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Forrest Gump - Cinematography Review

 

            Forrest Gump came in 1994, based on a novel by the same name. The film was directed by Robert Zemeckis who had in his resume science fiction comedy trilogy Back to the Future and animated family movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988). As per his background, Robert was interested in state-of-the-art special effects including computer graphics into live action footage. However, in Forrest Gump, although he kept to the script using special effects, he directed with a more dramatic and narrative purpose. The combined approach earned him a bunch of Oscars for the movie, including best director, film and actor. .
             A movie full of details, special effects, locations and stars could only result in a beautiful story with a narrative that takes us on a journey of forty years in the history of the United States. In Time magazine, Forrest Gump was described as "a romantic epic starring Tom Hanks as a slow but sweet-souled low IQ Alabama boy who lucks into nearly every headline from political scandals to the Vietnam War" (Corliss and Grace). Sally Field plays his mom who gave the best quotes and made his life so much easier by helping him fit into society as an equal. Mykelti Williamson and Gary Sinise, "Bubba" and Liutenant Dan were more than supporting actors, it was their chemistry together on set that made the audience go on an emotional journey with laughs and tears. Let's not forget Jenny, his childhood love, one of the three most important persons in his life. Entertainment Weekly had an interview with Tom Hanks who described the character perfectly, "To say Gump is of limited intelligence doesn't do him justice, he's a man who has faith in three things: God, his mama, and the woman he loves" (Pearson Jr.).
             Exploring this movie technically will take many pages of analysis. Instead of going deep into each sequence an overall view of each technical aspect will give an idea of how great this movie was and the importance of the construction of the narrative.


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