True Stories
True Stories are those based (sometimes loosely!) on fact. They cover topics as diverse as drug addiction, poverty, political unrest, the corruption of power, alcoholism, class divisions, sexual inequality, mental illness and other human struggles. Meet some of history's most intriguing characters, find out what it's really like to climb a mountain or paint a masterpiece. Truly, the True Story is one of cinema's most engaging and enthralling genres.
Bio-pics feature in this section and are also gathered together separately under the 'Biography' sublink left.
Pictured: Inside the Las Vegas mob, Scorsese's unromantic 'Goodfellas'
300 (2006)
7.7/10
Director: Zack Snyder
Starring: Gerard Butler, Lena Headey, Dominic West, David Wenham, Vincent Regan, Michael F...
A hyper-real, testosterone-laden interpretation of the Spartan legend, based on Frank Miller's graphic novel and drenched in the same CGI-enhanced gol... Read more
300 ( Blu-ray ) (2006)
7.7/10
Director: Zack Snyder
Starring: Gerard Butler, Lena Headey, David Wenham, Dominic West
A hyper-real, testosterone-laden interpretation of the Spartan legend, based on Frank Miller's graphic novel and drenched in the same CGI-enhanced gol... Read more
36 Quai des Orfevres (2004)
7.6/10
Director: Olivier Marchal
Starring: Gerard Depardieu, Daniel Auteuil, Andre Dussollier, Valeria Golino, Roschdy Zem
Two of France's most charismatic and enduring actors, Gerard Depardieu and Daniel Auteuil face off as cops competing for the same promotion, using all... Read more
42: The True Story Of A Sports Legend ( The Jackie Robinson Story ) (2013)
7.5/10
Director: Brian Helgeland
Starring: Harrison Ford, John C McGinley, Hamish Linklater, Lucas Black, Alan Tudyk, Ryan...
In 1946, Branch Rickey (Harrison Ford), owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers, took a stand against Major League Baseball's infamous colour line when he signe... Read more
44 Minutes: The North Hollywood Shoot-out (2003)
6.4/10
Director: Yves Simoneau
Starring: Michael Madsen, Mario Van Peebles, Ron Livingston
Based on a shocking true story, this powerful drama chronicles the botched February, 1997 robbery of a Los Angeles bank. As a pair of heavily-armed cr... Read more
5 Fingers (1952)
7.8/10
Director: Joseph L Mankiewicz
Starring: James Mason, Michael Rennie, Danielle Darrieux
During World War II, the valet for the British ambassador in Turkey tires of his job and plans to photograph secret documents belonging to his employe... Read more
50/50 (2011)
7.7/10
Director: Jonathan Levine
Starring: Anjelica Huston, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Anna Kendrick, Bryce Dallas Howard, Seth...
Loosely based on the experiences of screenwriter Will Reiser, this poignant comedy/drama follows Adam (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a 27-year-old man diagno... Read more
6 Days (2017)
6.2/10
Director: Toa Fraser
Starring: Mark Strong, Martin Shaw, Jamie Bell, Abbie Cornish
In April 1980, a half-dozen armed Arab separatists stormed the Iranian embassy in London and took 26 of the occupants hostage. The tense hours that fo... Read more
7 Days in Entebbe (2018)
5.8/10
Director: Jose Padilha
Starring: Brontis Jodorowsky, Rosamund Pike, Daniel Bruhl, Lior Ashkenazi, Eddie Marsan, D...
In July 1976, four terrorists hijack an Air France flight from Tel-Aviv to Paris and force the flight crew to land in Entebbe, Uganda. There, the Jewi... Read more
71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance (1994)
7.3/10
Director: Michael Haneke
Starring: Udo Samel, Anne Bennent, Branko Samarovski, Otto Grunmandl, Gabriel Cosmin Urdes
Inspired by a shocking true life shooting spree in Vienna in 1993, Michael Haneke's challenging film weaves together fragments of the story in an atte... Read more