FIST - A man goes his way
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | FIST - A man goes his way |
| Original title | FIST |
 | |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1978 |
| length | 125 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Norman Jewison |
| script |
Joe Eszterhas , Sylvester Stallone |
| production | Norman Jewison, Patrick J. Palmer |
| music | Bill Conti |
| camera | László Kovács |
| cut | Graeme Clifford |
| occupation | |
| |
FIST is an American film from 1978 by the film director Norman Jewison .
The film company United Artists tried with FIST - A man goes his way to build on the success of the movie Rocky . This was also cast with Sylvester Stallone in the lead role.
action
Cleveland in 1937: A laborer has to work 14 hours a day but is only paid for eight hours. Johnny Kovak loads and unloads trucks with his colleagues . Due to the unjust and arbitrary treatment, a spontaneous strike develops , in which Kovak becomes the spokesman for his colleagues. The management apparently accepts the demands, but then dismisses all the workers involved.
His leadership skills have not gone unnoticed, however, and so Kovak is hired by the truckers union along with his best friend Abe . He quickly gains influence, rejecting attempts at bribery and intimidation. Nevertheless, he reached his limits when the management of a forwarding company hired thugs to stop the strike during a strike called by the trade union “FIST” and a worker was beaten to death.
In desperation, Kovak turns to his childhood friend Vince, who has developed into a powerful mobster . With the help of the gangsters, the strike can be ended successfully, as Molotov cocktails and firearms are also used with the help of the mobsters . In the final argument, Kovak almost kills an employee of the stricken company, but is held back by Abe at the last moment.
Working with the gangsters, however, is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it gives Kovak the necessary support in future negotiations, and his successes have made him the national chairman of his union. On the other hand, the services of criminals are not available for free. The union is increasingly being infiltrated and corrupted , so that politicians are starting to take an interest in it and are setting up a committee to combat organized crime .
Since the success of the union under Kovak is now essentially based on monopoly formation and maintenance, Kovak himself takes measures to maintain power. The formation of competing organizations is forcibly suppressed and the union, through its hired thugs, acts in principle with the same methods as the exploitative companies it once went on strike. This type of legally and morally questionable management and the expanding influence of the gangsters ultimately lead to the break between Kovak and Abe.
Kovak comes under increasing political pressure. He is called before the investigative committee, where he is told that Abe was murdered. Then Kovak appears again spectacularly and emotionally in court. When he returns home, he is shot by two killers . The final shot shows a truck with a sticker with the question “Where's Johnny?” - an allusion to the disappearance of Kovak's body.
criticism
"Atmospherically convincing and artistically impressive study of a man who remains unable, in his stubborn idealism, to see through the problems of his own position of power."
perspective
The film initially identifies completely with Kovak's position and is a moral point-of-view shot . The unionists are good and noble at first, during the month-long strike all truck drivers stick together and some sing songs by Woody Guthrie . The managers, on the other hand, cheat on their employees and use violence to fight unions. When Kovak enlists the help of the mobsters , this picture becomes fragile. Film years later, Kovak and some of his colleagues in the union have turned into images of their former opponents and are also primarily concerned with their own advantage. Kovak begins to regret the cooperation with the mobsters, but sees no way to break the Mafia ties.
This change is symbolized by smoking cigars, which was only practiced by employers at the beginning of the film. While his old friend Abe is becoming more thoughtful and critical of some incidents, Kovak cannot or does not want to end the cooperation with the gangsters who are getting millions in loans from the union's pension fund. When he finally does, it is already too late.
backgrounds
- The plot of the film and the shady demeanor of Kovak are unmistakable biographical allusions to the conditions at the American transport workers' union , the Teamsters , especially under its president Jimmy Hoffa , who had relevant contacts to the Mafia and who disappeared without a trace on July 30, 1975.
- "FIST" stands for "Federation of Interstate Truckers". The abbreviation is also the English word for "Faust".
- Sylvester Stallone is listed as co-writer of the script in the opening credits , although Joe Eszterhas wrote the script alone. However, Stallone made some changes to it and shortened it. The original by Eszterhas would have resulted in a six-hour film. The performance of Stallone in the credits was made by Studio United Artists for image reasons .
- The film can be regarded as a typical representative of New Hollywood , which had its heyday between 1967 and 1976, in terms of representation and presentation and also in its political orientation .
- With an estimated budget of $ 10 million, the film returned a little more than $ 20 million at the box office.
See also
Other well-known union films are Die Faust im Nacken with Marlon Brando , Norma Rae with Sally Field , Silkwood with Meryl Streep , Cher and Kurt Russell as well as Jimmy Hoffa with Jack Nicholson and the crime thriller Blue Collar with Richard Pryor and Harvey Keitel .
Web links
- FIST - A man goes his way in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- FIST - A man goes his way at Rotten Tomatoes (English)
- Comparison of the cut versions European version - US version by FIST - A man goes his way at Schnittberichte.com
Individual evidence
- ^ FIST - A man goes his way in the Lexicon of International Films , accessed on April 5, 2012
- ^ FIST (1978) on boxofficemojo.com (English), accessed April 5, 2012