Beautiful on-screen romance stories provide us the perfect escape from real life. And there are real-life romance stories that are way more fascinating and unbelievable than fiction. That’s why romantic movies inspired by real-life events are special. Here are 10 on-screen gems that center around real people and real-life events. While some of them are fictionalized and tweaked some details for the sake of the beautiful story, others remain to the real events as faithful as possible.
However, all of them are rooted in real life and will stick with you for days after you’ve closed your laptop. Take a look at this list even if you don’t like to spoon over romance films and would rather enjoy gambling at online casino Canada. All these films make you relate to the characters on a much deeper level than usual, and many of them depict couples from different cultural backgrounds.
“Out of Africa” (1985)
This picture was based on a memoir of Danish author Karen Blixen. Following her husband, she moved to Kenya to go into business. But instead, a woman who found herself in the heart of Africa found love – the real and only one. As fate would have it, here she met British big-game hunter and traveler Denys Finch Hatton. Their emotional connection blossomed into a romance, and this beautiful story was appreciated at face value, even by movie critics. The role of Karen Blixen was one of the most iconic roles of Meryl Streep, and her co-star was Robert Redford.
“Anna and the King” (1999)
Deep emotional connection and love can conquer any cultural barriers, even if people come from different countries and social classes as British governess Anna Leonowens and Siamese King Mongkut. He is the imperious and powerful King who wants to modernize Siam, an exotic country with a special culture. That’s why he wants British governess Anna to teach English to his heir, Crown Prince Chulalongkorn. As soon as Anna Leonowens comes to Siam with her son, she turns out to be a strong-willed and independent woman, who wants to be treated by the Siamese King and his confidants as equal. She starts teaching culture and English not only to the prince but to all the King’s wives and children.
As Anna started teaching King Mongkut’s kids and wives, their initially cold attitude towards her became warm and friendly. And Anna and King find common ground. The emotional connection between them blossoms into a platonic yet touching relationship. It helps them to reinvent themselves. The on-screen chemistry between Jodie Foster as the British governess and Chow Yun-fat as the Siamese King makes this film one of cinema’s greatest love stories. Anna Leonowens existed and left a memoir based on which Margaret Landon wrote a fictionalized novel in 1944, “Anna and the King of Siam”. In real life, there weren’t any romantic feelings between Anna the King (at least, they didn’t leave any accounts), but the real Anna left Siam a year before Mongkut’s death and lived the rest of her life in America and Canada.
“A Beautiful Mind” (2001)
This is a fascinating non-fictional story and Oscar-winning movie about the famous mathematician, Nobel Prize winner John Forbes Nash Jr., and his wife Alicia Lard. Having become a successful teacher, John suddenly receives an offer of cooperation from the CIA. The scientist agrees, because at stake – the fate of the whole country. He also struggles with mental illness, but Alicia loves her husband despite all these problems. Starring Russell Crowe and Jennifer Connelly, the biopic isn’t just about the genius mathematician, the film focuses on his relationship with Alicia who helped him with everything. The unbelievable love story of John Nash and Alicia is loosely based on real-life events, however in reality their relationship was more complicated. They even divorced in 1963, but eventually remarried in 2001, more than forty years later.
“The White Masai”(2005)
A Swiss girl Carola (Nina Hoss) has a job, friends, and a lover. But her life turns upside down after a trip to Kenya, where she meets Lemalian (Jacky Ido), a local Samburu warrior. She immediately falls in love refuses to leave, and later even marries him. But the local laws are very cruel, and Carola will fight them. True, it is more difficult to do this each time, especially when support from the beloved is not to be expected. The movie is loosely based on fact and the bestselling autobiographical novel of Corinne’s Hoffmann, “The White Masai”. In 1986 Corinne met a Samburu warrior, Lketinga Leparmorijo in Kenya. Despite all the cultural differences they moved together and married. Corinne learned to live as a Samburu woman and gave birth to their daughter Napiral. Unfortunately, due to different problems, Corinne left her husband and Kenya and returned to Switzerland with her daughter.
“Walk the Line” (2005)
This biographical movie about the early life and career of famous country singer Johnny Cash focuses on the romantic relationship between Cash and his second wife June Carter. It is based on two auto autobiographies Cash himself wrote in 1975 and 1997. The relationship between Johnny and Jane was tumultuous. After all, it is not easy to support your loved one who suffers from drug abuse. But the feelings that were born in deep youth are still as strong and many years after. Starring Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon, the movie had a huge financial success and was nominated for five Oscars.
