When Dan Harris turned 25, he was able to fulfill the dream of, probably, many film school students: he made his own film, that is, he directed it and wrote the script for it. And it does not matter that the picture went almost unnoticed, despite the fact that Sigourney Weaver, Jeff Daniels, Emile Hirsch and Michelle Williams starred in it, and with a budget of 10 million, the tape collected less than 300 thousand dollars in the world, that is, mere pennies. But on the other hand, the audience, which is not bad at philosophical family-type dramas, quite positively assessed the work of Dan Harris: on IMDb, the average score for Fictional Heroes is 7.3, on the CP it is only one tenth of a point less. Well, young by all standards, the cinematographer began to earn a name for himself, however, "Fictional Heroes" so far remains the only directorial work of Harris. An interesting fact is that Harris himself in the big movie started with adaptations of the comics about the "People of Isk", and then worked on the "Return of Superman".

Weaver, Daniels, Hirsch and Williams are an average American family that lives according to all the canons of society, without standing out from the crowd of other similar families. But one day she is shattered by a terrible misfortune: the eldest son commits suicide His motives are unclear, everyone is in shock from what happened, meanwhile, numerous injuries are found on the body of the middle son, but he stubbornly remains silent where all these bruises and abrasions come from. The mother cannot reach him either, although she is at least trying to do something in the current situation, but the father stubbornly does not notice that loneliness and split reign in his family few people care about anyone, and the father of the family himself seems to be protected from other members of the cell society. Meanwhile, the middle son, who has closed in on himself, begins to learn the secrets of his family, which were carefully stored in the farthest closet and covered with centuries of dust, but still the skeletons began to fall and the last, largest skeleton can shock the guy, closing him from everyone else forever .

This is such a heavy, serious plot that Dan Harris succeeded in. It is necessary to follow what is happening carefully. Perhaps at first not all scenes will be clear, the question will arise “Why is this all here?”, But in the future everything will be sorted out so that the viewer can get a whole picture of the relationship to the family, around and inside which all this dramatic action takes place. Dan Harris tried to balance very clearly between the development of the picture and its dialogue basis. I can say that he did not always succeed. But this mistake can be attributed to his youth and inexperience. In order for the episodes of the film not to sag, not to fall out of the general series, the actors tried very hard. Sometimes they even tried too hard. And this is not something that seemed fake, rather, too deeply tragic, and there were scenes that did not seem to require this. And after a while, this excessive saturation with tragic emotionality and fragmentation of the characters leads to outright fury from these suffering faces.

And it would be all right if they suffered from the loss of a loved one, but it is noticeable here that all the heroes of "Fictional Heroes" are maximally focused on themselves. For example, Sigourney Weaver is a high-flying actress, she holds the lion's share of the picture, but only in places you can see that she restrains her charisma a bit and provides space for other actors. But the scenes with his middle son, played by Emile Hirsch, Weaver played really great. Emile Hirsch himself looks good against the background of Weaver, but when the scenes are given to his hero, then he bites into them as if with his teeth, trying to prove that he is worthy of something next to Weaver and Daniels. We know, Emil, that you are a good actor, but the excessive emotionality of your hero happened to give no reason to believe in your image. But dull as a mattress, Jeff Daniels looked like the most prosaic character, but at the same time the most natural. Although I wanted to give him a slap and say: “Look around: your family is collapsing, and you are sitting in an armchair!”.

This is what happens while watching the family drama "Fictional Heroes" in some places what is happening touches you, takes you to the quick and these scenes leave behind memorable episodes, they are so well staged. But there were also moments when it was not clear that the actors made up a common, integral team, as if they existed separately with their images. Although in any case, the performers deserve praise. And we can attribute the flaws in the film to the youth and inexperience of the director and screenwriter Dan Harris.

Guys, we put our soul into the site. Thanks for that
for discovering this beauty. Thanks for the inspiration and goosebumps.
Join us at Facebook And In contact with

We sometimes perceive the heroes of famous books and films as good friends, but we still remember that these are fictional characters. And it is all the more interesting to know that the writers for their creation were inspired by real people. The authors borrowed their appearance, habits and even favorite words from them.

Editorial website collected prototypes of famous heroes of films and books - it is simply unbelievable that they actually lived.

"Scattered" Marshak -
Academician Ivan Kablukov

It turns out that "the scattered man from Basseynaya Street" from the poem by Samuil Marshak actually existed! He was the famous eccentric, academician Ivan Kablukov, who was famous for his impracticality and distraction. For example, instead of the words "chemistry and physics," the professor often said to students "chemistry and physics." And instead of the phrase “the flask burst, and a piece of glass fell into the eye,” he could get: “the spade shook, and a piece of the eye fell into the glass.” The expression "Mendelshutkin" meant "Mendeleev and Menshutkin", and Ivan Alekseevich's usual catchwords were "not at all" and "I, that is, not me."

