Forrest Gump

Coincidentally, I just now saw Forrest Gump after a long time, two days after Bertolucci's The Conformist. And so I found connections between those films that I’m guessing no one who considers Zemeckis' opus a testament to the simple beauty of life, love, and everything would ever want to hear about. And since I'm still fascinated by the director's visual perfectionism, mise-en-scène, and choreography, which he was able to employ here thanks to an episodic structure tracing major turning points in American history, I had to look for ways to defend the film, because it really is terribly well made. (Note: on the first day after vaccination, I observed my brain's increasing natural resistance to writing sentences shorter than two run-on sentences, I'll continue to monitor that). Not knowing the Groom source material, the film then offered me a new reading, and that of the idiocy of 20th century American history. A century that punishes anyone who chooses to have a role in it (or idea, see the return to The Conformist) yet rewards the simpletons who can't or won't grasp its elusiveness, randomness, and complexity, and just follow the curriculum laid out by their (by no means sophisticated) mentors (Mother, Jenny, Lieutenant Dan). Thus they create a picture of a chaotic history in which a simpleton lives happily, resigned in their understanding by definition, and they reward him with a girl he loves and is unable to recognize that she is just coming to him for rehab or when her kid is at risk of going to the orphanage. (08/06/2021)

Yes, I am one of those people who love this movie. From the first shot to the last one. Unbelievable Tom Hanks, unbelievably original and imaginative story, and above all, the emotions that move me. I've had a similar experience with only a few movies. The first one that always comes to mind is "Big Fish". "Forrest Gump" is simply a legend, and when you say beautiful movie, and I mean beautiful in every way, it is this one. (09/02/2014)

What should I write in a review of a film that hasn’t already been said a thousand times? In short, if you walk down the street and ask a hundred random people about the best movie of their lives, the most common answer will be Forrest Gump. A masterpiece in the history of cinema, funny, depressing, impressive, inspiring, with impeccable direction and performances that leave you amazed. I have a bit more distinctive film exhibitions in my top list, but this beauty still has a privileged and unshakable position in my heart... (18/04/2011)

The American version of the greatest Czech, Jára Cimrman. And he runs too. He runs a lot. Forrest’s mom always told him to do this and that. My Mom always told me that this is a darn good movie. And I absolutely agree with my Mom. This is the kind of a movie which whenever you start watching you always say to yourself “I’ll watch just this one scene, oh, and then this one and…" And you end up after watching one scene after the other till once again you find yourself at the end of the movie. It’s moving, funny and sad like almost nothing else (especially if you, like me, believe that the child isn’t his) brilliant acting (not only from Hanks) and unforgettable scenes in every other minute of footage. But what am I saying, in every minute of footage. (20/11/2003)

My most emotionally fulfilled film. With no other film have I experienced that the more times I saw it, the more times it brought tears to my eyes. Zemeckis has forever stepped out of the "master of family films" box with this masterpiece, and millions of people will forever love Hank's elusive character. In other words, whether you are a sentimental person with faith in love, a skeptical melancholic who no longer sees joy, or perhaps a life-disappointed unhappy person, everyone can find themselves in Forrest. Is it too perfect of a film? Eternal thanks for it. (25/12/2005)