In the Oscar hit film "Nebraska", the hero David (Will Forte) encountered such a reality. His father, Woody (Bruce Dern), received an ad one day saying he had won the million-dollar jackpot. The old man actually believed it, stubbornly walking on the street alone, thinking of the town of Lincoln a few hundred kilometers away to collect the prize. Like his father, David is a weak executive: he broke up with his girlfriend of two years, because he never had the courage to marry her. However, he was convinced by his father's stubbornness and took leave to send his father to Lincoln Town to receive a million-dollar jackpot that did not exist.
The whole film does not have ups and downs in the plot setting, and even seems a little dull. The existence of the million-dollar jackpot has been denied at the beginning of the film, and the alienation between father and son is hardly the driving force behind the story in common Hollywood special effects blockbusters. However, it is in such a film that all the actors use their superb acting skills to interpret such a story that does not seem to be brilliant to make people cry.
The whole film mainly discusses two themes:
the first is the father-son relationship in modern society. In the movie, Woody is a bad old man: alcoholic, weak, stubborn, and still easily trusts the words of others even in his 70s and 80s. Son David, like many children, lacked the attention and understanding of his father. As his father got old, his father gradually became his burden. They become childlike ignorant, naive and even a little ridiculous. Moreover, the age gap has also drawn an insurmountable gulf between father and son. So at the beginning of the film Woody's family even suggested sending him to a nursing home. But on the way to Nebraska, the relationship between father and son changed from alienation to mutual understanding: the son began to understand that his father also had a glorious past, and the father gradually realized his son's love for him, and was even willing to accept it. The million dollar jackpot is nothing but a joke.
In China, many people describe the characteristics of a father's love for his children as a mountain of love. However, in modern society, with the rapid development of the economy and the gradual dismemberment of interpersonal relationships, such fatherly love is actually a huge obstacle for fathers to communicate with their children in many cases. Even because the father lacks his own care and education and the children do not understand, the father and the children gradually become unfamiliar. Once the children start running around for their own lives, the communication between the father and the children is left behind. "Nebraska" discusses such a father-son relationship and gives its own answer.
The second theme is courage and persistence in life. Like Woody, the hero in Nebraska, everyone ages at some point. With the passage of time, the once strong body has become weak, the dreams of the past have gradually vanished, the friends of the past have turned into bones, and everything seems to have become meaningless. But it is in this process of advancing and retreating with time that the hero Woody still maintains his own stubbornness. Although no one believes that the world will still have the possibility of a million-dollar award, he is still willing to walk on the street falteringly, using his actions to maintain his humble dignity, and declare to the world that he is still alive.
It is also worth mentioning that the picture settings of the film are somewhat willful black and white effects. In this era of special effects and 3D full of silver screens, the choice of the director is really not a decision to please. Many young viewers are likely to be put off knowing this is a black and white film. However, it was the director's stubborn choice that added a thickness to the whole film, just like polished glass, although a little rough, but full of thickness of life. Allows us to immerse ourselves in the actors' performances and the gradual progression of the story.
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