In 2015, the film directed by Tom McCarthy "In the Spotlight" was released. This project was interesting not only for its solid cast and catchy plot, but also for the social problems that were highlighted in it. Let's find out what this film is about, who worked on its creation and what awards the project managed to win.
A little bit about the movie "Spotlight"
According to the genre, the tape is a journalistic investigation. Therefore, despite the luxurious bouquet of artists (most of whom played superheroes at one time), fans of the action movie "Spotlight" in 2015 are unlikely to like it. The picture is a mixture of drama and a good detective. So the main category of viewers who will be interested in it is people who think, like to watch and delve into.
The original name of the project is Spotlight, translated from English means "Spotlight". The painting got such a name in honor of the department of the Boston Globe newspaper, specializing in journalistic investigations. It is Spotlight’s employees who are the main characters in the 2015 Spotlight movie.
The budget of the picture is twenty million, and fees exceeded it by almost five times. This suggests that the project interested the audience and turned out to be financially successful, which is not always characteristic of paintings of this kind.
Plot of the film
This story tells of Spotlight investigating cases of child corruption by Catholic priests in the Boston Metropolis.
The starting point of the plot is the appointment of the new editor of the Boston Globe newspaper.
Being a visitor, and besides a Jew, he is not as scrupulous about the reputation of the Catholic Church as the native Bostons. Therefore, he requires the “Spotlight” department to more thoroughly investigate the pedophile priest's case and find out if he was single or is this a common problem.
The team of journalists is initially indifferent to this receipt, but soon they are horrified to find that in their hometown there are quite frequent cases of child molestation by ministers.
Following the trail, the heroes learn that about a hundred of such perverts live in Boston, some of them in the neighborhood with them. Moreover, the local church and secular authorities are aware of this state of affairs, but are silent about the truth in order to preserve the “face” of the local metropolis.
The situation is complicated by the fact that many investigative journalists are Catholics themselves and have to decide what is right: to tell the truth or help their church hide an unpleasant truth.
In the finale, the heroes find evidence condemning pedophile priests and facts of suppressing their crimes by the church. They publish an article and soon find themselves inundated with letters and calls from other victims of molestation who were previously afraid to admit what happened.
Issue
Working on the creation of the film "In the Spotlight", its creators managed to raise a number of issues that are important not only in the context of the plot, but also go far beyond it.
First of all, this is how the behavior of priest-molesters destructively affects the children's psyche. In addition to physical violence, they carry out moral, which cripples at times more. As if in confirmation of this, the phrase bitterly sounds in the picture: "To refuse to the priest is to refuse to God." These words show the baseness of how vilely some are able to use their position to satisfy base desires.
One of the most difficult dilemmas that the heroes of the tape have to deal with is deciding whether to publish the information they receive. After all, the shadow of crime 5% of the total number of priests falls on the remaining 95%. Such a difficult decision has to be made by many people: is it worth it to slander the whole herd because of one black sheep. Or it is better to remain silent and hope that everything will settle down by itself.
The heroes of the picture nevertheless decide to discover the truth, seeing that its concealment engenders the impunity that accompanied all such cases. And she, in turn, only multiplies the number of crimes against children. After all, pedophiles protected by the church in robes have no reason to stop.
It was the realization that things that could be stopped, only by publicizing them, was the decisive argument that made the journalists in the picture do their job. After all, it turned out that the children convicted of child molestation were not just not punished, but continued to serve safely in other parishes, where their unhealthy inclinations were not known.
Also in the tape, the question of the falsity of one hundred percent relationship between God and the Church is very softly raised. Whereas the First is the embodiment of perfection, the ideal, the so-called servants of it, are just sinful people. This means that no matter how they seek to cover all their deeds in the name of the Lord, not everything that they say and do is true. Therefore, you can trust them no more and no less than ordinary people.
On real events
Unfortunately, the plot of the film "In the Spotlight" is not fiction. It has a real foundation.
In the early 2000s, journalists in Boston actually conducted an investigation and uncovered an appalling number of Catholic priests who tortured boys and girls from three to fourteen years old. In addition, it turned out that this situation is known to the church leadership, but it is not only not punished by pedophiles, but also by all means trying to hide their crimes.
After a series of articles by Boston journalists on this subject, a scandal erupted that led to the resignation of Cardinal Bernard Francis Lowe, who was actively involved in hiding the truth.
As a result of these events, the families of the victims (of which it was known) were paid about two billion dollars. After an example set by the Bostonians, more thorough investigations of the activities of Catholic priests began around the world. Many other similar cases have been identified.
The Boston scandal firmly cemented the Catholic Church's reputation as an organization covering pedophiles. It was revealed that about five percent of all active priests rape children. There is reason to believe that over the past years the situation has not changed dramatically.
Film director
The director of the project is American Tom McCarthy, who previously presented the audience with such films as “Shoemaker” and “Visitor”. "The Spotlight" is the fifth work of the director and the first, which received such wide acclaim.
It is noteworthy that initially McCarthy tried himself as an actor and screenwriter.
In 2009, Tom starred in one of the episodic roles in the drama Cute Bones. This is a story about a girl killed by a pedophile neighbor. It is possible that participation in this project has generated interest in the topic of child abuse.
Script work
The story told in the film was based on real facts, but all its heroes and their paths to finding the truth are the result of the author’s invention of the film’s director. Together with him, the famous Hollywood screenwriter and producer Josh Singer worked on the script.
Before starting to write, McCarthy and Singer carefully studied all the materials on the real investigation of the Boston Globe, as well as those documents that were in the police. This meticulousness helped to carefully work out all the details of the plot.
In mid-2013, the draft script was completed. However, it was not possible to find a sponsor willing to invest in the project. Due to the extremely sensitive topic of the movie, her script was blacklisted. Despite this, Tom did not give up, and a year later filming began in Boston.
