Le Thi Lan

The Terminal is a 2004 comedy-drama film directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Tom Hanks and Catherine Zeta-Jones. It is about a man trapped in a terminal at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport when he is denied entry into the United States and at the same time cannot return to his native country, the fictitious Krakozhia, due to a revolution. The film is partially inspired by the 18-year-stay of Mehran Karimi Nasseri in the Charles de Gaulle International Airport, Terminal I, Paris, France from 1988 to 2006.

Directed by Steven Spielberg
Produced by Steven Spielberg
Walter F. Parkes
Laurie MacDonald
Andrew Niccol
Screenplay by Sacha Gervasi
Jeff Nathanson
Story by Andrew Niccol
Sacha Gervasi
Starring Tom Hanks
Catherine Zeta-Jones
Stanley Tucci
Barry Shabaka Henley
Kumar Pallana
Diego Luna
Music by John Williams
Cinematography Janusz Kamiński
Editing by Michael Kahn
Studio Amblin Entertainment
Distributed by DreamWorks Pictures
Release date(s) June 18, 2004
Running time 128 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $60 million
Gross revenue $219,417,255

Viktor Navorski (Tom Hanks) arrives at JFK International Airport, but finds that he is not allowed to enter the United States. While he was en route to the US, a revolution was started in his home nation of Krakozhia. Due to the civil war, the United States no longer recognizes Krakozhia as a sovereign nation and denies Viktor’s entrance to the US on the grounds that Viktor technically has no citizenship. Unable to leave the airport or return to Krakozhia, Viktor instead lives in the terminal, carrying with him a mysterious Planters peanut can. The mystery as to what the can contains remains an interesting plot point.
Viktor quickly befriends the staff at the terminal while being under the watchful eye of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Head Frank Dixon (Stanley Tucci), who wants Navorski removed from the airport. Initially being deprived of food by Dixon as a method of trying to get him arrested and made someone else’s problem, Navorski takes on the task of retrieving vacant baggage trolleys for the 25 cent reward from the machine. He uses this money to buy food from Burger King until eventually Dixon prevents him from collecting. He then makes his first friend, a catering car driver named Enrique (Diego Luna) who asks him to approach a female Customs and Border Protection officer named Dolores (Zoë Saldana) for him in exchange for food. With Viktor’s help, Enrique and Dolores eventually marry each other. He meets flight attendant Amelia Warren (Catherine Zeta-Jones), who asks him out to dinner, but he tries to earn money in order to ask Amelia out instead. He finally gets an off-the-books job as a construction worker at the airport earning $19 an hour.
Viktor is asked to interpret for a desperate Russian man with undocumented drugs for his sick father. Viktor claims it is “medicine for goat,” barring the drug from confiscation and resolving the crisis. Under pressure and the watchful eye of the Airport Ratings committee, who is evaluating Dixon for an upcoming promotion, Dixon has a falling out with Viktor. Though Dixon is advised that sometimes rules must be ignored, he becomes obsessed with getting Viktor ejected from the airport. An Airport janitor Rajan Gupta (Kumar Pallana), exaggerates the “goat” incident to his fellow co-workers and as a result, Viktor earns the respect and admiration of all of the airport staff.

One day, Viktor explains to Amelia that the purpose of his visit to New York is to collect an autograph from the tenor saxophonist Benny Golson. It is revealed that the peanut can Viktor carries with him contains nothing more than an autographed copy of the “Great Day in Harlem” photograph. His late father was a jazz enthusiast who had discovered the famous portrait in a Hungarian newspaper in 1958, and vowed to get an autograph of all the 57 jazz musicians featured on the photograph. He succeeded in obtaining 56, but died before he could finish his collection.
A few months later, the war in Krakozhia ends, but Dixon will still not allow Viktor to enter the United States. Amelia reveals that she had asked her ‘friend’ — actually a married government official with whom she had been having an affair — to assist Viktor in obtaining permission to travel within the US, but Viktor is disappointed to learn she has renewed her relationship with the man during this process.

To make matters worse, Dixon needs to sign the form granting Viktor the right to remain in the United States, but refuses. He instead blackmails Viktor into returning to Krakozhia, or he will deport Gupta to his native country, where he is wanted for assaulting a corrupt police officer. Upon hearing this, Gupta runs in front of Viktor’s plane and asks Viktor to go anyway. The plane is delayed, giving Viktor enough time to go into the city and obtain the autograph. With the blessing of the entire airport staff, Viktor leaves the airport after receiving a uniform coat from a U.S. Customs and Border Protection Assistant Port Director and hails a taxi. Dixon, watching Viktor leave the airport, decides not to pursue him. As Viktor prepares to take the taxi to a Ramada Inn where Benny Golson is performing, he observes Amelia exiting from a cab, where she gives him a wistful smile. He has a short conversation with the cab driver, telling him how to avoid traffic on the way to the hotel and that he is from Krakozhia. The driver tells Viktor that he is from Albania and arrived earlier that week. He attends the show and collects the autograph, finally completing the collection. Afterwards, Viktor leaves and hails a taxi, telling the driver: “I am going home.”

Krakozhia
Krakozhia (Кракозия or Кракожия) is a fictional country created for the film, that closely resembles a former Soviet Republic. The natives speak the Krakozhian language. From January 16, 2004 to November 2004, the country was in civil war. When the war began, the President of the country was held hostage and a new regime installed, leading to Viktor finding his passport and visa useless. Consequently, Viktor must stay in the airport terminal for nine months, as the United States refuses to recognize the new Krakozhian government, after which peace is declared in Krakozhia and he is able to return home.
The exact location of Krakozhia is kept intentionally vague in the film, keeping with the idea of Viktor being simply Eastern European or from a former Soviet Republic. However in one of the scenes, a map of Krakozhia is briefly displayed on one of the airport’s television screens during a news report on the ongoing conflict. The country’s borders and location are those of the Republic of Macedonia. Throughout the film, it is learned that Krakozhia is bordered with Russia, that the Krakozhian language is akin to Russian, and that the Krakozhian national anthem is musically close to that of Albania (or the tune of Vajacki marš). Little else is known about Krakozhia, except that there was a lot of fighting which made the international news. We hear of the “northern area” being taken by rebels. The cover of the passport that Viktor shows to the customs officer in one of the initial scenes of the film closely resembles the Soviet passport. His driver’s license is Belarusian. One can see the words Вадзіцельскае пасведчанне (Vadzicielskaje pasviedczannie), which means driver’s license in Belarusian and the name of the Belarusian city of Homel.
The language which Hanks’ character speaks in the film, “Krakozhian”, is supposedly close to Russian to the point of mutual understanding, but is actually slightly-accented literary Bulgarian. Tom Hanks’ wife, Rita Wilson, whose father is a Pomak, is reported to have coached Hanks in Bulgarian in the course of the shooting of the film.[citation needed] In the same line the name of Viktor’s father is Dimitar Asenov Navorski, shaped after the Bulgarian three-section pattern and contains one name popular among contemporary Bulgarians—Dimitar (Димитър). The patronymic Asenov derives from one Bulgarian medieval dynasty and was borne by several Bulgarian Tsars, Ivan Asen II for example.
Krakozhia’s name was inspired by one of Spielberg’s favorite cities – Kraków in Poland.[citation needed]
The film presents a reasonably accurate picture of the process of naturalistic second language acquisition, according to professional linguist Martha Young-Scholten.[12]
John Williams, the composer of the music for the film, also wrote a national anthem for Krakozhia.

Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Terminal

The Pianist is a 2002 biographical war film directed by Roman Polanski, starring Adrien Brody. It is an adaptation of the autobiography of the same name by Jewish-Polish musician Władysław Szpilman. The film is a co-production between Poland, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom.
The film was awarded the Palme d’Or at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival,[1] BAFTA Award for Best Film, BAFTA Award for Best Direction in 2003 and seven French Césars including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor for Brody.
At the 75th Academy Awards, The Pianist won Best Adapted Screenplay (Ronald Harwood), Best Director (Polanski), and Best Actor (Brody). The film was also nominated for four other awards, including the Academy Award for Best Picture.

Directed by Roman Polanski
Produced by Roman Polanski
Robert Benmussa
Alain Sarde
Gene Gutowski
Screenplay by Ronald Harwood
Based on The Pianist by
Władysław Szpilman
Starring Adrien Brody
Thomas Kretschmann
Frank Finlay
Maureen Lipman
Emilia Fox
Michał Żebrowski
Music by Wojciech Kilar
Frederic Chopin
Cinematography Paweł Edelman
Editing by Hervé de Luze Studio
Studio Canal+
Canal+ Studio Babelsberg
Distributed by Focus Features
Universal Studios
Release date(s) 24 May 2002 (Cannes)
6 September 2002 (Poland)
27 December 2002 (US)
6 March 2003 (UK)
Running time 150 minutes
Country France
Poland
Germany
United Kingdom
Language English
German
Russian
Budget $35 million
Gross revenue $120,072,577

Władysław Szpilman (Adrien Brody), a famous Polish Jewish pianist working for Warsaw Radio, sees his whole world collapse with the outbreak of World War II and the invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939. After the radio station is rocked by explosions from German bombing, Szpilman goes home and learns that the United Kingdom and France have declared war on Nazi Germany. He and his family rejoice, believing the war will end quickly.
When the German Army enters Warsaw, living conditions for the Jewish population gradually deteriorate as their rights are slowly eroded: first they are allowed only a limited amount of money per family, then they must wear armbands imprinted with the blue Star of David to identify themselves, and eventually, in November 1940, they are all forced into the squalid Warsaw Ghetto. There, they face hunger, persecution and humiliation from the SS and the ever-present fear of death, torture and starvation. The Nazis become increasingly sadistic and the family witnesses many horrors inflicted on other Jews. In one scene, a group of Einsatzgruppen, led by an NCO, go into the apartment across from the Szpilmans. They order the family on the top floor to stand, then when an elderly man in a wheelchair is unable to comply, the SS throw him off the balcony. The rest of the family are then taken out into the street and shot, and the SS drive off, running over the bodies along the way.

