Election (1999)

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Movie
German title Election
Original title Election
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1999
length 99 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Alexander Payne
script Alexander Payne
Jim Taylor
production Albert Berger
Jim Burke
David Gale
Jacobus Rose
Keith Samples
Ron Yerxa
music Rolfe Kent
camera James Glennon
cut Kevin Tent
occupation

Election is an American comedy film from 1999. It was directed by Alexander Payne and the script was written by Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor based on the novel by Tom Perrotta . The main roles were played by Matthew Broderick and Reese Witherspoon .

action

Highly ambitious student Tracy Flick is taught in a school in Omaha by teacher Jim McAllister. As Flick answers McAllister's question about the difference between morals and ethics , flashbacks depict some past events. McAllister, an award-winning teacher, resents Flick for having an affair with his friend and colleague, who was fired for it. The childless McAllister's marriage is in crisis when his wife desires a child in vain.

Flick wants to run for the office of Head Girl. Since she has no opponent, McAllister persuades Paul Metzler, a student from a very wealthy family, to run as well. Metzler's adoptive sister, Tammy, is a lesbian; the girl Tammy is in love with becomes Paul's friend. This moves Tammy to register her candidacy out of jealousy.

McAllister visits his friend's ex-wife and becomes intimate with her. He rents a room in a hotel where more hours of love are supposed to take place.

As the candidates make speeches, Tammy mocks the school system. For this she is cheered by the other students and suspended from school for three days, which she really enjoys. A little later, Tracy, who works in the editorial office of the school newspaper on the weekend, notices that one of her election posters is hanging crooked. When she wants to improve it, she accidentally tears down her poster. Angry, she also destroys the posters of her opponents. McAllister accuses her of the act, but the nonconformist Tammy takes the blame. Therefore she is excluded from the election.

McAllister can't wait for the love hours in the hotel, he keeps leaving school and his students to buy champagne and goodies for the time they are together. But the woman does not appear in the hotel. She cannot be found in her house either, McAllister is stung by a wasp there . When he returns home, he meets his wife and the woman he was dating and discovers that she has told his wife about the affair.

In the evening Tracy Flick, Paul Metzler and Tammy pray. Tracy prays for success in the election, which she believes is her own. Paul prays for happiness for his non-conformist sister, Tammy prays for her brother's election victory.

On election day, Tracy Flick and her mother Judith prepare 480 small cakes to be given out at school. Paul has moral doubts about whether to vote for himself, so he votes for Tracy, who wins by just one vote. One of the students on the electoral committee gestures to Tracy through a window, and Tracy cheers. McAllister is about to confirm the choice, but when he sees the triumphant Tracy, he falsifies the results. Metzler is declared the new speaker.

A little later, two ballot papers are found, which McAllister secretly threw in a trash. He is forced to resign and the story is reported in the regional media. McAllister moves to New York City , where he works as a guide in a museum . His wife files for divorce, but McAllister finds a new girlfriend in New York. His voiceover tells that he and the woman want to take a lot of time before they move on to physical intimacy. One day he happened to see Tracy, accompanied by a politician, and they got into a car. McAllister tries to speak to her first, then throws a mug on the car and runs away.

Tracy goes to college where she remains lonely. Her voice-over relates that in high school she thought she would meet ambitious people who are like her in college. You can see her coming out of her room in a dormitory and yelling at her fellow students who are having a party in the hallway.

Paul's girlfriend left him shortly after the election. Tammy's parents send her to a Catholic school where Tammy finds a mistress.

Reviews

James Berardinelli compared the film on ReelViews with the other comedies of 1999 such as One Like No and Unkissed and described it as a "desperately needed cool breeze". He described the film as "clever", "funny", "razor sharp" and certified it as "solid representations" by the actors. Alexander Payne expects viewers to have “maturity” and that the film will appeal more to adults than teenagers.

Roger Ebert praised Reese Witherspoon's portrayal in the April 30, 1999 Chicago Sun-Times . He wrote that the film not only shows a high school, but also the characters involved in political life. Ebert compared the character of Tracy Flick to Elizabeth Dole , who always seems to seem like a solution to problems. She is always well dressed, a convinced winner and at the same time a threat to herself and the environment. Ebert praised the portrayal of Matthew Broderick, who was both fascinated by Tracy and convinced that he had to fight her.

