IAHGames

What is Tom Hanks waiting for? Why, to hear the story of the man who inspired this movie of course!
Source: DreamWorks SKG

So you’ve touched down at the airport and you can’t wait to bug a jazz superstar for his autograph. What you didn’t know while en route was that a revolution had broken out in your home country, and suddenly the country does not acknowledge your citizenship anymore. Now you can’t leave the airport, and you can’t go back home. What do you do? Why, live in the airport of course!

That’s probably the greatest similarity The Terminal (2004) has with the inspiration behind the story... an Iranian refugee by the name of Mehran Karimi Nasseri. Nasseri was allegedly paid US$250,000 for rights to his story which the movie directed by Steven Spielberg was loosely based upon.

Nasseri (pictured with his mountain of belongings) made himself at home at the Charles de Gaulle International Airport for almost 18 years
Source: AP Photo/Michel Euler, File

Now when I say “loosely based upon”, I really mean: why in the world did DreamWorks part with a quarter of a million American dollars to come up with a movie which is worlds apart from the Nasseri story? In fact, he’s not the only person who has lived at the airport – although he has certainly stayed the longest!

How different are the two stories you ask? Aha! Here’s a quick checklist:

1. How the hell did they get stuck?

Something like that, but much, much more complicated
Source: icanhascheezeburger.com

For a start, Viktor Navorski, fictitious character from movie, is from fictitious country Krakozhia. [Spoiler alert] He’s on a journey to collect an autograph of a jazz saxophonist in honour of his late father. (Did I hear, jazz musician otaku?) [Not much of a spoiler] And then he has this great FML moment – where his country just ups and 'disappears' because of the civil war that started while he was on the plane. So now he is stateless, his passport a piece of toilet paper, and he’s stuck at the airport.

Now the true story: Nasseri was expelled from Iran in 1977 when he was just a fresh graduate for protesting against the government.  After many fights with paper pushers and red tape, he was finally granted refugee status by the United Nations High Commission for refugees in Belgium. Hence he was allowed to stay in any European country. However, while he was on the way to the UK in 1988, he claimed his briefcase containing his papers was stolen in Paris.

Yeah, totally. Like the other day when I accidentally tried to pay for the bus with my identification card and the bus driver laughed at me
Source: FML

Now comes the FML but It-Sounds-Pretty-Awesome part: Nasseri boarded the plane to London, but was sent back to France as he did not have his documents and could not clear immigration. (How awesome is that? A free flight!) After sorting out the mess with authorities, he took up residence at the Terminal One of the Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris.

2. Location and duration of stay 

This is pretty straightforward. Fictitious character Viktor was stranded at New York’s JFK Airport for a few months, while real-life Nasseri made the Paris airport his home for almost 18 years.

3. Romance and Star Power

Now to score x8 points with that chick! Aww, the stuff Hollywood movies and games are made of
Source: Activision

In the movie, Viktor has an almost-romance with flight attendant Amelia Warren who is played by the sexy Catherine Zeta-Jones. However it just wasn’t meant to be. As for Nasseri, he didn’t get any chicks, but he became famous, his life immortalised in quite a number of movies (some in which he plays himself), books and media articles. He spent his days at the airport entertaining journalists, reporters and filmmakers, amongst others. He even has an IMDb page!

4. What happened in the end?

Instructions: Align face with fist on computer screen. Count backwards from three. Repeatedly smash face into monitor until nose is bloody. Satisfaction guaranteed.
Source: topcultured.com

Here comes the punch-line (and I’m not talking about sucker punch to your face – this is real life, not Hollywood, for goodness sake!) and it’s the difference between a happy ending and an uncertain ending. For Viktor, it was all roses in bloom for him because not only did he get his autograph, the civil war in his country ended and he happily went home. The only thing he lost was the chick (which he didn’t have to begin with) and well, how much can a fictitious man who lives in a fictitious country lose anyway?

As for Nasseri, well, he was hospitalised in July 2006 and in January 2007 he was transferred to the care of the airport’s branch of the French Red Cross. He put up in a hotel close to the airport for a few weeks, after which he was sent to a homeless shelter on 6 March 2007. That’s his last known whereabouts.

Now we bring to you a public service message
Source: www.joe-ks.com

Kids, please don’t try this at home. It may sound cool to live in an airport, but Nasseri had a lawyer fighting his case and survived by way of kind donations. He also got into trouble with the authorities on a few occasions. He could not step past the doors of the airport and could only amuse himself with donations of reading material, news broadcasts on the airport televisions, extensive journal-writing and conversations with people. Check out this detailed article on Nasseri’s life for more information.