Before long, the family, along with thousands of others, are rounded up as part of Operation Reinhard for deportation to the extermination facility at Treblinka. As the Jews are being forced onto rail cars, Szpilman is saved at the last moment by one of the Jewish Ghetto Police, who happens to be a family friend. Separated from his family and loved ones, Szpilman manages to survive. At first he is pressed into a German reconstruction unit inside the ghetto as a slave labourer. During this period, another Jewish labourer confides to Szpilman two critical pieces of information: one, that many Jews who still survive know of the German plans to exterminate them, and two, that a Jewish uprising against the Germans is being actively prepared for. Szpilman volunteers his help for the plan. He is enlisted to help smuggle weapons into the ghetto, almost being caught at one point.
Later, before the uprising starts, Szpilman decides to go into hiding outside the ghetto, relying on the help of non-Jews who still remember him such as an ex-coworker of his from the radio station. While living in hiding, he witnesses many horrors committed by the SS, such as widespread killing, beating and burning of Jews and others (the burning is mostly shown during the two Warsaw uprisings). In 1943, Szpilman also finally witnesses the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising he helped to bring about, and its aftermath as the SS forcibly enters the ghetto and kills nearly all the remaining insurgents. A year goes by and life in Warsaw further deteriorates. Szpilman is forced to flee his first hiding place after a neighbor discovers he is hiding there. In his second hiding place, near a German military hospital, he is shown into a room with a piano and then told to be as quiet as possible. Here, he nearly dies from jaundice and malnutrition.

In August 1944, the Polish resistance mounts the Warsaw Uprising against the German occupation. Szpilman witnesses the Polish insurgents fighting the Germans outside his window. Again, Szpilman narrowly escapes death when a German tank shells the apartment he is hiding in. Warsaw is virtually razed and depopulated as a result of the fighting (see Aftermath of the Warsaw Uprising). After the surviving Warsaw population is deported from the city ruins and the escape of German SS from the approaching Soviet Army, Szpilman is left entirely alone. In buildings still standing, he searches desperately for food. While trying to open a can of Polish pickles, Szpilman is discovered by a captain of the Wehrmacht, Wilm Hosenfeld (Thomas Kretschmann). Upon questioning Szpilman and discovering that he is a pianist, Hosenfeld asks Szpilman to play something for him on the grand piano that happens to be in the building. The decrepit Szpilman, still a pianist prodigy, plays an amazing piece that impresses Hosenfeld.
Hosenfeld lets Szpilman continue hiding in the attic of the building and even brings him food regularly, thus saving his life. Another few weeks go by, and the German troops are forced to withdraw from Warsaw due to the advance of Red Army troops. Before leaving the area, Hosenfeld asks Szpilman what his name is, and, upon hearing it, remarks that it is apt for a pianist (Szpilman being the Polish rendering of the German Spielmann, meaning “man who plays”). Hosenfeld also promises to listen for Szpilman on Polish Radio. He gives Szpilman his Wehrmacht uniform greatcoat and leaves. Later, that coat is almost fatal for Szpilman when Polish troops, liberating the ruins of Warsaw, take him for a German officer and shoot at him. He is eventually able to convince them that he is Polish, and they stop shooting.

As newly freed prisoners of a concentration camp pass a fenced-in enclosure of German prisoners of war sitting on the ground and guarded by Soviet soldiers, they start collectively verbally abusing the prisoners, with one tirading that he used to be a violinist. A visibly beaten Hosenfeld, a shadow of his former once proud demeanor, comes up to the fence asks the violinist if he is familiar with Szpilman, which the violinist confirms. Hosenfeld states that he helped him in hiding and asks if Szpilmann can return the favor. Szpilman, now playing live on Warsaw Radio, is visited by the violinist in the studio, who takes him to the site with all the prisoners having been removed along with any trace of the stockade. In the film’s final scene, Szpilman triumphantly performs Chopin’s Grand Polonaise brillante in E flat major to a large audience in Warsaw. Title cards shown just before the end credits reveal that Szpilman continued to live in Warsaw and died in 2000, but that Hosenfeld died in 1952 in a Soviet prisoner-of-war camp.

Filming
Principal photography on The Pianist began on February 9, 2001 in Studio Babelsberg in Potsdam, Germany. The Warsaw Ghetto and the surrounding city were recreated on the backlot of Babelsberg Studios as they would have looked during the war. Old Soviet army barracks were used to create the ruined city, as they were going to be destroyed anyway.
The first scenes of the film were shot at the old army barracks. Soon after, the filmmakers moved to a villa in Potsdam, which served as the house where Szpilman meets Hosenfeld. On March 2, 2001, filming then moved to an abandoned Soviet army hospital in Beelitz, Germany. The scenes that featured the Germans destroying the hospital with flame throwers were filmed here. On March 15, filming finally moved to Babelsberg Studios. The first scene shot at the studio was the scene in which Szpilman witnesses a resistance mounted by the Jews from the Ghetto, which is eventually ended by the Nazis. The scene was complex and technically demanding as it involved various stunts and explosives. Filming at the studios ended on 26 March and moved to Warsaw on 29 March. The rundown district of Praga was chosen for filming because of its abundance of original buildings. The art department built onto these original buildings, re-creating World War II–era Poland with signs and posters from the period. Additional filming also took place around Warsaw. The Umschlagplatz scene where Szpilman, his family and hundreds of other Jews wait to be taken to the extermination camps was filmed at the National Defence University in Warsaw.
Principal photography ended in July 2001, and was followed by months of post-production, which took place in Paris, France.

Music
Further information: The Pianist (soundtrack)
The piano piece heard at the beginning of the film is Chopin’s Nocturne in C-sharp minor Lento con gran espressione, Op. posth.
The piano piece that is heard being played a next door neighbour while Szpilman was in hiding at an apartment was Chopin’s Mazurka in A minor, Op. 17, No. 4.
The piano music heard in the abandoned house when Szpilman had just discovered a hiding place in the attic was the Moonlight Sonata by Beethoven. It would later be revealed that German officer Hosenfeld was the pianist. The German composition juxtaposed with the mainly Polish/Chopin selection of Szpilman.
The piano piece played when Szpilman is confronted by Hosenfeld is Chopin’s Ballade No. 1 in G minor, Op. 23. Also, the version played in the movie was shortened. The entire piece lasts 9–10 minutes.
The cello piece heard at the middle of the film, played by Dorota, is the Prelude from Bach’s Cello Suite No. 1.
The piano piece heard at the end of the film, played with an orchestra, is Chopin’s Grande Polonaise brillante, Op. 22.
Shots of Szpilman’s hands playing the piano in close-up were provided by Polish classical pianist Janusz Olejniczak (b. 1952), who also performed on the soundtrack.
Since Polanski wanted the film to be as realistic as possible, any scene showing Brody playing was actually his playing voiced over by recordings provided by Janusz Olejniczak. In order for Brody’s playing to look like it was at the level of Władysław Szpilman’s, he spent many months prior to and during the filming practicing so that his keystrokes on the piano would convince viewers that Brody himself was playing. It was never specified whether or not it was actually Adrien Brody playing at certain points in the film, such as the beginning where Władysław Szpilman’s playing is interrupted by German bombing.

Awards and nominations
Wins
Academy Award for Best Actor – Adrien Brody
Academy Award for Best Director – Roman Polanski
Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay – Ronald Harwood
Palme d’Or, 2002 Cannes Film Festival[1]
BAFTA Award for Best Film
BAFTA Award for Best Direction – Roman Polanski
César Award for Best Actor
César Award for Best Director
César Award for Best Film
César Award for Best Music Written for a Film
César Award for Best Cinematography
César Award for Best Production Design
César Award for Best Sound
Goya Award for Best European Film
Nominations
Academy Award for Best Cinematography – Paweł Edelman
Academy Award for Best Costume Design – Anna B. Sheppard
Academy Award for Film Editing – Hervé de Luze
Academy Award for Best Picture
BAFTA Award for Best Cinematography – Paweł Edelman
BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role – Adrien Brody
BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay – Ronald Harwood
BAFTA Award for Best Sound – Jean-Marie Blondel, Dean Humphreys, Gérard Hardy

Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pianist_(2002_film)

The Notebook is a 2004 romantic film directed by Nick Cassavetes, based on the novel of the same name by Nicholas Sparks. The film stars Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams as a young couple who fall in love during the early 1940s. Their story is narrated from the present day by an elderly man played by James Garner, telling the tale to a fellow nursing home resident, played by Gena Rowlands, the director’s mother.

Directed by Nick Cassavetes
Produced by Toby Emmerich
Mark Johnson
Written by Jeremy Leven
Jan Sardi
Nicholas Sparks (Novel)
Narrated by James Garner
Starring Ryan Gosling
Rachel McAdams
James Garner
Gena Rowlands
Sam Shepard
James Marsden
Joan Allen
Music by Aaron Zigman
Cinematography Robert Fraisse
Editing by Alan Heim
Distributed by New Line Cinema
Release date(s) May 20, 2004 (Seattle International Film Festival)
June 25, 2004
Running time 123 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $29 million[1]
Gross revenue $115,603,229

The film opens with an elderly man reading out of a notebook to an elderly woman about a story between two young lovers, Allie and Noah. The story dates back to the summer of 1940 in Seabrook, South Carolina. Allie Hamilton (Rachel McAdams) is a girl from a wealthy family spending the summer in Seabrook. At a carnival, Allie meets Noah Calhoun (Ryan Gosling), a local boy who works at the lumber mill. Over the summer, Noah and Allie fall passionately in love and spend every moment together.
Allie and Noah break up, but immediately regret the decision. Allie’s family leaves Seabrook the next day and Noah, devastated, writes her one letter every day for a year, which Allie’s mother hides. After Allie doesn’t reply to him, Noah moves to Atlanta. When Pearl Harbor is attacked, he enlists in the army for World War II while Allie attends college.

