Movie Spin-Off Thread - Two Questions

[darklinensuit]

Two questions for you:

1) What real-life stories sound like something out of a film?

2) What stories (such as a book, a historical figure's life, a play) would you like to see made into a film?

I thought of this thread when I read the following story on Yahoo - it seems to fit Question #1 above! I mean come on, a birthright ring?!


Woman searching for father discovers ... it's her boss Tue Jan 22, 6:25 AM ET

TAIPEI (AFP) - A Vietnamese woman searching for her father worked at his home in Taiwan for seven months without realising who he was before the relationship came to light, her father and police said Tuesday.

Tran Thi Kham, 40, travelled to Taiwan in 2005 hoping to find her biological father, who fell in love with her Vietnamese mother in Hong Kong in 1967, police said.

Tran's mother became pregnant but was forced to return home for family reasons. She died two months after giving birth to Tran, leaving the baby an engraved gold ring and a photo of her Taiwanese father, who did not know she existed.

Giving his reaction to the meeting, Tran's father, Tsai Han-chao, told the local TVBS cable news channel: "Life's ups and downs are just like television drama. How could I have ever dreamed that she is my daughter? I can't stop crying when we were finally united."

Tran was hired by Tsai in Taipei county to look after his paralysed wife and was reassigned by an agency to a family on the offshore Kinmen island seven months later, after the woman died.

After arriving in Kinmen, Tran realised that she had left a bag containing her father's ring and photo in her ex-employer's home and asked the local police for help, the police in Kinmen said.

When Tsai opened the bag, he immediately recognised the items he had given his girlfriend.

He wasted no time flying to Kinmen for a tearful meeting with his daughter.

"This is incredible and really touching to see the father and daughter get together after all these years," said policeman Ku Ker-ya.

Ku told AFP that DNA testing had confirmed Tran's parentage and she returned to Vietnam last week to deal with legal documents.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080122...t_080122112549

- Jake

[David]

Originally Posted by darklinensuit

Two questions for you:

1) What real-life stories sound like something out of a film?

The life of Beethoven's childhood friend Stephan von Breuning & his son from his 2nd marriage, Gerhard. The children's film "Beethoven Lives Upstairs" flirts with the topic but doesn't address it head on.

2) What stories (such as a book, a historical figure's life, a play) would you like to see made into a film?

I've always wanted to see a great film made of the Hoffmann novella "Mademoiselle de Scudéry." According to the IMDb, there was such a film made in Italy in 1911, but it's probably long lost & may even be about the real-life writer who lived in the 18th century, Madeleine de Scudéry (whose relevance to the Hoffmann work doesn't seem anything more than coincidental or peripheral at best).

[GardenStateGirlie]

1) What real-life stories sound like something out of a film?

my own life is like a bad film

2) What stories (such as a book, a historical figure's life, a play) would you like to see made into a film?

something i've always been beyond fascinated by is chateau de chenonceau in the loire valley region of france. two women in particular had a sizeable impact on its history...diane de Poitiers and catherine de médicis.

from the website...

When Henry II succeeded his father at the age of 28, his favourite, Diane of Poitiers, was then 48. She was the widow, for the past twenty years, of the Count of Brézé, the Grand Seneschal of France. Her beauty, the narrowness of her waist, her fair skin and her rousset hair were legendary. Anxious to please his favourite and to give her a residence worthy of her, the young King offered her the castle of Chenonceau. The castle, however, belonged to the Crown and Diane would have to wait until 1555 and to resort to legal artifices and other subtle procedures to become its legitimate owner.

While at Chenonceau, Diane was made Duchess of Valentinois and became one of the most influential women in the Kingdom. Her success assured her of many enemies, the most formidable of which was the Queen, Catherine de Medici, who envied her influence over the King and the affairs of the country. To discover why Henri preferred a mistress twenty years his senior, she even went as far as to have a hole drilled in the wall of their bedroom.

The efforts of Diane of Poitiers were rewarded by the journey to Chenonceau of the King and his Court. With the help of the bailiff, André Béreau, Diane ran her then prosperous estate with unmistakable authority. Even if the expenditure was onerous, receipts from the farm produce, royalties from vassals and fines imposed by the castle court enabled to balance the budget. The garden was gorgeous. The royal tennis courts were bordered with tall pine trees. Numerous artists took up residence there and the entertainments (bals, tilting at the ring, stag hunting) were never-ending and legion.

The profits made through the cultivation of the estate and the confident knowledge that the castle was hers encouraged Diane of Poitiers to further embellish her property. She undertook new works and ressuscitated the former owners’ idea of enlarging the castle and building a bridge to span the river Cher…

During a tournament, King Henri II was fatally injured by Montgomery, the Captain of the Scottish guards. His widow, Catherine de Medici, could now take revenge and she demanded the handing over of Chenonceau. But the estate no longer belonged to the Crown and she had to threaten Diane of Poitiers into exchanging Chenonceau for the castle of Chaumont. Catherine de Medici, who was both ambitious and authoritarian, took over the management of the estate and devoted all her energies to erase the presence of Diane there. The castle became a royal residence where lavish entertainments were given, the most famous one being the feast for François II and Mary Stuart following the tragic outcome of the Amboise conspiracy in 1560. Combinations of cannons and drums, water games and fire works invested the style of Chenonceau with a new éclat.

when i toured the chateau i found it absolutely fascinating. in one of the drawing rooms on the fireplace, catherine had intertwined her initials with that of her husband and when put together, they somehow appeared as diane and henri's and she lost her mind a bit. also, speaking of people going crazy -- there's a room in the third floor of the chateau known as louise de lorraine's room. she had been married to henri III and following his assassination, sought solace in chenonceau. the room is painted black and she lived her entire life there following his death.

so yes. i would like that. in movie form. with amazing costumes and an actual french cast.