According to McCarthy, he created the film in order to show the power of journalism and its ability to influence people's lives, to talk about what everyone is afraid of, to protect the innocent. The director expressed regret that in the modern world the work of journalists has lost its former relevance. First of all, due to the fact that the press workers themselves no longer believe in the importance of what they are doing.
Film actors
Of course, its cast played an important role in the success of the picture. And he was truly stellar.
The role of Marty Baron, the editor-in-chief of Boston Globe, was played in the film "In the Spotlight" by Leo Schreiber ("Wolverine", "Scream").
Mark Ruffalo (Avengers, Between Heaven and Earth) played a compassionate journalist Michael Rezendes, who is in a quarrel with his family and faith. His direct boss, Walter Robinson, was embodied on the screen by Michael Keaton (Batman, Birdman).
The role of the employee of the Boston Globe, Ben Bradley Jr., was played in the film "In the Spotlight" by John Slattery ("Iron Man").
In addition to these performers of the roles of journalists, Stanley Tucci (Devil Wears Prada, Lovely Bones), who played an honest lawyer Mitchell Garabedian, who alone defends the rights of crippled children by priests, is worth noting.
Project Actresses
The beautiful half of the cast of the project is not so numerous. The main female role of journalist Sasha Pfeiffer was played in the film "In the Spotlight" by Rachel McAdams. It is worth noting that her heroine does not bear a special load on the plot. Probably, it was added there in order to dilute the male team.
Despite this, the actress managed to play well even her minor role. For this, she was positively noted in many reviews of the film "In the Spotlight", and was also nominated for several prestigious awards.
Among other project actresses - performers of secondary roles: Paulette Sinclair (secretary), Laurie Heineman (judge), Nancy Willon (Marietta) and others.
"In the Spotlight" motion picture: nominations and awards
A good thoughtful plot, an excellent play of the actors and the relevance of the problems highlighted in the film made her a nominee for many prestigious awards: Oscar, Sputnik, Golden Globe, BAFTA.
However, not all film rewards so revered in the world went to the picture.
- Of the six Oscar nominations, the tape won only one figurine, winning the category "Best Original Screenplay".
- Things were better with Sputnik. Of the eight nominations, the picture won four in the categories of "Best Film", "Best Director", "Best Acting Ensemble" and "Best Original Screenplay".
- Of the three possible Golden Globes, the movie did not get a single one.
- Of the three BAFTA nominations, Spotlight received only one award for Best Original Screenplay.
In addition to these awards, the film managed to win two prizes at the Venice Festival, the Screen Actors Guild and the Screenwriters Guild of the United States, as well as the award of the London Film Critics Circle.
Among the actors of the project, some were nominated for prestigious awards for work in the film "In the Spotlight": Mark Ruffalo and Rachel McAdams could receive "Sputnik" and "Oscar". The record holder among the number of nominations was Michael Keaton. He claimed three prizes at once.
Unfortunately, of all the nominated actors, the only one who received the award for his role in the film "In the Spotlight" is Michael Keaton. It was a prize from the New York Society of Film Critics.
Spectator reviews of the movie "The Spotlight"
Considering the reviews of those who saw the picture, it is worthwhile to understand that the cultural differences existing between the USA and post-Soviet countries interfere with the full perception of the director’s ideas. In the latter, the number of Catholics has always been relatively small. It is dominated by Christians of the Orthodox faith.
Unlike Catholics, there is no obligatory celibacy (celibacy) for Orthodox priests. For this reason, such church ministers do not have to struggle with their unfulfilled sexual desires all their lives. Most of them have families and live quite well. And although among the Orthodox (if you look) you can find people with perverted sexual desires, their number is not so significant and their deviations are less likely to focus on children. Therefore, the problem of Catholic pedophile priests in our viewers humanly evokes sympathy, but does not find such a stormy emotional response as in the reviews about the film "In the Spotlight" left by residents of foreign countries.
It is also worth considering that since Tsarist Russia, the press has always been under the supervision of censorship. Without enough freedom to review what they see fit, journalism in the Russian Empire, the USSR and the post-Soviet space has never been a real force. Therefore, the director’s desire to convey the importance of this industry also does not find sufficient understanding.
However, if we ignore cultural differences, we can say that the McCarthy picture was rather warmly received in the Russian Federation, Ukraine, Belarus and other neighboring states. In their reviews of the film "In the Spotlight", the inhabitants of these countries pay more attention to the detective story component, as well as to the game of beautiful and famous actors. By the way, for many artists, they were the reason why they decided to see the picture.
As for the plot, the majority of those who looked are divided into two categories:
- those to whom the pace of events of the tape seemed drawn out, gray, devoid of action;
- those who liked the director's meticulousness, the ability to clearly trace all the cause and effect relationships.
What did the viewers of the Spotlight tape like?
- actors
- raising important issues;
- An interesting plot with elements of a detective story;
- meticulous description of the daily work of journalists.
What is the movie criticized for:
- for the grayness of landscapes and outfits;
- for a gloomy atmosphere and a feeling of hopelessness;
- for the lack of emotionality in the main characters.
Based on the reviews left by the majority of viewers, it can be said that the film "In the Spotlight" was perceived as an interesting project, understood only by a few. Those who liked such foreign films as “The entire presidential army”, “The Hunt for Veronica”, “The Big Game”, “Snowden”, “Game without rules”, “Nothing but the truth”, etc.
In conclusion, it is worth noting: the main thing that you can take out for yourself after watching the movie is to learn to appropriately evaluate people around. Do not stamp on them good or bad only on the basis of their profession. And besides, it is important to monitor the children and listen to their problems, try to help solve them, and not hope that someone else will be able to fix everything.