Stronger (film)

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Movie
Original title Stronger
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 2017
length 119 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director David Gordon Green
script John Pollono
production Jake Gyllenhaal,
David Hoberman ,
Todd Lieberman ,
Michel Litvak ,
Scott Silver
music Michael Brook
camera Sean Bobbitt
cut Dylan Tichenor
occupation

Stronger is an American biography by David Gordon Green about the life of Jeff Bauman after the loss of both legs in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing . The film premiered in September 2017 as part of the Toronto International Film Festival and was released in German cinemas on April 19, 2018.

action

Jeff Bauman, an average American working class guy, lives with his alcoholic mother Patty, who prefers to spend her time in a pub with her equally drinking friends. However, all his attention is on his ex-girlfriend Erin Hurley, whom he recently separated for the third time and whose affection he wants to win back. Erin is a runner preparing for the Boston Marathon . When the day came and Jeff had lovingly made a banner and wanted to cheer her on at the finish line at this competition, he was almost knocked over by a young man in sunglasses, and shortly afterwards a bomb exploded. Erin hears the bang a mile from the finish line, ends her run and stares at the clouds of smoke rising into the sky.

Jeff wakes up in the hospital and has to find out from the doctors that the bomb explosion was an attack and that both legs below his knees had to be amputated. He can give the FBI an exact description of the man who almost knocked him over and whom the agency later identified as the terrorist Tamerlan Tsarnaev. Jeff faces months of painful rehabilitation training that involves learning to walk with prosthetic legs, and he doesn't know if that time will bring him back together with his ex-girlfriend or break the relationship.

When he is allowed to return home, all Jeff wants is to have a quiet shower with Erin's help, but there are too many people in the apartment to complicate the situation. When Jeff is out on the street, photographers and cameramen follow him every step of the way as if he were a star. Involuntarily he has become a symbol of the resistance against terrorism, the " Boston Strong ". His mother is incredibly proud of her famous son and can't get enough of being in the spotlight as his spokesman. Jeff, on the other hand, is more happy about his unexpected personal happiness, because Erin told him that she is pregnant.

Historical and biographical background

View of the explosion about a minute after the explosion

The attack on the Boston Marathon in 2013 took place on 15 April. During the annual Boston city marathon on Patriots' Day, two explosive devices hidden in backpacks exploded on the home straight every 13 seconds, killing three people and injuring 264 others. The US federal authorities classified the bombing as a terrorist act. In the pursuit of the suspected brothers Jokhar and Tamerlan Zarnayev, the latter was fatally injured, but Jokhar was arrested after a large-scale manhunt on the evening of April 19, 2013 in Watertown and was charged with using weapons of mass destruction and insidious destruction of property resulting in death in front of a US -Bundesgericht indicted and found guilty on all 30 counts and sentenced to death by a jury in April 2015.

Jeff Bauman , who was at the finish line of the Boston Marathon during the attack to cheer on his girlfriend, lost both legs as a result of the explosion. The large-scale manhunt could be initiated on the basis of Bauman's detailed description of the person, and he also acted as a witness in the trial of Jochar Zarnajew, who was later found guilty. Bauman had recorded his experiences during his hospital stay in the autobiographical book Stronger , which he wrote with Bret Witter .

production

In July 2015, it was announced that David Gordon Green would direct the film. A script adaptation of the novel by Bauman and Witter was carried out by John Pollono . This landed on the blacklist of Hollywood's best unmoved ideas in 2015 . The score was composed by Michael Brook . The soundtrack for the film was released for download on September 22, 2017 by Lakeshore Records.

Jake Gyllenhaal played the lead role of Jeff Bauman in the film. Gyllenhaal, who has been asked in the past when he will finally play a superhero, said: "I feel like I did that in Stronger ." Gyllenhaal had spent more than a year and a half with Bauman and also got to know his medical supervisor and his personal environment. Tatiana Maslany took on the role of Bauman's girlfriend Erin Hurley, Miranda Richardson played his mother Patty and Clancy Brown played his father.

