# That guy in France and Spielberg's The Terminal **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 26, 2004, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-guy-in-france-and-spielbergs-the-terminal/242071 "2004-04-26T11:12:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2004, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-guy-in-france-and-spielbergs-the-terminal/242071/1 "2004-04-26T11:12:05Z")
Looking at the [plot summary](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0362227/plotsummary) on this one I wondered if it might have been inspired by [this guy](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a990820.html) (although it would obviously have changed details around quite a bit- still the stories seem similar enough that I suspect the guy in France might have been an inspiration). Anybody know or care to speculate? (Hanks working with an accent- KILL ME NOW!) ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2004, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-guy-in-france-and-spielbergs-the-terminal/242071/2 "2004-04-26T11:26:16Z")
From this [snopes](http://www.snopes.com/travel/airline/airport.htm) telling the story of Merhan Karimi Nasseri. > [@](#): > > Sightings: The 2004 Tom Hanks film The Terminal is loosely based upon the experience of Merhan Karimi Nasseri. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2004, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-guy-in-france-and-spielbergs-the-terminal/242071/3 "2004-04-26T12:41:23Z")
IMDB’s own trivia page for the movie confirms it: > [@](#): > > Inspired by the story of Merhan Nasseri, an Iranian refugee. In 1988, he landed at Charles de Gaulle Airport near Paris after being denied entry into England because his passport and United Nations refugee certificate had been stolen. French authorities would not let him leave the airport, and there stayed, in Terminal One, a stateless person with nowhere else to go. He has since been granted permission to either enter France or return to his own country. He instead chooses to continue to live in the terminal and tell his story to those who will listen. ---
**Author:** ![aeropl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f05b48/32.png) [@aeropl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aeropl)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2004, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-guy-in-france-and-spielbergs-the-terminal/242071/4 "2004-06-02T09:48:51Z")
I was going to start a thread about this but I found this one. Does anyone have any idea why they don’t advertise that the movie is based on a true story (however loosely)? I’ve seen many advertisements for the movie and read all the official releases, they never make mention of its inspiration. That just seems weird. ---
**Author:** ![Booker57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Booker57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Booker57)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2004, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-guy-in-france-and-spielbergs-the-terminal/242071/5 "2004-06-02T09:57:10Z")
To claim it was based on a true event would be admitting that Hollywood writers can’t come up with original ideas. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2004, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-guy-in-france-and-spielbergs-the-terminal/242071/6 "2004-06-02T12:42:33Z")
I don’t know … if they are claiming that the new **King Arthur** is the “truth behind the legend” … ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2004, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-guy-in-france-and-spielbergs-the-terminal/242071/7 "2004-06-02T13:04:46Z")
Just beaming with pride that I could start a Thread that would be resurrected five weeks later. 🙂 Incidentally, when I wrote the OP I had not yet seen a trailer. When I did start to see the trailer, however, I could swear that they said “Inspired by a True Story”. Maybe **aeropl** and I saw different trailers. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2004, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-guy-in-france-and-spielbergs-the-terminal/242071/8 "2004-06-02T18:31:15Z")
[This thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=259245) has some more information, including quotes from a New York Times Magazine article about Nasseri. Apparently he was paid for the rights to his life story.