When Happiness Comes Knocking is a typical American inspirational story. The story takes place in the 1980s, when the American economy is in the doldrums. Chris Gardner (Will), a young man in his late teens, is a man who has been in his teens for a long time. Gardner (Will Smith), who is 28 years old, is only able to get a job at the age of 28, but he is not able to get one. Smith), at the age of 28 just met his father for the first time, determined to give the child to be a good father. But the career is not good, life downtrodden, can only run around every day in major hospitals, selling high-density scanners, by chance to learn that to do stockbrokers do not need a college degree, as long as you know the numbers and interpersonal relationships can be done, then took the initiative to find the manager of the Witte Securities Jay Twistle, and with their own persistence, extraordinary witticisms, and got an internship opportunity. But there were 20 interns, and they had to work without pay for six months, and at the end, only one could be hired, which was really hard for Chris Gardner. That was too much for Chris Gardner. At that point, his wife left for New York City on her own because she couldn't stand the poverty, and Chris Gardner and his son left for New York City because they were so desperate to live in poverty. Chris Gardner and his son also because of the extreme poverty and lost their own homes, living a life of hustle and bustle, he sold high-density scanners, while working as an intern, and later had to go to the church every day to line up, to get the church relief housing. But Chris Gardner was always optimistic. But Chris Gardner was always optimistic and taught his son not to be discouraged, especially in the basketball court: Don't let people tell you that you won't make it, not even me. Because of the extreme poverty, Chris Gardner even went to sell xie xie. Because of the extreme poverty, Chris Gardner even went to sell xie, "Kung Fu does not fail", Chris Gardner finally with his own hard work. Chris Gardner eventually worked his way up to a job as a stockbroker, and then started his own company.
Metaphor #1: In addition to a story that inspires a lot of motivation, the movie also has some great details that are thought-provoking. There are some appropriate metaphors in these details, which are organized here in the hope of enlightening readers and viewers.
First of all, the opening credits of the story flash back to the Declaration of Independence, which deals with happiness: all men are created equal, and God has endowed them with the inalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. In other words, happiness is written into the Declaration of Independence of the United States, and everyone has the right to pursue their own happiness. This is a reflection of the American understanding of the American Dream. In the movie, the main character Gardner mentioned the part of the Declaration of Independence about liberty and the pursuit of happiness again in a solo form, "Thomas Jefferson mentions happiness a couple times in the Declaration of Independence. May seem like a strange word to be in that document,but he was sort of...He was an artist", and he thus concludes that "Maybe happiness is just something for people to chase after ......", it can be seen that the Declaration of Independence in the movie proclaims the very theme of the movie: that everyone has the right to pursue his own happiness, and only through unremitting efforts can he obtain it. In addition, the word "happiness" is misspelled as "happinessness" on the wall of the kindergarten his son attends, and although Gardner keeps telling other people about it, they don't do anything about it. The misspelling of "happiness" as "happiness" is also a metaphor for the movie's understanding of happiness: whether happiness is y or I. There is no why in happiness (y=why), only I, meaning that everyone can be happy. I am the only one who can be happy.
Metaphor 2: The Rubik's Cube. The Rubik's Cube has appeared many times in the movie, and the skill of playing the Rubik's Cube shows Chris's good mathematical talent and spatial thinking potential, which is the first time that these talents won the supervisor's favor, and gave the main character the possibility of knocking on the door of "happiness". For Chris, the Rubik's Cube is undoubtedly a brick that opens the door to happiness. At the same time, the many facets of the Rubik's Cube imply the vagaries of fate. Even though Chris gets an internship, his path to success is not always smooth.