The professor read a poem, and one day he remembered Marshak's brother, the writer Ilyin, shaking his finger: "Your brother, of course, aimed at me!" In Marshak's drafts there is such a variant of the beginning of the poem, in which the hero was directly called by the name and surname of the prototype:

Lives in Leningrad
Ivan Kablukov.
He calls himself
Heel Ivanov.

Sources: Miron Petrovsky "Books of our childhood », « Moscow's comsomolets »

Dr. House - Dr. Thomas Bolty

Dr. Thomas Bolty, nicknamed "the real House", is also eccentric. Here he is rushing to the patient, circling traffic jams on rollers.

The creators of the series about Dr. House became interested in the story of the doctor Thomas Bolty from New York, who cured the owner of the gallery, who suffered from migraines for 40 years. The man walked around dozens of doctors who stuffed him with a bunch of medicines for headaches. And Thomas Bolti was hooked on the fact that the patient could not stand the egg yolk. He once again carefully studied the tests and realized that the patient had been suffering from heavy metal poisoning for 40 years. After treatment, the man forgot what a migraine is. And this is not an isolated case - Bolti's talent and erudition allow him to take on the most difficult cases. He is even called "medical detective".

The creators of the House were inspired by cases from the practice of Bolti and his somewhat eccentric behavior. He himself is not enthusiastic about the series: “Yes, there are some similarities between us, but I don’t like the film. I'm totally against going over heads like House to make a diagnosis." But by the way, after that, Dr. Bolty's career went uphill, and now he is the official doctor of the MTV office.

Sources: HistoryTime, RealDoctorHouse

Dorian Gray - Poet John Gray

The English poet John Gray, whom Oscar Wilde met in the late 1980s, became the prototype of Dorian Gray. A refined decadent poet, smart, handsome and ambitious, he inspired the writer with the image of the eternally young and beautiful Dorian Gray. After the release of the famous novel, many began to call John Gray by the name of the hero, and the poet himself signed at least one of his letters to Wilde "Dorian". Surprisingly, after 30 years, John Gray abandoned the bohemian life, became a Catholic priest and even received a parish.

Sources: The Man Who Was Dorian Gray, « Wikipedia »

Sherlock Holmes - Professor Joseph Bell

Sherlock Holmes has much in common with Edinburgh University professor Joseph Bell, for whom Conan Doyle worked as an assistant in the hospital. The writer often recalled his teacher, spoke of his eagle profile, inquisitive mind and amazing intuition. Bell was tall, lean, brisk in his movements, and smoked a pipe.

He knew how to accurately determine the profession and character of his patients and always encouraged students to use deduction. He invited strangers to lectures and asked students to say who they were and where they came from. Once he brought a man in a hat into the audience, and when no one could answer Bell's questions, he explained that since he forgot to take off his hat, most likely he had recently served in the army. There it is customary to remain in a headdress in order to salute. And since he has symptoms of a West Indian fever, this man must have arrived from Barbados.

Sources: " School of Life ", « historical truth »

James Bond - "King of Spies" Sydney Reilly

There are disputes about the prototype of James Bond, and this image is largely collective (former intelligence officer Ian Fleming gave the hero his own features). But many agree that the character is very similar to the "king of spies", the British intelligence officer and Russian-born adventurer Sydney Reilly.

Incredibly erudite, he spoke seven languages, loved to play politics and manipulate people, adored women and twisted numerous novels. Reilly did not fail in any operation entrusted to him and was known for being able to find a way out of almost any situation. He was able to instantly transform into a completely different person. By the way, he had a great “legacy” in Russia: his track record even included preparations for an assassination attempt on Lenin.

Sources: " AiF », a book by Robin Bruce LockhartSydney Reilly: spy legend of the 20th century »

Peter Pan - Michael Davis

The wonderful book about Peter Pan by the writer James Barry was inspired by the son of the writer's friends, Sylvia and Arthur Davis. He had known the Davises for a long time, was friends with all their five sons, but it was four-year-old Michael (a brilliant boy, as they said about him) who became the prototype of Peter Pan. From him, he wrote off character traits and even nightmares that tormented a frisky and courageous, but sensitive child. By the way, the sculpture of Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens has Michael's face.

Christopher Robin - Christopher Robin Milne

Christopher Robin from Alan Milne's books about Winnie the Pooh is the son of the writer, whose name was exactly that - Christopher Robin. In childhood, relations with parents did not develop - the mother was busy only with herself, the father - with his work, he spent a lot of time with the nanny. He later wrote: "There were two things that darkened my life and from which I had to escape: the glory of my father and Christopher Robin." The child grew up very kind, nervous and shy. “The prototype of Christopher Robin and Piglet at the same time,” as psychologists will later say about him. The boy's favorite toy was a Teddy bear, which his father gave him for his first birthday. And the bear, as you may have guessed, is Robin's best friend Winnie the Pooh.

