I seem to have a thing for biographical films, for people who tell their stories and share with an audience. Antwone Fisher wrote the screenplay and I thought that the movie really tried to focus on the man he became as a result of his childhood. The funny thing is that all the rest of the movie; Denzel Washington's problems with his wife, the Navy background that Antwone came from etc, seemed to just fill the space because what I concentrated on, really found intriguing and fascinating was Antwone's learning to perceive himself. Derek Luke was a brilliant choice, he comes accross as truly empathetic to his character and I just detected that a lot of the pain, a lot of the emotion was suppressed.
Be it Hollywood or the director's choice, I got a feeling that the audience was protected from the pain, but it was there and there were some very raw moments in the movie and I couldn't imagine having a childhood like Antwone's. Which lead me to thinking why do they make movies like this? A movie which documents someone's life, and then I realised that in some way it was catharsis and Denzel Washington acts with compassion and directs with empathy. I started crying in the movie because Antwone is born in 1976, the same year as me, and while not an amazing thing there are millions born in the same year as us, it really emphasised how lucky I am. The movie does touch on a bit about parents and choices and luck and that is simply what it is: bad luck that he was born in a prison and that his father died.
What really struck a chord with me, is how he sees himself as this strong man, a good man, a man who can still stand up and be strong, and when he says those lines and later describes himself as he finally sees himself - it truly is both a well written and very touching moment. I think that movies like this will always have their appeal because although we are sitting in the dark, miles away from them, a story can still touch us, reach out to us and it taught me something. There are people out there we never get to meet, but do have a lesson and while it was so obviously pointed out in the movie, the message is that we will never be able to experience all lives, all events in the world but we are lucky if someone chooses to share it with us.
As a movie I never really looked at the background or the plot or the actors apart from the main one who I thought suited the role brilliantly. I looked at the pain and hoped that I gained some empathy from it. |
