Introduction to Lehman's Story

Introduction to Lehman's Story | Appreciation | Comment

1988 color film 133 minutes

Produced by American Cooper Peters Film Company.

Director: barry levinson Screenwriter: ronald bass barry moreau Photography: john seale Main Actor: dustin hoffman (as Raymond Babbitt/Lehman) Tom Cruise (as Charlie Babbitt) valeria golino (as Susanna)

From 65438 to 0988, this film won four Oscars for best film, best director, best actor and best screenwriter, and two Golden Globes for best drama and best actor in hollywood foreign press association. 1989 golden bear award at west Berlin international film festival

abstract

Charlie Babbitt and his girlfriend Susanna are driving to Palm Springs. This is not a pleasant weekend holiday, but a pleasure in suffering. Charlie borrowed $200,000 from a friend and imported six luxury cars with a bank loan. Although all the cars have buyers, due to the complicated procedures of the Environmental Protection Agency, there are still four cars that cannot be delivered. The buyers are eager to use the cars and want to recover the advance payment, so they buy cars from other car companies, and the bank urges them to pay back the money, so that Charlie has to reduce the price by $5,000 each to hold these buyers back.

Charlie was full of troubles and drove without saying a word. This really pissed Susanna off. She complained that Charlie was cold to her. Charlie retorted angrily that it was inevitable to see a quarrel. Suddenly, Charlie got a call from his assistant Lenny, saying that his father had died and the funeral would be held in Cincinnati the next day.

Susanna soon lost her breath and immediately said that she would accompany Charlie to the funeral. Charlie turned around and headed for Cincinnati. Along the way, he told Susanna for the first time the contradiction between himself and his father. When Charlie was two years old, his mother died of a sudden illness, and he didn't get along well with his father. 16 years old, with straight a's in the exam. He hurried home and asked his father to lend him and his classmates his precious Buick van for an outing, but his father refused sternly. Then he stole the key himself and drove away. Unexpectedly, four cars of the same company were detained because of driving without a license, and all three students were released on bail at home, except Charlie, who was detained for two days because his father deliberately reported the car stolen. From then on, Charlie left angrily and never saw his father again.

On the day when the will was read, Charlie learned that his father had left him only the Buick and some top rose trees to punish his ruthlessness. An unknown beneficiary got his father's inheritance of $3 million. Who is the beneficiary? Why are you deprived of your inheritance and now you need money badly? Charlie was furious and determined to get to the bottom of this matter.

Through the bank, Charlie found that the beneficiary is now in a mental hospital in Walbrook. In a mental hospital, a middle-aged man with glassy eyes jumped into a Buick convertible and kept saying that he always drove on Saturdays. Charlie is confused. From his guardian, Dr. Bruno, he learned that this man was his brother Raymond Babbitt. An autistic person with serious psychological defects but amazing mental arithmetic ability. In Raymond's psychological world, there are dangers everywhere in this society. He deals with any problem he faces in the traditional way, that is, customs and rituals. He has certain rules in his behavior, such as eating, sleeping, dressing and even going to the toilet. All the practices that break these rules will lead to his irritability. He has lived in a mental hospital in Walbrook for more than 20 years, but Charlie knows nothing about it. He doesn't even know that he has such a brother. He only vaguely remembers that when he was a child, it seemed that a man named Lehman often came to see him and sang to him.

Faced with an inheritance of $3 million, Charlie not only got nothing, but even had no custody. Angry and annoyed, he decided to take Raymond to his residence in Los Angeles. At the same time, inform Dr. Bruno that Renault will never be sent back to the hospital unless he gets half of the inheritance.

On the way back to Los Angeles, Raymond showed amazing memory and mental arithmetic. He counted the years, times and casualties of airline plane crashes and resolutely refused to fly. However, Charlie had to set off in a Buick. Susan, who is beautiful and kind, opposes Charlie's rude behavior towards Raymond for the sake of inheritance. She persuaded Charlie to be ineffective and left him angrily. Charlie is in great pain.

Charlie took Ramon and moved on. Ramon insisted on eating, sleeping and watching TV according to his own habits, which exhausted Charlie. Along the way, he found a psychiatrist to treat him, but it didn't help. During the test, psychologists found that his mental arithmetic was extremely fast and accurate, but his intelligence was not as good as that of a child.

That night, Charlie overheard Raymond talking about "Lehman" and found photos of their father Raymond and two-year-old Charlie. "Lehman" is what Charlie called Raymond when he was a child. Raymond clearly remembers the scene when Charlie waved to him behind the window when he left home, and also clearly remembers the lyrics he sang for Charlie when he was a child.

Memories of childhood deepened the affection between the two brothers, and Raymond murmured about Charlie Babbitt from time to time. Moved by his brother's affection, Charlie took a fancy to Raymond and stopped yelling at him.

