The last time I saw a movie about America in the 1920s and 1930s was The Great Gatsby. This film based on Fitzgerald's novel is full of dramatic storylines, ups and downs, and a sad ending.
But even so, there is still a certain distance between the movie and the audience. After all, novels are not reality, and movies based on novels can never surpass movies based on real events.
In that year's "Pentium Age", horse racing, a seemingly unimportant sport, interprets the fragmented and difficultly reborn American dream under the Great Depression. It made countless audiences re-understand how in that era of starvation, how people who were struggling to survive created their own miracles in life, and how little people deeply influenced an era with their own hard work and struggle.
Today's "Iron Fist Man" also focuses on this era full of misfortune and hope, telling how a boxer who retired for many years returned to the boxing ring and worked hard so that his family could get milk. Get a new pinnacle of life.
"What are you fighting for?" When a reporter asked the no longer young Bullock this question at the press conference before the boxing match, Bullock replied without hesitation: "For milk."
When Bullock said this sentence, the audience almost burst into laughter. Before the final, which almost symbolizes the highest honor in boxing, most of the boxers will say that they are fighting for honor, career, and money. However, Brock, who has experienced a poor life at the bottom, expressed a very simple wish: milk.
Back in the 1920s, Bullock, who was in his prime, was a miracle in the boxing ring. As if it was meant to be, Bullock never lost a game.
But the good times didn't last long, and the sudden onset of the Great Depression made the entire boxing world collapse in an instant. When the boxing association was laying off staff, Bullock accidentally broke his hand, so his license was revoked and he was disqualified from the competition.
In order to live and for the family, Bullock had to let go of his former glory as a boxer, and together with countless poor people who needed work, he rushed to do temporary work on the dock every day.
In the early 1930s, the United States was in the midst of an economic crisis full of displaced poor people. At that time, many people even turned to fistfights in order to survive and fight for food.
This period was also the golden age for the flourishing of American gangs. Of course this is off topic. In such a time when human nature is constantly being wiped out by cruel reality, facing the broken bone in his hand, facing his son's stealing of food and the heavy blows he encountered after returning to the game.
If it were an ordinary person, he might have collapsed long ago, or even turned into a criminal. But Bullock still insisted on grit his teeth and never gave up. His tough guy-like image was very prominently portrayed in the early plot of the movie.
In order to survive, despite the fact that he lacked professional training for a long time and the hand injury has not healed, Bullock insisted on taking the boxing arena again. This game, which was originally thought to be a turning point, became the beginning of a more difficult predicament for Bullock.
The failure of the game, the fracture in the hand and the incomprehension of the family, when the wife is ready to send the child away, the contradiction in the movie erupts instantly.
Since then, the film's turning point, falling into a trough and finally a difficult and fierce boxing final, more vividly expressed the traditional film "three-act drama" form. It can be said that the film is a masterpiece that has long been ignored by academics.
Compared with the depiction of Bullock's life experience in the film, the depiction of Bullock's wife and children is an important basis for supporting and promoting the continuous development of the whole story.
It was the son who stole food because of hunger and the desire to keep the family apart that gave Brock the courage and confidence to face all difficulties alone in his heart. It is his wife's meticulous care and consideration that makes Bullock deeply understand the meaning of family to him.
If you don't watch the behind-the-scenes production commentary about this movie, the audience will definitely not be able to imagine how much Russell Crowe, a Hollywood first-line actor who has hit the Oscars several times with his many good films, paid for the filming of "The Man of the Iron Fist". sweat.
The script for the film was completed as early as 1995, and Russell Crowe should be the first actor to read the script. He read the script for the first time in 1997. After coming into contact with the extraordinary story of this legendary boxing champion, he was out of control.
He sighed at that difficult era and strong people, and admired Brock's courage and courage to fight for his family. These deep feelings made him still remember this story years later.
After a lapse of many years, Russell Crowe, who finished filming "A Beautiful Mind", finally found time to realize his long-buried long-cherished wish to bring the immortal deeds of legendary boxing champion Bullock to the big screen.
