Film "Spotlight": reviews, plot, actors, director, awards and nominations

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

In 2015, the film directed by Tom McCarthy "Spotlight" was released. This project interested not only in a solid cast and a catchy plot, but also in the social problems that were covered in it. Let's find out what this movie is about, who worked on its creation and what awards the project managed to win.

A little 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 film "Spotlight" in 2015 are unlikely to like it. The picture is a mixture of drama and good detective. So the main category of viewers who will be interested in it are people who think, who love to observe and delve into.

The original name of the project is Spotlight, translated from English means "Spotlight". The picture got its name in honor of the department of the newspaper"Boston Globe" (The Boston Globe), specializing in investigative journalism. It is Spotlight employees who are the main characters in the 2015 film Spotlight.

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 typical for films of this kind.

Movie plot

This story follows Spotlight's investigation into child abuse cases by Metropolitan Catholic priests in Boston.

The starting point of the plot is the appointment of a new editor of the Boston Globe newspaper.

Being a foreigner, and also a Jew, he is not as scrupulous about the reputation of the Catholic Church as native Bostonians. Therefore, he is demanding that Spotlight investigate more thoroughly the case of the pedophile priest and find out if it was an isolated incident or if it is a common problem.

The team of journalists are at first indifferent to this receipt, but soon they discover with horror that in their hometown there are quite frequent cases of child molestation by the ministers of the church.

Following the trail, the heroes learn that about a hundred of these perverts live in Boston, and some of them are in their neighborhood. Moreover, the local ecclesiastical and secular authorities are aware of this state of affairs, but hush up the truth in order to save the "face" of the local metropolis.

The situation is complicated by the fact that many investigative journalists are themselves Catholics and are forced to decide what is right: to tell the truth or help their church hide an unpleasant truth.

In the finale, the heroes find evidence denouncing pedophile priests and the facts of the church hushing up their crimes. They publish an article and soon find themselves inundated with letters and calls from other molestation victims who were previously afraid to admit what happened.

Problems

While working on the creation of the film "Spotlight", its creators managed to raise a number of questions that are important not only in the context of the plot, but also go far beyond it.

First of all, this is how devastatingly the behavior of corrupting priests affects the child's psyche. In addition to physical violence, they carry out moral, which cripples many times more. As if in confirmation of this, the phrase sounds bitterly in the picture: "To refuse a priest means to refuse 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 face is the decision whether to publish the information they received. After all, the shadow of the crimes of 5% of the total number of priests falls on the remaining 95%. Many people have to make such a difficult decision: is it worth discrediting the whole flock because of one black sheep. Or is it better to remain silent and hope that everything will settle down by itself.

Heroes of the picturenevertheless, they decide to reveal the truth, seeing that its concealment gives rise to impunity, which accompanied all such cases. And it, in turn, only multiplies the number of crimes against children. After all, church-protected pedophiles in cassocks have no reason to stop.

It was the realization that what is happening can be stopped only by making it public that became the decisive argument that forced the journalists in the picture to do their job. After all, it turned out that those convicted of child molestation not only were not punished, but also continued to serve safely in other parishes where their unhe althy inclinations were not known.

Also, the tape very gently raises the question of the falsity of the 100% relationship between God and the Church. While the First is the embodiment of perfection, the ideal, his so-called servants, are but sinful people. This means that no matter how they strive to cover up all their deeds in the name of the Lord, not everything they say and do is true. Therefore, you can trust them no more and no less than ordinary people.

Based on real events

Unfortunately, the plot of the film "Spotlight" is not fiction. It has a real basis.

At the beginning of the 2000s in Boston, journalists really conducted an investigation and revealed a horrendous number of cases of molestation by Catholic priests of 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 not only does not punish pedophiles, but also tries its best to hide their crimes.

After the seriesarticles by Boston journalists on this subject, a scandal erupted, which led to the resignation of Cardinal Bernard Francis Low, who was actively involved in hiding the truth.

As a result of these events, the families of the victims (which were known) were paid about two billion dollars. After the example set by the Bostonians, more thorough investigations into the activities of Catholic priests began to be carried out around the world. Many other similar cases have been identified.

The Boston scandal solidified the Catholic Church's reputation as a cover-up for pedophiles. About five percent of all active priests have been found to rape children. There is reason to believe that the situation has not changed dramatically over the past years.

Director of tape

The director of the project is the American Tom McCarthy, who previously presented the audience with such films as "The Shoemaker" and "The Visitor". "Spotlight" is the director's fifth work and the first to receive 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 The Lovely 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.

Working on the script

The story told in the picture was based on real facts, but all its characters and their ways of searching for the truth are the result of the author's invention of the director of the picture. Together with him over creationscript worked famous Hollywood screenwriter and producer Josh Singer.

Before writing, McCarthy and Singer carefully studied all the material 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 the middle of 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 subject of the film, its 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 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, because the press workers themselves stopped believing in the importance of what they do.

