I will admit shamelessly that I seem to live my life through the lens of a camera.
No, I don’t mean that every event or significant moment is frozen in time and secured safely in the folder of photos on my phone. In fact, I despise taking pictures. My camera roll sits practically empty, putting on a display of my seemingly boring lifestyle like I experience nothing worthy of permanently capturing.
In reality, any significant moment remains to be impossible to take a snapshot of.
Since my world is difficult to condense into a still frame, I let myself be defined by the stories of others. I suppose it’s easier for me to describe myself through the lives of everybody else.
I have a passion for film, a passion for things that establish a root of understanding and thorough emotions deep within me. I’ve learned to be open-minded when presented with any genre, but I become easy to please when I’m aware the picture I’m about to see is a retelling of a true narrative. It’s captivating to have a visual interpretation of the story someone else has lived.
Though many biographical films stand majorly as my favorites, only some are absolutely essential to entertain anyone during movie night.
Ford V Ferrari
Since birth, I’ve been surrounded by my family’s fondness for vintage cars: each summer is filled with trips to any car show we can find, routine maintenance with our own antique as it inevitably gets damaged, and evening cruises with the windows down. Ford V Ferrari perfectly captures the buzzing excitement surrounding the world of automobiles.
As the 1966 Le Mans 24-hour race was approaching, legendary car designer Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon) was granted an impossible 90 days to design and build a safe, efficient Ford for the race in an attempt to beat Enzo Ferrari—who dominated that section of the motorsport world for years. Along with his appointment of Ken Miles (Christian Bale), a little-known mechanic with a hobby for racing, the two motorists constructed the very first Ford GT40 Mk 1 in an attempt to break Ferrari’s winning streak.
Ever since my brother was little, he was fascinated with the GT40, if it wasn’t obvious by the posters of the car that covered his bedroom. So, I knew when this movie hit the big screen that it was going to be more than just a fantastic story, it was a bonding experience for us and a chance for him to see the story of his dream car come to life.
Schindler’s List
I’ve always been the type of person who rewatches movies over and over again—much to my parents’ annoyance. There’s a certain kind of comfort to be found in knowing the ending of the story. However, Schindler’s List is a film that I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to watch again due to the horrific nature of what it entails.
At the height of the second world war, greedy industrialist Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson) joins the Nazi party seeing it as a way to generate revenue. When he begins to see the effects of the war on his dwindling population of Jewish employees, his right-hand man, Itzhak Stern (Ben Kingsley), helps him gather a list of Auschwitz occupants to hire at his plant, saving them from imminent death.
It’s not that I’ll never be able to view this film a second time, I just have to get into the right mindset to prepare myself for what is revealed about this time in history. Having no idea what to expect the first time around, I wasn’t prepared for its graphic visuals. Although it definitely isn’t the right film for a regular family movie night, it’s something everyone should see at least once in their lifetime.
Captain Phillips
I’m incredibly open about my terrible fear of deep water. I’ve never even seen the open ocean, let alone swam in it, and I have a hard enough time crossing the Mackinac Bridge; there’s something about thriller movies surrounding anything to do with water that terrifies me more than any paranormal horror ever could. Captain Phillips is the perfect film to keep anyone with the same fear on their toes.
Captain Richard Phillips (Tom Hanks) embarks on another journey commanding an American container ship around the Horn of Africa, unbeknownst to him that his crew will be the target of the first major hijacking in over 200 years. When the boat is finally infiltrated by a band of Somali pirates, Phillips has no choice but to answer to the word of their leader, Muse (Barkhad Abdi). It’s only when he’s taken hostage that their threats become reality, and the U.S. Navy finally gets involved.
No matter what movie genre someone prefers, this is the one film where, every single time I show people, they walk away satisfied and a little breathless. Not only does it contain one of my favorite scenes to ever grace the Hollywood label, but the entire movie proves Hanks’ vast acting range.
The King’s Speech
One thing that’s always fascinated me, even though it sounds incredibly boring, is the British government—it’s even boring when I type it out. But Princess Diana’s story has always captivated me, and I find it incredible to learn how the world on the other side of the ocean functions so differently than our own. The King’s Speech was a way to learn about that from a historical standpoint but in an incredibly entertaining way.
In 1936, Prince Albert (Colin Firth) faced a sudden commencement to the throne as King George VI. Confronting his own insecurities about the position, his wife, Queen Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter), enlists the help of Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush). Their friendship, though apprehensive at first, sparks confidence in Albert while also using unconventional methods to help him overcome a major speech impediment, the source of a majority of his problems.
I knew this film was going to be great simply because of the stellar cast that drew me to it in the first place. What I didn’t account for was how poignant its moral was going to be.
Sully
I know I already mentioned a Tom Hanks movie with a plotline stemming from an accident regarding water, but I thought I’d add another for good measure.
Just eight years after the petrifying effects of 9/11, the citizens of New York feared that another attack was upon them when witnessing a commercial airplane land in the Hudson River. Sully follows the narrative of the man flying the plane: Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger (Tom Hanks). After soaring through a flock of birds early on in the route, the state of both engines forced him to return to the airport. Years of expertise proved that he would never make it, and Sully’s choice to plan a crash into the river saved everyone’s life, but his intentions would have to be proved in front of the court to all the people saying his actions were reckless, not heroic.
I don’t think I’ve ever watched a Hanks movie that wasn’t genuinely incredible. Even if the script or storyline isn’t the most thought-through, his performance always makes up for it. His portrayal of a man following a traumatic accident being scrutinized by a majority of the public was one of the greatest things I’ve ever seen on film, which rightfully puts this movie near the peak of my favorites list.
The Railway Man
On most occasions, I strongly dislike when films have extended flashback scenes. In my mind, it ruins the flow of the movie; therefore, it often struggles to hold my attention. I can name very few films, or even books, that do that technique flawlessly. But The Railway Man is one of them.
When WWII Army veteran Eric Lomax (Colin Firth) finally opens his heart to love, his girlfriend, Patti (Nicole Kidman), begins to notice just how much he was wounded—mentally, physically, and emotionally—by his time as a hostage of a Japanese Prisoners of War (POW) camp. They both become aware of the fact that the young officer, who was the catalyst for most of his PTSD, is still alive. Eric has to choose whether or not to exact his revenge, and Patti has to choose if she’ll support him, supposing that he goes through with his plans.
I’ll admit that I’m a cliche lover of historical war films; it’s intriguing to get a visual of what happened on the battlefield. However, this movie stands out because it doesn’t just provide that storyline, it also gives insight into the dreadful effects war had on those who survived it.
Of the thousands of films I’ve seen throughout my life, I can safely say I’ve enjoyed most of them. Some have even been life-altering. But, disregarding animations, any movie based on true accounts is guaranteed to soar above the rest.