The film's director, Ron Howard, knew almost nothing about bullock and boxing before Russell Crowe pitched him, making Russell's efforts to finally make up his mind to make this film that has had almost many of its kind before. sports movie. At the same time, this film also enabled Ron Howard to realize a long-term movie dream, that is, to shoot a movie story about the Great Depression.
During the production of "Iron Fist Man", the crew adopted an unprecedented handheld shooting method, that is, placing several handheld cameras at the same time. And invented a handheld camera that can withstand the frontal impact of the boxer and shoot the first-perspective effect. This technology was later applied to the shooting of Hollywood blockbusters many times, which can be regarded as a major historical breakthrough.
In order to be able to truly interpret the legendary story of the protagonist, Russell Crowe received professional and rigorous boxing training, and was even seriously injured during the training.
James Bullock in the true story not only fulfilled his personal wish after the game, but also became a civilian hero in people's hearts. His life experience of ups and downs, and ultimately winning by his own efforts, greatly inspired and inspired a large number of people who were also in the same hardships during the Great Depression.
As a famous Hollywood director who has directed classic biopics such as "A Beautiful Mind", "Apollo 13" and "Deep Sea", Ron Howard has maintained his normal level in "The Iron Fist". The detailed outline of the characters, the depiction of the background of the times, the accumulation of conflicts and contradictions, and the final victory ending are all copies of the Hollywood biographical film shooting mode.
At the same time, the film's performance of the background of the times is also very clever. It does not spend too much space to describe the hardships of life during the Great Depression, but through the life experience of the protagonist, the audience can further feel the vicissitudes of the times.
On the theme of the film, while focusing on Acura's self-improvement and struggle spirit, the film also shows family, friendship and love. In terms of the relationship between characters, compared to the simple copying of the deeds of the characters, the film penetrates into the hearts of the characters and delicately shows the emotions and psychological fluctuations of the characters.
At the same time, through the host's announcement of the emotional changes of Locke and his wife, children and close friends, the audience can more intuitively understand the deep-seated reason that drove Bullock to attack the boxing champion from a desolate retired boxer, that is, the cruel reality of life.
At the same time, as a main theme film to promote the "American Dream", the film also has a great injection and output of patriotic feelings.
It would have been a matter of course for Bullock to receive and collect state benefits as a starved refugee during the Great Depression. However, he was able to receive the relief with deep gratitude. Later, after realizing the economic improvement through his own efforts, he went to the relief fund recipient immediately and returned all the money he had received to the country.
Through this detail of the film, we can find that the American dream that the film wants to convey is two-way. It includes not only the protagonist's own efforts and patriotic struggle, but also the efforts of countless dream chasers, more and more A prosperous country provides a broader stage for individuals, constantly inspiring and deepening the patriotism of ordinary people.
At the end of the film, through the text narration at the end of the film, we see that Bullock not only participated in World War II and won military exploits, but also bought the wharf where he worked hard during the Great Depression and participated in the construction of the sea-crossing bridge in his hometown.
Bullock strikes the perfect balance between fulfilling his personal dreams and promoting his patriotism. The ending of the story shown in the film is obviously not just about wanting the audience to know more about the extraordinary life of the legendary boxing champion, it is more about making the American people who are currently confused about their values able to realize their dreams through hard work like their predecessors. At the same time, arouse strong patriotic feelings and feed back to their motherland.
The film was released in 2005, which happened to be the fourth year after 9.11. Although the United States at this time is still the world's leading power, it is already a completely different world from the emerging power in the 1930s that was almost destroyed by the economic crisis.
However, being caught in the war in Afghanistan and Iraq, another round of domestic anti-war ideology, the darkness behind the political power struggle... The existence of these practical problems still greatly hinders the sustainable and stable development of the United States. At the same time, the injustice of ethnic minorities, the increase in unemployment, and Wall Street's manipulation of the economy have also caused more and more people to lose confidence in the future.
At such a point in time, Hollywood's launch of "Iron Fist Man" obviously has deep considerations. In the face of the same crisis, the great courage and determination displayed by people more than 70 years ago is precisely what the American people today lack.
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