"Substitution" (film): reviews, actors, film crew

"Substitution" - a film, reviews of which often unfairly reduce only to the discussion of the game of Angelina Jolie, playing the main role in it, really deserves close attention. This film can not leave indifferent any spectator who is capable of showing sympathy and who knows the feeling of love for his child.

The film shows not only the immensity of the mother's heart and the infinity of devotion to her child. The social issues that troubled American society in the 1920s and 1930s are acute: they can not defend their position and defend their truth if one is fighting one against the powerful and the authorities.

In addition, this movie awakens a sense of fear and powerlessness to perverts and people with maniacal inclinations, because they lack the standard morality and appeal to mercy or compassion for their victims makes no sense.

Not leaving indifferent spectator, the film "Substitution" (on real events)

The named film on people sensitive and emotional has really strong impression - the spectator, capable of showing sympathy, after watching can not remain indifferent. Its main story boils down to the fact that the mother's mother, instead of her stolen child, is returned to another's son.

Naturally, immediately sensing something is wrong and noticing the substitution, the mother begins to sound the alarm. But the local police are not going to lose their credibility and admit an error. In order for a woman not to panic and start a scandal, she is simply placed in a psychiatric hospital.

The picture evokes sympathy 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 whose reviews are confirmed by his ability to hurt a person for a living) describes the real life story of a woman named Christine Collins quite clearly and realistically.

This similarity was achieved thanks to the talented author who worked on the script - Michael Strazhinsky. By the way, studying and preparing the material, he, in total, spent in various archives for about a year.

The director of the same tape was the legendary Clint Eastwood. And to overestimate his director's work is very difficult, because in many ways thanks to her the film turned out to be very realistic and, in the opinion of critics, very accurately recreating the atmosphere of America in the mid-1920s.

The plot of the tape

The film "Substitution" with Angelina Jolie in the title role begins with a story about how in the American city of Los Angeles there lives a simple and completely unremarkable, at first glance, woman - Christine Collins. Her work is somewhat reminiscent of modern call centers, but at that time, the post she occupied was called simply an attendant. Directed by Clint Eastwood and, of course, the very performer of the main role - Angelina Jolie, successfully create the image of Kristin, who in the course of the development of the plot transforms beyond recognition.

A well thought out and perfectly played image of the protagonist

At the beginning of the movie "Substitution" (2008 for which it 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 is evident that she is very attentive to her duties at work, she is always friendly with her colleagues, for which she enjoys deserved authority among her subordinates and sympathy from her boss.

Kristin independently grows and educates his only nine-year-old son - Walter. With the boy, she has really close and trusting relationships. All the free time from work Christine devotes only to him. She does everything to raise him a full-fledged member of society, trying to grow from him a decent man.

When she finds out that the son had an incident at the school, and he's in a fight, Kristin patiently explains to Walter how to behave correctly in such situations, explaining that a fight should never be started first, but if it has already started, then it is necessary In any case, to finish.

The woman does not spare herself and does not hate the boy's father for leaving her alone with the child. Crossing herself, she wants to rid herself of these feelings and Walter himself. To his question why his father threw them, the woman very wisely explains that on the day of his birth a parcel was brought to them in the house, in which there was a "responsibility". The father was very frightened of such an unexpected gift and that's why he ran away.

The tragedy in the Collins family

The tragedy in this family comes, as usual, quite unexpectedly. One day, Kristin stayed at work and, having come home, discovered that there was no child. Independent searches did not yield absolutely any results, and the police accepted the statement about loss only after a day.

All the time, while searching, the woman tries to keep from the last strength and does not lose faith in the fact that her boy is all right. And now, six months later, it seems that fate has taken pity on her.

A short joy from the encounter with the boy found

The police make a loud statement that Walter Collins is finally found. Kristin rushes to meet and, seeing on the platform of the station boy, realizes that this is not her son. The moment of this meeting and the decision taken subsequently by the main heroine to take the boy to her, aroused various reviews of the audience. It is around this scene that the most heated debates are heated. Some viewers do not understand why Collins, despite the fact that she immediately noticed the substitution, takes a stranger to her. Others, on the contrary, consider this moment to be very revealing: the shock and pressure of the police does not allow the woman to recover, and Captain Jones (played by Jeffrey Donovan) who organized a demonstration for the mother and child meeting for journalists, Kristin obsessively explains that besides her, about the boy There is no one else to take care of.

Unresolved issue

Taking the policeman "foundling" to her, the heroine, perfectly played by Angelina, realizes that he is not her own, and while she cares for the child who called herself Walter, her real son may be in trouble. She beats the alarm, pleads with the police for help and tries to do everything in order to continue the search for this Walter. But this state of affairs does not suit the local police, whose head is James Davis. His role was played quite well by the Canadian actor - Colm Fiori.

The problems of American society, shown in the film: code 12

When it becomes clear to the police that Christine will not just calm down and give up, she is simply placed in a psychiatric hospital. The police say that she behaves inadequately, without cause, hysteria and simply does not want to fulfill the duties of the mother, because she used to live for herself during that period, while her child was absent.

