HBO's current production is basically the highest quality assurance. The 3-night, 6-episode miniseries Show Me a Hero will feature David Simon, the producer of the famous The Wire on HBO, directed by Paul Haggis, who has been silent for a while (2004 Oscar's best film Crash's Director and screenwriter, screenwriter of the 2005 best film Million Dollar Baby, and in my opinion the screenwriter of the best Casino Royale in 007 history), with the increasingly recognized super acting star Oscar Isaac (who has starred in Inside Llewyn Davis/A Most Violent Year/Ex Machina, all excellent work). It can be said that after seeing this lineup, I already knew that the quality of this drama must be very high.
The main story spans the '80s and '90s and tells the story of rising political star Nick Wasicsko, starring Oscar Isaac, and the impact on the community of the low-income housing policy he successfully promoted while in office. The side story is interspersed with the stories of different classes of people in society affected by this policy, including Doreen, Norma, Billie, Carman, who have long lived in poor black neighborhoods, and Mary Dorman, who lived in white neighborhoods and opposed low-income housing policies. .
It's hard to say whether this kind of script, which mainly revolves around political struggles, is suitable for Paul Haggis, but because of the racism involved and the interspersed interspersed stories, you can more or less see the shadow of Crash in 6 episodes (of course, the screenwriter may not intend to do it) ). The progress of the whole drama is very slow. It can even be said that I have just watched the last two episodes, and I have forgotten a lot of the subplots of the first four episodes.
But the main storyline is impressive because of Oscar Isaac's well-placed performance. In fact, the whole plot is very simple and clear. The rise of a political star breaks through many obstacles and it is difficult to pass the policy. Because of the voters' incomprehension, he has no choice but to step down. He tries to make a comeback, but he has no choice but to commit suicide because of the dark persecution of the political world. Such a simple and clear plot, but connected to the theme of Show me a hero in every link. But just like the origin of the title of the play at the beginning of the film review, showing the heroic side at every step, the inevitable outcome is to return you a tragedy at every step.
The director repeatedly included footage of Wasicsko's struggles in the cemetery before committing suicide in the nightly screenings. I'm glad I didn't check out Wasicsko's final fate in advance, because his sudden but predictable suicide at the end of the show really shocked me a lot. What was the tragedy of Wasicsko? Did he unexpectedly become the youngest mayor in America? Is it because he didn't really support the policy from the beginning, but he had no choice but to go against the public opinion to support it? Is it because he has offended the public opinion and cannot be re-elected, so he feels extremely empty and lost? When he was extremely empty and lost, he was nominated by a piece of paper to rekindle his enthusiasm and decided to return to politics? Is he unable to fight the darkness of the political world, and in the end he can only commit suicide with hatred?
Actually neither. The biggest tragedy of Wasicsko is that he hopes that his contribution to the community can be recognized by everyone and can be remembered by history. There were two scenes that really stood out to me during the last night of the screening.
First, he participated in the lottery in the rain. With a neat suit, he looks out of place among the low-income crowd, and as the draw progresses, it becomes more and more obvious why he sits down and applauds. He doesn't really care about who gets lucky enough to get cheap housing, maybe he does? But his real purpose is nothing more than hoping that people around him will find that he is the one who brought cheap housing to reality. He just hoped that the people next to him would say thank you, even if it was just a thank you, it might help him overcome the psychological difficulties in the end. But the tragedy is doomed that he can only bow his head and leave, no one knows that this young man is the mayor of that year.
Second, he went door-to-door in low-income housing to ask about the situation, hoping to confirm that although he was spurned by voters, his efforts for low-income people were worthwhile. In the end, he was meaningfully replied "I could ask you the same thing".
In fact, I feel that there are so many things that this show wants to discuss, and I really can't discuss them all. Although Mary Dorman was the most opposed to low-income housing policy at the beginning, she became the person who worked hardest to integrate low-income people into the community; although Doreen went astray and became addicted to drugs in the middle of the show, she was at the mercy of her family and fate. With help, he can still come out and live a good life; Norma is the most calm person in the whole play, but at the end of the whole play he refuses to eat in a restaurant full of white people; Billie can't plan for himself all the way, and in the end he can only The ignorance in front of her paid the price; as for Carman, when she finally moved into a beautiful new house and took out the set of cutlery that had been sealed for a long time, it was probably the happiest moment in the whole show, right? It can only be said that it is really not easy for everyone to walk step by step.
This might also be one of the topics the show wants to discuss, right? Probably, high-level political figures who are intriguing and deceiving, although there are ambitious people like Wasicsko who hope to make some contributions to the society in an upright manner, most of them still do not play a role for one reason or another. And the ones who can really change the society little by little, I am afraid, only the people from the bottom of the society come step by step.
Show me a hero, and I'll write you a tragedy.
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