Trumbo Film Feature by Bojana Duric
It’s all about the commies and the scandalous Hollywood blacklist in this biographical drama.
Bryan Cranston stars as Dalton Trumbo in Jay Roach’s film Trumbo. The plot follows the story of how the academy-award winning screenwriter was forced to hide behind made up identities when writing screenplays after being blacklisted as a communist threat, which became a propagated fear of the American public after WWII.
Cranston delivers yet another dynamic performance as one of Hollywood’s greatest talents. Seriously though, how many of us are still going through Breaking Bad withdrawal? From the way he held onto his cigarette, to the way he slouched over his typewriter with a drink in hand; Cranston delivers every intricate detail for his transformation as the eccentric and talented screenwriter.
The film shows how Trumbo and other writers in Hollywood were fighting for worker’s rights. The big production companies had little to do with the overall creation process of the films being made, yet they were reaping all the benefits. Even though Trumbo was making a respectable living when comparing to some of his fellow screenwriters, he stood by them to fight for the overall picture that the ones doing all the work should get more of the reward. After going to prison, the writers on the blacklist found it impossible to find any work in Hollywood. They were tainted and branded as commies and people didn’t want to be associated with them. Yet, producers and directors began employing the blacklist writers in secret because they were in need of quality writers, and those on the blacklist, especially Trumbo, were among the best. Not only did they get these writers to become aliases in the film industry, but they also took advantage of them with low wages in return.
The appearances throughout the film did not only bring back the nostalgia of some of the greats in film history but it also showed a different side to them and what they embodied off camera. John Wayne, played by David James Elliot, makes his appearance as an anti-communist mascot not just for Hollywood, but for all of America as well. He was the epitome of the American cowboy who represented the country’s core values and beliefs. The film shows how much he was against Trumbo and the other writers’ communist ideologies. Another great performance was by Helen Mirren, who played Hedda Hopper – an American actress and gossip columnist who made it her mission to name all the communists publicly destroying the writer’s name and image. Then there was Kirk Douglas, played by Dean O’Gorman, one of the actors in Hollywood that hired Trumbo to write the screenplay for the very familiar film called Spartacus. After working with Trumbo and acknowledging his incredible talent, he wanted to put an end to the Hollywood blacklist so that the writers didn’t have to hide their names and finally get the recognition they deserved.
Trumbo comes out in cinemas on February 5th. For more information click here.
Trumbo Film Feature by Bojana Duric
