Reel Facts & Opinions: Real-life Tragedy in the Movies

This month, first-time writer/director Alexandre Moors’ film BLUE CAPRICE will appear in select theatres. The film is based on the Beltway Sniper shootings which terrified the Washington, D.C. area in 2002, and follows the true events through the perspective of the two shooters as they plan and carry out their attacks.

 

Needless to say, the film is not without controversy. Those who lost loved ones or who were living in D.C. at the time of the shootings would probably have no interest in seeing the film and re-living events which may still be a bit too close to their lives. It has been eleven years since those shootings, and yet it doesn’t seem to be far enough away before revisiting. It begs the question of just how much time is enough.

Movies based on real-life tragedy are nearly as old as the medium itself. In 1912, a film called SAVED FROM THE TITANIC was released only 29 days after the sinking of the famed ocean liner, and actually starred a Titanic survivor…wearing the actual clothes she had on during the sinking. The attacks on PEARL HARBOR were dramatized only a year after the event in a B-movie called REMEMBER PEARL HARBOR, while FROM HERE TO ETERNITY waited until 1953 to roll out. Here in modern times, director Oliver Stone only waited five years after 9/11 to dramatize the day in his WORLD TRADE CENTER, and Paul Greengrass’ FLIGHT 93 was also out the same year. Small-scale tragedy has also been dramatized, as there have been countless TV and big-screen dramas based on real-life serial killers; persons who do not deserve to get their names in print here.

So how long is long enough? It’s difficult to put a number on it, and even more difficult to look at it as a case-by-case basis. These days, with 24-hour media and social networking, tragic events that happen half-a-world away are easily made closer and can be re-visited at will; there are twelve-million videos on YouTube related to 9/11. Having that media in such close proximity make events from a decade ago seem like they happened just yesterday.

But why do this in the first place? Nearly every movie ever made has been based on, or at least inspired by real events. Some films hide the inspiration with allegory, while others, like BLUE CAPRICE, boldly lets it all hang out. It is true that people go to the movies for an escape from the real world, but film should never shelter us to the point of ignorance. The silver screen can entertain, but it can also inspire and educate…two things which the world can put to good use.

What say you?

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BLUE CAPRICE goes into limited release this month. It is the directorial debut from Alexandre Moors, and stars Isaiah Washington, Tequan Richmond, Tim Blake Nelson, and Joey Lauren Adams.