“The Pursuit of Happyness,” the new film by Gabriele Muccino, an American director of Italian origin, is yet another interpretation of the “great American dream.” It’s not just a movie, but a survival guide – suggesting that even if you’re evicted by your landlord and lose your job (while hungry children cry at home), don’t despair! Get moving, and if you start by delivering newspapers and do it well, very well, much better than others, who knows what might happen… Many millionaires, they say, started that way.
“The Pursuit of Happyness” Arrives in Moscow, Starring Will Smith
The story of Chris Gardner, who loses his livelihood at the beginning of the film and then becomes incredibly wealthy, is also based on real life. It closely mirrors the true story of the real Chris Gardner, a former homeless man who is now a multi-millionaire, going around teaching everyone how to live and fight. Both the prototype and the film character failed with some kind of medical scanner, buying a batch for resale. But, alas, no hospital seemed interested in the product.
He had to paint fences and take on other odd jobs until fate led our heroes to a brokerage exchange. Mr. Gardner, who makes a brief cameo in the film, was reportedly overjoyed that Hollywood had based the screenplay on his autobiography. Watching Will Smith, who embodied him on screen, wander through his trials, Gardner almost shed a tear – remembering the sacrifices he made to achieve his current wealth. He stayed in shelters and went to bed hungry. It wouldn’t have been so bad if it was just him, but no, Mr. Gardner was always met with the pleading eyes of his unhappy wife and young son. It’s amusing that this incredible story is a huge success with a wide range of people.
In addition to the real American homeless, for whom a free screening was organized, the film delighted… Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. He even met with Will Smith, who flew to the Land of the Rising Sun to promote the film. During the meeting, the Prime Minister said that Gardner’s fate should inspire Japanese marginalized people and instill hope in them. That’s true, of course… It’s never harmful to dream and hope. Even for those whose property consists of a mat on which they freeze in the middle of the street somewhere in New York, Tokyo, or Moscow. On the other hand, such an uplifting story would hardly have occurred to Chaplin, whose character, the tramp Charlie, became a millionaire only in his dreams. And if it did, it wouldn’t be Chaplin at all, but, say, Gabriele Muccino.
Or, at worst, Gardner himself, who wrote an instructive book about his misadventures. In which there is as much poetry as in an accounting report.