In the decent biographical film genre, blazing out a simple but moving path of its own, director Joseph Kosinski's new work "Courage to Go Forward" brings a refined and textured interpretation of the traditional story. It may not be a masterpiece, but if audiences miss the simplicity of "American Sniper" or the masculine narrative of Peter Borg's works such as "Lone survivor", "Go Forward" is definitely more than enough, rooted in tradition but different.
"Courage to Go Forward" portrays the story of the first municipal field fire brigade in the United States, from the formation, training, and attendance of the team, to the end of the Yanel Mountain Fire that shocked the united States, through the hardships of the usual life and practical work among the team members, to make a real and powerful interpretation of the life experience of this group of heroic firefighters who always run on the front line of the crisis.
Strictly speaking, "Go Forward" is a combination of multiple films, with depictions of special professional challenges and lives like "Adventures in the Waves", disaster thrillers like "The Deep", and a touch of reflection on trauma and fascination taken from "American Sniper" or "Bomb Disposal Force". After two visually brilliant but poorly paced science fiction works, Kosinski finally found a relative balance between narrative and aesthetics in this film. Deducting the occasional disaster scene and the mysterious color that runs through the film, most of the time "Courage to Go Forward" chooses to deal with the characters and events in the movie in a flat and direct and methodical way, and the picture of a group of firefighters dancing in the bar and listening to music, compared to the high-tech industrial style of the previous game "Lost Battlefield", the two can not be more different.
But under the above premise, Kosinski's unique vision and visual refinement of composition are more skilled than craftsmen who are good at this type, such as Clint Eastwood, so the simple characters lined up in a row in the wilderness can also have their own beauty, a large number of aerial photographs are really imposing ("The Fantasy Drifting of the Young Pi" photography Claudio Miranda also helped a lot), and the actual bridge section of the fire process is more due to Kosinski's experience in controlling the big budget. Realistic visual shock (after all, it was produced by Lorenzo di Bonaventura...). The key tragedy at the end of the film is truly moving, one of the few interesting combinations that combine spectacle and character.
Miles Teller
In addition, if Ken Nolan (whose "Black Hawk Project" has a lot of similarities with this film) and Eric Singer's script rely too much on sample characters, familiar dialogue, and relatively sensational plot design to build the character, the actors of this film live out the character's characteristics in a limited space, in addition to the most space-playing and charming roles of Josh Brolin and Jeff Bridges in recent years, Miles Teller's free performance between confidence and disgust is once again eye-catching. Even helped James Berggie Dale and Taylor Ketch, two well-recognized, less-looking actors, gain a strong presence (who knew Kage's comedic talent would be reminiscent of Sam Rockwell?). ), it can also be regarded as a relatively outstanding overall performance in the same type of works in recent years.
Directed by Joseph Kosinski
Deducting the realistic but extremely impactful ending, "Courage to Go Forward" is a relatively traditional biographical film, with a traditional rhythm, a traditional story line, and a traditional friendship. But the success of the film also proves that as long as the right components are handed over to the right people, traditional movies can also have their own new era charm. "Courage To Go Forward" is not an epic poem, it is purely a simple biography focusing on a group of heroes who work hard silently. But as long as the film captures the essence of the characters, how can the audience not be deeply moved?
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