For me, Clint Eastwood was always a Western hero. A kind of cowboy - a superhero, a real concentration of all wild west in each of the many wrinkles on a weathered face. Stern and cool like a Colt. I, and you sure, heard something there about the fact that old Clint almost tied up with an actor's career and more and more often sits in the director's chair. His films are held in high esteem in Europe, although it was thanks to his "Baby in a Million" Hillary Swank entered the pantheon of Oscar bears. Last year, the film academy ignored Gran Torino and, in my opinion, very few people in Hollywood who are interested in personal opinion are completely in vain. But he took the Cesar Award for the best foreign film. In general, of course, for Americans, European awards are something like a consolation prize, so sweeten the pill.
Especially for Eastwood, who made this movie, clearly for Americans, and in particular for stupid Yankees, who see nothing further than their nose. I am sure that Clint Eastwood was the one who tried to convey the genuine problems of the relationship between the natives of the states and the internally displaced immigrants. The film is very good. Its name echoes the quality of work. Gran Torino - the name of one of the most popular models of Ford, which for Americans has always been a 100% American car. Reliable, strong, powerful with a little angular, but in their own way attractive forms. In this car was the spirit of that America, which was once the country of dreams. American Dream.
The hero of the film, perfectly flawlessly played by Eastwood (I can not even imagine anyone else in his place) is a former veteran of the Korean War, who has worked all his life at the car factory. Barely lost his wife, with two stupid sons, who sometimes create the appearance of love and care, although they are up to the aged and, in their opinion, too conservative father has nothing to do. Next to his house, there is a family of Asians, who are extremely annoying to the main character, and they themselves are not particularly located towards him. However, circumstances are such that their fate is closely intertwined. The phrase of the protagonist: "Go crazy, I have more in common with these Chinas than with my own family" - very well reflects how close they are. Walter continually pulls neighbors' teenagers from various troubles, and without even wanting it, he suddenly becomes not only their patron, but practically replaces their father with them. But, the film would not have been a drama if it were not for the criminal elements that thoroughly ruin the life of Walter's wards.
The film, I would say, the reference. There is something about “American History X” in it, when the main character goes over to the side of those who didn’t feel much sympathy, and most importantly, the movie lifts those aspects of life in the USA that can only be seen on Discovery in documentaries about adverse Detroit areas. For this side of life, producers do not like to look. And the Americans themselves prefer to close their eyes to what is happening in their next street.
What doubly pleased, is that with a budget of almost three times less than that of the same “Island of the Damned,” Clint Eastwood’s film collected 15 million more, and critics generally kissed him wherever possible. Scorzese should be ashamed.
Every time Ethan Hunt goes on the warpath, he is directed by completely different directors and, until recently, there was no director in his career who would have been delayed at the helm of a franchise twice. But now Christopher McQuarrie, who has shot the "Tribe of Outcasts" and "Consequences", has secured such significant duties. Cruise met McQuarrie while working on "The Edge of the Future" and now they have created the fourth joint film, and now we can say that the best.
Plot. Two years have passed since agent Ethan Hunt entered into direct confrontation with Solomon Lane, the organizer of the Syndicate, and managed to defeat him in a cunning game in which the stakes were very high. Quite unexpectedly deciding not to kill the enemy, Hunt handed him over to senior officials, but he still cannot forget about Leina, because his players continue to conduct subversive activities around the world. and the suddenly discovered facts suggest that the so-called “Apostles” of Lane are preparing something extremely large-scale, in the course of which millions of innocent beings can die, and the world order can sink into oblivion.
The Mission Impossible franchise has always surprised me with its resilience. Few stories with the exception of “Bondians” and “Star Wars” are held on top of glory and do not even think of falling from it for decades. But “Mission Impossible” is unique in that its main character is always the same. This is Ethan Hunt by the reluctant to get old Tom Cruise. This is what I call the love of my profession and the enjoyment of what you do. In the sixth part Cruz continues to perform crazy stunts, from which the film literally presses you into the chair.