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, editor-in-chief of the Boston Globe, was played in the film Spotlight by Lev Schreiber (Wolverine, Scream).

Compassionate journalist Michael Rezendes, who is at odds with family and faith, was played by Mark Ruffalo ("The Avengers", "Between Heaven and Earth"). HisMichael Keaton ("Batman", "Birdman") embodied on the screen Michael Keaton ("Batman", "Birdman").

The role of Boston Globe employee Ben Bradley Jr. was played in Spotlight by John Slattery (Iron Man).

In addition to these performers of the roles of journalists, it is worth noting Stanley Tucci ("The Devil Wears Prada", "The Lovely Bones"), who played an honest lawyer Mitchell Garabedian, who single-handedly defends the rights of children crippled by priests.

Actresses of the project

The beautiful half of the cast of the project is not so numerous. Rachel McAdams played the main female role of journalist Sasha Pfeiffer in the film Spotlight. It is worth noting that her heroine does not bear a special load on the plot. She was probably 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 "Spotlight", and was also nominated for several prestigious awards.

Among other actresses of the project are the performers of secondary roles: Paulette Sinclair (secretary), Lori Heineman (judge), Nancy Villon (Marietta) and others.

Film "Spotlight": nominations and awards

A well-thought-out plot, excellent acting and the relevance of the issues covered in the picture made her a nominee for many prestigious awards: "Oscar",Sputnik, Golden Globe, BAFTA.

However, not all of the film awards so revered in the world went to the picture.

1. Out of six Oscar nominations, the tape won only one statuette, winning in the Best Original Screenplay category.
2. Things were better with Sputnik. The film won four out of eight nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Ensemble Cast and Best Original Screenplay.
3. Of the three possible Golden Globes, the film did not get any.
4. Of three BAFTA nominations, Spotlight won only one for Best Original Screenplay.

In addition to these awards, the film managed to win two prizes at the Venice Film Festival, the Screen Actors Guild and Writers Guild of America awards, as well as the London Film Critics Circle award.

Among the actors of the project, some were nominated for prestigious awards for their work in the film "Spotlight": Mark Ruffalo and Rachel McAdams could receive "Satellite" and "Oscar". The record holder among the number of nominations was Michael Keaton. He claimed three awards at once.

Unfortunately, of all the nominated actors, the only one to win an award for his role in Spotlight is Michael Keaton. It was the New York Film Critics Circle Awards.

Audience reviews of the film "In the centerattention"

Considering the reviews of those who watched the film, it is worth understanding that the cultural differences that exist between the United States and post-Soviet countries prevent a full perception of the director's ideas. In the latter, the number of Catholics has always been comparatively small. Orthodox Christians predominate here.

Unlike Catholics, there is no obligatory celibacy (celibacy) for Orthodox priests. For this reason, such church ministers do not have to struggle all their lives with their unfulfilled sexual desires. Most of them start families and live quite well. And although among the Orthodox (if you search) you can find persons with perverted sexual desires, their number is not so significant and their deviations are less often concentrated on children. Therefore, the problem of Catholic pedophile priests in our viewers humanly evokes sympathy, but does not find such a violent emotional response as in reviews of the film "In the Spotlight" left by residents of foreign countries.

It is also worth considering that since the days of Tsarist Russia, the press here has always been under the supervision of censorship. Lacking sufficient freedom to review what it sees fit, journalism in the Russian Empire, the USSR and the post-Soviet space has never been a truly active force. Therefore, the director's desire to convey the importance of this industry also does not find sufficient understanding.

However, apart from cultural differences, we can say that McCarthy's painting was quite warmly received in Russia,Ukraine, Belarus and other nearby states. In their reviews of the film "In the Spotlight", the inhabitants of these countries are more focused on the detective component of the plot, as well as on the play of beautiful and famous actors. By the way, for many, the artists were the reason why they decided to see the picture.

As for the plot, most viewers fall into two categories:

• those to whom the pace of the events of the tape seemed drawn out, gray, devoid of action;
• those who liked the director's meticulousness, the ability to clearly trace all causal relationships.

What did Spotlight viewers like:

• actors;
• raising important issues;
• an interesting story with detective elements;
• a scrupulous description of the everyday work of journalists.

What the movie is being criticized for:

• for the dullness of landscapes and outfits;
• for the gloomy atmosphere and the feeling of hopelessness;
• for the lack of emotion in the main characters.

Based on the feedback left by the majority of viewers, we can say that the movie "Spotlight" was perceived as an interesting project, understandable only to a few. Those who liked such foreign films as "All the President's Men", "The Hunt for Veronica", "The Great 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 a movie is that you need to learn to sensibly evaluate people around. Do not label them as good or bad just based on their profession. And besides, it's important to watch over children and listen to their problems, try to help solve them, and not hope that someone else will be able to fix everything.