directed by Freiedkin is known to evoke disgust and frightened thrills, making it one of the industry’s best chillers. Based on William Peter Blatty’s novel of the same name about the last approved Catholic exorcism in the US in 1949; the film exemplifies human suffering and power that eventually pulls the audience in. From all the terrifying scenes, the film successfully reminds us and continues to do so even after almost 40 years since its release that true evil does exist anywhere and does not have any sympathy.
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