Category Archives: True Story

2020, Acceptable for teenagers, Acceptable Science, Amazon Prime, Biographical, French Culture, Mother-daughter relations, Thought provoking, Tragedy, True Story, WWI

Radioactive (2020)

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From IMDB:

Pioneer – Rebel – Genius. Radioactive is incredible, true-story of Marie Sklodowska-Curie and her Nobel Prize-winning work that changed the world starring Rosamund Pike and Sam Riley.

From Amazon Prime you can stream this 1 hour 49 minute complete film.

Rosamund PIke does a wonderful job of presenting a passionate, proud, intelligent woman whose efforts to do science must always come up against the prevailing male chauvinist culture of her time (born 1904, died July 4, 1934).

Several themes run through the film: male chauvinism, her loving marriage to Pierre Curie, their achievements in science, her strongly self-assertive personality, the dangers of radioactivity, and the anti-semitic anti-Polish French people who did not understand that Marie was a Catholic.

Many visual effects are used throughout the film, some of which can be a bit over the top.  But the appearance of scenes that occurred after her death emphasize the dangerous side of radioactivity are a chilling reminder: casual audiences watching atomic tests in the U.S. desert,  Hiroshima at the moment of the atomic bomb blast, and the disaster at Chernobyl.

Marie used her influence and political savvy to place X-ray machines onto the WWI French battlefield in order to avoid all the unnecessary amputations that were taking place.

Marie, Pierre, and their daughter Irene all received Nobel prizes. Pierre was run over by a horse-drawn carriage. Marie died of the leukemia brought on by exposure to radioactivity.  When Kathy and I were young we used to play on and use the foot X-ray machines that were in shoe stores at the time.

Hope you watch this really worthwhile biographical film.

2019, Abduction, Abuse of Women, Amazon Prime, Binge worthy, British Mystery Series, Cold Cases, Courtroom scenes, DO NOT MISS, Forensics, Murder Trial, Police Culture, Police Politics, Prostitutes, Serial Killer, Trial Scenes, True Story, Unhappy Marriage

A Confession (2019)

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From IMDB:

Detective Superintendent Steve Fulcher intends on catching a killer of a missing woman, even if that may cost him his career and reputation.

From Amazon Prime you can stream the 6 episodes of this true  one season British TV crime story. Each episode lasts about 45 minutes.

Using carefully researched material, this series documents a true, riveting, and frustratingly sad case in which DS Steve Fulcher of the Wiltshire police district successfully finds a serial killer only to have his career destroyed because he made a brave and clever decision that did not completely follow guidelines.

Do not be put off by the word “documentary” because this series is a very well done enactment that is anything but a presentation of dry facts.  All the characters come to life in moments of grief, anger, loneliness and love.   Wiltshire police department concern with public relations is maddening and, thanks to this series, fully exposed.

Once again there are many familiar British actors:

  • For me the biggest surprise was the appearance of the actor Joe Absolom who plays the serial killer Christopher Halliwell.  You may recognize him as the young man Al Large who was the son of the very LARGE Bert Large in Doc Martin.  He seems so much older in “Confession” and plays the part of a clever, intelligent but stricken serial killer very well.
  • Siobhan Finneran (who plays Elaine Pickford) played Clare Cartwright in the wonderfully unhappy series Happy Valley. Her acting resumé is enormous.
  • Imelda Staunton (who plays Karen Edwards) is another seasoned British actor with a huge resumé.  Her role as the abortionist Vera Drake was remarkable.

Sorry for the “Do Not Miss” inflation, but DO NOT MISS!

2018, Amazon Prime, Amusing banter, Based on true facts, British, British Comedy, British Politics, Career Competition, Comedy, Conspiracy, Contract Killing, Courtroom scenes, Drama, Eccentric cast of characters, Explicit sexual discussion, Extramarital Affair, Farce, Gay theme, Homophobia, Lot's of Fun, Mother-son relations, Murder, Personal Betrayal, Sex Scenes, True Story, Witty dialog

A Very English Scandal (2018)

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From Amazon Prime:

The shocking true story of the first British politician to stand trial for conspiracy to murder. Jeremy Thorpe (Hugh Grant), the leader of the Liberal party, has a secret he’s desperate to hide. His ex-lover Norman Scott (Ben Whishaw) is putting Thorpe’s brilliant political career at risk so Thorpe schemes and deceives until he realizes there’s only one way to silence Scott for good.

