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.
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.
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