Review of The Terminal PDF

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my review of the film The terminal
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Review of “The Terminal” by S. Spielberg “The Terminal” is a film about simplicity and honesty. This movie indeed doesn`t try to pretend. It tells us, “Watch and enjoy the moment.” “The Terminal” makes you laugh, but it does it unintentionally. Characters are not playing the roles “good and bad”; they live their own lives. It is one of those few films when, after viewing, you find yourself in a light contented state with a taste of bright sadness on the tip of your tongue. It is all about “The Terminal.” The place not to rush but to rest and wait. This picture is without explosions or streetfights, without dramatically increasing action, yet it`s marvelously exciting to watch. It shows the life of the all-day-awake airport terminal compared to the leisurely, measured life of the main character, Victor Navorski. Victor is a citizen of Krakozia, the fictional country in Eastern Europe. When he flies from his country to New York, a coup is taking place in his country. Now Victor is stuck in the airport`s terminal and can`t return to Krakozia or set foot in New York. He is obliged to stay inside the JFK terminal until his country gets recognition from the US. And this takes a little while. Victor has a dream. His father, a jazz lover, once saw a copy of the “A Great Day in Harlem”1 photograph and fired up the idea of collecting autographs from all artists portrayed there. He managed to collect almost all of them, but one signature that remained when he died was Benny Golson`s, legendary saxophonist, who lives and performs in New York. Victor`s main drive is finding this artist and getting his signature to honor his father`s memory. But even on the way to his father`s dream, he stays true to his values no matter what. Even when Frank, the Active Field Commissioner of the JFK, offers Victor to confess in fear of returning home to get him refugee status, Navorski refuses to lie. The character says: “(Krakozia) Is home. I am not afraid of my home”2. Victor plays by his own rules: rules of honesty, nobility, simplicity. And that`s how he wins. Navorski is honest: that`s why he doesn`t try to break through the doors to New York. He`s noble: he was ready to sacrifice his and his father`s holy grail to save Gupta, the janitor, from deportation to India, where he would go to jail. Finally, he is simple: he doesn`t lie and is open to everyone. Tom Hanks, as the main character, is doing a spectacular job here. He very accurately transmits all development of Victor Navoski throughout the picture. The hero and the acting of Tom Hanks seem to develop

simultaneously, which makes it extremely pleasing to watch. As Roger Ebert noted, Tom Hanks in “The Terminal” does the same thing as in “Forrest Gump”3. People love Forrest Gump because of his honest simplicity. The same is true about Victor Navoski. He will wait all time needed.

Works cited 1

Art, Kane. “A Great Day in Harlem”, 1958.

2

Spielberg, Steven. “The Terminal”, 2004. Timecode: 46:48.

3

Ebert, Roger. “The Terminal”, RogerEbert.com, June 18, 2004, 12 par, www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-terminal-2004...