Sources: BBC News, Independent

The Wolf of Wall Street - Broker Jordan Belfort

On the left is Jordan Belfort, and it is about his biography that we learn from a successful Hollywood film. Life has lifted the stockbroker to the top and dropped him into the dirt. First, he plunged headlong into a beautiful life, and later he was sent to prison for almost 2 years for fraud in the securities market. After his release, Belfort easily found use for his talents: he wrote 2 books about his life and began to conduct seminars as a motivational speaker. The main rules of success according to his version are as follows: “Act with boundless faith in yourself, and then people will believe you. Act as if you have already achieved amazing success, and then you will really succeed!”

Sources: HistoryTime, magazine "Spark"

Ostap Bender - Osip Shor

The fate of Ostap Bender's prototype is no less surprising than the story of the "great strategist". Osip Shor was a man of many talents: he played football very well, was well versed in jurisprudence, worked for several years in the criminal investigation department and went through many troubles, from which he got out with the help of artistry and inexhaustible imagination in half with impudence.

His big dream was to go to Brazil or Argentina, so Osip began to dress in a special way: he wore light-colored clothes, a white captain's cap and, of course, a scarf. Writers borrowed signature phrases from him, for example, "My dad is a Turkish citizen." This was Shor's first scam - in order to avoid being drafted into the army, he decided to impersonate a Turk and forged documents.

The tricks of the adventurer Osip were innumerable: in 1918-1919 in Odessa, in order to earn a living, he presented himself as an artist, then as a chess grandmaster, then as a representative of an underground anti-Soviet organization, then he sold places in paradise to bandits. And once he asked Ilf and Petrov for money - “for the image” (later he admitted that this was a joke). Valentin Kataev tells about these events in his book “My Diamond Crown”.

Sources: " Russian planet », « Wikipedia »

13.04.18 5558 0

The richest movie characters

Not everyone succeeds in becoming a billionaire in real life at the snap of a finger. It's much easier to come up with a rich character and make him the hero of your movie. Fictional rich people are interested in the Forbes list no less than real ones. Therefore, every year a new ranking of the richest representatives of fictional worlds is compiled.

Read which of the fictional characters owns billions and what is the secret of their success. At the same time, choose a movie for the evening!

1st place - Scrooge McDuck

State:$65.1 billion

Source of income: mining, treasure hunting

Location: Duckburg, Calisota

2nd place - dragon Smaug

Following the rich drake is the dragon Smaug, who settled in the Lonely Mountain. This hero of Tolkien's work has always been attracted to gold. Having expelled the rightful owners of wealth, he appropriated all the golden treasures of the mountain.

State:$54.1 billion

Source of income: marauding

Location: lonely mountain

3rd place - Carlisle Cullen

The top three is closed by the head of the Cullen vampire family. For 373 years of his life, Carlisle managed to acquire good property and get on the 3rd line of the Forbes list.

State:$44 billion

Source of income: investments

Location: Forks, Washington

The Twilight saga does a great job of showing how beautiful life can be when you're a vampire, immortal, and have a lot of money.

4th place - Tony Stark

State:$12.4 billion

Source of income: Stark Industries corporation, defense industry

Location: Malibu, California

Beware, after watching Iron Man, you may be drawn into the Marvel Universe.

5th place - Bruce Wayne

Unlike the previous comic book hero, Bruce Wayne carefully hides his superhero career. But all of Gotham knows about his wealth. The loss of his parents not only inspired him to stand up for people, but also brought a multi-billion dollar inheritance.

State:$9.2 billion

Source of income: legacy, defense industry

Location: Gotham City, USA

In The Batman, Bruce mostly fights evil, with the billions just a backdrop.

6th place - Christian Gray

How 27-year-old Christian built his fortune and made it onto the Forbes list remains a mystery. Either this is the incredible persistence of a billionaire, or the “red room” intervened in the matter.

State:$2.5 billion

Source of income: investment, Gray Enterprises Holding corporation

The popularity of some heroes of books and movies is so great that their reality is beyond doubt. Tour groups are led to the houses where they supposedly lived, their sayings are passed from mouth to mouth, and we study the theories and books they invented. Only there is no evidence that they really ever lived. And it remains only to admire the man who made everyone believe in a non-existent person invented by him.

King Solomon

He went down in history as the richest man of his era. But disputes about its reality among theologians, historians, archaeologists are still ongoing. The texts from the Bible are confirmation of the existence, but their reliability is questioned by scientists.

Homer

The author of the Odyssey and the Iliad is more than real for fans of the poems. He is described as a blind man who lived on the island of Chios. But the examinations carried out indicate that the “poet” could not compose the works attributed to him. Most likely, Homer was invented so that the works composed by several generations of unknown writers would have a "father".

