A boxer who became a monk halfway, a frustrated trainer who was betrayed by his lover, and a boxing gym that was not well managed to make ends meet. These settings are very similar to the stories of ordinary teenagers working hard to counterattack in Japanese inspirational comics. According to the general routine, the heroine will encounter some setbacks at the beginning, and then gradually show her boxing talent under the excellent guidance of the trainer, continue to defeat more powerful opponents, and finally win the championship, the trainer will also come out of the shadows, the boxing gym Business is booming. And the struggle in it must be touching, the moments of success must be inspiring, trying to change the future, another textbook-like inspirational story - this is the wrong view I had when I first started watching this movie.
However, when the director went to show us Frank's returned letters again and again, to show Maggie's mean and indifferent family, and even to use Eddie's perspective to narrate the game that took his eye 20 years ago. , I suddenly realized that what this movie about boxing really focuses on is actually outside the arena - those sincere and delicate emotions, Maggie, who is working alone, doesn't get the slightest concern from her family, and Frank who keeps sending letters also always Failing to get her daughter's understanding, the two have different stories but the same loneliness and loneliness. In the movie, the director focuses more on the process of two people in similar situations getting to know each other and relying on each other, rather than how much sweat they have shed in training and how many victories they have won in competitions. This is the director's ingenuity, which also makes this a unique boxing movie.
There are many different plot settings in the film from traditional sports movies. Eddie, the old man who cleans in the boxing gym, was actually a boxer. Although young Daniel is mentally retarded, he dreams of defeating the most famous boxer in the city every day. . Compared with the Maggie who shines on the field, these characters seem mediocre and pitiful, but what is the difference between them - the same rushing about in life, the same struggle, and struggle, just like twenty years ago Eddie lost his eye in the last game and Maggie couldn't win his last game.
The tone of the entire film is dark, and many characters in the scene are in shadow. This is because the director did not use a light plate when shooting, but completely used natural light. This simple and restrained style also makes this film look and feel more. reality. The reality is not only the bright and bright on the stage, but also the coldness and cruelty shrouded in the darkness, even the protagonist Maggie cannot always win, as Daniel said, "Everyone loses". Although the director once said that the theme of this film is the American dream, it seems to be an unusual American dream. The success story after struggle did not appear, and Maggie failed to usher in a Forrest Gump-style happy ending, but forever fell on the hospital bed. At the end of the film, Frank finally revealed the secret of "Mocuishle": "my darling, my blood", which was accompanied by the injection of drugs into Maggie's body: the life that gained value turned to embrace death, and Frank who was finally accompanied lonely again.
At this point, I finally understand that the film is not about success or failure, but about life itself. There are no inspirational stories here.
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