Metaphor #3: High-density scanners. The high-density scanner that Chris sells is inexplicably seen as a time machine by the homeless man at first sight, which is a metaphor for time drawing a line of correspondence with destiny. He always wants to go back in time to the 17th century, which, in the hobo's view, is the good old days that he can never go back to. Utilizing the hobo's stubborn understanding, the film draws out the imagery of longing for the reversal of time. For the Chris family, the past is a time to be remembered, and the movie drips with such words. The past was difficult, but at least the family was harmonious, there was cozy housing, there were moments of joy in life, such as the moment when they met the stock manager, and there were scenes of love between husband and wife when the family was well off without the agent's high-density scanner, and when the wife did not have to force herself to find a job where she had to work 16 hours a day, and she did not have to abandon them. Thinking about these old times can not return to the time, only memories, and the reality will not change because of memories, memories are only to make up for the brutal life, as if there is no vitality of the grandmother memories of youthful love, can not make up for the reality of the gap. The longing for the reversal of time reflects the helplessness and long endurance of reality. This imagery deepens the portrayal of Chris's situation. On Christmas Day, he and his son were stranded at the station. They were not lucky enough to find a place to sleep, and they had to sit aimlessly on the benches of the subway station with their unsold instruments. The son was depressed, and the father was afraid that the boy would lose his faith in life. So he told the boy: My device is a time machine, once we press the button, we can go back to the past. The child did not believe it at first, but the father found a way to trigger the child's imagination, thinking that they went back to the Jurassic era of dinosaurs, the child was impressed, and the father together with the imagination, and dinosaurs began a game of chase. He used his humor, made up this story of the dinosaur era to lure his son to the public **** toilet, through that cold night, embracing his son, with his feet against the stubborn knocking of other people, he left hot tears for the first time, silent, what he was thinking about, tough predicament . Self-pity . Or of the good old days that had never returned. In their longest . For one night, the noble man who never begged for anything shed tears.
It is the same instrument that Chris loses twice in the movie, and loses it again. Each time he loses it, it is worse for him, and each time he desperately tries to get it back, he is relieved. The instrument represents happiness, which Chris chases and surpasses again and again.
Metaphor #4: Running. The film has a number of running: chasing a hippie girl twice, running to a job interview, running away from a cab chase, chasing a homeless man, getting off the elevator in two places, and losing the instrument twice ...... Chris is running for his livelihood, and for the realization of his love. Because the harsh reality of the conditions do not allow him to give his son a good education and the child deserves the happiness of food and clothing. The running imagery is full of dynamic, athletic posture, the rapid switching of scenes, the strong sense of movement of the picture makes the atmosphere of the drama tense, can create new dramatic conflicts, such as running away from the cab driver when he ran, the driver is chasing, Chris went back to get the fallen high-density scanner, almost caught by the driver, he ran across the square, the car is chasing, the car at any time there is a possibility of crossing over. Chris finally ran down the downshift elevator, just breathed a sigh of relief, behind the driver and chased, he had no choice but to run panting on the subway is about to close, but the high-density scanner was clamped outside the door, there is no way but to give up the hands of the scanner, which happened to be picked up by the homeless. A small story, because running, the scene was quickly switched, the camera increased the sense of movement, the screen leaps, Chris's vitality from the wide screen spilled out, inspired the audience's heart, as for the rhythm. The state of life of running. Running has become Chris's state of life. Everyone is chasing what they want, life is dynamic, static life is a pool of stagnant water, just the natural loss of time, no more meaning of life. Only by ceaselessly pursuing can we reach our dreams. In the down-and-out disillusionment, Chris did not lose himself, he gave himself a dream and the future, standing in the basketball court, holding up the barbed wire, he said to his tiny son when the dream comes to be sure to hold on to it, and definitely not let him slip away. Will. Smith (Chris's character) said in an interview about his role in the movie that you just have to be able to create something and not deny it, and you'll gain more power. No matter what the reality is, you have to rise above it and you have to believe that success is on the table. Chris is in that state of life.
He weaves along the busy road, flustered, rushed and woefully out of shape, his black suit seemingly greasy and clunky, his tie short and swinging across his chest like a rag as he runs. There was no capitalizing on giving up, and his athletic frame ran out of focus. His voice rings out, in just such a scene, or perhaps his memories, "This is part of my life, and this part is called exhaustion." In English it is call for money or something (对金钱或其他东西的追逐), translated into Chinese, "疲于奔命" has some more helplessness and tension. The good thing is that he is young, strong and has responsibilities and dreams in his heart. Metaphor 5: Fables. In the movie, the son once told Chris a fable. One day a man was drowning in the water when a boat came by and asked him, "Need help ." , to which he replied, "No thanks, God will save me." Then another boat came along and asked him, "Do you need help?" He replied, "No thanks, God will save me." Then he drowned and went to heaven and he asked, "God, why didn't you save me." God replied, "Didn't I send two big ships to save you . Fool!" Chris was too busy traveling to make any comment on his son's account. But this seemingly unintentional parable confirms Chris's path to self-improvement and self-salvation.