Pythagoras

Known from school. It's hard to call him a mathematician. He was rather a mystic obsessed with numerology. Information about Pythagoras remained only in the mention of enemies who criticized him for worshiping an unconventional cult.

Achievements in mathematics have survived to this day thanks to other people, but overgrown with such fantastic details that they make some scientists doubt the reality of Pythagoras himself.

King Arthur

In English legends, King Arthur is often the main character. The Knights of the Round Table and Ser Lancelot are mentioned with him. But they are all myths. Until now, historians have not been able to find anything to confirm their real origin.

William Tell

A fighter for the freedom and rights of the inhabitants of Switzerland, Wilhelm Tell, is known for Ressini and Schiller. The marksman existed only in oral lore, and later appeared in the movies.

Robin Hood

Many of us miss the hero who robs the rich and gives their money to the poor. And historians say: there has never been such a person. In the XII century, residents of cities and villages called any bandit the word Robehod.

William Shakespeare

The existence of Shakespeare is reduced to the mention of his name in historical documents. But for some reason, connoisseurs of literature believe that it would be very difficult to write all the works attributed to William to one person.

They suggest that under the pseudonym "Shakespeare" several authors are "hiding" at once, whose names no one knows. It is also alarming that the spelling of his name in the documents is different. The words of eyewitnesses capable of confirming the "live" correspondence with Shakespeare or personal acquaintance with him were not found.

Uncle Sam

The famous epitome of American patriotism was never real. The character's name, when considered by its first letters, Uncle Sam, is the designation for United States. American propagandists drew it on their posters during the First World War. Uncle Sam looked like its creator, an American cartoonist who "given" his face to a drawn person.

Marlboro cowboy

In the 1950s in the United States and the 1990s in Russia, there would hardly have been a person who could doubt that the brutal handsome man existed only on the screen. Cowboy was invented by advertisers who were tasked with getting men to buy filtered tobacco products, which in those days were considered a female prerogative. Marlboro was not afraid to smoke "female" cigarettes.

Sherlock Holmes

The popularity of works about the detective, written by Arthur Conan Doyle, did not fade for several decades. It was believed that the hero of the books is a real person. Actually it was invented.

15 richest fictional characters. The list was headed by the hero of "DuckTales" Scrooge McDuck, also known as "Uncle Scrooge". The richest drake made $65.4 billion in mining and treasure hunting. McDuck prefers to keep his fortune in the form of gold coins in a vault. He also sentimentally keeps an old dime, the first money he made on his own by shining his shoes.

In second place on the list is the fire-breathing dragon Smaug, an inhabitant of the Lonely Mountain from Tolkien's works. He received his fortune as a result of looting: Smaug took away treasures from the gnomes, the value of which was estimated by Forbes at $54.1 billion.

The top 3 is closed by the father of the vampire family from the Twilight saga, Carlisle Cullen. On long-term financial transactions and investments, the immortal doctor made a fortune of $ 46 billion.

The list of the richest fictional characters also includes "Iron Man" Tony Stark. Despite the fact that Stark (played by Robert Downey Jr.) lost his Malibu mansion in the last film of the franchise, income from Stark Industries Corporation allowed him to take fourth place. Tony Stark is worth $12.4 billion.

The list also includes media mogul Charles Foster Kane from Citizen Kane (5th place, net worth $11.2 billion), Batman Bruce Wayne (6th place, net worth $9.2 billion), Lord Tywin Lannister from Game of Thrones. (9th place, fortune - $ 1.8 billion). "Richie Rich" Richie Rich, who inherited $5.8 billion, was seventh. Billionaire Christian Gray made his debut in the rating ($ 2.5 billion). The protagonist of the trilogy "50 Shades of Grey" by British writer E. L. James took eighth place.

The owner of the Springfield nuclear power plant from The Simpsons, Monty Burns, rounds out the top ten with a fortune of $1.5 billion. He is followed by the hero of the television series Two and a Half Men, Walden Schmidt, who sold his program to Microsoft for $1.3 billion. Lara Croft artifacts (12th place, $1.3 billion). Mr. Monopoly from the popular board game became the 13th, his fortune is estimated at $ 1.2 billion. The heroine of the Downton Abbey series, Mary Crawley, with a legacy of $ 1.1 billion, took the penultimate place. Rounding out the rating is Jay Gatsby from The Great Gatsby ($1 billion).

Forbes ranks the richest fictional characters every year. The list includes heroes of literary works, films, television series and games. The rating participant must be known for his wealth in the world where he lives. It should also be the fruit of the author's imagination, so the heroes of the folk epic are not considered. When assessing the condition, the potential impact of the current economic situation on the character's assets is taken into account.