From Amazon Prime you can stream a true one-season drama divided into 3 one hour episodes.

Recall that in 1967 Britain decriminalized homosexual acts between two men over 21 years of age. This true story takes place before and after that year, which influences how the characters behave. Do not be alarmed. Although the entire story centers around homosexuality in the British culture and law, the only sexual activity you will see is men kissing each other.

This drama is a COMEDY. You have to appreciate the restraint of British humor. Characters will say or plan outrageous events with a perfectly straight face.  Two characters will commit conspiracy to murder without showing emotion. But much of the time,  it is  tongue in cheek. Sometimes I had to laugh out loud.

Certain actors stand out:

  • An ageing Hugh Grant (he looks to me much older than his 58 years)  plays Jeremy Thorpe the plotting politician.  His facial expressions show him to be an accomplished actor.
  • Ben Whishaw plays the somewhat flamboyant Norman Scott who tends to break into tears now and then. He won a golden globe award for his role.
  • Alex Jennings is Jeremy’s best friend and co-conspirator. His 61 years also show. He played King Leopold in Victoria and also played Dr. Tim Finch in Unforgotten.

At the very end you get to see the photographs of the actual persons involved and how their lives turned out.  Norman Scott is still alive.

It is a HOOT!

 

2017, Acceptable for teenagers, Airline pilot, Boating, British History, Docudrama, Father-son relations, French Soldiers, Grim, Human spirit, Mental Illness, Military, Navy, Sea Rescue, Suspense, True Story, War

Dunkirk (2017)

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From IMDB:

Allied soldiers from Belgium, the British Empire and France are surrounded by the German Army, and evacuated during a fierce battle in World War II.

British Airways offered this film along with subtitles.

Dunkirk is famous for the heroism of the small British boats that came to the rescue of the surrounded allied soldiers. In this regard I hope you can someday read the beautiful short story “The Snow Goose”.

HOWEVER, this particular film, far from any romanticizing, shows all the horror and death associated with the Dunkirk rescue. There were also large rescue ships. But several ships and passengers perished. Sometimes a sinking ship left a cover of oil on the water which then caught fire and burned soldiers to death. All in all, the scenes are difficult to watch.

As a human-interest note in the film, one British small boat owner and his sons are featured. Along the way they rescue a shell-shocked soldier, further showing the horror of war.

Also featured are the British pilots who tried to battle the German planes that came to bomb the marooned soldiers.

Inspiring, terrifying, but worth the watch.

2016, Acceptable for children, Adopted child, Australian, Based on true facts, Biographical, Brother-Brother relations, Could Be Sad, Culture of India, DO NOT MISS, Drama, Drugs, Feel Good For All, Love Story, Mental Illness, Missing Person, Mother-son relations, Netflix DVD, True Story, Wonderful acting

Lion (2016)

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From IMDB:

A five-year-old Indian boy gets lost on the streets of Calcutta, thousands of kilometers from home. He survives many challenges before being adopted by a couple in Australia. 25 years later, he sets out to find his lost family.

Netflix sent me a DVD containing this film.

Goose flesh films are rare for me, but this true story really worked for me.  Imagine having your 5-year-old child getting lost and then disappearing.  Imagine being that poor child Saroo who grows up in his adopting and loving Australian family while always wondering where his real mother and brother Guddu are.  This nagging compulsion finally drives Saroo away from his Australian family as well as from his wife Lucy while he plods on day and night using Google World to find his birthplace. Of course we know the story has a happy ending, but getting there is a tense trip.

Expect the film to be somewhat slow moving. Much film time is spent inside Saroo’s head as he more and more remembers bits and pieces of his past childhood. Present stimuli bring back past memories.

Some important characters are:

  • Nicole Kidman is superb as Sue Brierly, Saroo’s adoptive mother. Nicole Kidman just keeps maturing into a better and better actor.
  • Dev Patel makes the perfect Saroo. Does it seem possible that just 8 years ago, Dev Patel played the older Jamal in “Slumdog Millionaire”?
  • Rooney Mara is an appealing and sympathetic Lucy. How different she is here as compared to her role as Lisbeth Salander in the 2011 production of “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”.

Patience is a virtue in watching this film. Be sure to stay tuned at the end to read subsequent history and to see photos of the real Saroo and all the other people in his life.

DO NOT MISS!