Paul Clinton wrote in his review on the Cable News Network website on April 22, 1999 that Reese Witherspoon proved in the film that she was one of the most versatile actresses of her generation. He compared the precision of its representation with the proverbial Swiss watch. He wrote that the film was only superficially a film about a high school, in reality it was a film about human ambition and self-deception on the way to success. Clinton compared the film to Alexander Payne's 1996 socially critical comedy Baby Business , which won several awards.

Desson Howe wrote in The Washington Post on May 7, 1999 that the film was a satire on the American dream or how Tracy perceives it. He wrote that McAllister saw her as an embodiment of the devil from the very first scene in which Flick saw the difference between morality and ethics. Howe wondered if Flick believed what she was saying right now. He described the portrayal of Reese Witherspoon as "convincing". He also wrote that Alexander Payne found "perfect fulcrum" between humor and tragedy and between black comedy and sharpness. The moments of weakness and moral scruples gave the characters depth.

Dennis Lim wrote in The Village Voice from April 21-27, 1999 that the film was less demanding than Alexander Payne's earlier film Baby Business . He wrote that the novel was based on a series of first-person accounts, which Payne largely adopted in the film. Payne merely moved the location from New Jersey to Omaha . The number of three candidates chosen by Tom Perrotta should match the number of candidates in the US presidential election of 1992. Lim found the characters to be “uniformly unsympathetic”, which is why the film doesn't appeal to the audience.

The lexicon of international films said: “A campus comedy that gets its charm from the contrast between the images and the off-commentary of the protagonists, through which their life lies reveal themselves. A film full of irony, which never denies its characters sympathy and can come up with an excellent leading actress. "

Awards

Reese Witherspoon was in 1999 for the film prize Teen Choice Award nomination, in 2000, she was for prices Golden Globe , Independent Spirit Award , an American Comedy Award , Chicago Film Critics Association Award , Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award and Golden Satellite Award nominations . It won the Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award , the National Society of Film Critics Awards, and the Online Film Critics Society Award in 2000 .

The screenwriters were nominated for an Oscar and a Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award in 2000; they won the New York Film Critics Circle Award and the San Diego Film Critics Society Award in 1999, and the Writers Guild of America Award , the Southeastern Film Critics Association Award, and the Florida Film Critics Circle Award in 2000 .

The director, the screenwriters and a few small-role actors (Albert Berger, Ron Yerxa, David Gale, Keith Samples) won the Independent Spirit Award in 2000 , for which Jessica Campbell was nominated. In 1999, Alexander Payne won an award from the Spanish Semana Internacional de Cine de Valladolid as a director and was nominated for another award at this festival. As a screenwriter, he won the 2000 Online Film Critics Society Award . Jessica Campbell was nominated for the YoungStar Award in 1999.

The film won the Casting Society of America Award in 1999 . In 2000 it was nominated for the Golden Satellite Award for Best Comedy , and in 2000 it was also nominated for a GLAAD Media Award . In the competition for the Southeastern Film Critics Association Award in the category of best film , the comedy took third place in 2000. Kevin Tent was nominated for the American Cinema Editors Award in 2000.

backgrounds

Meaning and interpretation

The film is often referred to as a cult film in the United States .

Some reviews identify two major ethical issues that are addressed in the film. They are discussed at the beginning of the film, when Tracy answers a question from McAllister in the school class, whereby the answer she recited seems rehearsed. These topics are:

Morality versus ethics

According to the critics, McAllister is moving from ethical absolutism to relativism . Tracy also emphasizes the value of hard work at the beginning of the film, at the end of the film it is implied that she achieved her position on the staff of a politician through sexual favors.

The end justifies the means

According to some critics, McAllister sees in Tracy Flick the evil that must be fought by all means. Some critics interpret the unsuccessful attempt at election fraud as a criticism of this philosophy.

Others

The fictional school depicted in the film was named after the botanist George Washington Carver . The filming took place at Papillion La Vista Senior High School in Papillion, Nebraska . During this time, normal teaching was carried out in most of the rooms in the school, and the authentic sounds of teaching can be heard in the film. The director previously asked the administration of Millard North High School in Omaha , Nebraska for permission to shoot. This was refused because the school management found the script too obscene .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Review by James Berardinelli
  2. ^ Review by Roger Ebert
  3. ^ Criticism by Paul Clinton
  4. ^ Critique by Desson Howe
  5. ^ Review by Dennis Lim
  6. ^ Election. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed June 1, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 

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