While in college, Allie volunteers as a nurse’s aide for wounded soldiers and meets the injured Lon Hammond, Jr. (James Marsden) — a young man who is handsome, charming, and from a wealthy family. Lon and Allie get engaged; meanwhile, Noah returns home. Noah’s father greets him and informs Noah that he is selling his current house so that Noah can purchase the old Windsor Plantation (the old abandoned house that Noah promised he would restore for Allie so that they could live there together). While visiting Charleston, South Carolina, Noah sees Allie walking down the street. He watches her go into a restaurant and smiles when he sees her, but then he witnesses Allie and Lon kissing. Devastated, Noah restores the old house, believing that if he keeps his promise to her, Allie will come back. Once he is finished building the home, Noah tries to sell it, but cannot bear to part with it.

In the present, it is evident that the elderly woman is Allie and the storyteller is Noah. However, she does not recognize their children and family due to her deteriorating dementia.
The film switches back to 1947. While trying on her wedding dress amongst family and friends, Allie reads about Noah’s house in the paper and faints. After some deep thinking, she decides to visit him. Noah and Allie talk during dinner, and Allie makes it clear that she’s getting married. They reminisce on their memories together, and when it is time for Allie to leave, Noah asks Allie to come back tomorrow for a surprise. The next day, Noah takes Allie out on the lake in a canoe to a picturesque setting amongst geese and they begin to talk. On the way back to the house in the rain, Allie gets upset and demands to know why Noah never wrote to her. Noah tells her he wrote to her every day for one year. He says to her that “it wasn’t over, it still isn’t over.” They kiss passionately and proceed to the house to make love. After two days of passion, Allie’s mother appears while Noah is out and says that Lon has followed her to Seabrook. Allie’s mother takes her for a drive to the lumberyard. She explains how she too once had a summer romance, and that she still watches her ex-lover sometimes. Once they drive back to Noah’s house, Allie’s mom hands her daughter the bundle of 365 letters that Noah had written, saying that she hopes Allie makes the right choice. Allie explains to Noah how Lon is in town and how the past few days had been wonderful, but very irresponsible. Noah is furious, accusing her of only loving Lon for his money, and says that if she leaves, he will hate her forever. He tells her that if she really wants to be with Lon, then she should go, because he lost her once and could do it again. Confused, Allie drives off.

Distraught, Allie stops her car, reads Noah’s goodbye letter, and then drives to the hotel where Lon is staying so she can talk about what happened. Allie says that she knows she should be with Lon, implying that she’s going to stay with him. However, the scene switches to Noah, who hears a noise from a car outside. Getting up, he sees it is Allie, who appears to have left Lon and come back to him.
Switching back to the present, Allie realizes that she and Noah are the people in the book. It is only a few minutes until she relapses again and begins yelling and pushing Noah away. Later that night Noah looks at the books and the audience finds out that Allie herself wrote the book with this message written on the front: “Read this to me, and I’ll come back to you every time.” Noah is also looking through a photo album, this tells the audience that Noah and Allie got married, had children and had a wonderful and loving life together.
The next morning the nurse finds Noah in a critical condition. He is saved from his heart attack and sneaks into Allie’s room at night when he comes back from the hospital. She wakes and is able to remember Noah and asks him whether their love is strong enough to make miracles and take them away together. Noah says that their love can do whatever they want it to do. In the morning, they are both found dead, lying peacefully side by side, holding hands. The film closes with a flock of birds flying over a lake.

Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Notebook_(film)

Legends of the Fall is a 1994 epic drama film based on the 1979 novella of the same title by Jim Harrison. It was directed by Edward Zwick and stars Brad Pitt, Anthony Hopkins and Aidan Quinn. The film was nominated for the Academy Awards for Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, and Best Sound, and won the category for Best Cinematography.[1][2]
The film’s timeframe spans the decade before World War I through the Prohibition era, and into the 1930s, ending with a brief scene set in 1963. The film centers on the Ludlow family of Montana, including veteran of the Indian Wars, Colonel Ludlow, his sons, Alfred, Tristan, and Samuel, and object of the brothers’ love, Susannah.

Directed by Edward Zwick
Produced by Marshall Herskovitz
William D. Wittliff
Edward Zwick
Written by Jim Harrison (novella)
Susan Shilliday
William D. Wittliff
Starring Brad Pitt
Anthony Hopkins
Aidan Quinn
Julia Ormond
Henry Thomas
Music by James Horner
Cinematography John Toll
Editing by Steven Rosenblum
Studio Bedford Falls Productions
Distributed by TriStar Pictures
Release date(s) December 16, 1994
Running time 133 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $30 million
Gross revenue $66,502,573

Sick of the betrayals the United States government has perpetrated on the Native Americans, Colonel William Ludlow (Anthony Hopkins) retires to a remote part of Montana with One Stab, a Native American friend, where they build a ranch. Accompanying them are hired hand Decker, Decker’s Cree wife Pet and their daughter Isabel II. The Colonel’s wife, Isabel, does not adapt to the harsh winters and moves to the East Coast. Colonel Ludlow has three sons: Alfred, the eldest, is responsible and cautious; Tristan is wild and well-versed in American Indian traditions; Samuel, the youngest, is educated but naive and constantly watched over by his brothers.

At age 12, Tristan touches a sleeping grizzly bear. The bear awakens and slashes at Tristan, injuring him, but he stabs at the bear’s paw and cuts off a claw.
As the boys grow up, Samuel returns from Harvard with his fiancée, Susannah Fincannon. She finds Tristan captivating, but loves Samuel. Before they can marry, Samuel tells his family that he is leaving for Calgary to join the Canadian Expeditionary Force, and aid Britain[3] in the fight against Germany. Much to their father’s displeasure, Alfred and Tristan also depart.
During World War I, the brothers find themselves in the 10th Battalion, CEF.[4] Alfred, commissioned as an officer, leads a charge into no man’s land. Tristan abandons his unit to be at Samuel’s side. The attack is repulsed with heavy casualties, and Alfred is wounded. While visiting Alfred in the field hospital, Tristan learns that Samuel has volunteered for a dangerous reconnaissance mission. He rushes off to protect his brother but arrives too late to save him from being killed. Devastated, Tristan holds Samuel until he dies, then cuts out Samuel’s heart, which he sends home to be buried on his father’s ranch. Seething with hatred, Tristan single-handedly raids behind German lines, killing two gunners. To the horror of his fellow soldiers, he returns to camp with the scalps of German soldiers hanging around his neck. He is discharged from army service but does not go home. Alfred returns to Montana and proposes marriage to Susannah, but she declines.

Tristan returns home, where Susannah finds him weeping over Samuel’s grave. Susannah tries to comfort him, and they become lovers. A jealous Alfred confronts Tristan and later leaves to make his name in Helena. Tristan’s relationship with Susannah is doomed by his guilt and pain for failing to protect Samuel, as well
as feeling responsible for driving Alfred away. These demons force him to go travelling for several years. At the ranch, Susannah waits for him but eventually receives a letter: “All we had is dead. As I am dead. Marry another.” Alfred finds her weeping on the porch and tries to comfort her. Colonel Ludlow finds them together, leading to an argument and falling out between the Colonel and Alfred. Colonel Ludlow later suffers a stroke. He does not speak for years and the ranch deteriorates. In time Susannah agrees to marry Alfred, now a congressman. Alfred’s business and politics cause him to get involved with the O’Banion brothers, bootleggers and gangsters.
Tristan returns during Prohibition, bringing life back to the ranch and his father. He accepts Susannah’s marriage to his brother and later falls in love with and marries Isabel II. They have two children, the eldest being a boy named Samuel in honor of his late brother. Life seems to become normal again for Tristan as he finds true happiness in his young family. Tristan becomes involved in small-scale smuggling bootleg liquor, finding himself at odds with the O’Banion brothers. Tristan’s wife is accidentally killed by a police officer working for the O’Banions, and in a fit of agonized grief Tristan beats the officer nearly to death and has to serve thirty days in jail. Susannah visits, but Tristan refuses her advances and insists she “go home to Alfred”. After his release, Tristan and Decker kill those responsible for Isabel II’s death, including one of the O’Banion brothers.
Susannah commits suicide after realizing she cannot live without Tristan. When the remaining O’Banion brother comes for Tristan, he and the corrupt sheriff are killed by Colonel Ludlow and Alfred as Tristan attempts to protect his father. Alfred reconciles with his father and brother. Tristan, knowing he will be blamed for the men’s disappearance, leaves for the mountain country after asking Alfred to take care of his children. Over time, everyone in Tristan’s life dies before him. As an old man, Tristan enters a clearing to investigate an animal carcass and is set upon by a grizzly bear. He draws his knife and fights it. As they struggle, the image freeze-frames as One Stab narrates: “It was a good death”.

The film opened in limited release on December 23, 1994 and made $14 million in its first weekend in wide release a month later. It went on to have a final box office total of $66 million.[5]
Although released in the hopes of being an Academy Award frontrunner, the film was nominated for just three awards, in none of the major categories. It won for best cinematographer John Toll. The film was much more successful at the Golden Globes, where it was nominated for Best Picture (Drama), Best Actor (Drama), and Best Director. The film has a 63% positive review from critics on Rotten Tomatoes (although the “Top Critics” rating, based on the reviews of critics from major publications, is only 44% positive). Roger Ebert describes it as “pretty good … with full-blooded performances and heartfelt melodrama.” On the other hand, Rita Kempley of the Washington Post says “…the yarn doesn’t so much sweep as sprawl across the screen in all its panoramic idiocy.”

Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legends_of_the_Fall

Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire, often shortened as Precious, is a 2009 American drama film directed by Lee Daniels. Precious is an adaptation by Geoffrey S. Fletcher of the 1996 novel Push by Sapphire. The film stars Gabourey Sidibe, Mo’Nique, Paula Patton, and Mariah Carey. The film marked the acting debut of Sidibe.
The film, then without a distributor, premiered to acclaim at both the 2009 Sundance Film Festival and the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, under its original title of Push: Based on the Novel by Sapphire.[2] At Sundance, it won the Audience Award and the Grand Jury Prize for best drama, as well as a Special Jury Prize for supporting actress Mo’Nique.[3] After Precious’ screening at Sundance in February 2009, Tyler Perry announced that he and Oprah Winfrey would be providing promotional assistance to the film, which was released through Lions Gate Entertainment. Precious won the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival in September. The film’s title was changed from Push to Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire, to avoid confusion with the 2009 action film Push.[4] Precious was also an official selection at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival (particularly the Un Certain Regard category).
Lionsgate gave the film a limited release in North America on November 6, 2009 (the release was expanded on November 20). Precious received largely positive reviews from critics: the acting, the story, and its message were generally praised. Some criticism mainly aimed at fears of the film’s content sending a negative message; some reviewers felt that the film did not live up to its hype. In the film’s opening weekend in limited release, it grossed $1.8 million, putting it in 12th place at the box office. As of February 2010, the film had grossed over $47 million domestically, ranking no. 65 for 2009, recouping its $10 million budget, and making it a box office success.[1] Precious received six nominations, including Best Picture, for the 82nd Academy Awards. Supporting actress Mo’Nique and screenwriter Geoffrey S. Fletcher were selected as the winners in their respective categories.

Directed by Lee Daniels
Produced by Lee Daniels
Gary Magness
Sarah Siegel-Magness
Oprah Winfrey
Tom Heller
Tyler Perry
Screenplay by Geoffrey S. Fletcher
Based on Push by Sapphire
Starring Gabourey Sidibe
Mo’Nique
Paula Patton
Mariah Carey
Lenny Kravitz
Sherri Shepherd
Music by Mario Grigorov
Cinematography
Andrew Dunn
Darren Lew
Editing by Joe Klotz
Studio Lee Daniels Entertainment
Smokewood Entertainment Group
Distributed by Lionsgate (USA)
Icon Productions (UK)
PlayArte Films (Brazil)
Midget Entertainment (Denmark)
Applause Entertainment (Taiwan)
A-Film Distribution (Netherlands)
Release date(s) January 15, 2009 (Sundance)
November 6, 2009 (United States)
Running time 110 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $10 million[1]
Gross revenue $62,881,147[1

In 1987, obese, illiterate, 16-year-old Claireece P. “Precious” Jones (Gabourey Sidibe) lives in the New York City ghetto of Harlem with her dysfunctional and abusive mother, Mary (Mo’Nique). She has been impregnated twice by her father, Carl, and suffers long-term physical, sexual, and mental abuse from her unemployed mother. The family resides in a Section 8 tenement and subsists on welfare. Her first child, known as “Mongo”, which is short for Mongoloid, has Down syndrome and is being cared for by Precious’ grandmother, though Mary forces the family to pretend Mongo lives with her and Precious so she can receive extra money from the government.

Following the discovery of Precious’ second pregnancy, she is suspended from school. Her junior high school principal arranges to have her attend an alternative school, which she hopes can help Precious change her life’s direction. Precious finds a way out of her traumatic daily existence through imagination and fantasy. In her mind, there is another world where she is loved and appreciated.
Inspired by her new teacher, Blu Rain (Paula Patton), Precious begins learning to read. Precious meets sporadically with a social worker named Miss Weiss (Mariah Carey), who learns about incest in the household when Precious unwittingly conveys it to her. Precious gives birth to her second child and names him Abdul. While at the hospital, she meets John McFadden (Lenny Kravitz), a nursing assistant who shows kindness to her. After Mary (her mother) deliberately drops three-day-old Abdul and hits Precious, Precious fights back long enough to get her son and flees her home permanently. Shortly after leaving the house, Precious stops at a window of a church and watches the choir inside sing a Christmas song. She begins to imagine herself and her dream boyfriend singing a more upbeat version of the Christmas song. Later on, Precious breaks into her school classroom to get out of the cold and is discovered the following morning by Miss Rain. The teacher finds assistance for Precious, who begins raising her son in a halfway house while she continues academically.

Her mother comes back into her life to inform Precious that her father has died of AIDS. Later, Precious learns that she is HIV positive, but Abdul is not. Feeling dejected, Precious meets Miss Weiss at her office and steals her case file. Precious recounts the details of the file to her fellow students and has a new lease on life. Mary and Precious see each other for the last time in Miss Weiss’ office, where Weiss questions Mary about her abuse of Precious, and uncovers specific physical and sexual traumas Precious encountered, starting when she was three. Mary begs Miss Weiss to help get Precious back, but she refuses upon finding out how much Precious was going through. The film ends with Precious still resolved to improve her life for herself and her children. She severs ties with her mother and plans to complete a General Educational Development (GED) test to receive a high school diploma equivalent.

Production

Precious was directed by Lee Daniels and co-produced by Daniels’ company, Lee Daniels Entertainment, and the Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness-owned Smokewood Entertainment Group.[15] The two production companies had previously collaborated with Daniels on Tennessee (2008).[15] Precious had, in total, twelve producers: Daniels, Oprah Winfrey, Tom Heller, Tyler Perry, Lisa Cortes, Gary Magness, Valerie Hoffman, Asger Hussain, Mark G. Magges, Berrgen Swason, Simone Sheffield and Sarah Siegel-Magness.[16] In September, 2007, Carey confirmed that the film’s writer, Barsocchini, was still working on the script, which was in its early stages.[7] Principal photography (filming) for the film took place on location in various parts of New York City.[17] The production budget was $10 million.[1]
After Precious was screened at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival in January, it was picked up for distribution by Lions Gate Entertainment and received promotional assistance from Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Productions and Tyler Perry’s 34th Street Films.[18] Precious was the first theatrical film to be affiliated with Perry’s company.[19] In February 2009, Lionsgate and The Weinstein Company filed lawsuits contesting ownership of the rights to release Precious.[20] Both companies claim that they had purchased distribution rights to Precious: The Weinstein Company claimed that they had “secured” their rights while Lionsgate stated that they owned the rights to the film’s distribution in North America.[20] Precious’ sales agent Cinetic Media denied Weinstein’s claims, stating that they failed to finalize the deal.[20]
Music

Main article: Precious (soundtrack)
Composer Robin Thicke wrote and produced “Push”, the film’s original main theme music.[21] Later announcements confirmed that the song would be replaced by Mary J. Blige’s “I Can See In Color”.[22] Leona Lewis’ song, “Happy” (from her album Echo) is featured in the film’s trailer.[23] Daniels stated that the artists featured on the film’s soundtrack were selected because they “resonate not only in Precious’s world, but speak to your soul no matter who you are”.[24] Two other songs, performed decades earlier by Queen Latifah and Mahalia Jackson, were also chosen for the film’s soundtrack.[24] The soundtrack features LaBelle (Nona Hendryx, Sarah Dash, and Patti LaBelle), Donna Allen, Jean Carn, Sunny Gale, and MFSB.[22]
Lionsgate, in association with Matriarch/Geffen Records released the soundtrack online as a digital download on November 3, 2009,[25] and in stores on November 23.[22][24] Daniels confirmed that there are plans to release Blige’s “I Can See in Color” as a single from the soundtrack.[24] The song was written by Blige, Raphael Saadiq and LaNeah Menzies and is produced by Raphael Saadiq.[25] People Magazine Daily noted that the film “mainly had a music supervised soundtrack, but not much of a score, so there were popular songs placed in the movie.”[26] Peter Travers, of Rolling Stone, described the song “I Can See In Color” as being “…a knockout song…expressing the goal of Precious to see the world in color.”

Awards and nominations
Further information: List of accolades received by Precious
Precious has received dozens of nominations in award categories ranging from the performance of the cast to the direction to the cinematography to the adaptation of the book into the screenplay to the film itself including six Academy Award nominations. Director Lee Daniels won the People’s Choice Award, an award given by audience members at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival.[60] Daniels won both awards for which he was nominated at the San Sebastián International Film Festival—the TVE Otra Mirada Award and the Audience Award. He was nominated in the category of Bronze Horse at the Stockholm Film Festival,[3] and was the recipient for Best Feature Film from the Hawaii International Film Festival.[3] Precious received five awards at the 2009 Independent Spirit Awards (ISA) in the categories for best film, first screenplay, direction, Actress and Supporting Actress.[61] Precious received nominations from the 67th Annual Golden Globes for the film and for the performances of Mo’Nique and Sidibe;[62] Mo’Nique won Best Supporting Actress. Precious was nominated in all three major categories at the 2009 Screen Actor Guild Awards; best cast, best actress, and best supporting actress; Mo’Nique won.[63] Precious was considered for the BAFTA awards in several categories, including Best Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay, Editing, Leading Actress (Gabourey Sidibe), Supporting Actress (Mo’Nique).[64] On February 2, 2010, the film received Academy Award nominations at the 82nd Academy Awards, for Best Picture, Best Actress (Sidibe), Best Supporting Actress (Mo’Nique), Best Director (Daniels), Best Adapted Screenplay (Fletcher) and Best Film Editing (Klotz). On March 7, 2010, Mo’Nique (Best Supporting Actress) and Fletcher (Best Adapted Screenplay) won their respective Academy Awards. The film was also nominated for a GLAAD Media Award for “Outstanding Film – Wide Release” during the 21st GLAAD Media Awards.

Letters to Juliet is a 2010 American romantic comedy drama film starring Amanda Seyfried, Chris Egan, Vanessa Redgrave, Gael García Bernal, and Franco Nero. This was the final film of director Gary Winick before he died of brain cancer. The film was released theatrically in North America and other countries on May 14, 2010. The idea for the film was inspired by the 2006 non-fiction book, “Letters to Juliet,” by Lise Friedman and Ceil Friedman, which chronicles the phenomenon of letter writing to Shakespeare’s most famous romantic heroine.