2016, Acceptable for children, Based on true facts, Black History, Car Chase, Civil Rights, DO NOT MISS, Feel Good For All, Human spirit, Interest in automobiles, Lawyers, Netflix DVD, Race Relations, Racism, Slow, Supreme Court, Thought provoking, True Story

Loving (2016)

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From IMDB:

The story of Richard and Mildred Loving, a couple whose arrest for interracial marriage in 1960s Virginia began a legal battle that would end with the Supreme Court’s historic 1967 decision.

Netflix sent me a DVD for this film.

Not only was the topic of historic importance, but the film was done beautifully. Jeff Nichols wrote and directed and, I assume, chose the perfect actors. Wikipedia gives much information, especially a discussion of the characters of Richard Loving, Mildred Loving, and a very understanding description by Nichols of the sheriff. And yes, my own family and friends also included many racists.

Ruth Negga was fine as Mildred Loving, but to it was Joel Edgerton’s presentation of Richard Loving that was so perfectly matched to a description in the Wikipedia article:

“Richard Loving was indeed as stoic as Nichols and Edgerton portray him; the small rural Virginia community in which they lived was (and is) highly racially integrated; Mildred Loving really did write directly to Robert Kennedy, and her letter is still in the Kennedy collection; and the Lovings lawyer really did, per Richard’s request, relay his words before the Supreme Court that “I love my wife.””[

Sad to tell, I was especially tense watching the film, although there is no violence. At any moment I was sure some KKK thug was going to somehow attack the family. When the film came to such a happy conclusion, I breathed a sigh of relief. Be sure to read the concluding screen postscript.

DO NOT MISS!

2016, Acceptable Science, Astronauts, Based on a Book, Based on true facts, Black History, Civil Rights, Docudrama, Human spirit, Love Story, Mathematician, NASA, Netflix DVD, Race Relations, Racism, True Story

Hidden Figures (2016)

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From IMDB:

The story of a team of African-American women mathematicians who served a vital role in NASA during the early years of the US space program.

For a synopsis of the film read the Wikipedia account.  Recall that the events take place in the 1960’s and that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 supposedly ended racial segregation. If anything, this film is exactly about racial segregation in the government. For example, the main character, Katherine Goble, worked in a NASA building which had no bathroom for non-whites so that in order to go the bathroom, she had to leave her building and travel to another building.  Black Katherine’s calculations were project-saving whereas white John Glen received all the admiration. Be sure to read the final screen notes which explain how Kathering was finally honored. For example, to quote Wikipedia:

In 2015, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and a new 40,000-square-foot Computational Research Facility at the Langley Research Center was renamed the Katherine G. Johnson Computational Research Facility in her honor the following year.[

Here the facts are more important than the entertainment value of the film.

 

2016, Action Film, Action Hero, Adventure, Based on a Book, Based on true facts, Coast Guard, Docudrama, Drama, Love Story, Sea Rescue, Suspense, True Story

The Finest Hours (2016)

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From IMDB:

The Coast Guard makes a daring rescue attempt off the coast of Cape Cod after a pair of oil tankers are destroyed during a blizzard in 1952.

Those of you familiar with Cape Cod in Massachusetts may feel a personal connection with this gripping reenactment of a Coast Guard rescue off Chatham harbor. From the Wikipedia article comes this quote:

The Finest Hours is a 2016 American historical disaster drama–thriller film directed by Craig Gillespie and produced by Walt Disney Pictures. The screenplay, written by Eric Johnson, Scott Silver, and Paul Tamasy, is based on The Finest Hours: The True Story of the U.S. Coast Guard’s Most Daring Sea Rescue by Michael J. Tougias and Casey Sherman. The film stars Chris Pine, Casey Affleck, Ben Foster, Holliday Grainger, John Ortiz, and Eric Bana, and chronicles the true account of the 1952 United States Coast Guard rescue of the SS Pendleton, after it split apart during a nor’easter off the New England coast.[

Do not be put off by the start of the film where Bernie Webber (played by Chris Pines) begins his romance with his wife to be, Miriam (played by Holliday Grainger). Much of the film is involved with this romance.

More than any other theme, the notion of true leadership plays an important part. For the rescue to succeed Bernie Webber risked his life while at times disobeying orders. Equally important was the fact that Ray Sybert (played by Casey Affleck) had to transform himself from a super expert reclusive naval engineer geek into a leader after the tanker split in half.

Try to read the final screen notes, but the Wikipedia article also helps.

