frost nixon
[[frost_nixon]] last edit on
Mar 15, 2009
12:30 AM
by Anonymous
The dramatisation of the epic interview of Richard Nixon by David Frost seemed really rather good to me at the cinema. After the fact I'm not sure Langela played Nixon properly. Compared to the footage I've seen of the actual interview, the real Nixon was far less animated than Langela. I'm not sure whether this is a good thing or not.
One remarkable thing about it is that it's really long and I didn't get bored once. Normally anything past the 90 minute mark gets me vastly uncomfortable and squirming. This was riveting stuff. The whole process that was involved in getting the interview and the initial reasons behind it were fascinating. Originally it seems David Frost was only interested in the ratings he might get from getting an interview with Nixon. It also felt really odd to see David Frost played as something of a womaniser. I'm only used to him being a slightly dull interviewer and would never have thought him living the fast lifestyle he does in the film.
Exactly how accurate the film is I can't truly say but I can appreciate the difficulties involved in attempting to play people who actually existed. I expect they tried to capture what the people were about rather than just copy them exactly. To play them in a way that can trigger more emotional responses in the audience, help them to feel more of what it meant at the time. Looking at original footage it can seem a little cool and cold, less engaging than the way it is here. They knew they were making a film and so the performances had to be this way, especially as a fair amount of its audience wouldn't be old enough to remember the original time.
As a film it works brilliantly. It's an excellent character drama where you can greatly feel the emotional anguishes the people involved are experiencing. You connect with both Frost and Nixon. You wonder exactly how much of a monster Nixon was. See him more as a whole person than just what has been reported of him. Is it too sympathetic toward him? I've no idea, I've not enough knowlege of the time. Just like with King of Kong, you can enjoy it as a brilliant film even if there are other flaws.
That Dark Knight is 241 places higher on the imdb is completely laughable. Further proving that the general public are idiots.
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One remarkable thing about it is that it's really long and I didn't get bored once. Normally anything past the 90 minute mark gets me vastly uncomfortable and squirming. This was riveting stuff. The whole process that was involved in getting the interview and the initial reasons behind it were fascinating. Originally it seems David Frost was only interested in the ratings he might get from getting an interview with Nixon. It also felt really odd to see David Frost played as something of a womaniser. I'm only used to him being a slightly dull interviewer and would never have thought him living the fast lifestyle he does in the film.
Exactly how accurate the film is I can't truly say but I can appreciate the difficulties involved in attempting to play people who actually existed. I expect they tried to capture what the people were about rather than just copy them exactly. To play them in a way that can trigger more emotional responses in the audience, help them to feel more of what it meant at the time. Looking at original footage it can seem a little cool and cold, less engaging than the way it is here. They knew they were making a film and so the performances had to be this way, especially as a fair amount of its audience wouldn't be old enough to remember the original time.
As a film it works brilliantly. It's an excellent character drama where you can greatly feel the emotional anguishes the people involved are experiencing. You connect with both Frost and Nixon. You wonder exactly how much of a monster Nixon was. See him more as a whole person than just what has been reported of him. Is it too sympathetic toward him? I've no idea, I've not enough knowlege of the time. Just like with King of Kong, you can enjoy it as a brilliant film even if there are other flaws.
That Dark Knight is 241 places higher on the imdb is completely laughable. Further proving that the general public are idiots.
back to film reviews