“Erin Brockovich” is a beautifully filmed narrative of a chronicler by Soderbergh, the center of attraction is human grit and perseverance, working flawlessly for the public good. More importantly, it is a monumental monument to a brave woman, skillfully constructed by the talent of one of the best actresses in Hollywood. Thanks to her undeniably incendiary charisma and tenacious grip, Brockovich managed to gain the personal favor of most residents of Hinckley and its surroundings. People believed Erin and therefore did not remain alone in the fight against the ruthless conglomerate. At the same time, “A Beautiful Mind is a dramatic film characterized by compelling, moving conflict.
In such films, the central conflict often foregrounds other secondary issues. The film’s central theme is Nash’s struggle with paranoid schizophrenia, which leads to minor confrontations (Lilla, 2017). For example, the protagonist’s difficult task of deciphering Russian codes in newspapers and publications was a direct result of his schizophrenia. The unexpected discovery of the illness led to events driving the protagonist’s transformation. The need to find a way out, to find self-acceptance, becomes the primary goal.
“Erin Brockovich” has a lot of close-ups, allowing the viewer to closely follow the changes in the emotional state of the characters. In general, the film begins with the continuous shooting of Julia Roberts’ face. The camera then zooms out to let one see how the heroine is dressed and, by the external attributes of her appearance, determine what kind of person she is. In addition, many scenes in the film are devoted to the heroine’s relationship with her children to emphasize that they are the most significant value for Erin.
The everyday life of her apartment is also presented so that the viewer gets an impression of what the woman’s life is like: scattered children’s toys and canned goods. Despite the heroine’s strong attachment to her children, it is difficult for her to remain an impeccable housewife at the beginning of the film because of her life circumstances.
In A Beautiful Mind, when a mathematician accepts his schizophrenia, a clear focus on overcoming adversity is evident. John realizes that people who are important in life do not change over the years. During the award ceremony, Nash thanks his wife for her support. Here again, long shots are used, and the characters’ faces are shot up close to show how dear they are to each other. When he leaves, he sees that fictional friends have come to congratulate the mathematician. At this point, an important scene for the film occurs; the protagonist ignores his visions. He turns his back on them, symbolizing that this stage in his life is over, and then the screen dims.
Erin Brockovich’s central topic is the loss and regaining of trust. When the residents of Hinkley learned of a probable link between their health problems and the groundwater, they lost faith in those in positions of authority. Erin’s character design was supposed to improve this trust gain between attorneys and the residents of Hinkley (Nurfatimah, 2021). In the opening shots, the audience is shown that there is a distance between the main character and the others all the time, whether it is a desk or a fence behind which the jury sits.
When the shots show Erin Brockovich with the children, the colors are bright and warm, but during the shooting of the conversation with the lawyers, there is a coldness; the costumes of the lawyers are deliberately austere. This color correction should show the difference between the main character and the outside environment while demonstrating that this external world is negatively disposed toward the heroine. Throughout the film, she is treated with contempt by lawyers, notably Ed Masry and PG&E, powerful and wealthy.
In A Beautiful Mind, a significant role was played by the wife’s support, who did not abandon John in the most challenging period of life and helped the mathematician. The merit lies in the fact that Alicia helped in the treatment and taught me to live with the disease without harming others, but only with benefit. After all, scientist was always looking for unusual solutions to the most difficult equations. In the shots where the characters are together, their gazes are always directed at each other.
There is a deliberate amount of tactile contact between them when all the tender moments are shown. For example, when Alicia gives John a handkerchief, the footage slows down, and the image in the background is blurred-the only things that matters are these two and their immense love for each other. The essential outcome of the film is that John Nash solved the mind games and survived, becoming a recognized scientist and Nobel laureate. All of this demonstrates to viewers the ability to overcome life’s obstacles through accepting and supporting their loved ones.
References
Lilla, M. (2017). A Beautiful Mind. In J. Dorman (Ed.), When Ideas Mattered (pp. 1–6). Routledge.
Nurfatimah, L. (2021). Intrinsic and extrinsic value in Erin Brockovich movie script. ELITE: Journal of English Language and Literature, 4(1), 133–211. Web.