Directed by Gary Winick
Produced by Caroline Kaplan
Ellen Barkin
Mark Canton
Written by José Rivera
Tim Sullivan
Starring Amanda Seyfried
Chris Egan
Vanessa Redgrave
Gael García Bernal
Franco Nero
Music by Andrea Guerra
Cinematography Marco Pontecorvo
Editing by Bill Pankow
Distributed by Summit Entertainment
Release date(s) May 14, 2010
Running time 105 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $30 million[1]
Gross revenue $80 million [2

Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) is a young American woman who works for The New Yorker as a fact checker. To put some spark in her life, she decides to go on a ‘pre-honeymoon’ with her chef fiancé Victor (Gael Garcia Bernal) to Verona. However the workaholic Victor is unmoved by the romance of Italy and utilises his time to rather do research for his soon-to-open restaurant, ignoring Sophie. The lonely Sophie discovers by chance an unanswered “letter to Juliet” by Claire in the 1950’s — one of thousands of missives left at the fictional lover’s Verona courtyard, which are typically answered by the “secretaries of Juliet”. She answers it and soon enough the now elderly Claire (Vanessa Redgrave) arrives in Verona with her handsome barrister grandson Charlie (Christopher Egan), who works for human rights.

Charlie and Sophie take an instant liking to each other with Charlie behaving very brusquely with Sophie while she is very sarcastic with him. On the other hand, Claire is still looking to rediscover her long lost love, Lorenzo Bartolini. Sophie, thinking Claire’s story might help her with her writing career, decides to help Claire in her quest. What happens next is a story of romantic twists and turns. They find out that there are multiple Lorenzo Bartolinis and must figure out which one is Claire’s love. After many days of searching for the right one, they find that one of the Lorenzo Bartolinis is dead. An angry Charlie blames Sophie for his grandmother’s sadness. He accuses her of not knowing what real loss is, which causes an upset Sophie to walk away. Claire, seeing the little dispute, tells Charlie that he was wrong and that Sophie’s mother had walked away from her when she was a little girl. The next day, Claire insists that Charlie apologize to Sophie at breakfast, and he does. After dinner, Sophie goes out with Charlie and talks to him about love, when he accidentally kisses her. The next morning, is their last day of searching for Claire’s long lost love. On a whim, Claire points out a vineyard to Charlie and asks if he could stop by so the three of them can have a farewell drink for Sophie. As Charlie drives down the road, Claire sees a young man who looks exactly like her Lorenzo. She yells at Charlie to stop, and he complies. They discover that the man is Lorenzo Bartolini’s grandson. Claire and Lorenzo reunite after fifty long years.

Back in New York, Sophie breaks up with Victor. Sophie returns to Verona to attend Claire and Lorenzo’s wedding. She finds Charlie there with another woman, Patricia, and runs out. Charlie comes to find her (in a classic balcony setting) and she admits she loves him, but tells him to go back to his date. Telling Sophie that the woman was actually his cousin Patricia, not his ex-girlfriend Patricia, he tells her he loves her and wants to be with her. He accidentally falls off the balcony and they kiss as he is lying on the ground.

Sound Track Lists
•You Got Me -Colbie Caillat
•Chianti Country
•Verona -Andy Georges
•Un Giorno Così -883
•Per Avere Te -Franco Morselli
•Quando, Quando, Quando -Laura Jane (as Lisa Jane) and Chris Mann
•Variations On A Theme By Mozart (Magic Flute) Op. 9
•Sospesa -Malika Ayane and Pacifico
•Per Dimenticare -Zero Assoluto
•Sono Bugiarda (I’m A Believer) -Caterina Caselli
•Guarda Che Luna -Fred Buscaglione
•Love Story -Taylor Swift
•What If – Colbie Caillat

Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letters_to_Juliet

Shall We Dance? is a 2004 American film. It is a remake of the award-winning Masayuki Suo 1996 Japanese film, Shall We ダンス?. The film made its US premier at the Hawaii International Film Festival.[1] Parts of Shall We Dance were filmed in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in a dance studio located on campus at the University of Manitoba.

Directed by Peter Chelsom
Produced by Simon Fields
Bob Weinstein
Harvey Weinstein
James Tyler
Written by Audrey Wells
Masayuki Suo (original screenplay)
Narrated by Richard Gere
Starring Richard Gere
Jennifer Lopez
Susan Sarandon
Stanley Tucci
Lisa Ann Walter
Richard Jenkins
Bobby Cannavale
Omar Benson Miller
Mya Harrison
Ja Rule
Nick Cannon
Music by John Altman
Gabriel Yared
Cinematography John de Borman
Editing by Robert Leighton
Distributed by Miramax Films
Release date(s) October 15, 2004
Running time 106 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $50 million
Gross revenue $170,128,460

John Clark (Richard Gere) is a lawyer with a charming wife and a loving family, who nevertheless feels that something is missing as he makes his way every day through the city. Each evening on his commute home through Chicago, John sees a beautiful woman staring with a lost expression through the window of a dance studio. Haunted by her gaze, John impulsively jumps off the train one night, and signs up for ballroom dancing lessons, hoping to meet her.
At first, it seems like a mistake. His teacher turns out to be not Paulina (Jennifer Lopez), but the older Miss Mitzi (Anita Gillette), and John proves to be just as clumsy as his equally clueless classmates (Chic and Vern, Bobby Cannavale and Omar Miller respectively) on the dance-floor. Even worse, when he does meet Paulina, she icily tells John she hopes he has come to the studio to seriously study dance and not to look for a date. But, as his lessons continue, John falls in love with dancing. Keeping his new obsession from his family and co-workers, John feverishly trains for Chicago’s biggest dance competition. His friendship with Paulina blossoms, as his enthusiasm rekindles her own lost passion for dance. But the more time John spends away from home, the more his wife Beverly (Susan Sarandon) becomes suspicious. She hires a private investigator to find out what John is doing, but when she finds out the truth, she chooses to discontinue the investigation and not invade her husband’s privacy.

John is partnered with Bobbie (Lisa Ann Walter) for the competition, although his friend Link (Stanley Tucci) steps in to do the Latin dances. Link and Bobbie do well in the Latin dances, and while John and Bobbie’s waltz goes well, John hears his wife and daughter in the crowd during the quickstep, and is distracted by trying to find them. He and Bobbie fall and are disqualified, and John and Beverly argue in the parking structure. John quits dancing, to everyone’s dismay.
Paulina, having been inspired by John to take up competing again, is leaving to go to Europe, and is having a going-away party at the dance studio. She sends John a letter, but he’s not convinced to go until his wife leaves out a pair of dancing shoes that she bought him. He goes and meets her at work, convinces her that while he loves dancing, he still loves her just as much, and they dance. They go to the party and John and Paulina have one last dance before she leaves.

The end scene shows everyone afterwards: Link and Bobbie are now together; Chic, who was actually gay, dances at a club with his partner; Miss Mitzi finds a new partner, and they are happy together; John and Beverly are back to normal and dance in the kitchen; Vern, newly married to his fiancée, dances with her at their wedding; the private investigator that Beverly hired, Devine (Richard Jenkins), starts up dance lessons; and Paulina, with a new partner, competes at Blackpool, the competition that she had lost years before.

Soundtrack
“Sway” – The Pussycat Dolls
“Santa Maria” (Del Buen Ayre) – Gotan Project
“Happy Feet” – John Altman
“España Cañí” – John Altman
“I Wanna (Shall We Dance)” – Gizelle D’Cole
“Perfidia” – John Altman
“Under The Bridges Of Paris” – John Altman
“Moon River” – John Altman
“Andalucia” – John Altman
“The Book Of Love” – Peter Gabriel
“The L Train” – Gabriel Yared
“I Could Have Danced All Night” – Jamie Cullum
“Wonderland” – Rachel Fuller
“Shall We Dance?” – Gotan Project
“Let’s Dance” – Mýa

Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shall_We_Dance%3F_(2004_film)

For the song sometimes known as “Pretty Woman”, see Oh, Pretty Woman. For the song in the musical Sweeney Todd, see Pretty Women.
Pretty Woman is a 1990 romantic comedy film. Written by J.F. Lawton and directed by Garry Marshall, the film features Richard Gere, Julia Roberts and Hector Elizondo. Pretty Woman’s plot centers on down-on-her-luck Hollywood prostitute Vivian Ward who is hired by a wealthy businessman, Edward Lewis, to be his escort for several business and social functions, and their developing relationship over the course of Vivian’s week long stay with him.
Originally intended to be a dark drama about prostitution in New York, the film was reconceptualized into a romantic comedy with a broader budget. The film was hugely successful: it became one of 1990’s highest grossing films, and today is one of the most financially successful entries in the romantic comedy genre, with an estimated gross of $463.4 million USD.[1] The film also received critical praise, particularly for Roberts’s performance, for which she received a Golden Globe Award for her role and an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. In addition, screenwriter J.F. Lawton was nominated for a Writers Guild Award and a BAFTA Award. The film was followed by a string of similar romantic comedies, including Runaway Bride (1999), which re-united Gere and Roberts under the direction of Garry Marshall once again.

