Impress everyone: a selection of films based on real-life extraordinary stories

Films based on real events have a special significance because they immerse you not in a fictional world, but in stories that actually happened. Whether it's a biography, historical drama or classic success story, these films impress, inspire and turn dry facts that could be found in various sources into emotional and relatable stories.

OBOZ.UA publishes a list of the best films based on real events. These are deep, authentic and honest stories about truth, choice, values and strength of spirit.

Hacksaw Ridge

• Genre: biography, war drama.
• Starring: Andrew Garfield, Sam Worthington, Teresa Palmer.
• IMDb rating: 8.1.

The drama directed by Mel Gibson tells the story of a certain ideological "evader" who lived during the Second World War.

Desmond Thomas Doss professed a faith and principles that forbid him to even touch a weapon. But the strange thing is that this did not prevent him from voluntarily joining the army. Desmond had to go through all the stages of "hazing" and bullying in the army, because few people understood his values. Desmond became a field medic and proved his courage during the storming of Okinawa.

The Green Book

• Genre: biography, drama.
• Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Mahershala Ali, Linda Cardellini.
• IMDb rating: 8.2.

"The Green Book is called a biographical road movie. The director is Peter Farrelly. The action takes place in the 1960s, New York. Tony Lip Vallelonga (Viggo Mortensen), who has a reputation as a tough guy, suddenly loses his job. He is hired as a driver and bodyguard by Don Shirley, a talented African-American pianist. In the days of segregation, they have to travel to the South of the United States, but for African Americans, such trips are impossible without a green card.

Mr. Jones

• Genre: biographical drama.
• Starring: James Norton, Vanessa Kirby, Peter Sarsgaard.
• IMDb rating: 6.9.

This Polish-Ukrainian film is based on real events. The plot centers on the story of reporter Gareth Jones, who traveled to the USSR in 1933 and saw the horrors of the Holodomor with his own eyes, which was then commonly kept silent. For the first time, Gareth told the world about the terrible genocide of the Ukrainian people.

A Million Miles Away

• Genre: biography, drama.
• Starring: Michael Pina, Rosa Salazar, Julio Cesar Cedillo.
• IMDb rating: 7.3.

An ordinary boy from a family of agricultural workers works in the fields for nine months of the year, doing hard labor. But he has a dream. He wants to become an astronaut. The story is based on the true story of American astronaut Jose Hernandez. Jose proved that nothing is impossible. He applied to NASA 13 times until he was accepted for training. Jose made his first flight on the space shuttle Discovery at the age of 47.

La sociedad de la nieve

• Genre: biography, adventure, thriller.
• Starring: Augusto Pardella, Francisco Romero.
• IMDb rating: 8.0.

The plot of the movie can be described in two words: hunger and snow. Spanish director Juan Antonio Bayona made the film about the real story of the Uruguayan rugby team.

On October 13, 1972, Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 crashed into a mountain while flying over the Andes Mountains. 12 of the 45 people on board died in the crash. Another 5 died on the first night from wounds and cold. There were no winter clothes or food, and the night temperature on the mountain slopes reached 30 degrees below zero. The victims hoped for help, but no one could find them in the remote mountainous area. The survivors were forced to make difficult choices.

Woman in Gold

• Genre: biography, historical drama.
• Starring: Helen Mirren, Ryan Reynolds, Daniel Brühl, Katie Holmes.
• IMDb rating: 7.3.

The story of Gustav Klimt's famous painting Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer. It is one of the most significant works of Austrian Art Nouveau.

It all begins in 1903, when the "sugar king" Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer commissioned the artist Gustav Klimt to paint a portrait of his wife Adele. During World War II, Adele's portrait and other paintings from the Bloch-Bauer estate were confiscated by the Nazis.

In the early 2000s, Maria Altman (Helen Mirren), a niece of Adele Bloch-Bauer who remembers her aunt and survived the war, wants to return a portrait belonging to her family, but faces fierce opposition from the Austrian government. Lawyer Randall Schoenberg (Ryan Reynolds) will try to understand the intricacies of the law.

The Walk

• Genre: adventure, biography, drama.
• Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ben Kingsley, Charlotte Le Bon.
• IMDb rating: 7.3.

A unique event happened on August 7, 1974. It was the so-called "artistic crime of the century". An unknown daredevil walked an incredible 450 meters on a rope stretched between the Twin Towers in New York without any insurance.

This is the story of Philippe Petit, a French street tightrope walker who stayed on the rope for 45 minutes and walked between the towers eight times, periodically dropping to one knee and even lying down on the cable.

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