"The Honor of the Prytz Family" is the representative work of the American director John Houston in his later years, filmed in 1984. This film won almost all the "Golden Globe" awards in the United States, but at the 58th Oscars in 1985, except for the "Best Supporting Actress" awarded by John Houston’s daughter Angelica Houston , And no big gains. It seems that there is a rule in the United States, and movies that are often popular in other film festivals are difficult to win the Oscars. The reasons may be inconsistent.
John Houston's "Malta Eagle" directed by John Houston in 1942 has long become a classic. In 1948, he won the Best Director Award for "Gemstone Ridge" (also translated "Blood Sands"), and later starred in the film "The Queen of Africa" directed by him. The actor Humphrey Bogart won the Oscar for Best Actor. In fact, John Houston has made many popular and popular movies, such as the movie "The Love of the Sun and the Moon in the Deserted Island" during the Second World War. The male and female protagonists were starred by Robert Mitcham and Deborah Cole. The nun who was trapped by the Japanese army on the Pacific island began a thrilling and romantic day with a lonely American naval officer. The nun fell into a battle between love and priesthood. The fresh and beautiful Deborah Kerr also appeared as a nun in "Black Narcissus".
Going back to "Honor of the Pritz Family", even after more than two decades, it still seems to be an appetizing movie, but the final treatment of the film has not escaped the traditional movie stereotypes. The so-called "theft is also right" also applies to mafia like the Prich family. Even if Charlie, played by Nicholson, loves his wife who is also a killer and loves beauty, once he is enlightened by the "godfather" enlightenment, his "godfather", as the heir and head of the Prich family, must Quickly cut the mess to remove the troubles, and love the beauty to death, in order to preserve the interests of this family and the so-called "mafia" honor. Aimei is not vegetarian, she also has a hand, but her quick gun is not faster than Charlie's throwing knife, which is ironic in itself.
There is no good or bad ending in this kind of ending, but it still feels like a panic, lacking the possibility of making a new life, or breaking through the limitations of traditional movies. If Charlie agrees to the "Godfather", but in the end he can still walk with Aimee, or if he takes a slanted sword instead of taking an unusual path, maybe the realm of the movie will be much wider.
When people expect Charlie and his son to work with Aimee and prepare to work hard with the Prich family, they find that they are wrong. Charlie and his son still have to go back to the old road. The fact is that they only feel at ease when they walk on the old road. This is roughly similar to the previous "The Godfather", this is or the mafia's unchanging rule, that is, no one should think of starting a new stove, otherwise they will be inevitable, and betrayal can only bring disaster, so no one dares to really take risks.
But in the eyes of us outsiders, after all, this is just a movie, there is no need to follow the rules, and the ingenious ending may be just a hypothesis. Because of the traditional method, it is more sure to hold it, and it meets most of the needs of watching movies. Unconventional often causes great controversy. Creativity is often surprisingly successful, and the ending that can be thought of is still bland, which greatly weakens the tension of the film.
This may be one of the reasons why the film failed to make a difference at the Oscars that year. But this cannot be a reason to look down on this masterpiece. After all, it is the most famous mafia movie in the 1980s, and it is hailed as the top ten American movies in the 1980s. John Houston also won the Venice Film Festival Lifetime Achievement Award, and died in Long Island in 1987 after he filmed "The Dead".
2012, 12, 6
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