9 Films That Told Incredible True Stories

While this year’s crop of Oscar nominations has certainly stirred controversy, one thing is undeniable – Hollywood continues to love a good true story. The Imitation Game, Selma, The Theory Of Everything, American Sniper, Foxcatcher, Mr Turner and Unbroken – all feature in the list of nominees, and all are based on real events. Our love affair with reality has being simmering away for decades, however, and every year brings us more demonstrations of talented storytellers turning their attentions to fact for their fiction. Though such an endeavour is fraught with risk and challenge, these filmmakers do not shrink from their responsibility to the source material, nor their audience, and repeatedly deliver world class cinema that rings resoundingly true. Inevitably, films based on true stories come under fire for perceived inaccuracies, or the causing of offence. However, the tales that are told are often among the most culturally important and well-observed – particularly when handled by our most talented filmmakers. Before we find out whether yet another giant true story will walk away with the top prize on Oscar Sunday, here is a look at nine of the best true stories on film. The Dam Busters (1955) Based on a combination of two books – The Dam Busters by Paul Brickhill and Enemy Coast Ahead by Wing Commander Guy Gibson – this true story was adapted for the screen by R.C. Sherriff (Aces High). It depicts Operation Chastise of 1943 – a mission in which the RAF’s 617 Squadron staged targeted aerial attacks on Germany’s Sorpe, Mohne and Eder dams, deploying the famous ‘bouncing bomb.’ The purpose of the airstrikes was to land damaging blows to German heavy industry. The innovative bomb was continually adjusted by engineer Barnes Wallis, while the crews of the Lancaster Bombers trained for the dangerous, low-level runs. Though a number of the crews never returned from the mission, two dams were breached and the operation succeeded in its aim. Directed by Michael Anderson (Logan’s Run), and starring Richard Todd, Michael Redgrave and Ursula Jeans, this is one of the most respected and emotionally-affecting feature films of the many that relate the events of World War II - focusing as it does on one of the most courageous and ingenious military operations of the conflict. The film is notable still for the fact that its director, Anderson, and leading man, Todd, had themselves served in critical military operations during World War II – along with many others in the production. All The President’s Men (1976) This Academy-Award winning true story is based on the book of the same name, written by journalists Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward. It tells the story of their work for the Washington Post in uncovering the Watergate Scandal, which involved multiple abuses of power with regard to the FBI, the CIA and the IRS - ultimately unseating Richard Nixon from the U.S Presidency, and sending 48 people to jail. Directed by Alan J. Pakula (Sophie’s Choice), with an adapted screenplay by William Goldman (Misery), the film starred Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford in the lead roles. It is acclaimed for portraying the tension that developed within the management of the publication, as the extent and seriousness of the corruption was gradually uncovered. In addition, it relates the palpable sense of danger the lead characters experienced during their clandestine meetings with covert sources, as they tried to accurately handle what would become not only the biggest story of their careers, but one of the most significant incidents in the history of the U.S Government. Gandhi (1982) Richard Attenborough’s sweeping epic about the life of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi details the icon’s work – from a defining moment of racial discrimination aboard a train in South Africa, to campaigning for the rights of Indians in that country, to his return to India for peaceful protest against the rule of the U.K. Written by John Briley, the film stars Sir Ben Kingsley in a career-highlight performance and brings the message of the defiant man to an entirely new generation. Attenborough saturates the screen with stunning palettes and stirring shots, while Kingsley imbues the entire endeavour with a warmth and quiet stoicism that stays with the viewer long after the end-credits have unspooled. Malcolm X (1992) Based on The Autobiography Of Malcolm X by Malcolm X and Alex Haley, this highly acclaimed film from director Spike Lee boasts an adapted screenplay by Lee and Arnold Perl (Fiddler On The Roof). It presents the major moments in the life of the influential leader – from his youth spent engaged in criminal enterprise, to his imprisonment, his conversion to Islam, his time with the Nation Of Islam, his marriage, pilgrimage to Mecca and, ultimately, his assassination during a speech. With Denzel Washington in the title role, Malcolm X also features Angela Bassett, Delroy Lindo, Theresa Randle, and Christopher Plummer. It is noteworthy for including the legendary Nelson Mandela in its cast, and also benefits from a voice-over by actor Ossie Davis, reading the eulogy he gave personally at the funeral of Malcolm X. The power of the film lies in the fact that the themes and issues that dominated the life and work of Malcolm X remain highly relevant throughout the world today. Schindler’s List (1993) Unarguably one of the most important pieces of cinema ever made, Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List is an unflinching and