Movies Based on Real-life Stories and

People by Natalia D.

Titanic

Titanic is a 1997 American epic romance-disaster film directed, written, co-produced, and co-edited by James Cameron. A fictionalised account of the sinking of the RMS Titanic, it stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet as members of different social classes who fall in love aboard the ship during its ill-fated maiden voyage. It’s inspired by real-life tragedy of RMS Titanic, which sank in 1920, although the main story as well as the characters are fictional.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2e-eXJ6HgkQ

The movie won 11 oscars including the title of the best movie, as well as being on the list of the best movies in history of cinema. The first movie ever that earned more than 1 mld USD.

The real story of Titanic

RMS Titanic was a British passenger liner that sank in the North Atlantic Ocean in the early morning of 15 April 1912, after colliding with an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York City. Of the 2,224 passengers and crew aboard, more than 1,500 died, making it one of the deadliest commercial peacetime maritime disasters in modern history. The largest ship afloat at the time it entered service, the RMS Titanic was the second of three Olympic class ocean liners operated by the White Star Line, and was built by the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast. Thomas Andrews, her architect, died in the disaster.

Differences VS Similarities

The characters: Jack Dawson and Rose DeWitt Bukater, portrayed in the movie by Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, are entirely fictional characters, as well as the

movie's love story. All the Jack’s sketches weren’t actually drew by Leonardo DiCaprio, Director James Cameron did the sketch of Rose (Kate Winslet) wearing the necklace, also drew all of the

pictures in Jack's sketchbook.

Titanic really collided with an iceberg, in fact, pieces of ice from the iceberg really land on the promenade deck.

Titanic's band continued to play as the ship went down.

Titanic history tells that gates did exist which barred the third class passengers from the other passengers.

However, these gates weren't in place to stop a third class passenger from taking a first class passenger's seat on a

lifeboat but to prevent the "less cleanly" third class passengers from transmitting diseases and infections to

the others. (Only 25 percent of the third class passengers survived the disaster.)

One of Titanic's giant funnels really crash down into the water. This scene in the movie accurately depicts Titanic

historySome of the passengers choose to go down with the ship. Near the end of the movie Titanic, we see an old couple embracing in bed as water pours into their cabin. The

couple is first class passengers Isador and Ida Straus, in real life, Isador and Ida were both offered a place on

Lifeboat No. 8, but Isador chose to stay on the Titanic so long as there were women who remained on the ship. Ida

refused to abandon her husband.

The Heart of the Ocean diamond is a fictional device that James Cameron added to the plot in order to give Brock

Lovett (Bill Paxton) a reason to hear Rose's story.

One of the final scenes in the movie shows a woman with a baby in her arms both frozen and dead in the water. Sad

to relate, this is true. The woman and her baby were found frozen dead when Officer Lowe went back to look

for survivors.

The Titanic tried to keep as many facts as possible real, and many of them, including small details were exact, e.g when something is broken during the Titanic sinking, a steward says:

"That is White Star property. You will have to pay for that." That line gets a laugh from the movie audience,

but in reality the steward did say that. He survived the sinking and later explained that he did not realise that the Titanic was sinking when he said that.

Game of Thrones

Game of Thrones is an American fantasy drama television series created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss. It's the depiction of two powerful families -- kings and queens, knights and renegades, liars and honest men -- playing a deadly game for control of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros, and to sit atop the Iron Throne. It’s fantasy serial drama but it contains inspirations from history of Wars of the Roses, York and Lancaster and other historical counterparts

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EI0ib1NErqg

Game of Thrones has attracted record viewership on HBO and has a broad, active, international fan base. It has been acclaimed

by critics, particularly for its acting, complex characters, story, scope, and production values, although its frequent use of nudity and violence (including sexual violence) has attracted criticism.

Real Stories Behind Game of Thrones

The war between the Starks and the

Lannisters bears stark similarities to the Wars of the Roses between the English houses of Lancaster and York between 1455 and

1487.

Robert Baratheon and Edward IV: Edward, like Robert, also changed

his will on his deathbed, naming a regent as his successor and causing

a succession crisis. Edward died after an

accident while fishing, while Robert died after being skewered by a

boar.

Petyr Baelish and Thomas Cromwell: Petyr Baelish is a

low-born man who worked his way into the court of Robert Baratheon keeping one hand firmly on the purse strings, as did Thomas Cromwell with the

court of King Henry VIII

Westeros and England & Ireland: The map of Westeros very closely resembles England, with an upside down Ireland beneath it.

The Wall and Hadrian’s Wall: Likewise, The Wall in

Game of Thrones that divides the White Walkers

from the humans is situated in more or less the exact same place on the Westeros map that the Hadrian’s Wall is on the UK map. Hadrian’s

Wall divided the Romans from Scottish Barbarians.

