5 Dramatic Movies that will Wake Up Your Inner Writer

By Bhalachandra Sahaj

 

Hi everyone.

You all know the expression, “truth is stranger than fiction.” This is true in the majority of cases—whatever you read in novels or see in movies, real life with all of its intricacies can easily surpass any fictional situation. However, there are books and films that I would describe as “fiction as strange as truth”; I believe this is the kind of fiction that is truly worth attention. “The Old Man and the Sea,” and “The Plague,” and “The Process,” and many other novels and stories are recognized all over the world.

Today, however, I’d like to talk more about movies. A movie is a perfect embodiment of a story; although it has more limitations compared to literature (for example, technical capabilities of visualization, fixed images of characters, length, and so on), a movie is a powerful tool for conveying ideas and emotions.

In this post, I would like to list some movies that are “as strange as truth,” in my opinion. These kinds of movies can (as I believe) inspire and motivate a true writer.

Enjoy.

1. 1. Broken Flowers.

A story of an old playboy, Don, who suddenly receives a letter from one of his former lovers. The letter is anonymous, and informs Don that he has a son, who is already 19 and who is determined to find his father. Dazed and shocked, Don follows the advice of his friend: to visit the women he had affairs with and try to figure out whom of them might send the letter.

1. 1. Forrest Gump.

One of the most famous movies ever made, this is the story of a slightly mentally-incapacitated man, witnessing the great moments of history and finding his place in the world.

1. 1. Babel.

Everything changes for a married couple during their trip through Morocco on a bus: a woman gets wounded by a bullet, shot by a teenage shepherd. This tragic, but relatively small event—one of the many in our big world—has a dramatic effect on lives of many people in three countries; moreover, the lives of these people turn out to be intertwined in strange and unexpected ways.

1. 1. American Beauty.

A story of a man trying to make it through a middle age crisis. Lester’s family life is a mess, his boss and colleagues do not value him, and he does not seem to know what to do with all this. Everything changes, however, when Lester suddenly falls in love with a young girl, a classmate of his daughter; a situation, typical for many men dealing with middle age crisis, leads to untypical and weird consequences.

1. 1. St. Vincent.

Perhaps one of the most realistic variations on the topic “an old upset cynic and a naive child.” Far less cheesy than “Scent of a Woman,” more dynamic and wholesome than “Kikujiro,” “St. Vincent” is a movie you will rewatch over and over again.

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