Forrest Gump - Film Review

Forrest Gump Film Essay

In the film Forrest Gump, directed by Robert Zemeckis, a character that I admired was Forrest Gump, who was a very determined, caring and loyal man. The camera angles and dialogue were used to make this character admirable to me.

The reasons I admire Forrest are his determination, his generosity and care for those around him, and because of his loyalty. He was loyal to Jenny as well as his army squadron. He was never with another woman, even though he knew Jenny was off with other men,'hugging and kissing them'.He never loved anyone else except Jenny. I also think he was very loyal to Bubba, as when he got back from Vietnam and made money in shrimping, he gave Bubba's family their share. I admire Forrest because of his determined nature. He never gave up on something he believed was right, or something he wanted. When he first began shrimping, and he 'only caught five', he didn't stop and give up, he went out every day on his boat and 'went shrimping'. When Jenny left him, he didn't give up and cry, he 'went running'. He just 'kept on running' until he knew he'd had enough. He was also very determined that he would get Jenny one day, and he could call her 'my girl'. Forrest Gump was a very caring and generous person. When he made millions out of shrimping with Dan, he didn't horde it and keep it for himself, he shared it with others. He donated a spire to a church, and he gets an ice cream for Lt. Dan when they're in the army hospital, even though Dan puts it in his toilet. He picks up the book that a 'coon' dropped while walking into the school, and handed it back to her. He didn't care she was black, she had dropped her book, so he picked it up.

These reasons were shown to me through two film techniques, camera angles and dialogue. The camera angles in Forrest Gump portray him as a small man in a huge world who has done the 'best with what God gave' him. The long shots of his silhouette against the setting sun while he was running all over America, made him seem very humble but focused man. Also the mid shots of him in Vietnam, walking with his patrol through the rain, and it was all hitting him in the face, but he was undeterred. In Vietnam the close up of Forrest and Bubba sitting against each other so they don't have to lie down, shows Forrest's loyalty to Bubba, that he would never let him down. His caring nature, loyalty and determination were all shown visibly in Vietnam when Forrest's patrol were attacked, and he kept running back in to find Bubba, and he kept coming back out with different people. The wide long shots of him running towards the enemy line, then the close up's while he is looking for Bubba in the forest, then the final long shot of Forrest running out carrying Bubba as the napalm bombs drop