| Tesko
se moze slijediti, Zlatna Palma u Cannesu. Steven Soderbergh je uspio ostati na radaru
Hollywooda nakon vjerovatno najveceg postignuca u umjetnosti nezavisnog filma (Seks, lazi
i videotrake). Ipak je zadrzao stil koji ga je tamo doveo, cak i u mainstream filmu kakav
je Out of Sight. Erin Brockovich je istinita prica koja
je privukla njegovu paznju i jos jednom razotkrila njegovu sposobnost da otkrije stvari
koje ljudi treba da vide, a ne da im servira ono sto oni zele da vide. Brockovich (Julia Roberts) je
dvaput razvedena samica majka troje mlade djece, bezuspjesno trazeci posao. Nakon sto je
saobracajna nesreca pogura dublje u septicku jamu dugova, ona ce gotovo iznuditi posao od
svog advokata, Eda Masryja (Albert Finney). Ona slijedi cudne pojave medicinskih
dokumenata u graditeljskim projektima, ali je Ed zbog toga otpusti. Zaboravljeni slucaj
ce, medjutim, poceti da ga zanima, i on ce ponovo zaposliti Erin, oznacavajuci tako
pocetak parnice koja ce postati dosad najuspjesnija izravna parnica.
Kao sto Soderbergh sam
kaze u komentaru na DVDu, ovdje je bilo previse price da bi se ispricalo sve, i zbog toga
je ritam filma tako brz. Erin je pravi ratnik, cvrsta i jaka zena, gotovo kao likovi iz
filmova Jamesa Camerona, samo sa izgledom Julie Roberts. Ona je disleksicna, nema nikakvog
pravnog iskustva, gotovo nimalo formalnog obrazovanja i vjerovatno bi imala problem
ukljuciti kompjuter. S druge strane, ona je postena, ne boji se reci svakome u lice ono
sto misli. Postepeno pridobija povjerenje malog kalifornijskog grada Hinkley, na
najodvratnije nacine zagadjenog vodom iz obliznje fabrike Pacific Gas & Electric. Ona
i Ed marljivo prikupljaju papirologiju, pripremajuci se za borbu protiv Golijata, sto je
vrlo Grishamovska premisa (on bi ubio da je napisao ovakvu knjigu, ali zivot jos uvijek
pise najbolje romane).
U jednom trenutku, nas
David ce traziti pomoc na svom pohodu, i tada drugi likovi postaju karikature. Soderbergh
je proveo sat vremena filma ubjedjujuci nas u Erininu veliku hrabrost, odvaznu iskrenost i
zapanjujucu vjestinu rukovanja s ljudima, i njegovi napori su urodili plodom. Njena
izderavanja na kolege, potencijalne poslodavce, tuzitelje i babysittere su prizori
roditeljskih instinkta kombinovanih sa smislom za prezivljavanje. Bilo je stoga nepotrebno
iskriviti lose momke u stvarno lose momke a Edove pravne partnere u bezosjecajne
korporacijske lesinare sa losim frizurama i pisare sa ruznim cipelama. Njena sama pojava
je dovoljno elokventna, mi znamo da ona nije tipicna samica majka prvi put kad je vidimo,
a kamoli kad otvori svoja prostacka usta. Erin Brockovich je utjelovljen Americki San, a
film o njenom zivotu je realan kao bilo koji Americki San koji je postao stvarnost. Na
kraju krajeva, ona se i pojavljuje u filmu, kao konobarica koja uzima narudzbu od filmske
Erin i njene djece. Ne moze biti stvarnije od toga, zar ne? |
|
It’s a hard act to follow, winning Palm D’Or in
Cannes. Steven Soderbergh has managed to stay on Hollywood radar after possibly the
biggest accomplishment in the art of independent film (Sex, Lies and Videotapes).
Still he has kept the style that brought him there, even in the most mainstream of his
movies, Out Of Sight. Erin Brockovich is a true story
that caught his attention and once again exposed his knack for discovering things people
need to know, rather than serving them what they want to see. Brockovich (Julia Roberts) was a
twice-divorced single mother of three small children, unsuccessful in attempts to get a
job. After a car accident takes her deeper into the cesspool of debt, she almost extorts a
job from her attorney, Ed Masry (Albert Finney). She follows a strange occurrence of
medical records in a real estate file, but gets herself fired. The forgotten case will
start growing on her boss, however, and he’ll hire Erin back, triggering the start of
what was to become the largest settlement in a direct-action suit to date.
As Soderbergh himself says
in the DVD commentary, there was too much story to be told, and that is why the pace of
the movie is so fast. Erin is a true warrior, tough-as-nails woman, almost like some
characters from James Cameron movies, but with the looks of Julia Roberts. She is
dyslexic, she has no legal experience, almost no formal education and probably would have
difficulty turning a computer on. On the other hand, she is honest, not afraid to tell it
like it is or the way she thinks, or both. She gradually wins the trust of the people in a
small town of Hinkley, CA, affected in the most gruesome ways by the water polluted by the
nearby Pacific Gas & Electric plant. She and Ed meticulously gather the paperwork,
preparing for a fight against a Goliath, which is a very Grisham-like premise (he’d
have killed for a novel like that, but life still writes the best books).
At one point, our David
will ask for some help on the quest, which is when the other characters become
caricatures. Soderbergh spent more than an hour of the film convincing us of Erin’s
great courage, bold sincerity and astonishing people skills, and he’s done a good
job. Her shouting matches with co-workers, would-be employers, prosecutors or baby-sitters
are spectacles of parental instincts combined with a survivor attitude. It was therefore
needless to distort the bad guys into really bad guys and Ed’s legal partners into
senseless corporate vultures with bad hairdos and pen-pushers with ugly shoes. Her mere
appearance is eloquent enough, we know she’s not a typical single mother the first
time we see her, let alone when she opens her foul mouth. Erin Brockovich is an American
Dream incorporated (no pun intended here), and the film about her life is as real as any
American Dream come true. After all, she is in the movie, as a waitress taking order from
the movie Erin and her kids. It can’t get more real than that, can it? |