Screenwriting : Major Movie Faux Pahs by Frances Emerson

Yeah, I know what you mean... But, unless it's a documentary, a film will always be a creative interpretation of that history; told through the lens of an artist's vision. Plus, historical facts usually do not fit the needs of story structure. Elements need to shift or be omitted or be embellished to enhance the story. It's just the way it is. Movies aren't meant to be didactic. They're meant to give an audience an aesthetic and emotional experience. :) ...However, with that said, after I watched an amazing documentary about Prohibition, Eliot Ness and Al Capone -- learning the complete truth. I was shocked by the amount of inaccuracy in the film "The Untouchables." Soured my opinion of it, even though it was a well-done, entertaining film. I guess, sometimes, ignorance is bliss. :)

It's only a movie, it's only a movie, it's only a movie. (best to try and get things right, but story and drama trumps facts... we aren't writing those documentary movies they showed in history class.)

If you're basing your script upon a 'true' story then you should base it on facts. This will obviously require a considerable amount of research and due diligence to be carried out by the writer before the script is written. There is nothing worse than movies being glorified for the sake of making a story more pallatable for an audience, all that does is alienate the movie once the critics/historians get hold of it. If the objective is to sensationlize, then write a story based upon fiction.

Do you also have a pet peeve about getting historical information accurately in Shakespeare's stage plays????

Frances, it's faux pas - I'm with you, I prefer a semblance of accuracy - I'm astounded how many members immediately use terms such as "history" lesson and "documentary" - WE understand taking some liberties and some creative licence, but I'm not impressed with "fabrication" and "falsehood" - as with American Sniper, but that's been covered elsewhere.

Don't let me influence you re American Sniper, as a work of fiction, I found it a very entertaining movie, well made, excellent production values, Bradley Cooper nailed the part of Chris Kyle, well, the cinema Chris Kyle, not the book character, lol.

Thanks for all the commentaries. The one thing that bothered me, and I'm not sure how bothered you'd all be by this one, but the otherwise beautifully done The Imitation Game had a glaring historical flaw in it. The older generation, that's me, might remember this, the younger ones, no. The movie is set in the 1950's and during WW II. On a manual typewriter, in that scene, the typist used whiteout to correct an error. Whiteout was not invented until around the 70's I think by of all people Michael Nesmith's mom. He was one of the Monkees and as far as I know he continued to work in Hollywood after the TV sitcom. I just thought it was a rather glaring error to put in such a well made movie. So, with that for those who don't need to be reminded of historical accuracy, okay. And thank you again for your comments.

I loved the Imitation Game, can't recall that scene, but perhaps it was a licence re convenience, though there should have been another option to consider for the same effect - you're correct re Mike Nesmith - easy to make the mistake, I wrote a script set in 1912 and referred to the Queen of England when it should have been the King.

Yes, it was at the very beginning. It wouldn't have mattered so much but the director focused the camera on the typewriter. What he should have had and I can remember using one of these is an old style eraser specially made for typing paper and ink. It is just one of those things I think Hollywood should be more careful with. Krakatoa "East" of Java cost that film thousands of dollars to correct. Ithe volcano is west of Java.