Directed by Garry Marshall
Produced by Laura Ziskin
Written by J.F. Lawton
Starring Richard Gere
Julia Roberts
Héctor Elizondo
Music by James Newton Howard
Cinematography Charles Minsky
Editing by Raja Gosnell
Priscilla Nedd
Distributed by Touchstone Pictures
Release date(s) March 23, 1990
Running time 119 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $14 million
Gross revenue $463,407,268

Edward Lewis (Richard Gere), a successful businessman and “corporate raider”, takes a detour on Hollywood Boulevard to ask for directions. Receiving little help, he encounters a beautiful prostitute named Vivian Ward (Julia Roberts) who is willing to assist him in getting to his destination.
The morning after, Edward hires Vivian to stay with him for a week as an escort for social events. Vivian advises him that it “will cost him,” and he agrees to give her $3,000 and access to his credit cards. Vivian then goes shopping on Rodeo Drive, only to be snubbed by saleswomen who disdain her because of her immodest clothing. Initially, hotel manager Bernard Thompson (Hector Elizondo) is also somewhat taken aback. But he relents and decides to help her buy a dress, even coaching her on dinner etiquette. Edward returns and is visibly amazed by Vivian’s transformation. The business dinner does not end well, and Edward is preoccupied with the deal afterward. The next morning, Vivian tells Edward about the snubbing that took place the day before. Edward takes Vivian on a shopping spree. Vivian returns to the same shop that had snubbed her, telling the salesgirls they had made a big mistake.
The following day, Edward takes Vivian to a polo match where he is interested in networking for his business deal. While Vivian chats with David Morse, the grandson of the man involved in Edward’s latest deal, Philip Stuckey (Edward’s attorney) wonders if she is a spy. Edward re-assures him by telling him how they met, and Philip (Jason Alexander) then approaches Vivian and offers to hire her once she is finished with Edward, inadvertently insulting her. When they return to the hotel, she is furious with Edward for telling Phillip about her. She plans to leave, but he apologizes and persuades her to see out the week. Edward leaves work early the next day and takes a breath-taking Vivian on a date to the opera in San Francisco in his private jet. She is clearly moved by the opera. While playing chess with Edward after returning, Vivian convinces him to take the next day off. They spend the entire day together, and then make love, in a personal rather than professional way. Just before she falls asleep, Vivian admits that she’s in love with Edward. Over breakfast, Edward offers to put Vivian up in an apartment so he can continue seeing her. She feels insulted and says this is not the “fairy tale” she wants. He then goes off to work without resolving the situation. Vivian’s friend, Kit De Luca (Laura San Giacomo), comes to the hotel and realizes that Vivian is in love with Edward.

Edward meets with Mr. Morse, about to close the deal, and changes his mind at the last minute. His time with Vivian has shown him another way of living and working, taking time off and enjoying activities for which he initially had little time. As a result, his strong interest towards his business is put aside. He decides that he would rather help Morse than take over his company. Furious, Philip goes to the hotel to confront Edward, but only finds Vivian there. He blames her for changing Edward and tries to rape her. Edward arrives in time to stop Philip, angrily ordering him to leave the hotel room. Edward tends to Vivian and tries to convince her to stay with him because she wants to, not because he’s paying her. She refuses once again and returns to the apartment she shares with Kit, preparing to leave for San Francisco to earn a G.E.D. in the hopes of a better life. Edward gets into the car with the chauffeur that took her home. Instead of going to the airport, he goes to her apartment. He climbs up the fire escape, despite his fear of heights, with a rose clutched between his teeth, to woo her. His leaping from the white limousine, and then climbing the outside ladder and steps, is a visual urban metaphor for the knight on white horse rescuing the “princess” from the tower, a childhood fantasy Vivian told him about. The film ends as the two of them kiss on the fire escape.

Pre-production
Pretty Woman was initially conceived to be a dark drama about prostitution in New York in the late 1980s.[2] The relationship between Vivian and Edward also originally harboured controversial themes, including the concept of having Vivian addicted to drugs; part of the deal was that she had to stay off cocaine for a week, because she needed the money to go to Disneyland. Edward eventually throws her out of his car and drives off. The movie was scripted to end with Vivian and her prostitute friend on the bus to Disneyland.[2] These traits, considered by producer Laura Ziskin to be detrimental to the otherwise sympathetic portrayal of her, were removed or incorporated into the character of Vivian’s friend, Kit. These “cut scenes” have been found in public view, and some were included on the DVD released on the film’s 15th anniversary.[2] One such scene has Vivian offering Edward, “I could just pop ya good and be on my way”, indicating a lack of interest in “pillow talk”. In another, she is confronted by drug dealers outside The Blue Banana, and rescued by Edward and Darryl.
Pretty Woman bears striking resemblances to Pygmalion myths: particularly George Bernard Shaw’s play of the same name, which also formed the basis for the Broadway musical My Fair Lady. It was then-Disney Studio President Jeffrey Katzenberg who insisted the film should be re-written as a modern-day fairy tale with qualities of a love story, as opposed to being the dark drama it was originally developed as. It was pitched to Touchstone Pictures and re-written as a romantic comedy. The original script was titled $3,000, however this title was changed because executives at Touchtone thought it sounded like a title for a Science Fiction film.[3] It also has unconfirmed references to That Touch of Mink, starring Doris Day and Cary Grant.

Casting
Casting of Pretty Woman was a rather lengthy process. Marshall had initially considered Christopher Reeve for the role of Lewis, and Al Pacino turned it down.[4] Pacino went as far as doing a casting reading with Roberts before turning the leading role down.[5] Gere agreed to the project. Reportedly, Gere started off much more active in his role, but Garry Marshall took him aside and said “No, no, no. Richard. In this movie, one of you moves and one of you does not. Guess which one you are?”[citation needed] Julia Roberts was not the first-choice for the role of Vivian, and was not wanted by Disney. Many other actresses were considered at the time. Marshall originally envisioned Karen Allen for the role. When she declined, it went to many better-known actresses of the time including Molly Ringwald, who turned it down because she felt uncomfortable with the content in the script, and did not like the idea of playing a prostitute. She has since stated in several interviews that she regrets turning the role down. Winona Ryder, a popular box-office draw at the time, was considered, and auditioned, but turned down because Marshall felt she was “too young”. Jennifer Connelly was also dismissed for the same reason.[2]
Meg Ryan, who was a top choice of Marshall’s, turned it down. According to a note written by Marshall, Mary Steenburgen was the first choice to play Vivian Ward. Michelle Pfeiffer turned the role down as well, because she did not like the “tone” of the script.[6] Daryl Hannah was also considered, but turned the role down because she believed it was “degrading to women”.[6] Valeria Golino also turned it down as she did not think the movie could work with her thick Italian accent. Jennifer Jason Leigh had auditioned for the part, but later decided not to do the movie after she read the script because she felt it was sexist.[7] When all the other actresses turned down the role, 21-year-old Julia Roberts, who was relatively unknown at the time, with the exception of her Oscar nominated performance in the film Steel Magnolias (1989), won the role of Vivian. Her performance made Roberts a star.

Filming
Pretty Woman’s budget was not limited, therefore producers could acquire as many locations as possible for shooting on the films estimated budget of $14 million.[2] The majority of the film was shot in Los Angeles, California, specifically in Beverly Hills. The escargot restaurant called ‘The Voltaire’ was filmed at the Rex, now called Cicada. Filming of the Beverly Wilshire Hotel lobby interior was shot at the now demolished Ambassador Hotel. Filming commenced on July 24, 1989, but was immediately plagued by countless problems, including issues with space and time. This included Ferrari and Porsche, who had declined the product placement opportunity of the car Edward drove, because they did not want to be associated with soliciting prostitutes.[2] Lotus Cars UK saw the placement value with such a major feature film. The company supplied a Silver 1989.5 Esprit SE (which was later sold). This gamble paid off as Esprit sales tripled in 1990-1991.
The film’s primary shooting commenced on July 24, 1989. Shooting was a generally pleasurable and easy-going experience for those involved, the films budget was broad and the shooting schedule was not tight.[2] While shooting the scene where Vivian is lying down on the floor of Edward’s penthouse, watching I Love Lucy re-runs, in order to achieve a genuine laughter, Garry Marshall had to tickle Roberts’s feet (out of camera range) to get her to laugh so hysterically, which is featured in the film. During the scene where Roberts sings along to Prince in the bath tub sliding down and dunking her head under the bubbles, Roberts came up and opened her eyes and saw that everyone had left even the cameraman, who got the shot. Additionally, during the love-making scene between Roberts and Gere, Roberts got so nervous that a vein visibly popped out of her forehead, she also acquired hives, and calamine lotion was given to clear them until shooting could resume.[2] Filming was completed on October 18.

Awards
The film received four 1990 Golden Globe Awards nominations: Best Motion Picture, Best Actor for Richard Gere, Best Actress for Julia Roberts, and Best Supporting Actor for Hector Elizondo. The film also earned Roberts her second Academy Award nomination and her first nomination for Best Actress.
Win
48th Golden Globe Awards
Best Actress – Julia Roberts
Nominated
British Academy Film Awards
BAFTA Award for Best Film (Lost to Goodfellas)
63rd Academy Awards
Best Actress – Julia Roberts (Lost to Kathy Bates)
48th Golden Globe Awards
Best Motion Picture (Lost to Green Card)
Best Actor – Richard Gere (Lost to Gérard Depardieu)
Best Supporting Actor – Hector Elizondo (Lost to Bruce Davison)
Writers Guild of America Award for Best Drama Written Directly for the Screen – J.F. Lawton

Music
Pretty Woman is noted for its musical selections and hugely successful soundtrack. The film features the song “Oh, Pretty Woman” by Roy Orbison, which inspired the movie’s title. Roxette’s “It Must Have Been Love” reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in June 1990. The soundtrack also features “King of Wishful Thinking” by Go West, “Show Me Your Soul” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, “No Explanation” by Peter Cetera, “Wild Women Do” by Natalie Cole and “Fallen” by Lauren Wood. The soundtrack went on to be certified three times platinum by the RIAA.[15]
The opera featured in the movie is La Traviata, which also served as inspiration for the plot of the movie. The highly dramatic aria fragment that is repeated in the movie is from the end of “Dammi tu forza!” (“Give me your strength!”) from the opera. The piano piece which Richard Gere’s character plays in the hotel lobby was composed by and performed by Gere. Julia Roberts sings the song “Kiss” by Prince while Richard Gere’s character is on the phone. Background music is composed by James Newton Howard. Entitled “He Sleeps/Love Theme”, this piano composition is inspired by Bruce Springsteen’s “Racing in the Street.”