However, I was pleased by the fact that in addition to the tricks and graphics in the “Consequences” there is an interesting plot. No, of course he is far from being as twisted as the authors would like to show us, but he is able to keep in suspense. We see a lot of unexpected turns, do not know who to trust and who is a friend. And the stakes are rising again from this ... Solomon Lane, even while in prison, plays a significant role in international terrorism and it is not so easy to stop him.
It was very gratifying that, despite all the employment, Cruise does not forget from Vinge Rame, who participated in all parts of the franchise and even in the “Protocol Phantom”, even in a small scene. I also liked the ambiguous role played by Henry Cavill. He sometimes looks much more dangerous than Cruise, and it is a very worthy party. I cannot uniquely characterize the character of Cavill, but I will say that he is very different from his work in “Agents A. N. K. L.”. Here Cavill is much more dangerous, aggressive and unpredictable, which went to the film only for the benefit.
So I advise you to appreciate the new part of the Mission Impossible, because for a big movie this is really an extraordinary case when the long-running franchise continues to grow and develop, making itself even better than it was before. Definitely you will appreciate the explosive tandem Cruise-Cavill, and the stunts that can be partially seen in the trailer are also not pumped up.
Ramp Lights. Probably, every eminent director will find a similar film. A film through which the real, not far-fetched live pain is passed. Pain for others, pain for relatives, pain for oneself, pain that is impossible to keep in oneself. “Lights of the Ramp” is not only the last film of Chaplin to shameful (not for him, but for the people who provided it) exile and not only the story of a sad clown and a self-confident ballerina, but rather some summing up of the life and creative path by Chaplin himself. A story impregnated with sadness, which is sometimes skillfully hidden behind encouraging speeches, merry grimaces and ostentatious unconcern. The sadness that you want to drown in a glass, but which is still unsinkable. The sadness of the fact that you are already unable to love and even greater sadness because someone else loves you. We hurt those we love, but by doing this, we cause ourselves more.
Have you ever thought about the fate of the elderly and thrown to the side of the lives of artists, athletes, writers? Often, after all, a person who has completely surrendered himself to any business turns out to be simply unsuitable for ordinary life. They can be compared with former prisoners who have served many years of imprisonment, - here he enters the real world and does not recognize anything in it, looks at others around with a wolf. And if the latter is often awaited either by a reverse “walk” or a logical result in the form of a drunken brawl and a slow death in a dirty gateway with a knife under the edge, then the first one will revive in our memory at best, an article in the yellow press under the typical heading in "Gone from us ..."
Chaplin, of course, the Great Comedian, but even a great comedian sometimes gets tired of making people in the street on the other side of the screen or the scene laugh, and the viewer who will be able to listen to this confession is good. And life tells us that the confessions of people of such a fun profession are sometimes the saddest in the world. If you remember Chaplin as a mischievous vagabond in “Lights of the big city”, then in other “Lights ...” you will risk not even knowing how old and leaned he was, how serious he became, but, most importantly, how much his eyes have grown dull. There were certainly reasons for this. Even the film is not able to contain this pain.
Screen Calverao is his self-portrait. Rub with very seriously condensed paints and decadent moods. He has a big name. It was. He has whole rooms full of spectators. Were He gave fun to people. Sometime What now? Those in power are kicking him, former associates are looking down at him indulgently, he is angry with himself, he has lost his pride, along with the opportunity to make fun and faith in the best. He is bankrupt in every sense. And all this now. Therefore, so sad. In such situations, such vulnerable people just need our support the most. And what are we doing? Often, we act like that soulless crowd that left the hall, interrupting the performance with stupid chuckles and leaving it alone with the empty hall.
Instead, it is worth only, sometimes even disingenuously, to smile, to cheer the doubting clown, to sit out until the end, to splash several times in the palm of your hand, to pat approvingly on the shoulder, thus as if saying: “Stop doubting, this is a temporary failure, everything will pass.” Is it really that hard to do ?! Well, when there are such, and conditional Calvero will be able to play his number and find the strength to play the final benefit performance. If not - oblivion, depression and obituary on the last page of a regular publication.
