Although there is an infinity of talent loose in the world with writers and directors capable of putting together exciting original stories, surely there are few sources of inspiration more powerful than the events that take place every day in the real world. Also, somehow, ever since the seventh art became a form of entertainment of the first order, the label “based on true events” has served to bring millions of avid viewers to theaters and fill them with the promise of showing us the truth.
Now, there are two ways to go to a cinema to see a movie “based on real events”. One is seduced by a first-rate cast with great actors putting themselves in the shoes of flesh and blood people and directed by some of the big names in the industry, and another is by the events that it narrates in themselves. That is to say, a certain historical period or a dramatic event (almost always) that gives rise to putting together a plot that will entertain us for a couple of hours.
So, delving into some of the classics in the history of cinema, we are going to tell you what those movies based on real events are for us that you must see at some point in your life, and that delve into exciting times in the history of Humanity. Here you have them all:
The Battleship Potemkin (1925)
There are those who describe it as one of the best films in the history of cinema. Directed by Sergei M. Eisenstein, it is a piece of propaganda at the service of revolutionary Russia at the beginning of the 20th century and tells us about the mutiny that occurred on one of the warships of the Red Fleet. As we say, for many it is one of the peak moments of the seventh art due to the use it made of montage.
Citizen Kane (1941)
This is one of Orson Welles’ masterpieces, also starring himself and in which he tells us the story inspired by the life of the multifaceted William Randolph Hearst . The film is a colossal narrative exercise with a story that begins with the death of Charles Foster Kane pronouncing his last words, which will serve as an excuse for an investigator to start delving into his meaning by asking everyone who knew him.
The Rope (1948)
What to say about this portentous masterpiece by Alfred Hitchcock that he wanted to shoot in a single shot (he didn’t succeed, but almost) and that is inspired by the real case of Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb. If you remember, everything revolves around a murder and some clues that lead to the culprit. Everything, narrated through a few sequence shots that take the viewer through the scene while an extraordinary acting work by James Stewart, John Dall, Farley Granger or Cedric Hardwicke unfolds before their eyes.
Paths of Glory (1957)
Kirk Douglas stars in this film directed by Stanley Kubrick that takes us to the First World War, when a squad leader must take responsibility for a failed attack by choosing four soldiers who, unfairly, will be shot accused of cowardice. Without a doubt, a moving film that brings us back to the horrors that any war causes.
Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
Otto Preminger directs James Stewart, Lee Remick, Ben Gazzara and George C. Scott in a thriller starring a married couple who go to a lawyer to prove the innocence of their husband, who is accused of the murder of an alleged rapist of his wife. The script has its origin in a real case that took place in 1952 and it is one of those films that keeps you glued to the couch until the last moment without really knowing what is going to happen.
All the President’s Men (1976)
The Watergate case was one of the triggers for the resignation of Richard Nixon in the 70s, so Alan J. Pakula’s film, starring Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman, takes us back to the year 1972, when two Washington Post journalists ( the legendary Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein), begin to investigate what seems more than just a simple raid on the offices of the Democratic Party headquarters.
Platoon (1986)
Oliver Stone, whom we already knew for his extraordinary film Wall Street , decides to put his memories of the Vietnam War at the service of cinema in a trilogy that begins with Platoon , continues with Born on the 4th of July and concludes with Heaven and Earth . Through his gaze we will discover the horrors of war and the consequences for many soldiers who fought in it. In this film we can enjoy extraordinary performances by Charlie Sheen, Tom Berenger and Willem Dafoe.
JFK (1991)
Oliver Store himself decides to revisit one of the most important assassinations of the 20th century. The one that took place on the streets of Dallas on November 22, 1963. The film adapts the investigations carried out by the New Orleans district attorney, Jim Garrison , who begins to discover inaccuracies and small clues that seem to point to the causes of the murder at an address other than the official one. Extraordinary the presence of Kevin Costner, Jack Lemon or Gary Oldman.
Schindler’s List (1993)
What to say about one of Steven Spielberg’s masterpieces. The film with which the Hollywood Academy surrendered to the director of ET The Extraterrestrial and which tells us the story of a German businessman who, in the midst of World War II, decides to risk his life and his position to save 1,200 Jews from extermination . A raw, brutal film that we should all see once in a lifetime to be aware of the magnitude of what happened with that “final solution” of Hitler.
The Dilemma (1999)
Michael Mann directs an extraordinary cast in a film that tells us about the excesses committed by the tobacco industry and how, seeing its traps discovered to prioritize money over health, it turns against those who want to bring to light the whole truth of those practices. It stars Al Pacino, Russell Crowe and Christopher Plummer.
Saving Private Ryan (1999)
Spielberg, sensitive to the traumatic period of the Second World War, makes the crudest and most savage portrait of what the beginning meant in Europe occupied by the Nazis. The film begins by recreating the Normandy landings in an extraordinary way and takes us to the interior of France, where a soldier is found who has lost his three brothers in the war. A group will go looking for him to return him home safe and sound. The story is inspired by a real case , although Steven Spielberg’s creative freedom will place the action in a different setting than the original, taking as a reference a case that at the time was known as that of the Niland brothers.
Thirteen Days (2000)
Roger Donaldson directs a film that tells us about the moment in history when the world was about to experience a nuclear confrontation between the US and the USSR. It was in October 1962, when the Kennedy Administration discovered that the Soviets were installing missiles in Cuba. Everything that happened in the White House, with the negotiations and tensions derived from that confrontation, will be evident while the world holds its breath. Declassified CIA documents and recordings made at the presidential building facilities were used to write the script.
City of God (2002)
A must-see film, directed by Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund, which takes us to daily life in a Brazilian Favela. There we will learn about the conditions in which thousands of people live and that stands out, not so much for what it tells, but for how it tells it, with a style that will be as strange as it is attractive. Give it a try because it will shock you.
United 93 (2006)
In the 9/11 attacks, of the four aircraft that were going to crash into targets on the ground, three achieved their goals and the fourth was United Flight 93. This shocking film recreates what happened on that plane where the passengers rebelled against his destiny to confront the kidnappers. The result was an accident in the open field that prevented a major tragedy and turned the protagonists of this story into heroes for an entire nation.
The Social Network (2010)
David Fincher directs the story of how Mark Zuckerberg founded Facebook through a script signed by Aaron Sorkin, which was inspired by the pages of the book The Accidental Billionaires by Ben Mezrich. Throughout all the footage of him we will discover what the personality of one of the richest men in the world is like and the decisions he made to make the idea of connecting millions of people a reality. Who has not seen this movie?
The Impossible (2012)
One of our best Spanish directors, Juan Antonio Bayona, directs this drama inspired by the misadventures of a Spanish family that was in Thailand during the Christmas tsunami of 2004. Starring Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor and a very young Tom Holland, we will live in first person the destructive power of nature and how chance sometimes marks our destinies.
Dunkirk (2017)
Christopher Nolan left superheroes and science fiction movies aside for a moment to focus on one of the most remembered episodes of World War II. The evacuation of the allied army that was cornered on the beaches of Dunkirk, France. The story, based on real events, unfolds through the eyes of the soldiers waiting on land, the aviators who fly over the coast and the crews of the ships that go to meet them. A film that you must see…compulsory.
The Dreyfuss Affair (2019)
Roman Polanski transforms into a film one of the biggest scandals experienced in the French army between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th. The so-called “Dreyfuss case”, the story of an officer who, in January 1895, is discovered spying for Germany and sent to serve a life sentence on Devil’s Island. Although soon what seems obvious, it will not be so.