After discovering Raymond's amazing counting ability, Charlie bought a deck of playing cards, showed him a complete deck of cards and drew seven cards from it. When asked what card he was, Raymond answered quickly and accurately. After repeated experiments, Charlie had a whim and took Raymond on an adventure. He pawned his high-end watch, made a suit for Raymond and himself, dressed up and drove into Las Vegas. They sat at the card table and gambled on blackjack. One night, Raymond won 86,000 yuan, enough for Charlie to pay off his debts. He couldn't help being ecstatic. At this moment, Susanna felt sorry for leaving Charlie when he was in trouble, and returned it to him. She saw that he used Raymond to gamble, and she was very disapproving.

Raymond was curious when he first came into contact with society. He tried to date and dance with a girl. * * * saw him look dull and incoherent, and dodged. In order to let him enjoy a normal life, kind Susan danced with him and taught him to kiss. For Ramon, all this was so novel that he began to understand humor and learn to joke.

Raymond is happy with Charlie. Brotherhood and the colorful world around him have injected vitality into Raymond's life, but he still can't take care of himself. I almost had an accident with the microwave oven once.

The feelings of Charlie and Ramon are connected during the trip, which makes Charlie stop thinking selfishly about the legacy of $654.38+$5,000 and start thinking about Ramon's future life. Dr. Bruno told Charlie that his father clearly designated Bruno to be in charge of the estate in his will, and he had every right not to give Charlie a penny, but he was still willing to give Charlie a check for $250,000 as long as he left him alone. Instead of accepting the check, Charlie told Bruno emotionally that he had given up thinking about money. He just wants to get custody of Raymond and live with his brother.

Under the auspices of psychologist Dr. Mei Sen, Raymond accepted the test. No lawyers, no judges, only doctors Charlie and Bruno care about Raymond. Raymond described the experiences along the way intermittently, clearly expressing his intimacy and attachment to his brother Charlie. He said he would go back to Warbrook Hospital to be with Charlie.

Six days with Ramon made Charlie feel that family is more important than money. He no longer resents his father, nor does he ask for inheritance. He lovingly put Raymond on the train back to Walbrook and promised to see him every two weeks.

The train was about to leave, and Charlie reluctantly said goodbye to Raymond. Raymond went in and came back to see Charlie. I murmured, "One is bad, two are good."

Distinguish and appreciate

Lehman is a profound display of human nature. Through the experience of two brothers knowing each other, making enemies and falling in love, it vividly shows the collision and ups and downs between the secular view of money interests and family ties, and also vividly depicts two characters with different personalities and characteristics.

At the beginning of the film, the director outlined a typical image of young people in American society today. Charlie is smart and energetic. He set up his own company, borrowed money from friends and distributed imported cars. However, in his career, he is in a difficult situation and has little room for activities-funds are tight, scheduling is difficult, environmental protection agencies are not doing well, banks are urging money, and customers return goods. Faced with heavy pressure, he was tired of coping. Although the situation was skillfully controlled by him, it was in jeopardy. If he can't raise 80 thousand cash, he may go bankrupt at any time. In this way, the film shows the audience Charlie's astute personality and his financial difficulties at the beginning, which provided the impetus for him to fight for his inheritance and kidnap Raymond. The play has two other functions. First, the audience has established a sense of identity with Charlie. The market is the battlefield. Charlie started from scratch and worked alone. The audience sympathized with him. In order to survive, even if he does something unusual, the audience will think it is reasonable. Secondly, Charlie's shrewdness made the audience realize that he was overconfident and even self-righteous, which provided a footnote for his later collision and break with his father.

Charlie was pleasantly surprised at the sudden news of his father's death. He hopes to get an inheritance from his father to solve his urgent needs. Unexpectedly, the cruel father gave Raymond all $3 million, leaving only his beautiful old Buick convertible. The reason is that my son hasn't seen him in the future for so many years, and he hasn't even made a phone call, thus automatically cutting off the feelings between father and son. Around this Buick, the director gave birth to a series of dramatic plots. In order to show off to his classmates when he was a child, Charlie stole the car that his father cherished very much, regardless of his father's opposition. The stubborn old man reported the theft to the police, which put Charlie in prison for two days. How could hot-blooded Charlie swallow this tone and run away from home? Two indomitable people collided because of the car problem, which led to the breakdown of the father-son relationship. His father's emotional trauma could not be healed until his death. Charlie left home to get the car, so his father left it to him. This seems to be my son's wish, but it is actually another humiliation and ridicule for Charlie, because he was deprived of his property inheritance right while giving the car. Later, in a mental hospital, Charlie learned that he had a younger brother and sister, and met him through this car. What made Charlie even more angry was that he found that his father refused to let him drive the car, but he took the initiative to let Raymond drive the same car every Saturday. Father's revenge on Charlie and his preference for Raymond are clearly expressed through this car, and the director has repeatedly used this car as a catalyst to strengthen the drama conflict. Father's irrationality has always been shown from Charlie's perspective, which makes the audience more identify with Charlie. Not only do they not hate him, but they subconsciously hope that Charlie can get the inheritance. After all, why does a * * * need so much money? ! At the same time, it also found a "reasonable" basis for the protagonist's motivation to seek money, which led to the misunderstanding of the audience's moral judgment. This is one of the characteristics of Hollywood movies, and the director's genius lies in firmly grasping the emotions of the audience and influencing their love and hate.