Soundtrack
The soundtrack was released on February 14, 1990[16][17] and featured snapshot of up-and-coming acts of the 90s and power-pop.
Track listing
1. “Wild Women Do” (performed by Natalie Cole)
2. “Fame ’90” (performed by David Bowie)
3. “King of Wishful Thinking” (performed by Go West)
4. “Tangled” (performed by Jane Wiedlin)
5. “It Must Have Been Love” (performed by Roxette)
6. “Life in Detail” (performed by Robert Palmer)
7. “No Explanation” (performed by Peter Cetera)
8. “Real Wild Child (Wild One)” (performed by Christopher Otcasek)
9. “Fallen” (performed by Lauren Wood)
10. “Oh, Pretty Woman” (performed by Roy Orbison)
11. “Show Me Your Soul” (performed by Red Hot Chili Peppers)

Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretty_Woman

I Am Sam is a 2001 American drama film written and directed by Jessie Nelson, and starring Sean Penn as a father with a developmental disability, Dakota Fanning as his inquisitive seven-year-old daughter, and Michelle Pfeiffer as his lawyer. Dianne Wiest, Loretta Devine, Richard Schiff and Laura Dern appear in supporting roles.
Jessie Nelson and Kristine Johnson, who co-wrote the screenplay, researched the issues facing adults with developmental disabilities by visiting the non-profit organization L.A. Goal (Greater Opportunities for the Advanced Living). They subsequently cast two actors with disabilities, Brad Silverman and Joe Rosenberg, in key roles.[2]
The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Sean Penn).

Directed by Jessie Nelson
Produced by Jessie Nelson
Marshall Herskovitz
Edward Zwick
Richard Solomon
Written by Kristine Johnson
Jessie Nelson
Starring Sean Penn
Michelle Pfeiffer
Dakota Fanning
Dianne Wiest
Loretta Devine
Richard Schiff
Laura Dern
Music by John Powell
Editing by Richard Chew
Studio The Bedford Falls Company
Distributed by New Line Cinema
Release date(s) December 28, 2001
Running time 120 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Gross revenue $97,818,139[1

Sam Dawson (Sean Penn), a man with a developmental disability, is the father of Lucy (Dakota Fanning), after her mother abandoned them. Despite his limitations, Sam is well-adjusted and has a supportive group of friends with developmental disabilities, as well as a kind, agoraphobic neighbor Annie (Dianne Wiest) who takes care of Lucy when Sam cannot. Though Sam provides a loving and caring environment for precocious Lucy, she soon surpasses his mental ability. Other children tease her for having a “retard” as a father, and she becomes too embarrassed to accept that she is more intellectually advanced than Sam. In preparation for a custody case, a social worker turns up at Lucy’s birthday party and takes her away, allowing Sam two supervised visits per week.

On the advice of his friends, Sam approaches a high-powered lawyer, Rita Harrison (Michelle Pfeiffer), whose brusque manner, fast-paced schedule and difficult personal life have earned her a reputation as cold and unfeeling. In an attempt to prove to others that she isn’t heartless, Rita surprisingly agrees to take on Sam’s case pro bono. As they work together to secure Sam’s parental rights, Sam unwittingly helps Rita with her family problems, including encouraging her to leave her philandering husband and repairing her fractious relationship with her son.
During the trial period, Lucy is living in a foster home with Randy Carpenter (Laura Dern), but tries to convince Sam to help her run away, and continually escapes in the middle of the night to go to Sam’s apartment, whereupon he immediately returns her. At the trial, Sam breaks down after opposing counsel convinces him that he is not capable of being a father. Ultimately, the foster family who planned to adopt Lucy decide to return her to Sam, with an arrangement that Randy will help him raise her.
The final scene depicts a soccer game, refereed by Sam, in which Lucy participates as a player. In attendance are the foster family, Sam’s friendship group, and a newly-single Rita with her son.

Critical reception
I Am Sam holds a rating of 34% on Rotten Tomatoes,[3] and a score of 28 on Metacritic,[4] indicating generally unfavorable reviews from critics.
The New York Times wrote that “I Am Sam is a good movie, and its intentions are unimpeachable. But its sentimentality is so relentless and its narrative so predictable that the life is very nearly squeezed out of it.”[5] Variety wrote: “Undone by its best intentions, I Am Sam is an especially insipid example of the Hollywood message movie.”[6] The Chicago Sun-Times wrote that “every device of the movie’s art is designed to convince us Lucy must stay with Sam, but common sense makes it impossible to go the distance with the premise.”[7] Roger Ebert also criticized the morality tale character of the movie, saying that “you can’t have heroes and villains when the wrong side is making the best sense.” [8]
On the other hand, the Los Angeles Times reviewed it positively as a “most inviting and accessible film that turns upon a mental condition that most people would prefer not to think about.”[3] The San Francisco Chronicle commended Sean Penn for his performance: “Penn’s accuracy, his lack of condescension or sentiment, and his willingness to inhabit his character without any implicit commentary take what might have been the equivalent of an inflated TV movie and elevate it to the level of art.”[9] The New Yorker, however, found Michelle Pfeiffer to be the standout: “Pfeiffer, enormously likable in the role, almost saves the movie.”[4]

Awards and nominations
Sean Penn was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor (the Oscar), the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role, the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor and the Satellite Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama.[10]
Dakota Fanning won the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Young Performer, the Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Youth in Film, the Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Youth Actress, the Satellite Special Achievement Award for Outstanding New Talent, and the Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a Feature Film – Young Actress Age Ten or Under. She was also nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role.[10]
The soundtrack was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media.[10]
The film won the inaugural Stanley Kramer Award from the Producers Guild of America, and was nominated for the Humanitas Prize and the Japan Academy Prize for Outstanding Foreign Language Film.[10]

Soundtrack
Main article: I Am Sam (soundtrack)
The Grammy Award-nominated soundtrack consists of cover versions of songs by The Beatles. Penn commissioned artists such as The Black Crowes, Stereophonics, Eddie Vedder, Sheryl Crow, Sarah McLachlan, Rufus Wainwright, The Wallflowers, Ben Harper, The Vines and Ben Folds, to cover the songs for the soundtrack. Penn’s brother, Michael Penn, is also featured on a duet with his wife Aimee Mann.
As the movie was shot and produced to the original Beatles music, the artists had to record their covers to the same musical timing (tempo) as The Beatles original pieces had.

Forrest Gump là một bộ phim của điện ảnh Hoa Kỳ về cuộc đời của Forrest Gump, một người có chỉ số IQ là 75. Nội dung của bộ phim trải dài xuyên suốt một thời kỳ lịch sử của nước Mỹ. Bộ phim được chuyển thể từ một tác phẩm văn học cùng tên của Winston Groom. Khi bộ phim được công chiếu năm 1993 nó đã đem lại một doanh thu kỷ lục 677 triệu USD. Ngoài doanh thu thương mại bộ phim còn thâu tóm rất nhiều giải thưởng, trong đó phải kể đến 4 giải Oscar cho: Phim hay nhất, đạo diễn xuất sắc nhất, nam diễn viên chính xuất sắc nhất… Đây là lần thứ 2 liên tiếp nam diễn viên Tom Hanks đoạt giải Oscar.

Đạo diễn Robert Zemeckis
Sản xuất Wendy Finerman
Steve Tisch
Steve Starkey
Charles Newirth (đồng sản xuất)
Kịch bản Eric Roth (kịch bản)
Diễn viên Tom Hanks
Robin Wright
Gary Sinise
Mykelti Williamson
và Sally Field
Âm nhạc Alan Silvestri
Quay phim Don Burgess
Dựng phim Arthur Schmidt
Kinh phí 55 triệu đô la Mỹ
Thời lượng 141 phút
Quốc gia Hoa Kỳ
Ngôn ngữ tiếng Anh
Phát hành Paramount Pictures
Công chiếu 6 tháng 6 năm 1994
Doanh thu 679.693.974 đô la Mỹ

