Denzel Washington in Man on Fire By Alami
An unlikely blockbuster comes out this week in the form of the third in the Equalizer series. The films based on the 1980s television series starring Edward Woodward have all made modest profits (the previous two made about $190 million worldwide on a budget about a third of that), garnered respectable, if unimpressive, reviews, and generally meet demand. for an R-rated action movie revolving around a charismatic male actor: in this case, Denzel Washington.
The Equalizer 3 takes protagonist Robert McCall from the US to southern Italy, but otherwise everything happens as usual; lots of inventive and well-chosen violence, and the film's impact depends almost entirely on the significant screen presence of its protagonist.
Washington, now in his sixties, remains one of the most interesting actors in Hollywood. While virtually every one of his peers has received a Marvel or Star Wars dollar or happily accepted the chance to appear in prestigious television series, he seems completely uninterested in appearing in films in which he has to play the second banana. He is a star and expects to be treated accordingly.
A supporting appearance in Gladiator 2 reuniting him with American Gangster director Ridley Scott might seem like an exception, but since he was enticed by the promise of a «cool role,» few would argue that he would steal the show in the film. its fullness.
However, while Washington, who has won two Oscars and been nominated for eight more as an actor and producer, may consider appearing on The Equalizer as «his» overtly commercial franchise — in much the same way that Tom Cruise associated himself With Mission: Impossible Movies, he remains a rarity among contemporary actors, as his presence is consistently serious and weighty in films that both deserve his talent and don't.
Over the past few years, successes such as Joel Coen's recent adaptation of Macbeth and his third directorial feature, the 2016 adaptation of August Wilson's play Fences, have been remembered, while his mistakes have been quickly forgotten. If you haven't seen the 2021 serial killer drama Little Things, which fell victim to post-pandemic release planning, don't worry, no one else has. And for the few that did care, Washington's quintessentially committed and tense performance as an obsessed detective far eclipsed the film in which it was featured.
He began his career on stage, where he returns when he gets the chance – most recently in the central role of Hickey in Eugene O'Neill's revival of The Iceman Comes – and first came to international attention when he played anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko. in Richard Attenborough's 1987 drama Freedom Cry. The well-intentioned film was typical of its time (and its director) in that it had to tell Biko's story through the eyes of a white South African journalist; in this case, Donald Woods played by Kevin Kline, who at the time was a significantly more famous actor than his co-star.
And yet it was Washington who completely eclipsed everyone by being nominated for his first Oscar and receiving rave reviews for his Biko. No wonder he won his first Academy Award two years later for his powerful performance in the war drama Glory as a stubborn slave-turned-soldier, once again the most watchable and action-packed aspect of the film.
Denzel Washington as Malcolm X Photo: Getty
Washington has always cited Sydney Poitier as his mentor and role model, and it's not hard to see Poitier's influence in both his choice of roles and his on-screen persona. However, while Poitier has played morally upright characters in dramas like In the Heat of the Night and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, Washington has always been happy to take on more morally ambiguous roles, even in his self-proclaimed «biographer» status. .
If Cry for Freedom and Glory made him a serious actor in both senses of the word, Spike Lee's Malcolm X biopic made him a star. Whatever you think about this or Lee's film, there was no doubt that Washington's multi-layered and multifaceted performance as Malcolm, which never succumbed to mere reverence but constantly questioned the political activist's motives and methods, was its climax.
For inexplicable reasons, he failed to win the Academy Award for Best Actor, losing to «hoo-ha» Al Pacino in «Scent of a Woman»; Lee voiced the opinion of many when he commented, «I'm not the only one who thinks Denzel got robbed.» However, Washington himself denied this, saying: “Well, I voted for Al Pacino. He was nominated eight times and did not win. I've been nominated three times and already won.»
Denzel Washington and Gene Hackman in Crimson Tide Photo: Alamy
At a time when the only money-making black Hollywood stars were Morgan Freeman and Wesley Snipes (who often played either noble buddies or undemanding action roles), Washington launched a one-man attack on the still-white echelons of the industry. . Much of his success is evidenced by the fact that the many roles he played at the time, whether as Tom Hanks' homophobic lawyer in Philadelphia, his naval lieutenant in Crimson Tide, or his journalist in John Grisham's adaptation of The Case of the Pelican ”, were originally conceived as white characters.