In June 2017, the first trailer for the film was released, which included the song Rise Up by soul and R&B singer and songwriter Andra Day . The film premiered on September 8, 2017 at the Toronto International Film Festival and was released in North American cinemas on September 22, 2017. In October 2017 the film was shown at the London Film Festival . The film was also presented at the 13th Zurich Film Festival , during which Gyllenhaal received the Golden Eye Award on October 3, 2017, which he accepted personally. In October and November 2017, the film was shown as part of the official competition at the Festa del Cinema di Roma and was released in cinemas in the United Kingdom on December 8, 2017. The film was released in German cinemas on April 19, 2018.

reception

Age rating

In the USA, the film received an R rating from the MPAA , which corresponds to a rating of 17 and over. In Germany, the film was approved for ages 12 and up . The statement of reasons for the release states: “The film develops its drama primarily through dialogues and the description of Baumann's emotional turmoil. In flashbacks and memories of the attack, there are occasional more drastic images of open bones and injured people. Due to their psychosocial and cognitive level of development, children and adolescents from 12 years of age are able to place these representations in the context of the story. You can also easily understand the positive message about overcoming a crisis situation. "

Reviews and grossing results

The film has so far won over 90 percent of the Rotten Tomatoes critics and received an average rating of 7.3 out of a possible 10 points.

Jake Gyllenhaal at the premiere for the film in Toronto

Anna Wollner from Deutschlandfunk Kultur says that director David Gordon Green never indulges in the suffering of his main character, but tells authentically, ambiguously and never pathetically, which is why the film is also an American overcoming trauma. In the film there is hope, what exactly is what the country needs so badly, said Wollner. Wollner says about the main actor: "Gyllenhaal shows the suffering - physically and mentally, the inner turmoil of a man who has lost everything and is stylized as a hero by a country that he never wanted to be."

Antje Wessels explains that Berg's film is primarily about the investigative work that led to the two perpetrators being caught around four days after the attacks. For this purpose, the director had taken an intensive look behind the scenes of the police apparatus, showed interrogations of victims, the reenactment of the events in a huge warehouse and the wrestling with the press. In comparison with his film Boston, one can see in many small background observations which investigative status the Boston cops may have been in. Wessels goes on to say that on the one hand the film emphasizes the discrepancy between the role model perceived by the public and what exactly this admiration does to her. On the other hand, Stronger jumps a little too much to the side of the cheering masses in the finale so that the “Not everyone wants to be a hero!” Message ignites completely. This somewhat too patriotic-heroic ending does not quite fit into the otherwise so calm and cautiously told film, according to Wessels.

Benjamin Lee of The Guardian says the film was shot in a refreshingly unconventional style and gives Jake Gyllenhaal the opportunity to truly impress. Another actor could have failed because of the camerawork that hides nothing, according to Lee, but Gyllenhaal succeeds in doing this effortlessly in his award-winning portrayal, selling both the good and the bad of Bauman.

Variety's Andrew Barker also says that Gyllenhaal is excellent in the role and that the film works because the story behind it is true.

The film's worldwide revenue from theatrical screenings to date is $ 7.7 million.

Awards (selection)

On December 18, 2017, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that Michael Brooks' work was on a shortlist from which the nominations for Best Film Music category at the 2018 Academy Awards were made. Below is a selection of nominations and awards from other film awards.

