Truth in the person of one man The executive producer of this picture and essentially driven by the acting force of this film - Steve McQueen, in collaboration with director George Schaefer, perfectly transferred the work of the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen "Enemy of the People", to the screen, so much so that the film is powerful, hard, hard but just carves a mark on the soul and causes bitterness. Bitterness, bitterness for how cowardly and selfish society is sometimes. For the sake of money, it is ready to sacrifice other people, their health, and sometimes their lives. Written in the 1880s, the play and its incarnation in 1978 became relevant in our time. Despite the almost 130-year history of the plot of this work, the best personifies today’s public.
What should a man do when he realizes he is right? How far must he go, how many sacrifices must be made in the name of the truth? Ibsen argued that there can be no shades of gray when it comes to issues such as truth, truth must be the same in the absolute and must be preserved, but the truth is that honesty and sincerity are poorly accepted by the silent majority.
As Dr. Thomas Stockman was the embodiment of morality, and Steve McQueen was throughout his film career a symbol of detachment from the crowd, its laws, principles, morals, but like Stockman, he believed in the good and just, in honor and dignity, conscience and truth, and almost always, in almost all cinematic images, he acted as a white spot, one can say rose against the background of indifference and corruption, greed and monetary materialism, herd unity of the crowd. It was a real force of pure, unconquered spirit against society, against snobbery.
Strange to say, but during the filming of this film, McQueen with all his strength, like a flower blooming, revealed his brilliant potential. Such depth, such subtlety, such inhuman breakthrough, such masterful penetration into the study of the personal state of a person cut off from society because of the truth was not even in one of his strongest films - "Moth".
It is a pity that the fate of this film was predetermined, for the sake of social political correctness, the tape was not perceived by even the most ardent fans, and the film itself was even banned from screening in theaters. This film is still available only on video and very rarely, according to rumors, it is shown on Western TV channels.
But not only did Steve McQueen’s spiritual world change, but before filming, he made an incredibly strong recovery and grew a huge beard. He changed his appearance so much that many fans did not recognize his favorite in the brutal and colorful Dr. Stockman. About McQueen spoke only the flaming brilliance of blue eyes - the actor was so enthusiastic about the creation of this film that he literally put his soul and emotions into it. And this love literally saturated the whole film!
Steve McQueen brilliantly quoted and portrayed the character of Ibsen's play. I fell in love with this film by the great actor of the golden age of Hollywood not only because it is culturally diamond-worthy. And because “Enemy of the People” is an incredibly brilliant reflection, a kind of apotheosis of the work of the great American actor, who set himself not just a monument, but a monument in the history of world cinema. It was a real triumph in his career, a real breakthrough, and although he was poorly appreciated abroad, this masterpiece was appreciated by me. This film has a right to be seen, and hopefully through the magic of television, someday it will be in our country.
10 out of 10