we are all human

Ron 2022-04-20 09:01:44

This movie reminds me of last year's Charlie Wilson's War, which was also political, but it's really like a war. A well-planned interview, the ambitions of the two people, the quarrel between the two hearts and the seemingly peaceful faces are tit for tat. This is the wrestling of wisdom, courage and perseverance, a game, a war. I can finally say without hesitation that Peter Morgan is the most talented screenwriter in Hollywood right now, and his scripts are always full of contradictions, complex contradictions, and undisturbed contradictions. He always seems to have a magical power that can perfectly interweave and intersperse these contradictions, so that the contradictions gradually erupt in the seemingly calm, or suddenly burst out, and finally turn into a curling aftertaste.

The war between Nixon and journalist Frost is essentially a war between public figures and the general public. Not that Frost has a subjective motive to "speak for the people", but at least he represents a general public attitude: what have you done, what do you think you have done, why don't you apologize? Concerns, questions, accusations, and incomprehension, the public's attitude toward public figures is actually the same everywhere. The reason why public figures are called public figures is because they live in people's eyes, and their every move will be watched, guessed, and commented on. In fact, there is always incomprehension between people, and people always have a desire to control others. The pitiful thing about public figures is that they are more naturally called the outlet for the people to vent their desire to control, or to say that they are not understood. , the significance of the existence of public figures lies in the satisfaction of the public's curiosity and desire for control. Then public figures will naturally no longer be regarded as human beings. They are called different ideal models in each person's brain, and they are called puppets influenced by the will of the people. And what about public figures? They voluntarily or were forced to give up their human attributes, learned to satisfy the public's curiosity and desire for control, and learned to "pretend", "pretend" in front of others, and "pretend" in front of themselves.

That's what Frost's conversation with Nixon is all about. Frost "interrogates" Nixon with a public eye, and Nixon "pretends" like a cunning public figure calmly and wisely, defuses the accusations again and again. But Frost pressed hard, and the atmosphere of the confrontation between the two gradually reversed. Nixon began to struggle, to cope, and more importantly, his self-assured heart was slowly becoming fragile. Finally, Nixon couldn't hold it anymore, he couldn't take it anymore, he broke out, and he became a person again. No one can suppress their humanity forever, and that emotion will eventually flow out unstoppably at some point. In those brief seconds of silence, Nixon's wrinkled face was full of frustration, pain, and helplessness, and at this moment, we saw the heart of a real person who shreds all disguise. Nixon is still a person after all. He has people's longing, helplessness, happiness, pain, glory and shame. He is still a person after all. His story is not just a legend to satisfy the curiosity of the public, but a true tragedy about the soul. This tragedy has nothing to do with all the public. This tragedy was created by him, and it was only him who was tormented. In the final analysis, he was a person living in a tragedy, and he was a poor ordinary person.

Just an ordinary person. No one is extraordinary, no one lives for others. Every public figure is actually a person with the same joys and sorrows as us.

The film observes all this from an objective perspective and records it all. A short documentary interspersed between the interviews takes the audience to look at the central event from all angles. The comprehensive description of the background and the in-depth portrayal of the characters make the film more and more "dynamic". The director's perfect grasp of the rhythm makes the confrontation between Frost and Nixon so full of tension. Thrilling sparkle. The film has been vibrating up and down on a taut line, forming a sense of oppression like a stage play. However, in the end, with the removal of Nixon's disguise, the film naturally rises to a lyrical and compassionate kind, using a kind of rhetoric. The way shakes your heart.

Frank Langella's performance is the only "sparkling" actor I've seen so far in this year's Oscar contenders. In fact, his performance space is only limited to language and expression, but simply using these two things can perform a shocking feeling. What can you say other than admiration? What's even more commendable is that Frank Langella's quick and perfect transition from stage to screen! He just treats Nixon as an ordinary person, interprets him from the joys and sorrows of ordinary people, and lets us read him from the perspective of ordinary people, so the character of Nixon is very full, very powerful, supplemented by Langella The precise handling of the character finally makes us feel soft-hearted, lamented, sympathetic and emotional for this character, for such a seemingly extraordinary ordinary person.

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Extended Reading
  • Walton 2022-04-23 07:02:19

    Although the history is not familiar, the film is very exciting

  • Vincenza 2021-12-15 08:01:09

    The inspirational film that Diaosi turned around, I still admire Nixon.

Frost/Nixon quotes

  • James Reston, Jr.: You know the first and greatest sin or deception of television is that it simplifies; it diminishes great, complex ideas, tranches of time; whole careers become reduced to a single snapshot. At first I couldn't understand why Bob Zelnick was quite as euphoric as he was after the interviews, or why John Birt felt moved to strip naked and rush into the ocean to celebrate. But that was before I really understood the reductive power of the close-up, because David had succeeded on that final day, in getting for a fleeting moment what no investigative journalist, no state prosecutor, no judiciary committee or political enemy had managed to get; Richard Nixon's face swollen and ravaged by loneliness, self-loathing and defeat. The rest of the project and its failings would not only be forgotten, they would totally cease to exist.

  • Richard Nixon: You know those parties of yours, the ones I read about in the newspapers. Do you actually enjoy those?

    David Frost: Of course.

    Richard Nixon: You have no idea how fortunate that makes you, liking people. Being liked. Having that facility. That lightness, that charm. I don't have it, I never did.