devastating depiction of Oskar Schindler’s attempts to save lives during the Holocaust of World War II, by employing Jewish refugees in his factory. Based on the book Schindler’s Ark by Thomas Keneally, the script was adapted by Steven Zaillian (Moneyball), and formed a film that aimed to present the true tale of Oskar Schindler, set against the backdrop of the very real horrors endured by those held in Nazi concentration camps, as well as those in the Krakow ghetto. While some considered it controversial to make a film about this Holocaust that views the events through the perspective of a German character (Schindler), it was commended by many more for its portrayal of a privileged man waking up to the realities of what he is witnessing, before using his position of influence to attempt to make a small, but positive difference against a tide of evil. This was underscored by phenomenal and unsettling performances from Liam Neeson as Oskar Schindler, Ben Kingsley as Itzhak Stern, Ralph Fiennes as Amon Goeth, Caroline Goodall as Emilie Schindler and Embeth Davidtz as Helen Hirsch. Apollo 13 (1995) The stirring film adaptation of Lost Moon: The Perilous Voyage of Apollo 13, by Jim Lovell and Jeffrey Kluger, is scripted by William Broyles Jr. (Cast Away) and Al Reinert (Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within), with Ron Howard in the director’s chair. It tells the remarkable story of the 1970 lunar mission that went terribly wrong – plunging three astronauts into a life or death situation, as their NASA colleagues on the ground frantically worked to bring them back to Earth. The film balances the drama on the ground – led by Kathleen Quinlan as Lovell’s wife, Marilyn, Ed Harris as Flight Director Gene Kranz and Gary Sinise as Ken Mattingley (the astronaut bumped from the flight over health concerns) – with the drama unfolding in space. Tom Hanks portrays Flight Commander Jim Lovell, Kevin Bacon plays Jack Swigert (the astronaut that replaced Mattingley) and Bill Paxton shines as Lunar Module Pilot Fred Haise. Each performance perfectly contributes to the claustrophobic desperation of the situation, which reaches a crescendo as the stricken spacecraft attempts re-entry after having performed a sling-shot manoeuvre around the Moon. Erin Brockovich (2000) Steven Soderbergh directed this dramatization of the story of an unemployed single mother (Julia Roberts) who creates a job for herself as a legal assistant at the firm of a lawyer who represented her in a failed civil suit, after a car accident. During the course of her work, she uncovers a vast, local incidence of an energy corporation’s attempt to hide its contamination of a town’s water supply – slowly poisoning its residents. She works with the lawyer (Albert Finney) to bring a class-action against the corporation, navigating her role as a single-mother in the process. The film deftly handles the emotional struggle created when Erin finds herself torn between her responsibilities, while depicting the impact her work has on an entire community. As she inspires the stricken residents to challenge the corporation, and doggedly pursues the company for acknowledgement and compensation, Soderbergh and his cast keep the audience as emotionally invested in the outcome as the characters are. Aaron Eckhart, Marg Helgenberger and Cherry Jones also star, providing sterling support in vital roles. Walk The Line (2005) This absorbing and compelling depiction of the life of music icon Johnny Cash is directed by James Mangold (Girl, Interrupted), from a script he co-wrote with Gill Dennis, based on both Man In Black and Cash: The Autobiography by Johnny Cash. It covers moments from his childhood, his military service, and his eventual rise to fame in the music industry. These events play out against a backdrop of a descent into addiction, and his long-standing romance with fellow musician June Carter. The triumph of the film lies in the extraordinary performances of the two leads. Their meticulous work here is arguably a career highlight, respectively, for Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon, who weave such a beautiful tale of love and respect as to make Walk The Line a brilliantly uplifting movie. The implications of the story are difficult to shake for the viewer, too, in the knowledge that such a balanced examination of a personality could be sourced from the pen of the man himself. Rush (2013) Chronicling the epic rivalry between world famous racing drivers James Hunt and Niki Lauda from 1970 to 1976, Rush is written by Peter Morgan (Frost/Nixon) and directed by Ron Howard. The film succeeds in taking something that could easily be dismissed as petty rivalry between privileged men, and instead creates a thrilling tale of ambition, passion and a competitive relationship so co-dependent as to almost result in death. With Chris Hemsworth in the role of the extrovert playboy James Hunt, and Daniel Bruhl in the role of introvert, conservative Niki Lauda, director Howard delivers scenes that build tension both on and off the racing circuit, as the two drivers rapidly push each other up the ranks of the sport, until they reach the top of Formula One motor racing. Here, their rivalry forces them to drive in poor conditions, ending in a near-fatal crash for Lauda. Far from being the end of the story, however, it is their rivalry that speeds his recovery, and sets them on course for a breath-taking racing showdown. The kernel of the true tale shines through the minutiae of the racing world, to deliver a very human story about the nature of ambition.