Once in the hospital, Kristin finds out what the cryptic phrase "code 12" means - it's a kind of cipher, which denotes the arrival in a psychiatric hospital of people who somehow did not please the police. This is an unspoken sign that with such patients you can do anything you like until they give up their positions and agree to the conditions of the custody order.

The most terrible thing in this story is that this film reflects the real events that took place in the mid-1920s in America and such methods of violence were actually used by the police to pacify all dissenters.

The only character of the film, among all the police, who has not lost his sense of decency, is the detective Ibarra. His image was very accurately embodied by the 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 thanks to the indifference of the hero, played by Michael Kelly, that a ranch was found in Weinville, where a certain Gordon Northcott initially detained the abducted children and then killed them in the most blasphemous way.

Strong image of an antisocial maniac

One of the brightest in this film, but at the same time insanely heavy for incarnation on the screen, - the image of the maniac Gordon Northcott - was brilliantly performed by Jason Butler Harner. This person perfectly embodied the antisocial bastard, who plays only clear scenarios of events to him. At his ranch, he keeps his own nephew, who, under pain of reprisal, makes him complicit in brutal murders.

After he was caught, it seems that he does not quite understand what happened and what he is facing. He spits on all the sentences and shows with his whole appearance that he does not care about people who lost their children because of his fault.

Jason Butler Harner literally coped with his task without exaggeration and showed the cowardness of Northcott.

Very bright was the scene of his execution, when this man, mindlessly controlling the lives of others, realized that now others are leading his fate, and he is completely helpless. The one who killed dozens of children's lives met his own death with incredible cowardice. So, he tried to step on every step that led him to the hanging-place, in order to prolong his useless life even for a second. The only thing that worries him is whether after confession, God forgave him all his sins, and he, like a forgiven believer, will go to heaven.

Invincibility of maternal love

When the police find Northcott and begin a new investigation, it does not bring much relief to Kristin, as she never gets a specific answer: her son is alive or not. Despite the fact that the nephew of the murderer recognized Walter in the photo and said that the child was unequivocally on the ranch - he did not know if he killed the boy or not.

It would seem that after catching a maniac, Christine should get answers to all her questions, but Northcott begins to play with her some kind of game. He constantly changes his testimony, and in one of the court sessions, says Christine, that her son was a real angel and he would never be able to kill him.

This declaration inspires the mother and she again wakes up hope. As her son's body was never found and no one could provide direct proof of his death, she continued to believe and hope that he would return to the very end.

The film "Substitution" (2008): actors and roles

The film "Substitution", the actors in which coped well with the task of revealing the images of their characters, shows completely different characters. But of course, the heroine, talentedly played by Jolie, remains the key figure.

"Substitution" - a film whose reviews are more positive, demonstrates how a fragile woman can very quickly change if her child is in real danger. Initially, Collins seems like a simpleton with a calm character and says about himself: "I'm not a fighter in life." But over time, everything changes, and she realizes that with a system that is messing around and can just hide a person in a psychiatric hospital, one must fight.

After all the tests, with the support of the Rev. Gustav Brigleb (whose role was played by John Malkovich) and Khan's lawyer (he is in the film by Jeff Pearson), Christine decides to sue the local police and seeks removal of the local police chief.

One of the most intense scenes of the film

In the movie "Substitution" the actors really managed to very much beat the next moment. On the eve of his execution, Northcott makes a statement that he requires a personal appointment with Christine, since he is going to tell her the whole truth before her death about whether her son really is dead.

It is hard to imagine what Kristin felt at this moment - she rushed to the possible killer of her Walter, and he again began to play with her in a certain game known to him. Norcott said that by making such statements, he did not really think that a woman would come to see him. And now he will not say anything to her, because he has already confessed and in order to avoid hell, he can not lie any more. And if he talks to Christine, he'll lie to her.

Realizing that the maniac is simply mocking her, and that for the slightest manifestation of sympathy for her there is no more hope, Collins uses the most terrible nightmare of Northcott - after him she screams only one phrase: "To burn you in hell!".

Reviews and criticism

"Substitution" - a film, reviews of critics and viewers about which turned out to be similar. And this is understandable, because no one who is capable of sympathy, this story could not leave indifferent. But of course, there are those to whom the plot seemed deliberately prolonged. Some do not quite understand why the main character, if she understood from the beginning that the police returned her foster son, still took the boy to her. Also there are spectators, to whom the play of actors in some moments seemed too strained.

And the most frequent and sharp criticism is the performer of the main role. Apparently, guided solely by their personal preferences, many viewers criticize Angelina. As usual, someone does not like her huge, brightly colored lips, someone caustically notices that her anorexic leanness in this film is particularly noticeable, and someone even says that she is not suitable for such a deep role, and no Her other role, except for "Lara Croft".

Fortunately, such criticism is in the minority, and their harsh remarks do not affect the general opinion of all those who rated the actress's ability to reincarnate in the most unexpected images and characters.

The real tragedy that served as the basis for the scenario

After watching this tape, it becomes very scary to realize that the creation and history of the movie "Substitution" is based on a really real basis. Now all the 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.

Most people who watched the film and studied the events that were taken as the basis for writing his script remain sad and heavy on their souls, since the real Christine Collins died without knowing until the last day what actually happened to her Walter.