“The Edge Of Love” (2008)
Since this film is not fully fiction but follows the life of a real person, we have decided to add this biopic to our list. This movie centers around the fictionalized “love triangle” between Welsh poet Dylan Thomas (1914-1953), his wife Caitlin Macnamara, and his childhood friend, Vera Killick. Dylan Thomas (Matthew Rhys) marries charming and young Caitlin Macnamara (Sienna Miller), but his childhood friend (Keira Knightley) has romantic feelings for him. To be closer to her former lover and re-enter his life, Vera becomes a friend of his wife. Later she marries Captain William Killick (Cillian Murphy), but these two marriages seem not to be powerful enough to stop these people from making fatal mistakes. This high-brow emotional movie has the potential to fascinate you and brought Sienna Miller the nomination as Best Supporting Actress. However, in reality, the relationship between Dylan and Vera was most likely anything other than platonic.
“Eat Pray Love” (2010)
This romantic drama is based on Elizabeth Gilbert’s 2006 memoir of the same name. At some point in her life, Elizabeth ‘Liz’ Gilbert realized that she wasn’t happy in her marriage and her life. She divorced her husband and decided to spend the next year traveling around the world. First, she visited Italy and learned not only to eat but also to enjoy food. Then she decided to satiate herself spiritually and went to India where she learned how to pray and achieve mental balance. And finally, in Indonesia, in Bali she found not only harmony but also true love. The post-divorce journey and romance of Elizabeth Gilbert are real. In 2007 the writer married José Nunes whom she met in Bali.
“The Vow” (2012)
The main characters in this brilliant tearjerker, Paige (Rachel McAdams) and Leo (Channing Tatum) were inspired by Kim and Krickitt Carpenter. After the horrific car accident on their wedding anniversary, Kim Carpenter developed amnesia, affecting the very memory span when she met and fell in love with her husband, the last two years of her life. She didn’t remember him and even felt affection for her former lover. But Krickitt didn’t despair and did his best to make his beloved wife love him again. Real Kim and Krickitt managed to overcome this difficult situation, create new memories together, and renew their vows.
“The Invisible Woman” (2013)
This movie depicts the secret love affair between acclaimed English writer Charles Dickens (Ralph Fiennes) and aspiring young actress Nelly Ternan (Felicity Jones). This extramarital affair was judged, moreover, he was forty-five years old and she was only eighteen when they met. For her sake, he divorced the mother of his ten children, Catherine Dickens, and their romance lasted a long thirteen years until his death. But he provided a trouble-free existence for his beloved, putting her name in the will he made and leaving her a huge legacy. Even if Dickens and Ternan kept their relationship secret from the public, the story must be real. It is believed that Dickens even based some of his female characters on Ternan.
Read Also: REASONS TO PLAY LUCKY 7 GAME ONLINE
“The Theory of Everything” (2014)
Stephen Hawking is known to many of us as a genius theoretical physicist. But very few people know about the scientist’s relationship with his wife of 30 years, Jane Hawking. She was a woman whose love for him began in his younger years, and who became the basis that helped the scientist to live after his body was struck by motor neuron disease. The biopic is based on Jane’s memoir, “Travelling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen”. Stephen Hawking himself said that the film was “broadly true”. The one detail the filmmakers changed was the fact that in real life, the marriage between Stephen and Jane ended in divorce in 1995.
Starring Eddie Redmayne as Stephen and Felicity Jones as Jane, the biopic depicts their relationship from the very first day they met in 1963. Stephen Hawking was an astrophysics student at Cambridge University and an aspiring talented scientist. He met Jane Wilde, a philology student, and immediately fell in love with her. Jane helped him to continue his research after he was diagnosed with motor neuron disease and lost control over his body. The film is full of breathtaking scenes and will make you believe in true love. Redmayne and Jones received the Golden Globe Award, Academy Award, and BAFTA for their brilliant performances.
Did you know that there are much more romantic films, which were at least loosely based on real-life events? Then take a look at this list: “The Notebook” (2004), “Bonnie And Clyde” (1967), “The Big Sick” (2017), “Fever Pitch” (2005), “Boys Don’t Cry” (1999), “Southside with You” (2016), “At First Sight” (1999), “It Could Happen to You” (1994), “Mrs. Soffel” (1984), “A Royal Affair” (2012), “Total Eclipse” (1995), “Lady Sings The Blues (1972),” Milk” (2008), “Henry & June” (1990), “Becoming Jane” (2007), “Ray” (2004), “Kinsey” (2004), “Reversal Of Fortune” (1990) and “Loving” (2016). No matter what you’re in the mood for, you’ll find it here!
