Fan culture
After creating an unforgettable and wonderful story for "The Wrestler", the filmmaker Robert D. Siegel (Robert D. Siegel) directed the tube for the first time and wrote and directed "Big "Fan" focuses on the other irreplaceable and important part of American football culture-fans.
Paul’s favorite is football, and the team he supports is the New York Giants. For this 35-year-old garage manager who still lives with his mother, the Giants gave Paul the meaning of life. ……Every time the Giants have a game, Paul and his good friend Thrall will pack themselves up and cross the river to the Giants’ home court, but they can only stay in the parking lot, on a small TV. I watched the game and imagined the thunderous cheers in the stadium.
Growing up under the influence of a group of enthusiastic sports fans, Robert D. Siegel, who was a director for the first time, knew that characters like Paul and Thrall represent a comedy with a good framework. The source of inspiration for the story, and he has also proved his ability to control this non-traditional protagonist through a "Wrestling King". When Siegel first began to think seriously about why passionate fans like Paul liked to talk about each other's team through a sports talk show on WFAN in New York, at the same time he realized that what he had found was someone who could shoot. It became the theme of the movie's story--he had to use an extraordinary method to show the special people inside. Siegel said: "Maybe I am not a screenwriter with enough persuasive power now, but I have at least some knowledge in this area. It is really difficult to dig into the depths of a person’s thinking in just 90 minutes. "Big Fan" is a study of people's social behavior. Paul happens to be a very lonely person. The only connection with this world is his obsession and fanaticism for the Giants."
Indeed, apart from some "short trips" with Thrall to watch a football game, Paul seems to have no other activities and friends. Of course, this cannot be counted as his constant phone calls to a local radio show. Condensed energy and momentum.Since the Giants had to hold the final finals with the Philadelphia Eagles because of the loss of a game, Paul has often had fierce quarrels with Phil from Philadelphia through radio waves-Phil seems I'm very happy about sprinkling salt on the wounds of Giants fans.
In fact, in the process of writing the script for "Big Fan", Robert D. Siegel has been trying to add some more traditional storytelling modes to the overall narrative framework of the film. He explained: "In the beginning At that time, I also drew up a lovely girl image, wanting her to fall in love with Paul slowly as the film develops. But soon I realized that this character has no value at all. When I eliminated her Later, I found that the whole story was more open, and it allowed me to better consider the role of Paul. Many people have a dispensable attitude towards love, and Paul happens to be one of them."
Even though Paul lives for the Giants, no one thinks he is unhappy or unsatisfied-the role actor is Patton Oswalt (Patton Oswalt), he thinks Paul is amiable, likes to joke and People who are easily satisfied, even if his family is constantly urging him to find something more meaningful to do, Robert D. Siegel said: "From this point of view, Paul and the "Wrestling King" Randy Robinson has many similarities. Others hope that he can make some changes, but he enjoys himself in such a life. He hopes to stay in a corner of this somewhat weird world. …The story rules that most movie works follow are generally that the protagonists in them are eager to change, but people like Randy and Paul themselves are very resistant to the so-called change."
Opposite beliefs and destiny
Although he has such an incompetent character, destiny did not treat Paul kindly because of it. When he and Thrall met their favorite star player Coentrell Beschep at the gas station, it also foreshadowed that Paul’s fan career is coming to an end, and it has changed his life forever-Paul and Thrall followed Coentler to Manhattan all the way, and both of them were deeply impressed by his star spirit. After several unsuccessful attempts, they finally mustered up the courage to walk towards Coentler and his friends. But what Paul and Thrall did not expect was that they were facing a group of drunks who had been drinking to the sky, and apparently did not take them seriously the two fans who appeared in inappropriate places. Later, because A series of misunderstandings caused the conflict to escalate, and the situation finally got out of control. Before everyone realized the danger, Paul had been pushed to the ground by Coentler and fell unconscious. Paul was in a coma for 72 hours, but as soon as he woke up, he discovered that the accident turned into a very sensational scandal. For this reason, the Giants star guard Coentrell was suspended from the game. I don’t know when he can play again.
The development of the story after that was that Paul, who was exposed by the media at the same time, tried to return to the previous relatively lonely state of life, but he found that the whole world seemed to be targeting him. Patton Oswalt said: "Paul has no way to resist the environment around him, and he can only accept everything that is bizarre in vain." However, Paul's family saw this as an opportunity-as long as Paul is willing to sue, he can not only get millions of dollars. With compensation, you can live a better life. But in Paul's view, he really can't imagine that he would do anything to harm the Giants, let alone bring his favorite player to the back of the lawsuit.
Paul kept evading the media’s siege and interception, acting deaf and dumb in all legal investigations, and sincerely hoped that Coentrell could return to the game at the crucial moment of the finals between the Giants and the Eagles. Robert D. Siegel said: "He tried hard to get rid of this chaotic situation, but he didn't know what to do. The faith that once made him so pious has begun to collapse, and the truth is ruthlessly rushing toward his face. Come." When Paul was entangled in this unique and potentially life-changing environment, he also began to face the real thoughts and potential deep in his heart, and occupied the dominant position in an amazing way, Sig He continued: "We all need to face some facts that we have to accept. Life is so cruel. I don’t think anyone will blame Paul for it, because I think everyone will make the same decision. Just trying to return to a normal life and end all the chaos that made him anxious."
Telling stories about Paul also represents a big leap in Patton Oswalt’s acting career. Oswalt, as most people know it, is his many years of hard work in the television industry. There is his crazy comedy performance, but he has demonstrated his unfathomable performance by voicing the mouse chef Remy in "Ratatouille". After meeting with Oswalt and discussing the story in the script together, Robert D. Siegel realized that this fat actor could definitely bring the same and soulful interpretation to the "ordinary man" Paul Siegel said: "I have never had any doubts about Oswalt’s ability. Although he has performed a lot of dark stories on the stage of single comedies, I don’t think he is a An angry and annoying guy, maybe we can completely release Oswalt’s energy through rugby. Little is known about sports that are a bit "rough". Oswalt said: "I don’t know at all about this ball game that is so popular in the United States, but I can imagine why that passionate emotion comes from. "However, when Oswalt was armed with the Giants logo from head to toe in the film and stood among real Giants fans, he also felt an uncontrollable excitement, just like Paul in the film. , Was deeply moved by this emotion.
Excluding the part of the script related to football, Patton Oswalt gave full trust in the whole story. He believed that Robert D. Siegel had enough film ability. Oswalt said: "Filming On the first day I said to Siegel, if he believed that I was qualified for this role, then I would have the confidence to bring him everything he wanted. What I could see was that Siegel created it by himself The structure of the script is so compact, what it gives me is a huge performance space, and Paul is a really good character that can not be met for me-for this character, what Siegel and I have is Exactly the same imagination."
