Because I was studying Alan Sorkin's screenwriting class, I was watching his work as I progressed during this time. I just finished watching "A Few Good People" yesterday. After watching "President of the United States" today, I feel that although the genres and themes of the two films are quite different, when they are compared together, I think it can confirm what Alan Sorkin said in the screenwriting class. Show and squeeze obstacles. In general, I think the plot of "A Few Good People" is more tortuous and more watchable, but the climax of the film, "President of the United States" is fuller and more joyful. The following is my humble opinion, right to be a superficial exercise for a novice.
Alan Sorkin used these two films as an example. He didn't say it explicitly, but I personally think that the two ways of showing obstacles are exactly the two methods he said: "A Few Good People" corresponds to the straightforward goal plus the plot. The obstacles that appear, "President of the United States" corresponds to straightforward goals and obstacles. When I was attending the class, I thought that the first way to show obstacles would be more dramatic, but after watching "President of the United States" today, I realized that it was not. The two films both use the protagonist’s generous speech to tell the story to a climax and then end. The protagonist’s heated debate in the court in "A Few Good People" is compared with the speech of the protagonist in the "President of the United States" interview. A kind of sudden glare, or a sudden relaxation after being strangled and dying.
In "A Few Good People", there is no way to verify at the beginning, to the appearance of the witness, then to the witness's suicide, to being threatened by the colonel's future, to torture of conscience, and finally to lie to the witnesses. This layer shows the obstacles. Make the plot of "A Few Good People" more tortuous and attractive than "President of the United States". But after the previous demonstrations, our audience knows that the protagonist finally overcomes the obstacles (using the colonel’s irritable personality) and that he will succeed in the end, and that the obstacles shown above are not huge and urgent, or lack of squeezing of the obstacles, such as his father. The pressure brought by reputation and the consequences of losing the future (the male protagonist in the first half of the film does make people feel that he does not have the heroine value his position), and in the end the position of the heroine is still inconsistent (the previous second was still the hero and did not want the colonel In the next second of the dispute in court, he said let the male protagonist consider the future and give up struggling), and did not make the audience feel that the protagonist is in a "one-way street", "no retreat", "high pressure" situation.
However, in "President of the United States", from the very beginning, the mountains that prevent the protagonist from living together happily are shown. The protagonist and the protagonist are in two camps. The protagonist is attacked by competitors. Compete with your own supporters, your team and yourself often disagree, as well as aggressive media, "nosy" American people. With the development of the plot, these contradictions have become more and more acute, and the obstacles have become bigger and bigger (squeezing), driving the male protagonist to a "dead road" and having to reverse it. This dangerous situation highlights the male protagonist's final performance in front of the media. It is more hearty and passionate, and the image of the male protagonist is more stalwart.
However, in these two films, I still prefer "A Few Good People", which has a larger layout and a deeper intention. Although the layout and intention are not very important factors for me to like a movie, I feel that "President of the United States" as a romantic comedy lacks some humor and lightness.
(What I wrote may be changed at any time, because I may come up with something tomorrow)
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