A biopic is a cinematic work inspired by facts and a real person. On December 9, 2020, Netflix released a new one, and returns to the mythical history of the Isle of the Rose during a feature film by Sydney Sibilia. After seeing this film, my thoughts went straight to various films inspired by a true story…Let's go back together on these best films that have marked our minds!
1. Into the Wild: A Biopic About Carefree Youth
Let's start this list with a tragic film by Sean Penn, released in 2007. It is the adaptation of the story Journey to the End of Solitude, written by Jon Krakauer in 1996. The pitch can be summed up as follows: a young graduate, Christopher, leaves a life mapped out to reconnect with nature. Christopher McCandless (played by Emile Hirsch) gets rid of all his belongings by burning them, donates all his savings and decides to leave bundle in hand. He leaves for the south of the United States, without even telling his family, demonstrating his carefree side. He goes through various adventures during his adventure: meeting with a couple of hippies, a young woman and a young retiree, work on a more or less unhealthy farm, descent on the Colorado to Mexico. But it is at the end of the journey, once arrived in an incredible nature in the middle of the forests of Alaska, that the story becomes interesting. He finds an abandoned bus, which he transforms into a house and finally finds himself really alone and far from everything and everyone… It is then the beginning of a realistic phase, where he realizes that life is more interesting when you share it. He survives many adventures (fight, arrest, river descent …), and it is ultimately a small bay that will poison him and kill him slowly… This film is a life lesson about rebellious, carefree and above all eternally dissatisfied youth. The character has confused haste and adventure, desperate to live an extraordinary life and he meets a sad, lonely and long death.
2. Elephant Man: A Deeply Human Biopic
Elephant Man, a film released in 1980 and directed by David Lynch, will revolutionize and mark society. The story takes place in London in 1884 where the surgeon Frederick Treves discovers a completely disfigured and deformed man, who has become a fair attraction for the people: John Merrick. Throughout the film he is nicknamed "Elephant Man" because of the incident suffered by his mother: several months pregnant, she is run over by an elephant. This encounter between the doctor and "the monster" allows John Merrick to be bought and leave this violent and humiliating environment. At first, Treves thinks he's just an idiot, a retarded person to be precise… but over time he realizes that Merrick is simply a wounded man, very intelligent and endowed with a very great sensitivity. He is then installed in the hospital where the surgeon takes care of him and wishes to integrate him into society. But one of the guards secretly organizes paid meetings at night for the bourgeois wishing to see Elephant Man for tea. Two cult phrases marked the film: "I am not an animal, I am a human being" and "You are the monster! " when the doctor discovers the guard's traffic. The film is based on the opposition between physical appearance and personality. People with normal physique who come to observe the difference of Elephant Man end up being monsters themselves throughout the story. This classic remains as touching as ever after all these years thanks to the hard-hitting characters and this unique scenario with such a strong social message.
3. The Untouchables : A Touching Biopic
A French film that has toured the world? Intouchables, directed by Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano , was released in 2011 and met with immediate success. A quadriplegic makes an unexpected encounter with an ex-prisoner: Driss is a young man from the city, sent by the Pôle Emploi for an interview with Philippe, a rich disabled man who needs a health assistant. At the time of their meeting it is the clash of cultures, but this naturalness and spontaneity in Driss finally pleases his employer. The story begins when Driss is hired, on condition that he returns the Fabergé egg he had stolen during the interview, and it is then an almost brotherly relationship that is created between the two. Driss then moves in with Philippe and takes his work very seriously, but always with joy and good humor throughout the day. At first, his presence greatly disturbed Philippe's entourage, who quickly made the amalgam between poverty and delinquency. Driss is a stranger to this environment, these customs and these norms, but he manages to integrate and change certain mentalities. The expression "the habit does not make the monk" represents the predominant message of the film: we must not dwell on stereotypes.
4. Donnie Brasco : an action biopic
A 1997 film directed by Mike Newell, it tells the story of Joseph D. Pistone, an FBI agent who infiltrated the Bonanno family, one of the five New York Mafia families in the late 1970s. FBI agent Joe Pistone (played by Johnny Depp) calls himself Donnie Brasco for his cover and becomes an expert diamond collector. This intelligent character quickly gets closer to an important person, Lefty (played by the great Al Pacino), a member of the mafia in New York who will change his life. Lefty has been working for the gang for a long time, he has never been promoted, he suffers from testicular cancer and his son is a drug addict… In other words, he is a man full of regrets wishing to change the course of his life. That's why he takes Donnie under his wing, and trains him to become a true partner, strong and courageous. Gradually, Donnie proves himself and earns his place in the clan of Sonny Black (Michael Madsen). But Donnie finds it increasingly difficult to separate things: he gives less and less news to the FBI and considers Lefty really a trusted friend. His character of Donnie Brasco ends up taking precedence over his identity. This film demonstrates how someone's personality can be altered and shaped based on different factors. The environment, pressure, orders and feelings of friendship can be hard to manage when playing a role.
