Sweet Land

This may have been the first movie I've ever seen where the female lead was so pretty, it distracted me. Maybe I'm in the midst of a sexual preference shift.
This film has gotten rave reviews but I thought it needed to be edgier, rougher, less pristine. Okay, I know those Scandinavians were a real clean bunch out in Minnesota in 1920 but they must have occasionally left dirty dishes on the table or failed to bathe immediately upon rising. And did women in 1920 on the plains have long, loose, wavy hair? If she had pulled that hair back, I might have focused more.
Also what happened before would have been much more interesting than what happened after. Why spend so much time on their deaths years in the future when seeing where they came from, how and why would have been more enlightening?

Question: How close to real events do you go when the people in your book/story are still alive? The true story of my two central characters has suddenly taken a turn for the better as far as my story goes. Whereas I was formally just using the real story as a background, it is now tempting to include a lot more of the real stuff. What do you think?