Born on December, 28, 1954, in Mount Vernon, New York, Denzel Washington is considered to be one of the most engaging and charismatic men of our time. Washington's father was a minister and his mother owned a beauty shop and he was one of three siblings, having a younger brother and an older sister. Washington's first action on stage came around the age of seven when he appeared at a local Boys and Girls Club talent show and took home the prize. By the time Denzel was fourteen, his parents marriage could not bear anymore conflict and his parents divorced, ultimately sending Washington and his older sister to boarding school.
Washington later attended Fordham University, where he received a B.A. in Journalism in 1977. Even though is degree is in Journalism, Denzel still found time to pursue his interest in acting. However, after graduation he moved to San Francisco, where he won a scholarship to the American Conservatory Theatre, which is often known as the most prominent acting school on the West coast. Washington stayed with the ACT for a year and after his time there, he began acting in various television movies and made his film debut in the 1981 comedy Carbon Copy. Although he had a starring role (as the illegitimate son of a rich white man), Washington didn't receive real recognition until he joined the cast of the long-running TV series St. Elsewhere in 1982. He won critical raves and audience admiration for his portrayal of Dr. Phillip Chandler, and he began to attract Hollywood notice.
After receiving the nomination for Best actor in a Supporting role for his role in "Cry Freedom," it became clear that he was an actor who was capable of elevating a good movie to a great movie. Following his role and success in the 1990 film Glory, it became obvious that Denzel would no longer be given a secondary role in any film for the rest of his acting career.
Notable Movies:
Denzel as a Brute
In Training Day, Denzel plays Detective Alonzo Harris, a highly decorated LAPD narcotics officer who appears to be the picture perfect cop on the outside, but is truly a dirty cop. Denzel portrays the brute caricature in Training Day as he cruises around the streets with his young officer in training Jake Hoyt. In this particular scene, Denzel, or Alonzo Harris, comes off as animalistic and criminal as he is screams and yells at his partner Jake telling him, "The only place that's gunna kill me is right here Jake (pointing to his forehead). I don't think you got it in you." Eventually, Jake shoots him in the back of the leg, which also shows Harris' (Denzel) barbaric side. Training Day is the perfect example of an African America actor being portrayed as criminal, animalistic, and savage.
In Man on Fire, Denzel plays a similar role as Training Day, except this time Denzel is on a serious and legal mission. He goes to great lengths to save the life of an young girl that was kidnapped under his supervision as her body guard. Just as the description states of the brute caricature, Denzel acts like a savage in his pursuit of saving "Pita," as shown in the clip above. This is one of many scenes throughout the movie where Denzel performs barbaric destruction to various individuals involved in the kidnapping team. He goes on to lodge a home-made bomb into the leader of "La Hermendad" intestines, and finally attacks the leader of the kidnapping team's brother by shooting off one finger at a time until "The Voice" agrees to set Pita free.
The Book of Eli, one of Denzel's most recent movies, portrays Denzel as a surviving warrior. This role also resembles the brute caricature, in that Denzel fends and fights off a number of desperate, demonic people during his quest throughout the movie. In this scene in particular, Denzel casually severs a man's hand off and then proceeds to violently murder the rest of the victim's crew. Denzel is not a black man that prey's on women or targets helpless victims, as the brute caricature suggests, however, numerous times throughout the lengthy film Denzel displays his innate savagery, and destructive impulses.
No comments:
Post a Comment