Erin Brockovich (film)

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Movie
German title Erin Brockovich -
A True Story
Original title Erin Brockovich
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 2000
length 130 minutes
Age rating FSK 6
Rod
Director Steven Soderbergh
script Susannah Grant
production Danny DeVito ,
Michael Shamberg ,
Stacey Sher
music Thomas Newman
camera Edward Lachman
cut Anne V. Coates
occupation

Erin Brockovich - A True Story (Original Title: Erin Brockovich ) is the title of a film from 2000 . Directed by Steven Soderbergh , the true story of environmental activist Erin Brockovich was filmed. The main role is played by Julia Roberts , who received an Oscar for her performance in the “Best Actress” category. The role of lawyer is occupied by Albert Finney . The film grossed more than $ 300 million worldwide.

action

Erin Brockovich is a single mother of three children. The unemployed former beauty queen (Miss Wichita ) from a simple background doesn't mince her words. When she was involved in a car accident and injured in 1993, she turned to lawyer Ed Masry . Through her verbal attacks in court against the defendant doctor, she gambled away the goodwill of the jury and lost the claim for compensation for pain and suffering and the assumption of treatment costs. She is now in serious financial trouble. She is able to persuade her attorney, who had grandly promised her a victory in court, to hire her as an assistant in his office for the purpose of making amends.

During filing work, she comes across a file about the offer to buy a house from the Pacific Gas and Electric concern to the owner Donna Jensen in Hinkley, California . To her astonishment, the file contains medical documents. She visits Donna Jensen and learns that she has had multiple tumors and that her husband has Hodgkin's lymphoma . The medical bills, as Donna admits, were all paid by PG&E. When Erin's question "why" she receives the answer "because of the chrome". After doing her own research, she suspects that the apparently harmless real estate business is an environmental scandal of unimagined proportions. For years, harmful chromium (VI) has been released into the groundwater from a Pacific Gas and Electric plant . Erin quickly finds out that other residents besides the Jensens are affected.

Masry initially has massive concerns about risking a lawsuit that will drag on for years against the billion-dollar PG&E. This could mean the financial ruin of his law firm. Finally he lets himself be persuaded and makes Erin his personal assistant. Erin researches important facts with great personal commitment and quickly sees through the context. Because of her commitment and empathy, those affected trust her. Masry quickly realizes, however, that the case is a few sizes too big for his small law firm. As a partner, he can win the lawyer Kurt Potter, who is experienced in environmental matters, who joins the case with his colleague Theresa Dallavale. Erin finally manages to get the necessary number of signatures for a class action lawsuit against PG&E, a total of 634. A former employee of PG&E recently handed her highly sensitive documents that he was supposed to destroy at the time. They prove that the headquarters of PG&E in San Francisco had been informed about the contamination of the groundwater with chromium (VI) since 1966 , but did nothing about it, on the contrary, instructed the branch in Hinkley to remain silent. In an arbitration process , PG&E is sentenced to pay $ 333 million in damages to the injured residents.

Erin's private life, which was already somewhat chaotic, is also being affected by her extensive involvement in the case. Her relationship with her neighbor George, a casual worker and motorcycle fan, threatens to fail as Erin has less and less time for him and the children because of her commitment, whom George has lovingly looked after from the beginning. However, Erin succeeds in convincing George of the value of her work. This becomes particularly clear to him when he accompanies her to the seriously damaged Donna Jensen. Erin brings her the good news that the arbitration tribunal has awarded her US $ 5 million in damages. After the successful trial, Erin receives her own luxurious office and a check in the new law firm. Masry has subsequently increased the success bonus to two million dollars. She is working with the attorney on other spectacular cases, including another PG&E environmental scandal in Kettleman, California.