Charlie kidnapped Ramon from a mental hospital and drove a Buick from Cincinnati to Los Angeles. During the three-day trip, the director convincingly showed Raymond's character and Charlie's psychological turning point.

Although Ramon is autistic and addicted to self-centered psychological activities, he has amazing mental arithmetic ability. He can recite the names and telephone numbers in the telephone book alphabetically. Yes, many airline planes crashed. Toothpicks were scattered on the ground, and he could see the number at a glance. But he has no value for money. In his view, an ordinary car is no different from an advanced new racing car. He has neither luxury nor desire. He just wants a stable environment and unchangeable rules of life. Once the rules of life were disrupted, he immediately became restless and insane. He shut himself in a familiar environment, full of inexplicable fear of the outside world, as timid as a rabbit and as naive as a child.

When Charlie kidnapped Ramon, he was full of resentment and disgust for his brother, especially when he and Susanna were in the hotel. Ramon entered the room without saying a word and snorted. In addition, Raymond refused to fly, and insisted on certain rules in eating, dressing, watching TV and sleeping, regardless of whether local conditions allowed at that time. It caused Charlie to make arrangements for him all day and complain. However, as the journey continued, the situation changed. Once when Raymond was brushing his teeth, Charlie talked to him and took Raymond's toothbrush. Raymond remembered what Charlie used to say when he was a child: "Interesting teeth, interesting Lehman." This movie "Lehman" (original English is Rain man, which means "Rain Man". Many domestic media use free translation to call this movie, but the transliteration is more accurate) is Cha Xiao's idea that Raymond's falsetto is not allowed, but it doesn't stop there. It also has rich emotional connotation, that is, it is an "indicator" for Charlie to recall his childhood with his brother, and it is also a sign that the two brothers once lived in harmony. The film Lehman evokes Charlie's warm memories. The director skillfully uses the photos of Charlie and Raymond taking photos with their father, and uses the plots of little Charlie waving goodbye to Lehman when Raymond left home and singing with Raymond when he was a child to strengthen this feeling. Warm memories brought the two brothers closer together.

The film then arranged a big victory at Raymond Casino. Charlie used Ramon's amazing memory and mental arithmetic ability to win $86,000 in Las Vegas and made brilliant achievements. Charlie used the money to pay off his car loan and saved his company. Charlie paid off his debts, refreshed and grateful to his brother. Later, he kept his promise, let Ramon drive on the runway, taught him to dance and played jokes on him. Through a series of activities, the affection between the two brothers has been consolidated. Gradually, Charlie changed, and the consideration of money gradually gave way to the concern of brotherhood. He also accepted his brother emotionally and began to hope to live with him and help him. At the same time, he forgave his father and realized that he was also at fault: he hated his father too much and never wrote a letter for many years, which greatly hurt the old man's heart. Freed from the bondage of money, Charlie's spirit has been sublimated, and he no longer thinks only of himself all day. The director's arrangement for his reunion with Susanna can prove this.

Susanna is a beautiful and kind girl and Charlie's girlfriend. In the film, she is also the embodiment of justice and humanity. She loves Charlie, but strongly condemns him for kidnapping and using Raymond to get his inheritance. She left in a fit of pique twice, but whenever Charlie was in trouble, she always appeared at his side in time. When Ramon's first "date" failed, she was willing to be the girl, dance and kiss with him, and let Ramon try the joy of life. She is like an angel, leaving when Charlie's personality degenerated because of his loss of conscience; Come back in time when he returns to humanity. Her departure and return can be said to be proof of Charlie's personality change. This character not only plays a role in exposing and lashing secular thoughts and social heresy in the film, but also enriches the emotional appeal of the film.

The story of this film is thin, but it has achieved great success, and won the Oscar title of best film with 1989. All this is inseparable from the excellent performances of the actors.

Ramon, a fragile, short and reserved character, is keen on digital games and baseball games, never hurts others, and lives in a constant environment. He doesn't talk much, just a few words over and over, and his movements are even less. His shoulders are tilted and his neck is stiff. Walking with constant steps, I like to keep shaking my body. Dustin hoffman, a famous movie star, plays a rigid but lovely person vividly with his superb acting skills and amazing understanding. He plays a mentally deficient person, but gives him humorous emotions, so that the audience will not feel bored and dull after reading it, but will laugh off some of Raymond's actions and language from time to time. Especially in the two scenes in Las Vegas, his performance was amazing. In the first scene, Raymond walks into the casino curiously, feeling nothing around him, but once he sits at the gambling table, he begins to use his mental arithmetic skills. Watching this bookworm win a great victory again and again not only stunned the people in the play, but also made the audience laugh. In the second scene, Hoffman shows the audience a whim of a mentally retarded person, who suddenly dates, dances and kisses a woman, so that the audience can see that Raymond actually has secular desires like ordinary people, and he is more sympathetic to this role. Hoffman's performance is so vivid that people can't help but be amazed. Hoffman's quiet and skillful performance, coupled with Tom Cruise's fiery and exaggerated acting skills, is in sharp contrast, which makes a film with a dull story ups and downs and full of interest.