"Focus" is adapted from real events. At the beginning of this century, the "Focus" feature report group of the "Boston Globe" published 70 consecutive reports throughout the year, exposing 90 pastors in the Boston area suspected of sexual assault on boys. This series of reports not only won the Pulitzer Prize the following year, but also promoted the society's attention to church child prostitution. The incident itself is quite topical, but the film’s storytelling rhythm style is extremely calm and calm. The film reproduces the work of the reporters of the "Boston Globe" just like the reporters' reporting on the incident. It is rigorous, rational, and restrained. Full of passion.
The charm of serious journalism lies in not forcibly selling opinions, avoiding emotions to judge, rigorously drawing materials, carefully verifying, and ultimately destroying a system rather than destroying an enemy. Correspondingly, the "Focus" play is also neat and almost impeccable. For example, the victim of the investigation and collection of evidence in the film has an outward curve and an introverted straight. The interview level is different, and the dialogue is authentic and credible, even though the way the injury is presented is different. , The effect of guiding the audience's emotions is the same. In the depths, the contrasting portrayal of the lawyers of the two camps is also concise and vivid. The sentence "Why did you go early" makes the film more than an interrogation of the church, and demonstrates the principle of self-reflection that the media should have.
In addition to the drama, the photography and editing of "Focus" are as classic as textbooks, as evidenced by the fact that almost all major technical award nominations for Oscars have not been missed. The long shots are calm and steady without snatching the content, but the multi-line narratives are sharply edited. The performance is especially commendable. The big names of the film are gathered but there are no absolute male and female protagonists. The actors are brilliant, the group play is intense and no one suddenly robs the play, this kind of individual Collaboration based on heroism is exactly what an excellent news reporting team needs. The same emotion as after watching "Big Short" is that there are so many good American professional actors.
In order to act well as reporters in the film, the four main actors have had close contact with the prototype of the Focus Reporting group to understand their work habits. Of course, we are too accustomed to using actors to experience life as a means of propaganda, but the performance itself will not lie. I like a detail of Michael’s interview with the victim, played by Macrufallo: Sitting across the table, Michael did not put his notebook on the table, but quietly recorded under the table with both hands while asking questions, keeping his eyes on the interviewee. . I am afraid that only when you have been a reporter can you understand this kind of details. Face-to-face recording is more like a court trial. The interviewee is easily offended and easily distracted. As for the details of trying hard to obtain information and even giving tips in exchange for photocopying opportunities, there is no need to go into details.
There are actually many movies that tell news events from a media perspective. In the new millennium, there are many masterpieces such as "Good Night and Good Luck" and "Dialogue Nixon". Personally, "Focus" feels that it is the most popular and professional one. The director’s most clever treatment was that when the report effect was presented in the second half of the story, he almost didn’t mention "Pulitzer Prize", and closed it to the reader’s hotline at the end. The busy journalists answered calmly as always: "Hello." , Here is the focus". The media reporter is the profession that needs to consciously keep a distance from the halo among all the "hero" attribute industries. This concise ending is timeless and decent.
Although "Focus" is a standard "Oscar" style from content to presentation, individuals are not optimistic about its prospects for awards. The director himself is probably a staunch atheist. The most filthy organization in the world, the awe of religion itself collapsed after watching it. This kind of "offense" will obviously make the theists uncomfortable, which may be the reason why the film was completely ignored during the Golden Globe Awards.
From my personal point of view, the story actually regards the church with powerful power in the secular world as the setting of power control. What "Focus" shows is the courage and hard work of ordinary people to challenge authority. In different societies, the appearance of power is another question. Newspapers perform their supervisory duties under the premise of full introspection. This is the core value of the media’s “fourth power”.
Try to use a calm tone to state your liking for this movie, it is inevitable that it is still a private item with personal feelings. It’s been more than six years since I said goodbye to the newspapers. When I was a reporter, I wrote some fragments. But when I heard the line "Reporting stories like this is the reason why we chose this industry" in the movie, I was still burned out and aroused myself. When I was in middle school, I read the memories of the "Freezing Point" special report in the China Youth Daily in the newspaper column. In the era of "paper media winter", "Focus" appeared with a certain tragic color. It faithfully portrays a model of journalistic conduct and execution, as if it was the ideal of university talks yesterday, and now it has become a tribute to the golden years.
In the past two years, technological development has discounted the advantages of traditional media platforms and channels, and self-media has become an emerging form. It has undoubtedly expanded the channels of communication and dissemination. More than speculation, "strong personal style" has become an invincible weapon to stand out. This is not a big problem, but the space for in-depth reports based on fact investigations is indeed shrinking. Speaking of, the excellent documentary reports I recently read almost all come from two fashion magazines, "GQ" and "Mr. Fashion". If there is any regret, serious news reporting has become a weapon that has been confiscated before it has been mastered for a society where the people’s wisdom is still unopened.
Slightly digressing, the new media form will always have its own growth pattern. Think about it, not because of the emergence of newspapers and television, there are journalists with ideals and responsibilities, but because "goodwill" itself has led to people with ideals and responsibilities joining the traditional media industry and making excellent news reports. , Has promoted the progress of society. The kindness and sense of justice shared by ordinary people is always worth writing about, and this is probably the meaning of cherishing movies like "Focus" and cherishing the "shiny days" of newspapers.
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