But Washington's innate charisma and charm meant that the choice of the colorblind — at a time when America was in a state of deep racial tension following the recent Rodney King race riots — seemed utterly undeniable. However, Washington also made sure to play heroic or at least characters deserving of redemption, perhaps mindful of his status as a role model for the black community. Like Poitier, he specialized in playing people to be looked up to and even idolized.
Things changed dramatically in 2001 when he played his first notorious villain, flamboyantly corrupt cop Alonzo Harris in Training Day; the first of five collaborations with director Antoine Fuqua, creator of The Equalizer. The film, which was recently re-released in UK cinemas, gives Washington a gleefully lewd and scenery-chewing role in which he knocks every other actor off the screen, and duly earned him his first Best Actor Oscar.
It was rumored that Russell Crowe, the presumed favorite for a role in A Beautiful Mind, offended Academy voters when he insulted a Baft Awards producer for interrupting his televised commencement speech. And yet Washington deserved this award, and in a part that grew richer with age. He refused to admit that Harris was just a bad guy and rebuked one journalist who asked him if he enjoyed playing villains. «As an actor in the theater, you are taught that you never play the bad guy,» he said. “You have to love yourself just the way you are. You can't say, «Oh, I'm a bad guy.» How will you play it?»
He's never played such a dark role again, not even in American Gangster, where he's quite compelling as the all-powerful drug lord Frank Lucas. Instead, Washington has specialized in high-profile thrillers for the past two decades, often playing morally ambiguous characters such as his alcoholic pilot in Flight or, indeed, his recent performance as Macbeth. He's also gained a reputation as one of the most discriminating actors in the industry — hence the lack of Marvel and the like on his resume — saying, «My career is based on rejection.»
Washington has developed a harmonious collaboration with director Tony Scott, with whom he made a total of five films. They were all entertaining — and many would argue Crimson Tide is a masterpiece — but their most atypical collaboration was 2004's Man on Fire, a dark revenge thriller starring Washington as a former CIA officer. tracking down a kidnapped girl.
Denzel Washington with his Philadelphia co-star Tom Hanks in 2002. Photo: Reuters
Forget Liam Neeson and The Possessed, this uncompromisingly violent thriller not only showcases Washington's darkest performances outside of Training Day, but it's hard to disagree with Christopher Walken, as Creasy's former colleague Wrayburn, when he proclaims, «The Art of Creasy is death. He's going to write his masterpiece.» Underappreciated when it was released, it is now widely regarded as one of Washington's finest watches.
Washington remains himself, and no one else can dictate to him. This explains why he acted as a mentor to Will Smith — another actor who broke color barriers in his career — and continued to support him even after Smith's outburst at the 2022 Oscars, reportedly telling him: «At the crucial moment, be watch out, that's when the devil will come for you.»
Yet, after four decades of illustrious career, no devil appears to have appeared in Washington. His personal life is a model of honesty; he has been married to his wife Pauletta Pearson for 40 years, has four children with her (including Tenet star John David), and is a practicing Christian who claims to read the Bible daily. He deliberately avoided speaking out on sensitive political and racial issues such as the Black Lives Matter movement, although his comments in 2021 were about police officers: «If it wasn't for them, we wouldn't have the freedom to complain.» about what they are doing» was taken as a veiled rebuke by those who supported the «protection of the police» movement.
And a remark he made in 2019 while promoting his film Roman J Israel: «If the father is not at home , the boy will find his father on the street. I've seen this in my generation before me, and every time since… if you're raised by the streets, the judge becomes your mother and the prison becomes your home» have been widely taken up by conservatives as suggesting that Washington was one of them.
However, whatever his personal views, most would consider it irrelevant to the exciting and varied performances this great actor continues to put on screen. He may be a finer dramatic actor than a comic actor — his forgotten 1990 comedy State of the Heart was a rare blunder, not least because of its verging on racist jokes — but he remains one of the few people who can still ensure that the film is worth watching simply because it has its presence within it.
In 2020, the New York Times named him the greatest actor of the 21st century, and in 2022 he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, joining an elite group of performers that includes Tom Hanks, Robert De Niro and, inevitably , Poitiers. While The Equalizer 3 is unlikely to be remembered as Washington's finest work, it will still be exciting and watchable for as long as it's on screen — like pretty much everything else he's done.
Свежие комментарии