5. Invictus : a biopic of revolution
This cult film by Clint Eastwood released in 2009 received very good reviews and allowed Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon to get an Oscar (best actor and best supporting actor). It chronicles events in South Africa before and during the 1995 Rugby World Cup, when Nelson Mandela and Francois Pienaar, the captain of the South African team, hope to unify their country and bring people together. But the economic crisis, crime and racial tensions make this task tumultuous and complicated. The Springboks, a predominantly white team, were the emblem of segregation in South Africa for several years; the black community then revolted and asked Nelson Mandela to dissolve the team. It is in a committed and poignant speech that he brings everyone together by imposing his position and the maintenance of the Springboks. Finally, Nelson Mandela transmits to the captain of the Springboks a poem by William Ernest Henley, where a sentence sums up the philosophy of this film: " I'm the master of my fate, I'm the captain of my soul. ("I am the master of my destiny, I am the captain of my soul. ")
6. I love you Phillip Morris: a romantic biopic
It was also in 2009 that the film I love You Phillip Morris, directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, was released. The story is inspired by the life of con artist Steven Jay Russell, played by the talented Jim Carrey who makes us go through all the emotions. It all starts with a boring and meaningless life for Steven, a police officer who spends his time searching for his biological mother and lives in Virginia Beach with his wife Debbie (played by Leslie Mann). He does not seem to have any passion or pleasure in this life, nor in his relationships, as shown by the practically non-existent relationship with his wife. Following a car accident, having seen death up close, he decides to take his life and especially his happiness in hand. He then decides to leave everything to live in Miami, where he quickly meets a boyfriend (played by Rodrigo Santoro). He embarks on the dark business of scams of all kinds to live a flamboyant life he has always dreamed of, but this paradise is short-lived because he is caught and sent to prison. He then meets Phillip Morris (Ewan McGregor), with whom he will forge a fusional relationship… Between moments of joy, violence, and intense sadness, this film transports us with its frank emotions and this undeniable love for life.
7. City of God : A Social Biopic
In 2002, Fernando Meirelles and Katia Lund directed City of God, a film adaptation of the novel of the same name, written by Brazilian author Paulo Lins in 1997. In this film, we follow the life of the narrator (Buscapé), a young man who wants to become a photographer, in the City of God, a violent neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro in the 1960s to 1970s. Buscapé then gives a testimony on the evolution of his neighborhood throughout the film, photographing gangs, violence, drug trafficking and his friends who do not follow the same path as him. The trio Ternura, founded by his brother Marreco, Cabeleira and Alicante, made the law in the streets, creating many altercations during the film… until a fatal end for the members of this group. A real life lesson on cities and violent neighborhoods in disadvantaged countries, this film provides a testimony of those years.
8. Persepolis: a poignant biopic
Wonderful French animated film directed by Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud, released in France in 2007.He takes over the autobiographical comic strip of Marjane Satrapi. At the Cannes Film Festival, the film won the Jury Prize ex aequo with Silent Light by Calors Reygadas. The screenplay begins in 1978 in Tehran where eight-year-old Marjane thinks about her future and dreams of herself as a heroine saving the world. She lives in an environment filled with love with open-minded and cultured parents, and a grandmother with whom she is particularly close and loves to debate. When she was little, she followed from afar, but with exaltation, all the political events that would lead to the revolution and the fall of the Shah's regime. Unfortunately, it is the Islamic Republic that is then set up and then begins the era of dress and behavioral repression, with police controlling citizens. Marjane discovers that she must now wear the veil, but this does not prevent her from dreaming of herself as a revolutionary. She grew up in Iran in a complicated context with the war against Iraq, leading to bombings and disappearances of her relatives. The government is becoming increasingly harsh, and its political positions are becoming a problem and a risk to its security. Her parents decided to send her to Austria to protect her from the hostile climate in Iran at that time. Her story continues in Vienna where, at the age of 14, she encounters a second great revolution: adolescence with the changing body, the discovery of love, but also friendship, wickedness … Later she returns to Iran, gets married and discovers the monotonous life of a married woman. Marjane touches us deeply by telling all the adventures of her youth that led her to France. This animated film is a testimony of Iranian history as well as a hymn to life.
9. La Môme : a testimonial biopic
In 2007, Olivier Dahan decided to make a film on the iconic life of Edith Piaf, with the aim of retracing a portrait and especially a destiny of an exceptional woman with a bewitching voice. Edith Piaf is not only a singer in the eyes of some, it is a symbol of France, a myth that has devoted all its soul to the song, and which unfortunately has not been spared by the blows of fate. A colossal and meticulous research work was put in place for several years to reconstruct and find all the information on Paris in the 30s and 40s. And the research has paid off: the film has a timeless character since it follows the singer's entire life: her poor childhood, her complicated beginnings in the world of song, her unhappy love stories, her fusional friendships, her illness and especially her entire career, from her rise to the end. Marion Cotillard's interpretation is of an astonishing accuracy and resemblance: it pays tribute to a complete artist who fought until the end of her life.
10. The Pianist: a moving biopic
In my opinion, 2002, the best film about the Second World War, The Pianist, produced by Roman Polanski, was released. It is an adaptation of the autobiographical novel by Wladyslaw Szpilman (a famous Polish-Jewish pianist), a work censored for years by the communists. Wladyslaw Szpilman, aged 28, had to live under Nazi occupation and in 1941 was taken to the Warsaw ghetto to discover the suffering and humiliation of the Jews. He managed to escape deportation, unlike his family, who left for concentration camps. At first he worked for the Germans, which allowed him to gain some power and take refuge as soon as he could outside the ghetto thanks to a Polish friend. He saw the revolution of the Jews of the ghetto, in the spring of 1943, from his small apartment where he was hidden. He quickly changed refuge because the authorities were looking for him, but the building where he went was then bombed by the Germans in August 1944. Finding himself fleeing into the ruins, it is a German music lover officer enjoying his music that finally helps him survive until liberation in 1945. Once the war was over, and peace returned, he resumed his work on the radio. This autobiographical film traces an important period in history, and shows the complexity of human psychology in times of war. So much for this top 10 that I hope you will like. It brings together the films that have marked me the most, but maybe you are also thinking of other films… And you, what are your favorite films inspired by true stories? Come read our latest top on the best movies released in 2020 according to the editors JustFocus here !
