In the movie "Conversation with Nixon", the time came to 1977. Nixon, who was forced to resign from the presidency due to the "Watergate Incident", publicly admitted his mistakes in a TV interview after a lapse of three years. And it's all because of a guy named Foster.
1
Who is Foster? A talk show host, or, I prefer to call him, a young boxer. Being young means he is inexperienced and, of course, full of energy. Boxers, there is no doubt, in the boxing ring, there are only two endings, defeating the opponent, or being KO by the opponent.
And this time, Foster's opponent is an experienced player -- former President Nixon. To beat him, Foster took a gamble of his life, betting all his money, his reputation, his job, to win or die.
Under the heavy pressure, Foster and his team, eager to win, can imagine. Therefore, as soon as the new boxer came up, he threw a heavy punch at the old boxer. When the two officially started the interview face to face, the first question, Foster asked about "Watergate", "Why didn't you burn those tapes?".
Because Foster did not follow the previous contract, Nixon was stunned at first. After a brief period of overwhelm, he quickly adjusted his state and easily avoided the heavy punch. The following interview became Nixon's performance time. He was full of confidence and talked freely in front of the camera. Foster turned out to be a losing fighter.
Failure seems to be foreshadowed. As soon as we met, without taking a sip of tea, Foster would give the former president $200,000, so easy to make a small profit, and Nixon naturally did not take Foster in his eyes.
In the conversations before several interviews, Nixon seemed to be at ease, chatting about each other's shoes, joking about his sweating problem, teasing that it was a really expensive interview, and gossip about whether Foster had premarital sex. It can be said that the first three quarters of the film, Nixon is relaxed and calm.
2
Until the last day, the agreed interview content was "Watergate Incident". During the process, Foster held the cardboard, faced Nixon and kept asking questions, and images kept flashing in my mind.
In the Japanese drama "BOSS", Queen Tianhai, as a criminal policeman, used her skilled acting skills to deceive one criminal after another, even her colleagues. In one of the episodes, he seriously discussed his acting skills with the criminal. "If you want to deceive people in the end, you will unnaturally pretend to be serious in the middle. Haha, I often use this trick too." It really corresponds to that sentence, "Life depends on acting skills."
Of course, this movie is not so joking, and it will definitely not work if you rely solely on acting skills without real skills. However, even if I did a lot of homework and didn't have good acting skills, I still couldn't play, as you can see from the first three interviews.
In the final interview, Foster removed his identity as a boxer. This time, as a "most competent actor", "when the time comes, he will enter the play."
In the face of the interview about the Watergate incident, Nixon was a little nervous. "It was a rare occasion that he was late." During the pre-interview conversation, Foster began his "actor time."
"If today's interview was anything like yours, it would be explosive."
"What call?"
"A call to my hotel room."
Nixon began the interview with a look of doubt and worry.
3
At this time, Foster's identity has become a reporter.
He plausibly recited the never-before-seen material found in the federal court library, and Nixon first panicked, then denied the charges and excused others.
However, Foster continued to press step by step, he then shied the responsibility, diverted his attention, or simply ignored, "I don't know anything, the next question."
And when there was no way to retreat, he started to justify himself again. However, the more he talked, the more flaws he had. Under Foster's questioning, he finally admitted frankly, "I'm saying that if the president did it, it wouldn't be illegal." There was an uproar.
Foster also grasped the rhythm of the interview very well. After he caught a point, he pressed hard and never relaxed.
And for the response of the other party's huge amount of information, confirm again and again.
When in the end Nixon was still justifying his mistakes, "If you remember, it was a tough time, I was facing enemies on all sides, I was struggling, I was fighting a biased media, I was fighting a biased Congress... I still stand by those Wrong, it's out of emotion, not reason..." Foster didn't pay attention, he asked
softly, "What about the American people?" It seems that, in the impression of many people, when asking sharp questions, you have to ask people to panic, and you have to appear sharp. But sharp questioning is just one way of interviewing. There are actually many ways. In the end, this is the mystery of the TV interview. The picture seems to be more language, and it is fixed on Nixon's slightly swollen look, full of loneliness, self-loathing, and frustration. Nixon finally apologized to the American people, and that's what Foster's team was all about, and Foster ultimately succeeded. In contrast, the relationship between reporters and public figures is a cat-and-mouse relationship. In the cat-and-mouse war, over time, the anti-reconnaissance ability of mice will gradually increase, so you have to find a way to protect yourself. Well, as a cat, I think the movie provides a dimension, and a boxer who doesn't want to be an actor is not a good reporter.
View more about Frost/Nixon reviews
