True Stories
True Stories are those based (sometimes loosely!) on fact. They cover topics as diverse as drug addiction, poverty, political unrest, the corruption of power, alcoholism, class divisions, sexual inequality, mental illness and other human struggles. Meet some of history's most intriguing characters, find out what it's really like to climb a mountain or paint a masterpiece. Truly, the True Story is one of cinema's most engaging and enthralling genres.
Bio-pics feature in this section and are also gathered together separately under the 'Biography' sublink left.
Pictured: Inside the Las Vegas mob, Scorsese's unromantic 'Goodfellas'
Nixon (1995)
7.1/10
Director: Oliver Stone
Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Joan Allen, Powers Boothe, Bob Hoskins, David Paymer, David Hyd...
A potent portrait of the controversial US politician and president persuasively played by Anthony Hopkins. Director-cowriter Oliver Stone gives a vivi... Read more
No (2012)
7.4/10
Director: Pablo Larrain
Starring: Gael Garcia Bernal, Alfredo Castro
Starring Gael García Bernal ("Amores Perros", "Y Tu Mama Tambien"), this is the inspiring, Oscar-nominated true story of the advertising executives wh... Read more
Nobody Knows (2004)
8.1/10
Director: Hirokazu Kore-eda
Starring: Yuya Yagira, Ayu Kitaura, Hiei Kimura, Momoko Shimizu, Hanae Kim
Inspired by incredible true events, this is the story of 12-year-old Akira who one day finds a note from his mother saying she'll be gone for a while,... Read more
Nora (1999)
6.2/10
Director: Pat Murphy
Starring: Ewan McGregor, Susan Lynch, Vinnie McCabe, Kate O'Toole
Ewan McGregor and Susan Lynch star in this passionate and true story of James Joyce and his lifelong love, Nora Barnacle. Sensual, witty and unwilling... Read more
Norma Jean and Marilyn (1997)
Director: Tim Fywell
Starring: Ashley Judd, Mira Sorvino, Josh Charles
This imaginative, offbeat biopic chronicles the life of Marilyn Monroe, with the two lead actresses (Mira Sorvino and Ashley Judd) battling as the alt... Read more
Norma Rae (1979)
7.4/10
Director: Martin Ritt
Starring: Sally Field, Beau Bridges, Pat Hingle, Ron Leibman
In an Oscar-winning performance, Sally Field is unforgettable as Norma Rae, the Southern millworker who revolutionises a small town and discovers a po... Read more
North Country (2005)
7.3/10
Director: Niki Caro
Starring: Charlize Theron, Frances McDormand, Sean Bean, Richard Jenkins, Jeremy Renner, M...
Acclaimed kiwi helmer Niki Caro went to Minnesota for this fictionalised account of the most famous sexual harrassment case in history. Charlize Ther... Read more
North Face (2008)
7.4/10
Director: Philipp Stolzl
Starring: Benno Furmann, Florian Lukas, Johanna Wokalek, Georg Friedrich, Simon Schwarz, U...
In 1936, Nazi Germany is looking to build up their international reputation, so when a pair of German climbers die in an effort to climb the treachero... Read more
Not Without My Daughter (1990)
6.3/10
Director: Brian Gilbert
Starring: Sally Field, Alfred Molina, Sheila Rosenthal
The harrowing true story of an American wife who returns with her husband and daughter to his Iranian homeland during the Khomeini regime, then finds... Read more
Nothing But the Truth (2008)
7.2/10
Director: Rod Lurie
Starring: Kate Beckinsale, Matt Dillon, Angela Bassett, Alan Alda, Vera Farmiga, David Sch...
This tense political drama tells the tale of a Washington, D.C. reporter (Kate Beckinsale), targeted by the government after refusing to reveal her so... Read more