"W." is not the first controversial work of Oliver Stone, nor is it the first time that he used the President of the United States as the film material, about Kennedy's "Great Assassination" (1991) and Nixon's biopic " Shocking Lies-Nixon (1995) are two of his important works in his career.
The problem is that the protagonists of the two old works have long been absent or alive when they were painted on the film. The protagonist George W. Bush of "W.", which is now being screened in the United States, is still in charge of the White House until January 20 next year. day. Anyone with a discerning eye will perceive that the filming of this scene was announced in May this year. After the filming was completed in July, it was obviously on the day before the election. After the election, the public's interest in George Bush would be greatly reduced. But Shi Dong believes that the launch of this film at this time has its importance, at least it can make voters carefully consider the sacred vote.
The cost of the film is not high, about 30 million US dollars, but the film is about an unpopular president, and the Hollywood studios are reluctant to invest. Oliver Stone pointed out that "W." funds come from France, Germany and Australia, and Hong Kong's Emperor Films also has an investment. Zhang Xiaohui is one of the executive producers and a guest reporter in the film. Of course, the choice of the main cast of the film will be more cautious. Josh Brolin (Josh Brolin), who played "The Mystery of 2 Million", played Bush, the old Bush was played by James Convair, and Richard Duo Li Fei Si (Richard Dreyfuss) played Vice President Cheney.
Oliver Stone participated in the Vietnam War when he was young. He was a daring liberal. He has repeatedly criticized George Bush for sending troops to Iraq. Therefore, the most curious thing about the media beforehand was whether "W." would attack Bush. movie of? Shi Dong stated: "The target of the film is not the 15% who extremely hate Bush, nor the 15-20% of Bush supporters, but the remaining about 60%, that is, Americans with a more enlightened attitude." He pointed out. , This script co-written by him and "Wall Street" screenwriter Stanley Weiser, focuses on the dramatic transformation of how Bush turned from an alcoholic to the most powerful figure in the world.
The story tells about George Bush from 21 to 58 years old. It describes how he met his wife Lola and how Christianity made a major change in his life when he was drunk and drunk when he was young. Of course, he was elected governor of Texas and became the 43rd. The experience of the President of the United States and his decision to send troops to Iraq in 2003. Oliver Stone pointed out that Bush has been living in the shadow of his father Bush and his family's reputation. His inference is that Bush was simply trying to prove that he was stronger than his father, so he did not hesitate to launch an anti-terrorist war to seek a smooth re-election. .
Oliver Stone emphasized that as a biopic, the film has a very humane portrayal of Bush, but its attitude is understanding, not sympathy. In comparison with the two most controversial American presidents in modern times, he believed that Nixon had a conscience and was smarter than Bush. Bush's problem was that he had plunged the United States into the quagmire of war without feeling guilt.
The film opened in the United States last Friday. Surprisingly, this biopic was originally a comedy, so it is indispensable to repeat the incident of Bush eating pretzel pancakes, highlighting his frequent mouthfuls of food, poor speech, and other shortcomings of being ridiculed. But like most of Shi Dong's works, the film has mixed reviews and only ranked fourth at the weekend box office. However, Joss Bronn, who played Bush with a similar appearance, tone and posture, has received unanimous praise.
Although "W." is a biopic of George Bush, it did not touch upon the major vote dispute between him, then the governor of Texas, and Vice President Al Gore in the 2000 presidential election. On the contrary, this dramatic event became the subject of HBO's original TV movie "Recount". Back then, the elections between Al Gore and Bush were fierce. In the end, the Florida ballot became the key to deciding who will be in the White House. However, the two people's votes in the state are very close. In addition, the hole punching method on the ballots is problematic, which has caused many elderly people. In the process of suspicion, Gore, who was behind in the election, asked to recount the votes in Florida. The incident continued to turn into a series of legal proceedings between the two camps. Five weeks later, the Supreme Court pronounced Bush defeated. The incident came to an end when Al Gore was elected the 43rd President of the United States. The film is directed by Jay Roach (who used to film "Extraordinary Father Picks Son-in-law"), which can be said to replay the vote war in Florida in 2000. The two candidates, Gore and Bush, only appear in news films in the movie. The protagonists of the whole story are actually military officers from the Democratic and Republican parties. They are the former chief of staff of Gore, played by Qiyun Splash, respectively. Well, and Tom Wei Jianson as Secretary of State Baker in the old Bush era. They are their own masters, attracting contacts, and the process involves many people, which is extremely complicated, but quite fascinating. What is more surprising is that this piece is not that Gore is worthless on the one hand, but instead focuses on uncovering the abuses of the election voting mechanism. The film begins with the words of Qiyun Spath, saying that democratic elections are "every vote counts", but in the end 175,000 votes were not counted, which is quite ironic. The content of the film is thought-provoking. It caused a lot of repercussions after its premiere on HBO in the United States in May this year, and it won the Emmy Award for Best TV Film. It will be broadcast in Hong Kong a few days before the general election on November 1, which can be said to be quite timely. .
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