[darklinensuit]

Originally Posted by David

The life of Beethoven's childhood friend Stephan von Breuning & his son from his 2nd marriage, Gerhard. The children's film "Beethoven Lives Upstairs" flirts with the topic but doesn't address it head on.

Beethoven? I'm shocked.
And whom would you cast?

- Jake

[darklinensuit]

Originally Posted by GardenStateGirlie

my own life is like a bad film


something i've always been beyond fascinated by is chateau de chenonceau in the loire valley region of france. two women in particular had a sizeable impact on its history...diane de Poitiers and catherine de médicis.

from the website...

When Henry II succeeded his father at the age of 28, his favourite, Diane of Poitiers, was then 48. She was the widow, for the past twenty years, of the Count of Brézé, the Grand Seneschal of France. Her beauty, the narrowness of her waist, her fair skin and her rousset hair were legendary. Anxious to please his favourite and to give her a residence worthy of her, the young King offered her the castle of Chenonceau. The castle, however, belonged to the Crown and Diane would have to wait until 1555 and to resort to legal artifices and other subtle procedures to become its legitimate owner.

While at Chenonceau, Diane was made Duchess of Valentinois and became one of the most influential women in the Kingdom. Her success assured her of many enemies, the most formidable of which was the Queen, Catherine de Medici, who envied her influence over the King and the affairs of the country. To discover why Henri preferred a mistress twenty years his senior, she even went as far as to have a hole drilled in the wall of their bedroom.

The efforts of Diane of Poitiers were rewarded by the journey to Chenonceau of the King and his Court. With the help of the bailiff, André Béreau, Diane ran her then prosperous estate with unmistakable authority. Even if the expenditure was onerous, receipts from the farm produce, royalties from vassals and fines imposed by the castle court enabled to balance the budget. The garden was gorgeous. The royal tennis courts were bordered with tall pine trees. Numerous artists took up residence there and the entertainments (bals, tilting at the ring, stag hunting) were never-ending and legion.

The profits made through the cultivation of the estate and the confident knowledge that the castle was hers encouraged Diane of Poitiers to further embellish her property. She undertook new works and ressuscitated the former owners’ idea of enlarging the castle and building a bridge to span the river Cher…

During a tournament, King Henri II was fatally injured by Montgomery, the Captain of the Scottish guards. His widow, Catherine de Medici, could now take revenge and she demanded the handing over of Chenonceau. But the estate no longer belonged to the Crown and she had to threaten Diane of Poitiers into exchanging Chenonceau for the castle of Chaumont. Catherine de Medici, who was both ambitious and authoritarian, took over the management of the estate and devoted all her energies to erase the presence of Diane there. The castle became a royal residence where lavish entertainments were given, the most famous one being the feast for François II and Mary Stuart following the tragic outcome of the Amboise conspiracy in 1560. Combinations of cannons and drums, water games and fire works invested the style of Chenonceau with a new éclat.

when i toured the chateau i found it absolutely fascinating. in one of the drawing rooms on the fireplace, catherine had intertwined her initials with that of her husband and when put together, they somehow appeared as diane and henri's and she lost her mind a bit. also, speaking of people going crazy -- there's a room in the third floor of the chateau known as louise de lorraine's room. she had been married to henri III and following his assassination, sought solace in chenonceau. the room is painted black and she lived her entire life there following his death.

so yes. i would like that. in movie form. with amazing costumes and an actual french cast.

Catherine de Neuve, if you have your way.

- Jake

[sara1998]

My life since age 20 is something of a Lifetime movie... no, really.

I'd have to think about the second question.

[David]

Originally Posted by darklinensuit

Beethoven? I'm shocked.

Pretty surprising, no?

And whom would you cast?

Ewan Mcgregor as Stephan von Breuning
Sergiusz Zymelka as Gerhard von Breuning ("Trouser-Button")
Kenneth Branagh as Gleichenstein
Justine Waddell as Nanette Streicher
Kate Winslet as Amalie Sebald

[darklinensuit]

Originally Posted by David

Pretty surprising, no?


Ewan Mcgregor as Stephan von Breuning
Sergiusz Zymelka as Gerhard von Breuning ("Trouser-Button")
Kenneth Branagh as Gleichenstein
Justine Waddell as Nanette Streicher
Kate Winslet as Amalie Sebald

Kenneth Branagh is a great actor. I haven't seen Kate in anything except the one in which she gives it up in a car on a ship & then comes back (in the form of a different actress) as a nutty old lady to dump her jewels in the Arctic. (Boy, I hope that wasn't a spoiler for anybody.) At least that's what I remember from the moments when I was awake. But I know she is loved by many posters here.

- Jake

[darklinensuit]

Originally Posted by sara1998

My life since age 20 is something of a Lifetime movie... no, really.

I'd have to think about the second question.

Sorry.

- Jake

[sara1998]

Originally Posted by darklinensuit

Sorry.

- Jake

Eh... don't be sorry. For the most part, I'm not.