In Texas in the 1930s, the government still used laws that had been in place since the 1870s to segregate or racially discriminate against blacks — blacks were disenfranchised, and had their Employment, justice, military service, marriage and other aspects are brutally segregated and discriminated against. Marvin Tolson, a black man of knowledge and mind, very much wanted to do something for his fellow men through his own power. He has a firm belief, in addition, he has his superior language talent. So in his spare time he began to set up the first black college debate team in the school. Under his careful selection, four students stood out and entered the debate team - Hamilton Burgess, Henry Lowe, girl Samantha and 14-year-old James Farmer Jr. These students had no previous concept of debate, and Marvin Tolson had no idea. All he can do is to improve the language skills of the players through his own words and deeds, so that they can master the weapons of eloquence. On the way of the growth of the debate team, Marvin Tolson constantly challenged the traditional concepts of the society at that time and rebelled against the existing rules of the game. His rebellious spirit and his fierce teaching methods are constantly being bombarded by people, but he always insisted on his beliefs, and finally entered the debate hall of Harvard University with the debate team members... The problem of black people
behind the film is not enough to advertise freedom and democracy
For the United States, it has always been a soft underbelly that is difficult to solve. Black people have never received justice since the moment they set foot on the American continent. Until the 1970s, blacks in America had no suffrage, no opportunity for a good education, and no opportunity for decent work and personal development. It was the same in film, where in the golden age of Hollywood in the 1940s, there was hardly a black face on the screen. The innate humor, cheerfulness, handsomeness and easy-going nature of black people were originally no shortage of acting talents. But very few black actors in the United States are recognized by the masses. This situation has not changed much even today.
In this case, black movie stars who can achieve some achievements in the film industry are even more valuable. In 1963, black film star Sidney Poitier won the Oscar for best actor for his performance in "Lilies of the Field". Before that, no black man had ever touched this supreme trophy in the show business world. And for nearly 40 years after that, Sidney Poitier has maintained the title of "The Only Black Actor".
It wasn't until 2002 that the legendary Denzel Washington was crowned with a high-profile "Training Day" that ended this embarrassing historical void. And Denzel Washington's award seems to have brought blessings to black movie stars. In the four years after he won the award, two black male stars have won the title. For the first time in a short period of time and white actors to share the world. As a result, Denzel Washington is also more regarded as a symbol of an era and has a strong legend.
Denzel Washington, an all-around performer who was born in an acting class and has experience in various types of performances such as stage plays and TV series, is now carrying 5 academy nominations, a best actor and a male supporting actor. Among black film stars, he is definitely the middle force of the successor of Morgan Freeman and his predecessors, Kaiwell Smith. Actors like him who are both box-office appeal and award-competitive like him are rare even among white first-line stars. His name on the film cast list seems to be a sign of quality inspection and a guarantee of tens of millions of box office. And such legendary characters always play some immortal legends on the screen. This year, Denzel Washington's two films "American Gangster" and this film "The Great Debater" are true legends based on real events. The former is the most influential gangster godfather in American history. In this film, the black college debate team trained by Marvin Tolson, the American literary master he played, has created a legendary record of "only one defeat in ten years". In the face of adversity, the story of such a little-known debate team killing the invincible all over the world is a real miracle! Not to mention, the 14-year-old member of the debate team that year became the founder and leader of the "Commission for Racial Equality", which later developed into one of the largest civil rights organizations in the United States, five years later. The power of real heroes to change the world is more profound than any fantasy (it just so happens that Wiley College, where the miracle happened in those years, suffered a financial crisis in these years, but after the film started, it received donations for reconstruction, another real story. beautiful talk).
In this film, in addition to playing the leading role, Denzel Washington is also in charge of the director for the second time in his life. His directorial debut "Hour of Glory" has been widely praised. The small film festival has won 14 trophies and another 17 failed nominations. This time, as a director for the second time, the sword in Denzel Washington's hand is much sharper than the previous time, plus he vigorously invited the editor of "Crash", the director of photography of "Love in the River" and other Oscars The OEM lieutenant, the actor who is determined to transform this time, seems to be aiming to open up a young battlefield for the director at the same time when he already has a fierce battle for the actor in "American Gangster". And Weinstein's publisher, after watching the film, also put the film into the award-winning team when the main contestant "Happiness Is Gone" already exists, which shows that the film's background is not small.
And the recently announced Golden Globe nominations list certainly did not drop the film's position. Although there is only one nomination for the best drama film, it is enough to prove its strength. The Producers Guild of America has also announced that it will present the Stanley Kramer Award for the film. The award is awarded annually by the Association to films that represent important social themes. The films that have won this award before include "An Inconvenient Truth", "Hotel Rwanda" and "Good Night and Good Luck" and other Oscar-quality films. So this is also a good omen for the
film. A brief review of the film.
Looking at the Oscar record in recent years, black movie stars seem to be lucky (Denzel Washington (2002), Ha Leigh Berry (2002) "Dance on Death Row", "Training Day", Jamie Foxx (2004) "Ray", Forest Whitaker (2006) "The Last Dictatorship"), and 2007's Black Rush The Olympic team seems to have only Denzel Washington alone to support the situation. The two films he starred in "American Gangster" and the film "The Great Debater" are both striking heavyweights. The former obviously has greater advantages than this film in production and lineup, and as far as Denzel Washington is concerned, this film can better represent his artistic spirit. On the one hand, because he is the director and star of the film, he has consistently and thoroughly implemented his film ideas in the film, which has marked the film with a strong personal imprint; on the other hand, the black professor he plays in this film. Compared with the gangster godfather, his role is closer to his always splendid screen image.
In "American Gangster", there is also the veteran actor Russell Crowe to advance and retreat together, and in this film, Washington, who is also shouldered by the director, must fight alone. If he succeeds, he is well-organized and performs well; if he fails, he can only take responsibility for himself - but from the current situation, it is unlikely that this situation will happen, although this year's Oscar has a lot of strong players. There is not much chance of winning, but the word-of-mouth of all parties has already won the film to the sky.
The top black movie star + director's talent again + debate witty words all make the film extremely exciting. For Denzel Washington, the meaning of this film is also extraordinary. How is the way forward for his transformation? After watching this film, you can roughly get a glimpse...
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