Foxcatcher

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Movie
German title Foxcatcher
Original title Foxcatcher
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 2014
length 129 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Bennett Miller
script E. Max Frye ,
Dan Futterman
production Anthony Bregman ,
Megan Ellison ,
Jon Kilik ,
Bennett Miller
music Rob Simonsen
camera Greig Fraser
cut Jay Cassidy ,
Stuart Levy ,
Conor O'Neill
occupation

Foxcatcher is an American sports drama directed by Bennett Miller from 2014. The film is based on the true case of multimillionaire and wrestling sponsor John E. du Pont , who killed wrestler David Schultz .

The film was shown at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2014 , where Bennett Miller was awarded for Best Director. The film opened in German cinemas on February 5, 2015.

The film was produced by Annapurna Pictures , Likely Story and Media Rights Capital .

Actors and parts of the crew of the film at the Cannes Film Festival 2014 ; Left to Right: Producer Jon Kilik and Megan Ellison , Mark Ruffalo , Channing Tatum , Directors Bennett Miller and Steve Carell

action

The Schultz brothers are both successful wrestlers who won gold medals at the 1984 Olympic Games. Despite his good performance, Mark sees himself as standing in the shadow of his older brother David.

Mark is eventually contacted by eccentric millionaire and sports patron John E. du Pont , who invites him to his Pennsylvania estate, where he has set up the Foxcatcher Farm , a wrestler training center. Du Pont asked him to join the Foxcatcher team and train for the upcoming World Championships and the next Olympic Games. Du Pont would also like to bring his brother David into his team. He initially rejects du Pont's request, pointing out that he does not want his wife and two children to move.

Mark accepts the offer alone. He wins a gold medal with the Foxcatcher team at the World Wrestling Championships in 1987 . A kind of friendship develops between the millionaire and the wrestler, in which du Pont sees himself in the role of mentor. He also offers Schultz cocaine, which he then uses regularly. Tensions arise between the two as the wrestler finds himself increasingly exploited for the patron's ego.

Mark's brother David later joins the team as a coach and moves his family to Pennsylvania after the millionaire made him a very generous offer. Mark withdraws from du Pont and also from his brother and trains largely alone. He wants to work for himself alone. His brother follows its development with concern.

Mark loses a fight for the first time during preparations for the 1988 Olympic Games. Angry, he destroys his hotel room and eats huge amounts - with the intention of exceeding the permitted fighting weight and thus not being allowed to participate in the competitions. With the support of his brother, he can still qualify. However, he cannot win at the games in Seoul. In the crisis the brothers draw closer again. With du Pont, however, Mark falls apart completely. He eventually leaves the Foxcatcher team.

His brother still lives on the du Ponts estate and trains the team. He is officially assistant coach under du Pont, but does not accept him internally as the mentor he sees himself as. Du Pont feels threatened by David in his leadership role and increasingly lonely after the death of his mother. One day he drives to David, shoots him in his driveway and is then arrested. Mark becomes an MMA fighter.

reception

The film received mostly good to very good reviews, with particular emphasis on the acting performances of Steve Carell, Channing Tatum and Mark Ruffalo. At Rotten Tomatoes , the film holds an 88% rating based on 202 reviews. At Metacritic , the film has 81 out of 100 possible points, based on 49 reviews.

Patrick Seyboth from epd Film awarded 3 out of 5 stars. What is most impressive about Foxcatcher are "besides the acting achievements and the stylistic finesse [...] the pointedness with which he uses his triangular constellation to tell of broken self-images, class differences and the power of money". However, "there is a strange discrepancy between the almost journalistic accuracy in the details and the ultimately rather one-dimensional narrative attitude."

Mark Schultz supported the filmmakers during the making of the film. However, he criticized director Bennett Miller for his portrayal of the relationship between him and du Pont, which "had homosexual overtones". A few weeks later, however, he withdrew his criticism and apologized to Bennett Miller. According to Schultz, most of the scenes in the film come straight from his book, but the relationships and portrayals of the people would be fictional.

The connections were often criticized as being very tight. For example, du Pont's activity as a sports patron was reduced to the sport of wrestling. In reality, for a long time du Pont himself had pursued a sporting career, first as a swimmer and later in modern pentathlon . As early as 1967, US championships in modern pentathlon were held in the training center built on du Ponts Farm in 1965. Du Pont played a leading role in the ISHOF , and in the 1980s “Team Foxcatcher” included numerous top American swimmers who won medals at the Olympic Games. For example, du Pont did not find out about his mother's death at the qualifying competitions for wrestlers (which took place eight weeks earlier), but at those of swimmers. From the mid-1980s onwards, some of the best triathletes in the world competed under the Foxcatcher logo, and du Pont saw himself as the "father of triathlon ".

Nominations

Awards

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Release certificate for Foxcatcher . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , December 2014 (PDF; test number: 148 660 K).
  2. Justin Chang : Cannes Film Review: 'Foxcatcher'. May 19, 2014, accessed February 10, 2015 .
  3. Eric Kohn: Cannes Review: Channing Tatum Anchors Bennett Miller's Icy 'Foxcatcher,' But the Revelation is Steve Carell. May 19, 2014, accessed February 10, 2015 .
  4. Foxcatcher at Rotten Tomatoes (English)
  5. Foxcatcher at Metacritic (English)
  6. ^ Review of Foxcatcher epd film , accessed April 22, 2015.
  7. Ben Child: Mark Schultz attacks 'gay relationship' in wrestling biopic Foxcatcher. In: The Guardian. January 2, 2015, accessed February 16, 2015 .
  8. Foxcatcher review: Carell makes a passive aggressive Nero of John Du Pont. In: Irish Times. Archived from the original on January 9, 2015 ; accessed on February 16, 2015 .
  9. Marlow Stern: 'Foxcatcher' Subject Mark Schultz Recants Criticisms: 'I Was Temporarily Insane'. In: dailybeast.com. The Newsweek Daily Beast Company, accessed January 9, 2015 .
  10. Mark Schultz on Twitter. In: Twitter. Retrieved February 16, 2015 .
  11. 'Foxcatcher' Movie Slammed By Wrestler Mark Schultz. In: Business Insider. January 2, 2015, accessed February 16, 2015 .
  12. ^ Before Foxcatcher: The story of the Swimming Hall of Fame and the John du Pont not depicted in FOXCATCHER, the movie
  13. Swimming Left On Cutting Floor For Oscar-Nominated “Foxcatcher” Movie
  14. Timothy Carlson: John du Pont dies in prison . In: slowtwitch.com . December 10, 2010.
  15. The Strange, Sad Tale of John E. DuPont