11 of the best films based on true events and the changes made by their directors

Every film director’s goal in making a film is to triumph at the box office, and if he claims that it is “based on real events,” he most likely succeeds in ensuring that the viewer is stuck with the screen. The fact that it is based on reality creates a certain curiosity and intrigue, which makes us want to see this movie before others. But are these productions always faithful to the real story?

At the awesome.club we reveal certain changes that have been made to some of the best movies based on true events.

This production tells the story of a plane crash that happened to the Uruguayan rugby team, Old Christians Club, in 1972. According to Antonio Vizintín (a survivor), there is a huge difference between the film and reality. If the facts had been kept to the letter, the film would have been boring for the viewer, as it seemed that time did not pass and the protagonists did exactly the same thing every day. For this reason, the director dramatized the story to excite and engage the audience.

There were also some scenes that are not true, like one in which the survivors burn boxes and guitars, or others in which there is light, since, as the survivors say, there were no lights in the mountains. Also, in the movie, the arrival of the rescue helicopters comes as an unexpected surprise, while in reality they were already prepared for the rescue, as they learned by radio.

Starring Russell Crowe, the film tells the true story of Nobel laureate in economics, John Forbes Nash, but adding to it some facts that weren’t real. Nash did not give a speech when he received the Nobel Prize in Economics, contrary to what is shown on screens. He also did not work or participate in the Department of Defense in real life. In addition, the film production shows him as the figure of an exemplary father, when, in fact, he had a son, the result of an out-of-wedlock relationship, and he never assumed it.

The protagonist of the pianist’s real story, Wladyalaw Szpilman, claims in his memoirs that he was born and spent his entire life in Warsaw. However, the streets that appear in the film are filmed in Krakow. In this case, the changes were of a mandatory nature, as Hitler’s invaders had devastated the Warsaw ghetto and the entire Polish capital. Polanski had to reproduce the capital’s Old Town, based on the paintings that the Italian painter Canaletto created on the streets of Warsaw.

In reality, the protagonist of the story, Philippe Pozzo di Borgo, was married to a wealthy heiress when he suffered the accident that left him in a wheelchair. His wife died three years later, however the film places her death before the accident. The couple adopted two children, who are out of the story and do not appear in the production. The ending doesn’t correspond to reality either: Philippe moved to live in Morocco, where he found his new love, a young Moroccan woman, single mother and two daughters. Finally, Abdel Yasmin Sellou, a former employee hired to take care of the aristocrat, is not of Senegalese origin, as the film says, but Algerian.

This is one of the most true-to-life movies based on real events. In this case, reality even trumps fiction. There is no need to add anything to hook the viewer from the first minute. The real characters, Frank Morris and brothers Clarence and John Anglin, managed to escape from Alcatraz prison. It was never known for sure whether or not they survived, but as time passed, a letter purportedly written by Anglin appeared in which he says that the three of them managed to survive.

The film was shot in the royal prison on Alcatraz, although the protagonists’ cells were not the ones the real characters used. The ones you see on the screen belong to sector C, while the authentic ones were from sector B. If you visit this prison, you can still see the hole they escaped through and the paper and plaster heads they made to leave in their places. .

God’s city it is, like the previous one, a real story that goes beyond fiction. Even the characters are authentic inhabitants of this favela and not actors. So much so that one of the film’s protagonists, Ivanzinho, has become one of the most wanted bandits in Rio de Janeiro.

The only change made was that the film was not shot in the Cidade de Deus favela, as this represented a risk for the production. To avoid the possible consequences, it was decided to select a less dangerous area: Cidade Alta.

The most drastic change is that, in real life, the story takes place in Tokyo, not the United States. Another script change was the cause of death of Professor Hidesaburo Ueno, who actually dies of a brain hemorrhage, not a heart attack, as in the film. Finally, the dog Hachiko, the story’s undisputed protagonist, was intentionally purchased by the professor, and not found at the station as portrayed in the film.

Aron Ralston, protagonist of this terrible story, stated that the film is so accurate that it is close to a documentary, and that there are few changes made to this story. One of them appears in the first few scenes, when Ralston encounters two walkers. In reality, he only showed some climbing techniques and not a hidden pond as it appears in the movie.

In the real story, Chris Gardner’s son was still a baby, while in the movie he was changed to a 5-year-old boy. This adds drama to the situation as we can see the child’s feelings and thoughts throughout the story. Another of the changes made by the director was that, in the film, Chris’ practices at the prestigious brokerage were not remunerated, contrary to reality.

In reality, protagonist Frank Abagnale never saw his father after running away from home. However, Spielberg added that reunion, thus addressing the theme of the father’s pride in seeing his son in a pilot’s uniform and Frank’s need to always please him. Another of the director’s changes resides in the protagonist’s escape, since, when they return from France to the United States, Abagnale escapes through the back of a Boeing 737 and not through the bathroom, as in the film.

The film tells the true story of figure skater Tonya Harding and her rivalry with her partner Nancy Kerrigan. In January 1994, her ex-husband attacked Tonya’s strongest rival, teammate Nancy Kerrigan. Although Tonya denied her involvement in the assault, she was convicted of covering up for her husband and bodyguard and banned forever from skating. So while the film is positioned in Tonya’s favor, different points of view also appear depending on the character. In this way, it is up to the viewer to position himself and decide which version to believe.

Whether to please the viewer, to be more successful at the box office or because conditions demand it, we cannot trust that absolutely all the content of a film based on real events is true.

And you, do you know any other movies based on real events that stray from the true story?