The Red Wedding and The Black Dinner & the Glencoe

Massacre: The directors took influence from this

two different events. In the Black Dinner, the king of Scotland welcomed his

enemy the Earl of Douglas into his home for a meal

with guaranteed safety and then killed him. Clan

Campbell invited their detractors in Clan MacDonald to stay overnight and then

slaughtered them in their beds what became known as the Glencoe Massacre.

World Trade Center

It is an american production released in 2006 and the genre is disaster film/ docudrama. It tells the story about two Port Authority officers, Sgt. John McLoughlin (Nicolas Cage) and Officer Will Jimeno (Michael Peña), become trapped in the rubble of the World Trade Center after going in to help people escape from the buildings during the terrorist attacks. It is based on the true terrorist attack of Sept. 11, 2001, where World Trade Centre became destroyed. It maintains high standards of realism and accuracy, it depicts few events that blatantly contradict official explanations of what caused the Twin Towers to come down.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kU738srDJRY

The Real Story of World Grand Centre The World Trade Center was a large

complex of seven buildings in Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. It featured landmark twin

towers, which opened on April 4, 1973, and were destroyed in the September 11 attacks, with 7 World Trade Center collapsing later that day due to the damage it suffered when the twin

towers collapsed that morning. The other buildings in the complex were severely damaged by the collapse of the twin towers, and their ruins were

eventually demolished.

As the genre of film is partially documentary, and it’s based on one of the greatest tragedies of modern history, the directors focused to show it as accurately as possible, that’s why I wasn’t able to find any

differences between the movie and real tragedy, I believe there would be some small inaccuracy as it is still a hollywood movie, so

the producers probably added some scenes that didn’t existed, without changing the facts. Especially that many characters died before they were able to tell their story, so the producers couldn’t

know every exact scene. But most of the online sources say it’s very accurate, although there is not s many sources as for example for

Titanic. The characters, as well as the events are also based on real people.

Gladiator

Gladiator is a 2000 British-American epic historical drama film directed by Ridley Scott. It tells the story about Commodus that takes power and strips rank from Maximus, one of the favoured generals of his predecessor and father, Emperor Marcus Aurelius, the great stoical philosopher. Maximus is then relegated to fighting to the death in the gladiator arenas. The filmmakers had undertaken an impressive amount of historical and scholarly research, although much of the plot is fiction. The fiction does however, appear to be inspired by actual historical events. It has been called an artistic representation of ancient history, as opposed to an accurate, chronological, reconstruction of events.

The film was released in the United States on May 5, 2000, and grossed $457.6 million worldwide. The film won multiple awards,

including Best Picture, Best Actor for Crowe, and three other Academy Awards. It has also been

credited with rekindling interest in the historical epic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvTT29cavKo

Real Story of GladiatorA gladiator was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gladiators were volunteers who risked their lives and their legal and social standing by appearing in the arena. Most were despised as slaves, schooled under harsh conditions, socially marginalised, and segregated even in death.

Historical authenticityThe film is loosely based on real events that occurred within the Roman

Empire in the latter half of the 2nd century AD. As Ridley Scott wanted to portray Roman culture more accurately than in any previous film, he hired

several historians as advisors.

Marcus Aurelius died at Vindobona in 180 AD; he was not murdered by his son Commodus following the final battle of the Marcomannic Wars. In

reality Marcus Aurelius shared the rule of the Empire with Commodus for three years before his own death. Commodus then ruled alone from that

point onward.

The character of Maximus is fictional, although in some respects he resembles the historical figures Narcissus

In real life, the death of Commodus did not result in a peace for Rome, nor a return to the Roman Republic. Rather, it ushered in a chaotic and bloody power struggle that culminated in the Year of the Five Emperors

of AD 193.The gladiator battles are shown as chaotic mass slaughter, but really there were rules and referees, and most combat was fought as individual

duels

Women really did fought in the arenas. They were forbidden from gladiatorial performances shortly after the time of Commodus, by the

emperor Alexander Severus, in 200 CE.

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

During World War II, 8-year-old Bruno and his family leave Berlin to take up residence near the concentration camp where his father has just become commandant. Unhappy and lonely, he wanders out behind his house one day and finds Shmuel, a Jewish boy of his age. Though the barbed-wire fence of the camp separates them, the boys begin a forbidden friendship, oblivious to the real nature of their surroundings.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ypMp0s5HiwThe Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is a 2008 British historical period drama directed by Mark Herman, produced by

Miramax Films, and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.The film is a Holocaust drama that explores the horror of a World War II Nazi extermination camp through the eyes of two 8-year-old boys; one the

son of the camp's Nazi commandant (Butterfield), the other a Jewish inmate

Real Events Behind The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

The story of the boy is fictional, although it is a fact that one of the commanders really did moved with his family and children near the concentration camp. The main true event that I want to focus on, is the Auschwitz Birkenau- German Nazi Concentration and Extermination Camp (1940-1945), which really existed and has it’s place in Poland, in fact I’ve seen it myself as you can still visit the place. The events of gassing children too young to work is also the true as well as the fact of them wearing „Stripped Pyjamas”. The fictional story of little boys was used to show the young audience the real historical tragedy from their own perspective.