Critics' Choice Movie Awards 2018

Hollywood Film Awards 2017

  • Honored with the Hollywood Actor Award (Jake Gyllenhaal)

Satellite Awards 2017

  • Nomination for Best Film Actor (Jake Gyllenhaal)

Web links

Commons : Stronger  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Release certificate for Stronger . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry (PDF; test number: 174922 / K). Template: FSK / maintenance / type not set and Par. 1 longer than 4 characters
  2. ↑ Five days of emergency. Spiegel Online, July 10, 2013, accessed September 13, 2017 .
  3. ↑ Asjylyn Loder, Esmé E. Deprez: Boston Bomb Victim in Photo Helped Identify Suspects. Bloomberg, April 19, 2013, accessed September 13, 2017 .
  4. ↑ a b Helgard Haß: "Stronger": Jake Gyllenhaal for David Gordon Green's drama about the bombing of the Boston Marathon in conversation. Film releases , July 30, 2015, accessed September 13, 2017 .
  5. ↑ Bory's Kit: David Gordon Green Tackling Boston Marathon Bombing With 'Stronger' (Exclusive). The Hollywood Reporter , July 17, 2015, accessed September 13, 2017 .
  6. ↑ Michael Brook Scoring David Gordon Green's 'Stronger' In: filmmusicreporter.com, June 26, 2017.
  7. ↑ 'Stronger' soundtrack details In: filmmusicreporter.com, September 14, 2017.
  8. ↑ Rebecca Spring: 13th Zurich Film Festival: “Stronger”: the latest Oscar-worthy performance by Jake Gyllenhaal In: SRF Kultur, October 6, 2017.
  9. ↑ Jordan Raup: Jake Gyllenhaal Gets 'Stronger' in First Trailer for David Gordon Green's Boston Marathon Bombing Drama In: The Film Stage, June 22, 2017.
  10. ↑ Toronto International Film Festival 2017. Official Film Schedule In: tiff.net. Retrieved on August 23, 2017 (PDF; 852 KB)
  11. ↑ Brent Lang: Toronto Film Festival Lineup Includes Movies From Angelina Jolie, George Clooney, Alexander Payne In: Variety, July 25, 2017.
  12. ↑ All films in the 2017 BFI London Film Festival In: bfi.org.uk. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
  13. ↑ https://bazonline.ch/panorama/vermischtes/Dieser-Film-hat-mich-veraendert/story/28598894
  14. ↑ Jake Gyllenhaal visits the Zurich Film Festival. Der Landbote, September 7, 2017, accessed on September 13, 2017 .
  15. ↑ Stewart Clarke: Jake Gyllenhaal to Receive Golden Eye Award at Zurich Film Festival. Variety , September 7, 2017, accessed September 13, 2017 .
  16. ↑ Festa del Cinema di Roma 12 A Edizione 2017: Programma In: romacinemafest.it. Accessed October 28, 2017 (PDF; 4.5 MB)
  17. ↑ Start dates Germany In: insidekino.com. Retrieved October 25, 2017.
  18. ↑ Stronger In: parentpreviews.com. Retrieved October 5, 2017.
  19. ^ Reason for approval for Stronger In: Voluntary Self-Control of the Film Industry. Retrieved April 19, 2018.
  20. ↑ Stronger In: Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved February 19, 2019.
  21. ↑ Anna Wollner: The best works from the Toronto Film Festival In: Deutschlandfunk Kultur, September 16, 2017.
  22. ↑ Antje Wessels: “Stronger” - When a moment changes everything In: quotenmeter.de, April 18, 2018.
  23. ↑ Benjamin Lee: Stronger review - Jake Gyllenhaal is Oscar-worthy in moving Boston marathon drama. The Guardian, September 9, 2017, accessed September 13, 2017 .
  24. ↑ Andrew Barker: Toronto Film Review: Jake Gyllenhaal in 'Stronger'. Variety, September 8, 2017, accessed September 13, 2017 .
  25. ↑ Stronger In: boxofficemojo.com. Retrieved April 13, 2018.
  26. ↑ Zack Sharf: Oscars 2018: Best Original Score Shortlist Includes 'The Shape of Water', 'All the Money in the World' and More In: indiewire.com, December 18, 2017.
  27. ↑ Grace Mendoza: Critics' Choice Awards Nominations In: ktla.com, December 6, 2017.
  28. ↑ Steve Pond: 'Dunkirk', 'The Shape of Water' Lead Satellite Award Nominations In: thewrap.com, November 29, 2017.