#robert bilott

[that-intj]

Fuck is not a word I use lightly. FUCK DuPont and 3M.

[moviesframes]

Dark Waters (2019)

Directed by Todd Haynes

Cinematography by Edward Lachman

[stillunusual]

Dark Waters @ Home, Manchester 2/3/2020

[tonybannerblog]

Participant shared this sweet video of Mark during his visit to North Carolina

[scottbrownmoviereviews]

DARK WATERS FILM REVIEW

Dark Waters, directed by Todd Haynes, follows lawyer Robert Bilott (Mark Ruffalo) during his twenty-year legal battle against Dupont.

The most interesting thing about this film is that it seemed to be another along the lines of Spotlight. In a way it is, but it’s also a very different film from Spotlight. This is not a fun film to watch by any means, but it’s a fantastic one and is a story that is infuriating.

True stories, well “based on” true stories, such as this film are things that are hard to tackle when it comes to elongated subject matter, such as this story. How can you tell this story that spans three different decades that still provides enough information to never make the audience feel lost? It’s difficult to do and this manages to do it incredibly well. Every bit of information that the audience needs to know is present throughout the film and it makes the exposition dumps interesting. Haynes doesn’t an excellent job of balancing out information and drama with his time jumps and effective use of time. It creates this underlying sense of dread throughout without doing anything other than jumping in time.

The performances throughout are phenomenal as well, Mark Ruffalo especially. This film hinges on Ruffalo’s performance and he carries the weight of the world on it. His performance is quiet and subtle for most of the film, making his outbursts of emotion hit even harder. The supporting cast is great as well, namely Anne Hathaway. Hathaway is honestly such an underrated actress and she’s fantastic here. Her character isn’t much more than “the wife” character that is ever-present in films like this, but she elevates the role spectacularly.

The only real problem with this film is with how it treats its supporting characters. Yes, this is Robert Bilott’s story, but having good supporting characters is important in a film like this. So while every performance is good, the characters themselves often get thrown to the wayside very suddenly and either only seen once or twice throughout the rest of the film or never seen again. It’s odd to do in a film like this.

Overall, Dark Waters is a great film that details the legal battle between Robert Bilott and Dupont in a brutal, heartbreaking manner.

9.5/10

Thanks for reading!

[ncfcatalyst]

Dive into "Dark Waters": new movie shares the legal battle between DuPont and alumnus Robert Bilott

Dive into “Dark Waters”: new movie shares the legal battle between DuPont and alumnus Robert Bilott

Robert Bilott, a 1987 graduate of New College and member of the New College Alumni Association Board of Directors, has been regarded on Twitter as a “real-life superhero” by actor Mark Ruffalo. Ruffalo plays Bilott in the new legal thriller “Dark Waters,” based on the true events of Bilott’s 18 year-long battle with DuPont, one of the world’s largest chemical companies.  

Todd Haynes directed…

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[nanndemonai]

馬克魯法洛將與導演陶德海恩斯合作杜邦訴訟案改編電影《Dry Run》

曾經以另類的 Bob Dylan 傳記電影《搖滾啟示錄》在威尼斯影展拿下評審團特別獎的美國導演 Todd Haynes 至今已是影壇公認的電影大師，他過往執導的如《安然無恙》、《絲絨金礦》與《遠離天堂》等作品皆是受到時間考驗且成為眾人口中稱之經典的電影。而在 2015 年於坎城影展中帶來的新片《Carol》更是將他再度的推上了事業高峰，這部由 Cate Blanchett 與 Rooney Mara 主演的女同志愛情電影擄獲了各界影評人與觀眾的心，不只在坎城影展拿下高度評價，更將飾演女主角的 Rooney Mara 推上了坎城影后之位。而後《Carol》的好評也一路延燒到了美國獎季，可惜向來不受學院會員青睞的 Todd Haynes 最終在奧斯卡的六項提名中缺席最佳導演與最佳影片，著實的成為了當年的最大遺珠。

▼ 《Carol》電影劇照

然而，在以《Carol》站上導演生涯頂端的 Todd Haynes 卻在相隔兩年後的新片《奇光下的秘密》跌了一跤。這部再次攜手多次合作的大滿貫影后 Julianne Moore 且讓他重回坎城影展的《奇光下的秘密》雖然仍取得了普遍優良的評價，但也被認為是導演生涯中最為平俗的作品。《奇光下的秘密》在當年原本被 Amazon 預備做為奧斯卡的主推作品，可惜最終也幾乎的在獎季中銷聲匿跡，僅有配樂等部分技術類別被少數的影評人獎肯定。雖說《奇光下的秘密》的成績不盡理想，但在將近一年後的今天 Todd Haynes 也已經開始籌備他的下一部電影，並且在近日首度的曝光了消息。

這部新片名為《Dry Run》，由智利籍的劇作家 Mario Correa 重新編寫來自電視劇《謊言堂》編劇 Matthew Carnahan 的劇本，而最初是取材自 Nathaniel Rich  筆下於 2016 年在紐約時報雜誌中所刊登的一篇專欄文章《The Lawyer Who Became DuPont》。

眼尖的人應該已經發現了關鍵字，也就是原文標題中的「杜邦（DuPont）」。沒錯，這部新片《Dry Run》即是聚焦於曾經喧囂一時對於美國化學大廠杜邦的訴訟案。劇情描述美國律師 Robert Bilott 這位曾為杜邦處理長達八年訴訟案的律師卻對公司提出了環境訴訟，最終更演變為一個長達 10 年以上的長期抗戰。

《Dry Run》將由長期關注環境議題的《驚爆焦點》奧斯卡提名男演員「浩克」Mark Ruffalo 與才剛分別以製作拿下威尼斯金獅獎的《羅馬》以及多倫多影展觀眾票選獎的《幸福綠皮書》背後的幕後功臣 Participant Media 一同擔任製作人與製作公司。而其中 Mark Ruffalo 有意親自飾演劇中的男主角律師 Robert Bilott，但目前尚未正式定案。  

▼ 《幸福綠皮書》電影劇照

這次接下《Dry Run》導演職位的 Todd Haynes 過往執導的電影大多是由自己所開發的項目，很少像這樣公開的接下其他製作公司開發的新電影計畫。此外，目前看來《Dry Run》所可能走的法庭劇類型並非導演過往所擅長執導的電影類型，但在以前的作品中如《遠離天堂》和《Carol》中卻也可以看見類似法庭劇的相關元素。 

導演 Todd Haynes 除了《Dry Run》之外還有其他電影正在籌備當中，包括聚焦於知名樂團「地下絲絨」以及其成員 Lou Reed 的紀錄片。此外他也曾是執導知名美國爵士女歌手 Peggy Lee 傳記電影的人選，當時傳出將由《那時候，我只剩下勇敢》的奧斯卡影后 Reese Witherspoon 主演，但從 2014 年公布至今尚未有進一步的新消息。