With the Oscars race entering its final lap, we delve into the real-life inspiration behind some of the favourites to win
Every year the Oscars has a glut of nominated movies based on or inspired by real events. We are savvy consumers of media, and we know that movies tend to take generous artistic license with their material. But the real-life stories this year’s crop are based on are so mind-blowing that it’s hard to imagine they are real people’s stories.
Hidden Figures
Hidden Figures is the true-life story with the most nominations for this year’s awards. The fact that African-American women played a major part in NASA’s first space mission in the 1960s, and that it’s only becoming public knowledge now, is a travesty. An entire department of “computers” were women who were employed in STEM roles. Taraji P Henson portrays Katherine Johnson, who must run a mile every time she needs to go to the segregated ladies room. In reality, Johnson was a much bigger badass. She used the white bathrooms for seven years until she was told to stop by her supervisor. And she continued using them anyway.
Hacksaw Ridge
Who knew this film would mark the return of Mel Gibson to the mainstream? Andrew Garfield plays Desmond Doss, a patriotic conscientious objector in the Second World War. What does that mean? It means he doesn’t believe in violence but still wants to serve his country. Doss received the Medal of Honour for his efforts in saving 75 injured comrades from the battlefield. For many years, Doss refused to allow his story to be told through TV or film because he believed that they wouldn’t do it accurately. He died in 2006, but his son made sure that Gibson and team did his father justice in this tale of hope and faith.
Jackie
Natalie Portman portrays Jackie Kennedy, probably the most famous First Lady in history, in the days after her husband’s assassination. Although, Jackie has been the focus of many screen incarnations in the past, Portman’s portrayal is an astounding performance of nuance and subtlety. Confronted by the press, politics and her family, Jackie must maintain her famous polished veneer while being a grieving wife and mother. We all know this story, but Portman and director Pable Larraín ensure this isn’t a by-the-numbers biopic.
Florence Foster Jenkins
Florence Foster Jenkins was an American socialite who had misplaced confidence in her singing ability. Nevertheless, her flamboyant costumes and attempts at opera garnered her a cult following in the US, with her terrible singing bringing joy to many soldiers during World War II. A solid film which adds another notch to Meryl Streep’s already record-breaking list of nominations.
Loving
Loving is the aptly named biopic of Richard and Mildred Loving, the interracial married couple who fought for their love and won. Married in Washington DC, they returned home to Virginia, where interracial marriage was still illegal. They took their fight all the way to the Supreme Court and had a landmark victory in 1968, paving the way for thousands of mixed-race marriages in the future. Irish actress Ruth Negga is nominated for best actress for her portrayal of Mildred, a quiet woman who fights ferociously for the equality of her marriage and her children’s place in the world.
Land of Mine
The most interesting and least known tale may come from Denmark in the foreign language category. Land of Mine tells the harrowing true life tale of teenage German PoWs who are tasked with defusing 45,000 landmines along the Danish coast after the Second World War, and the sergeant whose hate turns to compassion. Considering the state of the world right now, Land of Mine’s message is a timely one: love will always trump fear.