Just the harrowing scenes of the rescue  in a raging sea make watching this film an exciting adventure.

1154, Abduction, Acorn TV, Adultery, Ambitious Dirty Tricks, Bloody scenes, British, British History, Bullying, Conspiracy, Contract Killing, Could Be Hard To Watch, Father-son relations, Grisly, Mayhem, Military, Mother-son relations, Murder, Prison, Religious Theme, Revenge, Sex Scenes, Suspense, Torture, True Story, Unscrupulous drive to power, Violent, War

Plantagenets (1154-1399)

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From Acorn TV:

Out of the chaos, darkness, and violence of the Middle Ages, one family seizes control of England, holding onto power and ruthlessly crushing all competition for more than 300 years. They are the Plantagenets.

If you subscribe to Acorn TV and are a fan of British history, you may well love this 4 episode series streamable from Acorn TV.  The title of the series is really “Britain’s Bloodiest Dynasty”. Each episode lasts 45 minutes.  Contents are as follows:

  • Henry II who kills Becket.
  • Henry III battles Simon de Montfort.
  • Edward II lets his obsessions lead him to ruin.
  • Richard II puts down the Peasant Revolt and launches a reign of terror until his cousin Henry Bolinbroke defeats him to become Henry IV the first of the Lancaster dynasty in 1399.

So think of the Plantagenets as running from 1150 to 1400. They spoke French (except when the vicious Richard II lied to the Peasant Revolt in English). Henry IV was the first king in 300 years (that is to say, after the Norman conquest of 1066) to use English.

These episodes are more than mere lectures. Because they are dramatized they become more memorable. Nothing presented is fictional. Children should probably not watch these episodes because the Plantagents were ruthless savages that used torture and murder to achieve their ambitious ends.

Stories as chilling as they are fascinating.

 

Catholic Church Corruption, Catholic culture, Child abuse, Docudrama, Emotional child abuse, Gay theme, Pedophilia, Priest Pedophiles, Suspense, True Story

Spotlight (2015)

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From IMDB:

The true story of how the Boston Globe uncovered the massive scandal of child molestation and cover-up within the local Catholic Archdiocese, shaking the entire Catholic Church to its core.

For more than 2 hours Kathy and I sat glued to the screen waiting to see if the Boston Globe could get the goods on Cardinal Law. We here in Boston have a more immediate connection with the proceedings and can better appreciate the Omertà (Italian for “conspiracy of silence”) that was Catholic Boston and especially South Boston.  Would the film have been so compelling if the plot had been merely fiction? In my opinion, it is the sad truth of the situation that makes the viewing so powerful. On the other hand, the film could have been poorly done and could have become a boring sermon. Instead the entire construction is flawless. Some Catholics to this day cannot bring themselves to watch this film.

There are NO sex scenes in the film.

When the film is over, be sure to stay for the follow-up history that appears on the screen.  You will be horrified. For example, you will learn that the Pope rewarded Cardinal Law with a prestigious position in Rome which Law resigned when he (Law) reached 80 years of age. If you read the Wikipedia article, you will read:

In May 2012 MSNBC reported that Law was “the person in Rome most forcefully supporting” the Vatican response to Baltimore Archbishop William E. Lori‘s petition to investigate and crack down on the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, a large group of American nuns seeking a greater role in the Church.

According to mere word of mouth, Law once bragged he would be the first American pope. Instead he will probably be canonized as the “Patron Saint of Pedophiles.”

For me one striking visual experience was my trying to recognize the aging male actors from earlier films and TV shows (Rachel McAdams is too young to have changed much) :

  • Mark Ruffalo as Mike Rezendes still looks reasonably young.
  • Michael Keaton as Walter Robinson  is a far cry from his character in “Beetlejuice”.
  • Liev Schreiber as soft-spoken Marty Baron completely fooled me with his beard.
  • John Slattery as Ben Bradlee will always be one of the senior partners from “Mad Men”.
  • Will you recognize Stanley Tucci as the eccentric Mitchell Grabedian?
  • Jamey Sheridan as Jim Sullivan in the past played Captain James Deakins in “Law & Order: Criminal Intent”. But do not miss him in “Handsome Harry“.
  • Paul Guilfoyle as Pete Conely will always be Capt. Jim Brass in “CSI”.
  • Do you suppose Len Criou (who plays Henry Reagan in “Blue Bloods”) was embarrassed to play Cardinal Law?

DO NOT MISS this film to remember.