Metaphor 6: Tears. Men don't cry, yet Chris has shed tears more than once in this movie. There are two memorable occasions. Once in a public toilet in a subway station, Chris sat on the floor with his arm around his son and put his foot against the stubborn knocking of others, and he left hot tears for the first time, tears of bitterness, confusion about the future, but also a release of pressure. The other time was at the end of the movie, when he learned that he was hired, shed tears of excitement, which is the joy of success, tears of happiness, especially after the trials and tribulations.
Metaphor 7: The choir's moving rendition of "Lord, don't move that mountain; give me strength to climb it. My burdens, they gets so heavy, seem hard to bear, but I won't give up.Because you promised me.You.d meet me at the altar of prayer." The lyrics suggest that the mountain is a place where people can meet, but it is a place where people can meet, and it is a place where people can meet. You.d meet me at the altar of prayer." The lyrics imply Chris's determination to overcome the difficulties and defeat the burdens. mountain,stumbling block refers to the external heavy difficulties; burdens refers to Chris's physical and mental exhaustion. But he expresses his determination "I won't give up".
Metaphor 8: A conversation between father and son at the end of the movie.
Son: Hey, Dad, listen to this. Knock, knock.
Father: Who.s there.
Son: Shelby.
Father: Shelby who.
Son: Shelby coming around the mountain When she comes.
Son: Shelby coming around the mountain When she comes. the mountain When she comes.
Son: Knock knock.
Father: Who.s there.
Son: Nobody.
Father: Nobody who. Father: Now,that.s funny.I like that one.
The moral of this joke refers to the knock on the door of the "happiness", that happiness in the end what is it.NOBODY! Only if you are fully prepared, when happiness comes knocking on the door, you can catch him!
Synopsis of When Happiness Comes Knocking
is an American film directed by Gabriel Muccino and starring Will Smith, Jaden Smith, Thandie Newton and others. The movie is based on a true story and features Chris Gardner, an African-American investment expert.
The movie tells the inspiring story of a down-and-out salesman on the verge of bankruptcy and his wife leaving home, how hard-working and good single-parent responsibility, rising to become a stock market trader, and finally becoming a well-known financial investor. The movie was nominated for Best Actor at the 79th Academy Awards.
"When Happiness Comes Knocking" is confirmed to be re-released on the mainland, and is scheduled to be released on July 20, 2020, the first day of the theater's resumption of work. The poster was released at the same time.
Synopsis
In San Francisco in 1981, Chris Gardner (played by Will Smith) is a smart medical equipment salesman, but in the sub-economic recession, his days are hard. He travels from hospital to hospital and clinic to clinic every day, but the doctors aren't even interested in his bone density scanner, which is twice as expensive as an X-ray scanner.
His wife, Linda (Thandie Newton), can't continue to put up with this hard life and leaves him and their 5-year-old son, Christopher (Jaden Smith), behind. And the backstabbing doesn't end there for the Gardner father-son duo, who are swept off their feet by their landlord because they can't afford to pay the rent, and sometimes even have to spend the night in a subway bathroom.
Determined to turn into a stockbroker with a chance at a high income, Chris' hard work and ingenuity impresses Jay Twistu (Brian Hovey), the manager of the securities firm, and he passes the preliminary exam. And in the re-test, despite coming out on top, Chris had to come to the interview in prison clothes, but having only been through high school, he was so determined that, in the end, a few of the firm's partners thought it would be good to give him a chance, and he became one of the 20 interns. The next six months of internships would be even more difficult for Gardner and his son, as the internships were unpaid and only one of the 20 interns would stay. They'll have to live off those bone density scanners for now.
FILM REVIEW
"When Happiness Comes Knocking" is a fresh debut for Will Smith, and seems to hint at a certain transformative mindset. --Hamilton Gazette
The father-son heartwarming and inspirational theme is clearly capable of striking a chord with most viewers, and the performances of the two leads are very real and believable for obvious reasons. The man snatches away the medical instruments that can only give him a few meals, and he competes with a group of freshly graduated kids for an internship at the same starting line, but in front of his child, he is always the most heavenly father, even if he is so embarrassed that he has to spend the night in a subway station, he still plays the game of dodging dinosaurs with his child, and his child understands the situation so well that it never bothers him, but instead, it is the motivation for him to get up every time he collapses and rises again. --Time.com