“Substitution” - a film whose reviews quite often unfairly come down only to a discussion of the game of Angelina Jolie, which plays the main role in it, actually deserves close attention. This film can not leave indifferent any viewer who is capable of manifesting sympathy and who knows the feeling of love for his child.
The film shows not only the infinity of the mother's heart and the infinity of devotion to her child. Here, the social issues that worried American society in the 20-30s of the last century: the inability to defend one’s position and defend one’s truth if one fights against the powerful and the authorities, are sharply touched upon.
In addition, this movie evokes a feeling of fear and powerlessness towards perverts and people with manic inclinations, since they completely lack standard morality and it makes no sense to call them to mercy or compassion for their victims.
Not leaving the spectator indifferent, the film "Substitution" (on real events)
The named film makes a really strong impression on people who are sensitive and emotional - a viewer who is capable of showing sympathy will not be able to remain indifferent after watching. Its main plot boils down to the fact that instead of her stolen child, the mother returns the strange son.
Naturally, immediately sensing something was amiss and noticing the substitution, the mother begins to sound the alarm. But the local police are not going to lose their authority and admit the mistake. So that the woman does not raise a panic and does not start a scandal, she is simply placed in a psychiatric hospital.
The picture causes empathy for the heroine, but this feeling intensifies after it becomes known that the film is based on real events. And despite the author's inserts and artistic additions with fictional details, “Substitution” (a film about which confirms his ability to touch a person for life) quite clearly and realistically describes the real life story of a woman named Christine Collins.
This similarity was achieved thanks to the talented author who worked on the script - Michael Strazinsky. By the way, while studying and preparing the material, he spent a total of about a year in various archives.
The director of this tape was the legendary Clint Eastwood. And it is very difficult to overestimate his directorial work, because in many respects thanks to her the film turned out to be very realistic and, according to critics, very accurately recreating the atmosphere of America in the mid-20s of the last century.
The plot of the tape
The film "Substitution" with starring Angelina Jolie begins with a story about how a simple and completely unremarkable, at first glance, woman, Christine Collins, lives in the American city of Los Angeles. Her work is somewhat reminiscent of modern call centers, but at that time, the position she held was simply called the telephone operator.
The director Clint Eastwood and, of course, the leading actor herself, Angelina Jolie, successfully create the image of Christine, who, as the plot develops, transforms beyond recognition.
Clearly thought out and perfectly played image of the main character
At the beginning of the film “Substitution” (2008 for which was the time of the world premiere), his main character seems to be an ordinary decent woman, a loving mother and a responsible employee. It can be seen that she is very attentive to her duties at work, always friendly with her colleagues, for which she enjoys well-deserved authority among her subordinates and sympathy from her boss.
Christine independently raises and brings up his only nine-year-old son - Walter. With the boy she has a really close and trusting relationship. Kristin devotes all his free time to work only to him. She is doing everything to educate him as a full-fledged member of society, trying to grow a worthy man out of him.
When she finds out that her son had a certain incident at school and he had a fight, Christine patiently explains to Walter how to behave correctly in such situations, explaining that the fight should never be started first, but if it has already begun, then it is necessary in any case, bring it to an end.
The woman does not spare herself and does not hate the boy’s father because he left her alone with the child. Having stepped through herself, she wants to rid Walter himself of such feelings. When asked why his father abandoned them, the woman very wisely explains that on the day of his birth a parcel was brought to their house in which there was “responsibility”. Father was very scared of such an unexpected gift and that is why he ran away.
Collins family tragedy
The tragedy in this family comes, as usual, completely unexpected. Once, Kristin lingered at work and, having arrived home, found that there was no child. Independent searches did not yield any results at all, and the police accepted the statement about the loss only after a day.
All the time, while the search is in progress, the woman tries to stay with all her strength and does not lose faith that everything is in order with her boy. And now, after six months, it seems that fate has taken pity on her.
A brief joy in meeting with the boy found
Police make a loud statement that Walter Collins is finally found. Kristin rushes towards and, seeing the boy on the platform of the train station, realizes that this is not her son. The moment of this meeting and the decision made by the main character to take the boy to her, caused various reviews from the audience. It is around this scene that the most heated discussions are hiding.
Some viewers do not understand why Collins, despite the fact that she immediately noticed the substitution, takes away someone else's child. Others, on the contrary, consider this moment very indicative: the shock and pressure of the police do not allow the woman to recover, and the captain Jones, who organized the demonstration of the mother and child’s meeting for journalists (played by
Jeffrey Donovan), obsessively explains to Christine that besides her, about the boy no one else to take care of.
Unresolved issue
Having taken the police “foundling” to her, the heroine, perfectly played by Angelina, realizes that he is not her family, and while she takes care of the child, who called himself Walter, trouble can happen with her real son.
She sounds the alarm, prays to the police for help and tries to do everything so that the search for the real Walter will continue. But this state of affairs does not suit the local police at all, whose head is James Davis. His role was played quite well by the Canadian actor - Colm Fiori.
American Society Issues Featured in Movie: Code 12
When it becomes clear to the police that Christine will not calm down just like that and she is not going to give up, she is simply placed in a psychiatric hospital. The police say that she behaves inappropriately, unreasonably hysterical, and simply does not want to fulfill her mother’s duties, as she is used to living for herself during the period when her child was absent.