Few Chaplin films, where the rest of the actors would like to praise no less than Charlie himself. This, firstly, concerns, of course, Claire Bloom, who played the very ballerina that Calvero, being tipsy, saved from suicide, and even took her for a girl who was not of the most difficult behavior. This and Buster Keaton - another silent film star, appearing in a key episode of the film. His slightly puzzled look will be remembered for a long time. Two stars of silent black-and-white cinema look very symbolic at the time of full-blown sound color cinema, on a theater stage with a dumb old-fashioned number. This and relatives of Chaplin, among whom it is worth to highlight the son of Charlie Sidney. This and Nigel Bruce in the role of "forever afloat" Postand. The smallest roles are thought out and performed at the highest level. It feels as if along with the costume of the Little Tramp behind the scenes there are more Chaplin-director left. As if according to Freud, the unused energy of his inalienable image passed into the director's skill, which reached, perhaps, the very peak in his career.
I am ashamed to admit, but for the first time I watched the film Charlie Chaplin just now, only 20 years old. And I began to get acquainted with this film. Well, that was it. Or maybe it's for the best. It is difficult to express all your emotions after watching this movie. Perhaps because again ashamed.
The main idea of this film is already expressed in the best way possible. But it is worth repeating again. A talented actor, comedian thrown to the side of the theater. So the "grateful" viewer repaid the one who devoted his whole life to the stage to the one who gave himself to her without a trace. Did he want so much? He just wanted to hear the audience laugh again, to feel for a moment that they needed him. How did it happen? After all, Calvero knew and loved everything. He could teach a lot to the new generation of actors-comedians. But he was thrown away, like an old clown mask.
This film shows the tragedy of only one actor. And how many of them are talented and forgotten? The audience is capricious, unpredictable and insatiable. Every day she needs a new spectacle, and she throws everything yesterday into the trash.
This film was shot more than half a century ago, but did anything have changed? On the contrary, things got worse. Viewers have become more grateful. The theater is almost forgotten, faces in cinema are replaced as in a kaleidoscope. What will the viewer demand tomorrow? Not only that today we ourselves can not create anything worthy, so we still dare to question the classics. How many times have I met a statement like “this is in fact the most overvalued film”, “he / she is not that talented as well, as is commonly believed,” and this we are talking about the classics of cinema, about great people of cinema. Here, someone doubted the talent of Charlie Chaplin. What would we do without him? What would we do without first movers? Therefore, yes, ladies and gentlemen, on the classics, or as good or as!
How many talented famous actors and writers died in poverty? And only after their death, we shoot documentaries with regret, talking about the last days of Great Life. Are you still not ashamed?
And I was ashamed when I watched this movie. Looking at the great Chaplin, I so wanted to apologize. He succeeded in touching the most tender strings of my soul. Is this not proof? Hard to watch. as in the first half of the film, Calvero tries to encourage the girl, to instill hope in her. Did he himself believe that? He, like no one, understood that any attempt to go back to the stage would be just a pity, a handout from the viewer. And this is even more painful. Where is the way out? How to fix it?
But who is to blame for the actor's tragedy? Whose fault is that his numbers and jokes aren't funny anymore? Maybe the viewer is not so guilty? Culver said that everything changes, but does not pass. Actors and spectators remain and change. It is possible that some jokes become obsolete. Although ... with good jokes this can not be. I have yet to reflect on this. But the important thing is that we should not forget the great ones.
Wonderful touching movie, the game takes the actors for the soul. Unfortunately, I cannot fully express all my thoughts. Emotions overwhelmed. Great music, great dance performance. To all this, Maestro Chaplin had a hand. I still want to say a lot, but you can talk endlessly about the theater and the audience.
It is better to play in front of empty seats than in front of empty faces. (Alec Guinness)
