Will Brendan Fraser Win Oscar? Let’s Talk About ‘The Whale’

A SUPER EDITOR’S CHOICE

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The Whale is my personal favorite of all the 2023 Oscar nominees.

I've been looking forward to The Whale (2022) because it features my favorite actor, Brendan Fraser. From the very early The Mummy (1999) series to the movie Inkheart (2008), it feels like he has disappeared for a very long time. I know Brendan has hit a low point in his life, so I've been waiting for his return.

Until last year, the film The Whale finally returned to the audience's field of vision, and Fraser also received his first Oscar nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role in his life. We look forward to him being able to get his own at the Oscars in 13th March.

The Whale is a film worths looking forward to. I've wanted to watch it since the end of last year, until now, I finally have time to watch it on a weeknight. After watching it, my emotions still fluctuated greatly, and I was speechless. This character is written so well, and the performance is so well interpreted. I haven't seen such a good movie in theaters for many years. In my memory, the last time I saw a good film that made me feel very emotional was four years ago.

Speaking of Brendan Fraser, he once said that The Whale may not be liked by everyone. The main line of the film's story line is very similar to A Single Man (2009), which tells a story of redemption and redemption, "I don't believe anyone can save anyone. And I don't believe people are not incapable of caring.”

On the way back from the film, I discussed with my friend, my friend said that this protagonist, Charlie, is actually kind of selfish: He run away form his wife and 8-year-daughter for his gay partner. But several years later, when he is dying, he wants a redemption, he save his money for his daughter Ellie, and the story begins in the film.

I agree why my friend thought Charlie is selfish, but this does not conflict with me to think highly of the film. I like this kind of story about "imperfect people" more and more now, and the reason is the same as I like tragedy: imperfection, and things backfired, are the normal state of life. It is inevitable for a character to be flawed in drama, people is not perfect, they are just not perfect in difference ways. The key depends on how you understand it: what did he/she experience to shape the current behavior pattern, whether this behavior pattern is logically continuous, and how to interpret it. Whether the interpretation of a character who is as sensitive as the male protagonist in this film adopts a cleverer approach than hysteria in the performance. This film does it all. The repeated “I'm sorry” is an apology for leaving without saying goodbye, an apology for causing you pain, an apology for no one would want me to be part of their life, an apology for I haven't done anything right in life but I Apology for was in love. I'm evil, but I just want you to feel better in this sad story.

The setting and space transformation of film are like a stage play, which highly test scheduling, photography and performance. After the first few scenes, I was still worried about the lack of transformation in the space scheduling. I didn't expect to add the space outside the door through the visitor's visit, which suddenly enlarged the space area psychologically. The bedroom used by Alan, who joined later, opened up the space on a psychological level, and it is not ingenious. In addition, the photography of this film is also very good. A large number of subjective shots not only interpret the psychological activities of the characters, but also show the content of the physical space through panning, so that the cramped interior space does not appear monotonous. In terms of play, the last week of life, using lectures as clues, the 120-minute narrative is quite in the style of French writer Marcel Proust's work A la recherche du temps perdu. I have to praise the director Darren Aronofsky for his exquisite director skills.

For me, it has been a long time since I have such a high opinion of a film, but after careful study, there are some sub-lines that can be handled better for me: for example, in the last scene, Charlie overcomes the unbearable weight of life and stands up Going to your daughter to complete self-salvation, is it a bit stereotypically sensational? Of course, there is no problem with the mode of echoing from beginning to end, especially in the heavy rain at the beginning, God's agent knocks on your door unexpectedly and reads for you. This kind of redemption is far less powerful than the redemption and self-salvation through love in the world. Concepts can. Other things that can be improved, such as some clues that have not been explained: Charlie asked Thomas "You think Alan killed himself because he wanted to be with me?" If not, why? Because of the conflict between religion and patriarchal power? Suffering from lack of recognition? The connotation of the story can be dug deeper, but it is enough to go here, and it has fully served the role of serving as a prequel to the main line. The flaws do not conceal the virtues.

The essay about a novel written by Ellie in the film, I really want to find it and read it. At first, I thought that the essay was written by Charlie's partner Alan, but I didn't expect it to be an essay written by this rebellious daughter who didn't like to write when she was in school. "You are the best thing I've ever done." At the end of the film, the film also back to a father who wanted to be redeemed, and returned to the desire for the love of father and daughter. I was so moved by the ending of the film, Darren Aronofsky is very good at handling the ending of the movie: the ending is the emotional climax of the movie and leaves unlimited room for the audience's imagination.