Once in the hospital, Christine finds out what the mysterious phrase “code 12” means - this is a kind of cipher, which designates the arrival of people in a psychiatric hospital who did not please the police. This is an unspoken sign that you can do anything with these patients until they give up their positions and agree to the conditions of law enforcement.
The worst thing in this story is that this film depicts real events that took place in the mid-20s of the last century in America and such methods of reprisal were really used by the police to pacify all those who disagree.
The only character in the film, among all the policemen, who has not lost his sense of decency, is Detective Ibarra. His image is very accurately embodied by American actor Michael Kelly. Ibarra showed interest in the fate of a boy who illegally resides in the United States and must be deported to Canada.
And it was precisely thanks to the indifference of the hero, played by Michael Kelly, that a ranch was discovered in Vineville, where a certain Gordon Northcott initially kept the abducted children, and then killed them in the most blasphemous way.
Strong image of an antisocial maniac
One of the most striking in this film, but at the same time insanely difficult to implement on the screen, is the image of the maniac Gordon Northcott, brilliantly performed by Jason Butler Harner. This man perfectly embodied the antisocial bastard, who plays only scenarios of events that he understands. At his ranch, he keeps his own nephew, whom, in fear of reprisal, makes him become an accomplice in brutal murders.
After he was caught, it seems that he does not quite understand what happened and what threatens him. He spits on all sentences and with all his appearance shows that he does not care about people who lost their own children through his fault.
Jason Butler Harner, without exaggeration, brilliantly coped with his task and showed Northcott's cowardice.
The scene of his execution was very vivid when this man, thoughtlessly managing the lives of others, realized that now others are deciding his fate, and he is completely helpless here. Anyone who killed dozens of children's lives, with incredible cowardice met his own death. So, he tried to step on every step that led him to the gallows, in order to extend his worthless life for at least a second. The only thing that worries him is whether after confession God really forgave him all his sins, and he, as a forgiven believer, will go to heaven.
Invincibility of motherly love
When the police find Northcott and begin a new investigation, this does not bring Christine much relief, since she still does not receive a concrete answer: is her son alive or not. Despite the fact that the nephew of the killer recognized Walter in the photo and said that the child was definitely on the ranch - they killed the boy or not, he did not know for sure.
It would seem that after the capture of the maniac, Christine should get answers to all her questions, but Northcott begins to play some kind of game with her. He constantly changes his testimony, and at one of the court hearings, Kristin says that her son was a real angel and he could never have killed him.
This statement inspires the mother and hope awakens in her again. Since the body of her son was never found and no direct evidence of his death was ever provided to her, she continued to believe and hope that he would return to the very end.
The film "Substitution" (2008): actors and roles
The film "Substitution", in which the actors did an excellent job of revealing the images of their heroes, shows completely different characters. But of course, the key figure remains the heroine, talentedly played by Jolie.
“Substitution” - a film whose reviews are mostly positive, demonstrates how a fragile woman can change very quickly if her child is in real danger. Initially, Collins seems to be a simpleton with a calm character and says about herself: "I am not a fighter in life." But over time, everything changes, and she understands that a system that lounges and can just put a person in a psychiatric hospital needs to be fought.
After all the trials, with the support of Rev. Gustav Brigleb (played by John Malkovich) and lawyer Khan (played by Jeff Pearson in the film), Christine decides to sue the local police and seeks the removal of the local police chief.
One of the movie's most intense scenes
In the film "Substitution", the actors really managed to beat the next moment very strongly. On the eve of his execution, Northcott makes a statement that he requires a personal meeting with Christine, since he is going to tell her the whole truth before her death about whether her son really died.
It is hard to imagine how Kristin felt at that moment - she rushed to the potential killer of her Walter, and he again began to play the famous game with her. Norcott said that by making such statements, he did not really think that a woman would come to him. And now he will not tell her anything, since he has already confessed and in order to avoid hell, he can no longer lie. And if he speaks with Christine, he will lie to her.
Realizing that the maniac is simply mocking her, and that there is no longer any hope for the slightest sympathy for her, Collins uses Northcott's worst nightmare - after him she screams only one phrase: “Burn in hell for you!”.
Reviews and criticism
"Substitution" - a film, reviews of critics and viewers about which were similar. And this is understandable, because not a single person capable of sympathy, this story could not leave indifferent. But of course, there are those to whom the plot seemed intentionally drawn out. Some do not quite understand why the main character, if she initially understood that the police returned her step-son, still took the boy to her. There are also spectators who, in some moments, the acting seemed too strained.
And the performer of the leading role is subjected to the most frequent and sharp criticism. Apparently, guided solely by their personal preferences, many viewers criticize Angelina. As usual, someone doesn’t like her huge, brightly painted lips, someone sharply remarks that her anorexic thinness in this film is especially noticeable, and someone generally says that she is not suitable for playing such a deep role, and no she has a different role except Lara Croft.
Fortunately, such critics are in the minority, and their sharp remarks do not affect the general opinion of everyone who appreciates the actress’s ability to transform into the most unexpected images and characters.
The real tragedy that served as the basis for the script
After watching this tape, it becomes very scary to realize that the creation and history of the film “Substitution” is based on a truly real basis. Now all information on this high-profile case is in the public domain, and everyone who is interested can learn this story in detail without visiting the archives.
The majority of those who watched the film and studied the events taken as the basis for writing his script have a sad and heavy sediment on their souls, since the real Christine Collins died without knowing until the last day what really happened to her Walter.