Good Will Hunting by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck
This is a
stupendous work that has launched the careers of Matt Damon and Ben Affleck
They have
won both the Golden Globe and the Academy Award for their screenplay
Will Hunting
is a hero, an Ubermensch and a complicated, anxious, troubled young man, prone
to violence.
When the
mathematics professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology writes a
complicated equation, Will solves it.
But he is
only a janitor at M.I.T.
This could
be perceived as a confirmation of the calling theory, whereby janitors with a
calling could be happier than white collar workers without one.
Only Will
Hunting is very often in trouble.
He has had
an unhappy childhood and he is now fighting very often, facing trial for
various offences and crimes.
His mind is
brilliant.
Without organized
studies, he is able to quote from Howard Zinn and various history books when
there is a challenge.
Chuckie is
Will’s best friend, aware of the possibilities and skills of his genius friend,
for whom he sees a great future.
Will Hunting
though is both admirable and repugnant in his attitude towards other people,
which may make some sense.
It probably
is difficult to see how outstanding his mind is, capable of so many operations
unavailable to ordinary people.
One student
is competing with Chuckie in a bar, showing off his prowess and the superior
knowledge of history.
Will Hunting
comes to the rescue and demonstrates the flaws of an education based on
assimilation without analysis.
He points out
the futility of reading various treaties without taking the trouble to think
about them and interpret
-
You
have no personal contribution
-
But
I will have a degree
-
So
-
You
will be serving my children in a drive through
-
But
I will be original…
Will Hunting
is very keen on upsetting the analysts that he has to see as a condition for
his release and parole.
He accuses
one of being a homosexual, pretends to be hypnotized by another, inventing
false childhood memories.
Finally he
meets Sean, portrayed by the late, regretted Robin Williams, who has won the
Academy Award for this role.
As somewhat
expected, Will hunting starts on the wrong foot with this new analyst,
offending him from the start.
Sean was
more than in love with his wife, whom he had adored and Will hunting says that
she was the wrong woman for him.
Sean’s wife
has died after a long suffering and he is so sensitive on the subject that he
grabs the patient by the neck:
-
I
will kill you if you say something bad about my wife
Later on,
the analyst is sharing memories with his new friend, Will, about how he met the
woman of his life.
It was
before a World Series Game, for which Sean and his friends had waited all night
to get tickets and got them.
But this
was the day when he met the love of his life that became instantly more important
than the game.
Indeed,
more important than anything else.
Finally, a
quote from the clever script, that shows the brilliance of the writing, but
also the fact that it can be somewhat exaggerated at times:
“Why shouldn't I work for the N.S.A.? That's a
tough one, but I'll take a shot. Say I'm working at N.S.A. Somebody puts a code
on my desk, something nobody else can break. Maybe I take a shot at it and
maybe I break it. And I'm real happy with myself, 'cause I did my job well. But
maybe that code was the location of some rebel army in North Africa or the
Middle East. Once they have that location, they bomb the village where the
rebels were hiding and fifteen hundred people I never met, never had no problem
with, get killed. Now the politicians are sayin', "Oh, send in the Marines
to secure the area" 'cause they don't give a shit. It won't be their kid
over there, gettin' shot. Just like it wasn't them when their number got
called, 'cause they were pullin' a tour in the National Guard. It'll be some
kid from Southie takin' shrapnel in the ass. And he comes back to find that the
plant he used to work at got exported to the country he just got back from. And
the guy who put the shrapnel in his ass got his old job, 'cause he'll work for
fifteen cents a day and no bathroom breaks. Meanwhile, he realizes the only
reason he was over there in the first place was so we could install a
government that would sell us oil at a good price. And, of course, the oil
companies used the skirmish over there to scare up domestic oil prices. A cute
little ancillary benefit for them, but it ain't helping my buddy at two-fifty a
gallon. And they're takin' their sweet time bringin' the oil back, of course,
and maybe even took the liberty of hiring an alcoholic skipper who likes to
drink martinis and fuckin' play slalom with the icebergs, and it ain't too long
'til he hits one, spills the oil and kills all the sea life in the North
Atlantic. So now my buddy's out of work and he can't afford to drive, so he's
got to walk to the fuckin' job interviews, which sucks 'cause the shrapnel in
his ass is givin' him chronic hemorrhoids. And meanwhile he's starvin', 'cause
every time he tries to get a bite to eat, the only blue plate special they're
servin' is North Atlantic scrod with Quaker State. So what did I think? I'm
holdin' out for somethin' better. I figure fuck it, while I'm at it why not
just shoot my buddy, take his job, give it to his sworn enemy, hike up gas
prices, bomb a village, club a baby seal, hit the hash pipe and join the
National Guard? I could be elected president.”
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