Forrest là một đứa trẻ không có cha nhưng không phải vì thế mà cậu buồn vì Forrest luôn có tình yêu thương của người mẹ. Cậu bị thiểu năng trí tuệ và lưng không thẳng, phải giữ chân bởi một khung sắt, mẹ đưa cậu vào học một trường học bình thường và ở đây Forrest thường bị mọi người chọc phá. Người bạn duy nhất của Forrest là Jenny, một cô bé ở gần trang trại nơi cậu sống. Jenny có một tuổi thơ dữ dội, mẹ mất sớm và cô cùng các chị em thường xuyên bị bố đánh đập. Jenny và Forrest rất thân thiết cho đến khi học trung học. Chính Jenny là người giúp Forrest phát hiện ra cậu không những có thể đi lại bình thường (không cần nẹp sắt), mà còn thể chạy rất nhanh, vì mỗi khi Forrest bị bọn bạn trêu chọc Jenny đều bảo Forrest chạy nhanh đi. Chính nhờ tài chạy nhanh như gió mà Forrest đã được nhận vào trường Đại học Alabama và trở thành siêu sao bóng bầu dục ở đây. Trường của Forrest đã vô địch toàn liên bang năm 1963 và Forrest được bệ kiến Tổng Thống Mĩ John F. Kennedy. Forrest và Jenny không học cùng trường đại học, cũng từ thời gian này mà Jenny lao vào những cuộc tình với nhiều chàng trai khác nhau, nhưng có vẻ cô không tìm được hạnh phúc. Cô thổ lộ với Forrest ước mơ trở thành ca sĩ của mình. Trong khi đó, nhờ chơi bóng bầu dục giỏi mà Forrest tốt nghiệp đại học và tại lễ tốt nghiêp Forrest được kêu gọi tham gia quân đội. Forrest rất hợp với đời sống quân đội và tại đây anh tìm được người bạn thứ hai trong đời: Bubba, một anh chàng da đen với môi dưới to kỳ dị và suốt ngày nói chuyện về tôm, vì ước mơ của Bubba là trở thành thuyền trưởng một tàu đánh bắt tôm. Trước khi sang Việt Nam tham gia chiến tranh, Forrest biết tin Jenny đã bị đuổi khỏi trường đại học, anh tìm và xem Jenny hát ở một quán rượu, cứu cô khỏi mấy gã khách hàng sàm sỡ. Forrest đã ngỏ lời yêu Jenny nhưng cô nói anh không biết gì về tình yêu rồi bỏ đi. Khi Forrest thông báo anh sắp bị gửi sang Việt Nam, Jenny có vẻ rất xúc động và dặn anh nếu gặp vấn đề gì hãy cứ gắng chạy thật nhanh, đừng cố tỏ ra dũng cảm .
Cuộc chiến tranh ở Việt Nam vô cùng ác liệt nhưng trong mắt của Forrest mọi thứ vẫn diễn ra như bình thường. Tại đây Forrest gặp trung uý Dan, xuất thân từ một gia đình có truyền thống quân sự lâu đời, các thế hệ trước đều có người hy sinh trong mọi cuộc chiến tranh mà nước Mỹ đã trải qua. Bubba và Forrest ngày càng thân thiết, và họ đã thỏa thuận rằng sau chiến tranh sẽ cùng mua một chiếc tàu đánh bắt tôm, Bubba là thuyền trưởng và Forrest làm thuyền phó. Trong một lần tuần tra, trung đội của anh bị Việt Cộng phục kích và bị tiêu diệt gần hết nhưng Forrest đã chạy thoát như Jenny đã bảo anh và cứu được nhiều người trong đó có cả trung uý Dan và Bubba, nhưng Bubba do bị thương quá nặng nên đã chết trên tay Forrest. Trung úy Dan không ngừng lên án Forrest đã tước đi quyền được hi sinh anh dũng trên chiến trường của mình. Forrest bị thương ở mông, trung úy Dan bị mất cả hai chân nên được đưa về hậu phương chữa trị, tại đây Forrest tập chơi bóng bàn và tỏ ra rất có năng khiếu. Nhờ những cống hiến cho quốc gia Forrest được Tổng Thống Richard Nixon tặng huân chương danh dự. Anh đã phát biểu tại một buổi biểu tình phản chiến tại Washington D.C và gặp lại Jenny. Một lần nữa anh lại bảo vệ Jenny khỏi một tên bạn trai bạo lực, nhưng rồi Jenny cũng lại ra đi, theo con đường sống riêng của cô.
Vài năm sau, Forrest được đại diện cho nước Mỹ sang Trung Quốc thi đấu. Khi trở về anh thành người nổi tiếng, lên TV trả lời phỏng vấn cùng John Lennon và có vẻ như đã gợi ý cho John viết bài hát Imagine (there is no possession,… no religion too,… it’s easy if you try). Forrest gặp lại trung úy Dan tại New York, què quặt và hoàn toàn mất niềm tin vào cuộc sống.
Xuất ngũ và trở về nhà, nhờ vào tiền đóng quảng cáo vợt bóng bàn Forrest mua một con tàu đánh bắt tôm như lời hứa với Bubba. Sau đó trung úy Dan tìm đến và làm thuyền phó cho Forrest. Thời gian đầu họ không thành công nhưng nhờ may mắn, lòng dũng cảm của Forrest và sự điên khùng của Dan con tàu Jenny của họ là con tàu duy nhất nguyên vẹn trở về sau cơn bão. Họ đã bắt được rất nhiều tôm và trở nên vô cùng giàu có. Hãng tôm Bubba-Gump đã được thành lập như vậy và dành một phần lợi nhuận để chu cấp cho gia đình Bubba.
Forrest nhận được tin mẹ anh đang ốm nặng nên về quê nhà Greenbow gặp mẹ lần cuối. Sau lễ tang, anh quyết định ở lại Alabama và giao lại công ty cho trung úy Dan quản lý. Lợi nhuận của công ty được đầu tư vào công ty Apple, chia một phần cho gia đình Bubba và làm từ thiện. Jenny trở về khi cô đã trải qua mọi đắng cay của cuộc đời. Đối với Forrest, đó là khoảng thời gian thật hạnh phúc. Anh đã cầu hôn Jenny với câu nói bất hủ: “Anh không thông minh nhưng anh biết tình yêu là gì”. Jenny không nhận lời nhưng cô thú nhận có yêu anh, và họ đã có một đêm tuyệt vời tại nhà Forrest. Sáng hôm sau Jenny ra đi mà không để lại một lời nhắn nào.

Vắng Jenny, Forrest cảm thấy cô đơn. Anh chỉ muốn chạy, lúc đầu trong thị trấn, sau đó xa hơn nữa và ngày càng xa. Forrest cứ chạy mãi, trở thành một hiện tượng, thậm chí thần tượng và nguồn cảm hứng cho nhiều người. Cho đến khi anh nhận ra mình đã chạy hơn 3 năm, vòng quanh nước Mỹ, anh cảm thấy mệt mỏi và muốn trở về quê nhà. Bất ngờ Forrest nhận được thư của Jenny hẹn gặp anh tại Savannah, Georgia. Thì ra Jenny đã có một đứa con với Forrest, và cô đang mang một căn bệnh lạ trong người. Forrest đưa hai mẹ con về nhà và họ tổ chức đám cưới. Những ngày hạnh phúc không kéo dài, Jenny mất vì bệnh vào một buổi sáng thứ 7. Nhưng lúc này nhờ có con mà sự đau khổ của Forrest có phần nguôi ngoai đi. Cảnh cuối của bộ phim là lúc Forrest đưa con trai lên xe buýt giống như mẹ anh đã làm.

Ý nghĩa
Bộ phim đã kể lại một giai đoạn nhiều biến động trong lịch sử nước Mỹ qua góc nhìn ngây thơ và trong sáng của một người chỉ có IQ 75. Sự vô tư của Forrest đã giúp anh vượt qua mọi biến cố của cuộc đời và thậm chí giúp những người khác vươn lên.

Kỹ xảo
Trong phim có những đoạn mà Forrest gặp những nhấn vật lịch sử như Tổng Thống Kennedy và Nixon, John Lennon. Nhà sản xuất đã sử dụng các đoạn phim tài liệu và cắt ghép đưa hình của Tom Hanks vào đồng thời xử lý môi của Kennedy để lời thoại thật khớp.Ngoài ra các đoạn Forrest cõng Bubba vược qua mưa đạn hay Forrest thi đấu bóng bàn với tay vợt Trung Quốc và Bush và đặc biệt là xử lý đôi chân của trung uý Dan, giúp anh bơi trong nước y như một người bị cụt chân thật đã giúp cho bộ phim đoạt giải Oscar cho phần kỹ xảo.

Giải thưởng lớn và vinh dự
1994 Giải Oscar
Thắng – Nam chính — Tom Hanks
Thắng – Đạo diễn — Robert Zemeckis
Thắng – Biên tập — Arthur Schmidt
Thắng – Phim hay nhất — Wendy Finerman, Steve Starkey, Steve Tisch
Thắng – Kỹ xảo — Ken Ralston, George Murphy, Stephen Rosenbaum, Allen Hall
Thắng – Kịch bản chuyển thể — Eric Roth
Đề cử – Nam phụ — Gary Sinise (vai trung uý Dan Taylor)
Đề cử – Chỉ đạo nghệ thuật — Rick Carter, Nancy Haigh
Đề cử – Quay phim — Don Burgess
Đề cử – Hóa trang — Daniel C. Striepeke, Hallie D’Amore
Đề cử – Nhạc phim — Alan Silvestri
Đề cử – Âm thanh — Randy Thom, Tom Johnson, Dennis S. Sands, William B. Kaplan
Đề cử – Biên tập âm thanh — Gloria S. Borders, Randy Thom

1995 Giải Sao Thổ
Thắng – Nam phụ — Gary Sinise
Thắng – Phim tưởng tượng hay nhất
Đề cử – Nam chính — Tom Hanks
Đề cử – Nhạc phim — Alan Silvestri
Đề cử – Hiệu ứng đặc biệt tốt nhất — Ken Ralston
Đề cử – Kịch bản hay nhất— Eric Roth

1995 Giải BAFTA
Thắng – Hiệu ứng đặc biệt — Ken Ralston, George Murphy, Stephen Rosenbaum, Doug Chiang, Allen Hall
Đề cử – Nam chính — Tom Hanks
Đề cử – Nữ phụ— Sally Field
Đề cử – Phim hay nhất — Wendy Finerman, Steve Tisch, Steve Starkey, Robert Zemeckis
Đề cử – Quay phim xuất sắc — Don Burgess
Đề cử – Giải David Lean cho đạo diễn— Robert Zemeckis
Đề cử – Kịch bản — Aurthur Schmidt
Đề cử – Kịch bản chuyển thể— Eric Roth

1995 Giải của Hiệp hội phê bình phim Chicago
Thắng – Nam chính — Tom Hanks
Giải Quả cầu vàng 1995
Thắng – Nam chính phim chính kịch — Tom Hanks
Thắng – Đạo diễn — Robert Zemeckis
Thắng – Phim chính kịch hay nhất
Đề cử – Nam phụ — Gary Sinise
Đề cử – Nữ phụ — Robin Wright Penn
Đề cử – Nhạc phim — Alan Silvestri
Đề cử – Kịch bản — Eric Roth

1994 Ban quốc gia xem xét phim điện ảnh
Đề cử – Nam chính — Tom Hanks
Đề cử – Nam phụ — Gary Sinise
Đề cử – Phim hay nhất

1995 Giải của Nghiệp đoàn diễn viên màn ảnh
Thắng – Nam chính— Tom Hanks
Đề cử – Nam phụ— Gary Sinise
Đề cử – Nữ phụ — Sally Field & Robin Wright Penn

Danh sách của Viện phim Mỹ
100 phim truyền cảm hứng #37
100 câu thoại #40
“Mama always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.”
Tạm dịch: Mẹ luôn nói cuộc đời như một hộp sôcôla. Bạn không bao giờ biết bạn sẽ rút được thanh nào.

Link: http://vi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forrest_Gump