background

The film is based on a true story. The real Erin Brockovich stars as a waitress in the film. The real Erin carries a name tag with "Julia" written on it (after a little more than 10 minutes of the film). The real Ed Masry can also be seen in the same scene as a guest at the restaurant. Brockovich's persistent research found that the health of residents of Hinkley, California was massively affected by toxic chromium (VI) in groundwater from the 1960s to 1980s . The chromium (VI) was used by a nearby subsidiary of Pacific Gas and Electric and had entered the groundwater . In 1996, following an investigation by Erin Brockovich and Ed Masry, the company was sentenced to pay the largest sum in damages in US history, $ 333 million. Of this sum, the law firm Masry & Vititoe received 40%, the remainder being divided among the more than 600 then and former residents of Hinkley.

The traffic accident at the beginning of the film is the result of a digital composition of recordings with Julia Roberts starting and moving a car, as well as a remote-controlled drive in which a stuntman's car collides sideways. The two songs Redemption Day and Everyday is a winding road are by Sheryl Crow .

synchronization

The German-language dubbing was created by RC Production based on a dialogue book by Martina Marx, directed by Andreas Pollak .

role actor German voice
Erin Brockovich Julia Roberts Daniela Hoffmann
Edward L. Masry Albert Finney Joachim Kerzel
George Aaron Eckhart Tom Vogt
Brenda Conchata Ferrell Regina Lemnitz
Donna Jensen Marg Helgenberger Susanne Schwab
Kurt Potter Peter Coyote Lutz Riedel
Charles Embry Tracey Walter Eberhard Prüter
Pamela Duncan Cherry Jones Andrea Solter

Reviews

source rating
Rotten tomatoes
critic
audience
Metacritic
critic
audience
IMDb

The film received critical acclaim from critics and audiences alike. Excerpts from quotes from the press:

“Ripe for an Oscar. A film with speed, depth and humor. "

"Hollywood's dream woman has never been so brilliant, so versatile, so sexy on screen."

"Steven Soderbergh tells a confident, straight and exciting story."

“Erin Brockovich is the best that could have happened to Julia Roberts. Because [she] has never been so vulgar, so sexy, so funny - and so lovable. [...] Another judicial drama? Nope. Soderbergh cuts out dull pleadings and prefers to tell the story of a proletarian who is courageously rioting towards success. "

“A spectacularly unspectacular film, pointed in dialogue, superbly played, which uses its extended running time to persistently underline and intensify a single, touchingly simple idea. With a no less simple psychological realism, he also illuminates his true subject to the core. "

Awards

Golden Globe Awards 2001

  • Best Actress (Drama): Julia Roberts

further nominations:

  • Best Film (Drama)
  • Best director
  • Best Supporting Actor: Albert Finney

Academy Awards 2001

  • Best Actress: Julia Roberts

further nominations:

  • Best movie
  • Best director
  • Best Supporting Actor: Albert Finney
  • Best original script

British Academy Film Awards 2001

  • Best Actress: Julia Roberts

further nominations:

  • Best movie
  • Best director
  • Best Supporting Actor: Albert Finney
  • Best original script
  • Best cut

Screen Actors Guild Awards 2001

  • Best Actress: Julia Roberts
  • Best Supporting Actor: Albert Finney

MTV Movie Awards 2001

  • Best actress: Julia Roberts

further nominations:

  • Best movie
  • Best line of text: “Bite my ass, Krispy Kreme!” - spoken by Julia Roberts

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. SKILLMD: Erin Brockovich and Hexavalent Chromium. In: SKILLMD. Retrieved July 25, 2019 (American English).
  2. Erin Brockovich. In: synchronkartei.de. German dubbing file , accessed on December 23, 2019 .
  3. a b Erin Brockovich at Rotten Tomatoes , accessed April 2, 2015
  4. a b Erin Brockovich at Metacritic , accessed April 2, 2015
  5. Erin Brockovich in the Internet Movie Database (English)
  6. Erin Brockovich in the Lexicon of International FilmsTemplate: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used , accessed April 23, 2012