It was directed by Scott in 2007.
The story is based on a real event. It is about the 1970s. After the violent death of the gangster Johnson, Frank Lucas reorganized all the rights distribution, successfully took over the role, and took over the business of the gangster. During this period, he went to the Golden Triangle of Southeast Asia to smuggle high-purity heroin and control power over the drug trade. On the other side, police officer Richie Roberts slowly sensed the ups and downs in the drug circle and launched a secret investigation. Ultimately destroying the drug-trafficking network.
Adapting a true event into a movie has always been difficult. Just like writing a biography of a person, it is based on people who once existed and what happened in the past. It must be true, but also interesting and ornamental. Those bizarre and twisted plots cannot be created out of thin air. In this way, the space for the director to show is very limited, and it is also a test of Scott's skill. Fortunately, the subject matter is in Scott's hands, plus a large investment and the addition of Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe, these are not a problem.
So, we saw a three-hour real account of the rise and fall of American gangsters.
As a result, the film won several awards.
In addition to history, the film also profoundly reveals the good and evil in human nature. Frank is a ruthless gang leader, but he is loyal to his family and filial to his mother. Richie is an honest policeman, but because of his honesty, he is not welcome in the police station, and his family is broken because of too much care in his life. Depressed.
It is this pair of contradictory characters that runs through the main line of the film. In each other's struggles, they are hostile to each other, but they also appreciate each other. The two of them had a conversation:
Frank: "You really turned in the $1 million found in the trunk of the car?"
Richie: "Yes."
Frank: "Nice man, dude. You know what? Johnny took the money and he took the money you turned in. Why did you do that?"
Richie: "I'm doing the right thing."
Frank: "Forget it, Richie. You think I'll admire you by doing this? You think you're better than them? You're not much better. In fact, you're just like them, and you're one of them. ."
Frank is defending himself and exploring the reasons for this. This can't help but remind me of a sentence Marlon Brando said in the movie "The Godfather": "Everyone has their own place in life." Richie is a policeman, and his duty is to maintain the dignity of the law and go according to the law. Punish criminals. His rule of life is to distinguish right from wrong according to what is accepted as right and wrong. Frank, on the other hand, lived his life in a way that was not recognized by people. His position in life is to become a gangster, to sell drugs, and to kill opponents mercilessly. Just to break the law. The only thing to watch out for is not to let the police catch you. This is their destiny.
If not measured by law and morality, their existence is reasonable. For example, drug trafficking, if there are not so many addicts, if there is no pleasure without a sense of responsibility, if there is no society that advertises "freedom", there will naturally not be a drug market. The same is true for Frank, if society treats all races equally, if he is not black, if his cousin is not brutally murdered by the American police, if he has a decent and stable career, how can he be a member of the underworld? It was the soil of the United States that cultivated him, cultivated his likes and dislikes, cultivated his desire to obtain a happy life by any means, and cultivated his character of fighting against society to the end.
In the film, when Frank was arrested, accompanied by the gunfight between the police and the gang, the running cars, the criminals fleeing, Frank stood calmly on the steps of the church. At this time, the music of one of America's favorite hymns sounded. God's Grace": "By the amazing grace of the Lord, how sweet the music is, saving a helpless person like me..." solemn, solemn and unique. Like the hand of God punishing sinners, like the Son of God to suffer generously.
Right and wrong in the world are not so simple to distinguish. For Christians, these are left to the judgment of the last day.
At the end of the film, Frank is released after fifteen years, and Richie is picked up at the prison gate. Richie hands Frank a Coke, which Frank takes clumsily and walks along, looking back. Fifteen years later, New York has not changed. It is still the same building, the same store, and the same people. In response to what Frank said before: "Do you really think putting me in jail will change everything?"
My rating: 7.5.
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