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I saw this film for the first time around this time last year (lockdown 2020). The first time I watched Forrest Gump I didn't really like it. I know, hard to believe. But seriously, I thought it was OK but I didn't connect with it. A few days ago, I decided to rewatch this film and realised that this is one of the best pieces of filmmaking ever made. The story, script, directing, score, soundtrack, and of course acting are just a few of the outstanding things this film portrays. Robert Zemeckis was already one of my favourite filmmakers and rewatching Forrest Gump, Zemeckis has been bumped up the list. I am glad this made the Filmstagram Top 100 today @magicoffilm.
Anyway, onto the directing. Robert Zemeckis did an excellent job on directing this masterpiece. The tracking shots were mesmerizing. Also, the moving camera shots panning characters up and down (like Forrest Gump when he is on the bench, panning from his feet to his head) were simply beautiful. I also loved the symmetrical shots. The cinematography was excellent too.
The music was one of my favourite parts of the movie. Alan Silvestri has worked extensively with Robert Zemeckis and now I know why. He made every scene feel that much more emotional or triumphant. Not only the score was excellent but also the soundtrack. There are so many songs that are so perfect and fitting for the specific time period this film is set in. I especially love the scene where they are walking down the road in Vietnam and Forrest is talking about how they're looking for some guy named Charlie and "For What It's Worth" is playing in the background. Every time a song comes on in this film it makes you want to move and groove with Gump.
Now, onto the acting. The acting in this film is some of the best acting I have ever seen in my life. I used to think that Tom Hanks gave a better performance in Cast Away than in Forrest Gump, but after rewatching this I realised how good of a performance he gave playing Forrest (although he also gave an excellent performance in Cast Away). Definitely a well deserved Oscar. I didn't see Tom Hanks in this film at all, I only saw Forrest Gump (and a bit of Sheriff Woody). The accent he put on for this film is unbelievable. My second favourite performance was given by Gary Sinise playing Lieutenant Dan. Every single one of his rage scenes were perfect (especially the one where he gets angry at some girls on New Year's Eve because they called Forrest stupid). Robin Wright was great as well.
Another thing I want to mention is the narration. This film has excellent narration, but it's not like anything I've seen before. It's not like Goodfellas or Fight Club because those narrations are needed for you to understand what's going on, where as in Forrest Gump it's used as a storytelling/artistic technique. You could easily cut out the narration in this film and still understand everything that's going on but it wouldn't be as funny or entertaining.
A lot of the time when Forrest is explaining what's going on to the people on the bench, it is repeated by another character in the movie (if that makes sense). For example, in the walking scene in Vietnam, Forest says, "Lieutenant Dan was always getting these funny feelings about a rock, or a trail, or the road, so he'd tell us to get down, shut up" and then half a second later Lieutenant Dan shouts "Get Down! Shut Up!" I think that this adds to the magic and uniqueness of this film because it uses narration as a humorous tool.
I also wanted to talk about the screenplay. This film has one of my all time favourite screenplays (along with Good Will Hunting and Django Unchained). The overall story and pacing is outstanding. The pacing is probably the most original pacing I have ever seen and it adds to how perfect this film is. You get to see the 50's, 60's and 70's through the eyes of a guy with a mental illness withing 2 hours and a half. Not only that, you also get to see his life unravel before your eyes. The character of Forrest Gump is written so well. So is Jenny, Lieutenant Dan and Bubba. It shows us that no matter what race, disability, mental illness, religion or path we've taken in life, we can always get back on our feet (no pun intended).
This film is filled with important messages, not just the one I have just stated, but many more, such as: If you do what you're told you will get far in life (because Forrest does what he's told ALL the time and he became rich, but most importantly, happy) and always listen to your gut instinct (Forrest listened to his gut to go find Bubba, and on his way saved many lives. He also listened to his gut when he felt like running, and because of that VERY long run, Jenny got intouch with him again and they later got married).
Anyway, that is today's review. I hope you like it because I have spent over an hour writing this. This is my longest review EVER for a beautiful film (one of my favourites). Make sure to drop a comment with your thoughts on Forrest Gump and my review/essay! Thanks for reading! See you tomorrow!
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【呢部異戲講乜？】
話說老娘有一陣子想迴避看《阿甘正傳》，事關老娘我無法看勵志片，常聽到別人引用片中的一句話：「人生就像一盒巧克力，你永遠不知道你會得到什麼。」，就被誤導這是一部勵志片……但幸好的是，Netflix上載了這部電影，老娘覺得無奶油不看經典電影，於是決定觀賞它。怎料，原來這部電影敘述美國近代史下的文化衝突，果真很好看。其後再發現1994年所誕生的經典中的經典電影眾多，人稱「影史奇蹟年」，這是全世界影迷膜拜的年份。
《阿甘正傳》的故事始於20世紀50年代，那時阿甘還是個孩子，母親給他起名『弗雷斯特』，此名源於阿甘家族的遠親——內森．貝德福德．弗雷斯特，他是一名美國內戰英雄和3K黨創始人。阿甘的智商為75，智力低於平均水平，腿上綁著支架，用以矯正其嚴重的駝背。其他孩子因此欺負他，但母親安慰阿甘「傻人有傻福」。
上學第一天搭校車時，阿甘碰到珍妮，兩人成了好朋友。一天，從惡霸的手中逃脫時，阿甘腿部的支架斷開，他發現自己可以跑得很快，畢業後，阿甘應徵入伍，其後被派往越南參與越南戰爭。從戰場上全身而退的阿甘成為英雄，並返美接受詹森總統親手頒贈的榮譽勳章。
其後，阿甘發現自己有打桌球的天賦，就在全國各地替陸軍的退伍軍人表演，最終代表美國赴中華人民共和國參加友誼賽。在一次和平集會上，曾經投入戰爭的阿甘又遇見了持著反戰信念的珍妮，珍妮一直過著自由自在的嬉皮生活。阿甘向珍妮表白，但基於二人的價值觀分歧，他們又匆匆分別。之後，阿甘再次造訪白宮，會見了尼克森總統。總統給阿甘在水門飯店提供了一個房間，阿甘在那裡無意中協助揭露水門事件。
阿甘退役後，用代言桌球拍的酬勞買了一艘捕蝦船，實現越戰時他與布巴的約定。阿甘他為自己的船取了一個名字——珍妮，表達對她的思念。兩人起初收穫不佳，但颶風卡門弄沉了所在地區除了他們的所有捕蝦船，阿甘的蝦公司因此壟斷了當地捕蝦業，大獲成功。另一方面，珍妮每天過的很消沉頹廢，終日沉迷吸毒、性開放……開始喪失人生理想。
珍妮來探望阿甘時，在阿甘的私人豪宅住了一段時日，也向阿甘傾訴自己童年遭父親家暴的不幸回憶。某天，阿甘的求婚遭到珍妮拒絕，但其後某夜珍妮卻刻意與阿甘發生兩人首次性行為，並在隔天拂曉不告而別。茫然不解的阿甘呆坐多時後忽然想要跑出宅邸，並且欲罷不能一路穿州過界橫越美國。這件事讓阿甘再度聲名大噪，引來許多跟跑的追隨者。有一天，髮鬚滿臉的阿甘忽然覺得累了，隨興結束漫長三年的馬拉松回家，這時他收到珍妮要求見面的來信……
下期老娘嘗試在電影《阿甘正傳》中，帶大家理解美國近代的保守主義與嬉皮文化之間的衝突，再看阿甘和珍妮這種老朋友如何未能共享一葉舟。
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