Coco Before Chanel

Young Coco Chanel works as a seamstress by day and a cabaret entertainer by night, then she meets a wealthy heir and becomes his lover and fashion consultant. Tired of the flowery hats, tight corsets and yards of lace that define women's fashion, Coco uses her lover's clothing as a starting point to distill an elegant and sophisticated line of women's clothing

that propels her to the top of Parisian haute couture.

Coco Before Chanel is a 2009 French film about the early life of famed French fashion designer Coco Chanel. Coco avant Chanel was directed and co-written by actor turned director Anne Fontaine. The film was first

released in April 2009 in France and it had grossed $43,832,376 worldwide, while the production budget was $23 million. Coco Before Chanel was nominated for four BAFTA Awards, three European Film Awards, six

César Awards and the Academy Award for Best Costume Design.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvDFPjx-uBU

As a biographical, the film is very accurate and most of the facts are kept very well. Although, the reviews say it didn't capture many important moments from

young Chanel’s life, e.g. how did she invented The Little Black Dress.

8 Mile

8 Mile is a 2002 American drama film written by Scott Silver, directed by Curtis Hanson, and starring Eminem as a main role.

Plot: The people of Detroit know 8 Mile as the city limit, a border, a boundary. It is also a psychological dividing line that separates Jimmy Smith Jr. (Eminem) from where and who he

wants to be. A provocative fictional examination of a critical week in Jimmy's life.The movie is considered semi autobiographical as it was inspired by his life. This article by

Time sums it up - "It is not directly autobiographical, but spiritually he could certainly connect with Jimmy's struggle." Eminem's 8 Mile High. Although, Eminem's life has similar structure in

the way the character is portrayed. Because of that and also the soundtrack of the movie containing many of Eminem's songs, including the "Lose Yourself” the audience gets the idea

as it an entirely biographic, which isn’t. It’s only a reflection of his life.

Differences and Similarities

Eminem grew up here near 8 mile road in Detroit In the film, he free-styled at a club called the chin teeky. The scene was shot here at an old

restaurant that is now closed. In real life, Eminem performed at local clubs like the shelter. He also struggled for a long time, not able to be as successful as he wanted.

He got his girlfriend pregnant at the same age. The rest is fiction.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axGVrfwm9L4

Schindler's List

Schindler's List is a 1993 American epic historical period drama film, directed and co-produced by Steven Spielberg and scripted by Steven Zaillian.

Plot: In German-occupied Poland during World War II, Oskar Schindler gradually becomes concerned for his Jewish workforce after witnessing their persecution by

the Nazi Germans.

Historical AuthenticityAccording to a new biography of the German industrialist, there was no Schindler's list, the legendary document containing names of Jewish employees at his Polish factory who were designated as "essential workers" and thus spared from the concentration camps. In fact,

Schindler was in jail at the time, and others compiled the lists, according to David Crowe, a North Carolina history professor affiliated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in

Washington. "Schindler had almost nothing to do with the list," Professor Crowe wrote in yesterday's New York Times. He added that Steven Spielberg was "a very wonderful, tender

man _ but Schindler's List was theatre, and not in an historically accurate way." Schindler is also accused in the book of having headed a German unit responsible for planning the Nazi invasion of Poland - a far graver allegation than the fact, already known, that he had spied for Germany

in Czechoslovakia in the 1930s.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5FpB6qDGAE

Narcos

Narcos is an American crime web television series created and produced by Chris Brancato, Carlo Bernard, and Doug Miro, originally aired on August 28, 2015, as a

Netflix exclusive.

Plot: A chronicled look at the criminal exploits of Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar.

Historical Authenticity While the series looks a little bit like a documentary at times, it is actually an

historical fiction.Many of the supporting characters are based on real people, living or dead.

In addition to recognizable figures, the series also informs the audience that names have been changed and events altered.

All of that said, Narcos self-identifies as magical realism. That leads me to believe that facts will be bent and incidents dramatized to create a legend. Which, if we're being really honest, is bound to happen no matter what. Even documentaries are

editorialized and tend to come from an opinionated perspective.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7elNhHwgBU

The Exorcism of Emily Rose

The Exorcism of Emily Rose is a 2005 American legal drama horror film directed by Scott Derrickson and starring Laura

Linney and Tom Wilkinson. The film is loosely based on the story of Anneliese Michel.

Plot: A lawyer takes on a negligent homicide case involving a priest who performed an exorcism on a young girl.

The movie “The Exorcism of Emily Rose” might have exaggerated in some scenes and audience might have felt like

it was too fake but the actual horrendous voice of Anneliese during the exorcisms was recorded and it is very close to what

you see in the movie. Check it out & turn on the lights! Guaranteed to give you the chills!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSy7DldFdUI