Depp’s film may be highly controversial, but it also raises profound questions about life and death.
It often happens in modern cinema that a popular actor decides to try his hand at directing. Sometimes such efforts are successful, sometimes not, because directing a film is not the same as acting in it.
Sometimes such an attempt becomes the first and last for the actor and this is exactly what happened to Johnny Depp.
In 1997, Johnny Depp decided he had enough acting experience to try his hand at making his own movie.
The Brave, based on Gregory McDonald’s novel of the same name, is currently Johnny Depp’s first and last work as a director, with the exception of some clips he shot for his ex-wife, singer Vanessa Paradis.
The plot of the film is quite dark. The unemployed Raphael is looking for work to support his family, who live in a paddock near the city.
He catches the eye of a film producer who wants to film a snuff – real murder, and offers him a deal: a brutal death for 50 thousand dollars.
The character is given only one week after receiving the money. He continues his normal life without touching the producer’s progress but soon realizes that there is no going back.
The film ends with Raphael driving through the city and arriving at an abandoned factory, where he is expected and where the camera will closely follow his slow death.
The desperation and fearlessness of the character make the final minutes of the film really powerful.
The role of Raphael was played by Johnny Depp himself, and the role of the producer of the deadly film went to Marlon Brando. The Brave was shown at the Cannes Film Festival, where it was nominated for the Palme d’Or.
The film did not win the award, and critics panned The Brave so much that it was decided not to be released in theaters.
Despite the fact that critics didn’t like the film, to say the least, viewers were more appreciative – The Brave has a 67% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
The film talks about the extreme cruelty that sometimes manifests itself in a person, about the underestimation of human life, the loss and gain of its meaning, about despair and self-sacrifice.
And if you’re a fan of Johnny Depp and you like gritty movies, then there’s a good chance The Brave will even become one of your favorites.
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