Written by: Subham Shrestha - 25019, Grade XII
Posted on: 19 July, 2024
Title of the movie: Gran Turismo
Release date: August 25, 2023
Directed by: Neill Blomkamp
Genre: Biographical Sports
Screenplay: Jason Hall, Zach Baylin
Cast: Archie Madekwe as Jann Mardenborough, David Harbour as Jack Salter, Orlando Bloom as Danny Moore, Darren Barnet as Matty Davis, Geri Halliwell-Horner as Lesley Mardenborough, Djimon Hounsou as Steve Mardenborough, Takehiro Hira as Kazunori Yamauchi, Josha Stradowski as Nicholas Capa, Daniel Puig as Coby Mardenborough, Maeve Courtier-Lilley as Audrey, Thomas Kretschmann as Patrice Capa, Richard Cambridge as Felix, Emelia Hartford as Leah Vega, Pepe Barroso as Antonio Cruz, Sang Heon Lee as Joo-Hwan Lee, Max Mundt as Klaus Hoffman, Mariano González as Henry Evas, Harki Bhambra as Avi Bhatt, Lindsay Pattison as Chloe McCormick, Théo Christine as Marcel Durand, Niall McShea as Federik Schulin, Jamie Kenna as Jack Man Jones and Nikhil Parmar as Persol.
Summary
Gran Turismo is a biographical sports film from 2023 by Neill Blomkamp, starring Archie Madekwe, Orlando Bloom, David Harbour, and Djimon Hounsou.The movie begins with a SIM racer's rise to become a professional racing driver and Jann Mardenborough achieved it all after winning the Nissan GT Academy competition in Britain. The movie is inspiring, thrilling, and action-packed. It goes on to show that nothing is impossible if we are motivated from inside.
The film takes viewers through the rise of the streets of East London to the top in racing. He went through poverty, discrimination, and the loss of a loved one. He, however, becomes fixed with his dream of becoming a racing driver. It is actually a well-made inspiring movie.
The direction by Blomkamp is sharp, and all the performances are brilliant. Madekwe acquits himself well as Mardenborough, capturing much of his determination and charisma. The movie's racing sequences are also awesomely shot and edited. Otherwise, the movie would not be perfect. It treads on a pretty predictable script, and the movie does take some of the overused terms of the sport genre. The movie further resides on Mardenborough's gaming abilities that might deviate the interest of some viewers who do not know about the Gran Turismo video game series. Among the things which I liked was the line by Jack, "That crash won't define who you are but how you respond to it will." Our setbacks and failures do not have to determine who we are as people. It is our response to these challenges that molds our character and defines our resilience. It is us who determines whether we are victims or survivors. This then is what we should remember all the time, more so in times of confusion. It is, of course, easy sometimes to be shocked by setbacks but equally important is the fact that we are bigger than our failures. What choices we have is in how we respond to them and in coming out stronger on the other side. It depends on people what they show rather than what they actually are. Witnessing people makes others think they are something but actually the people can be their true self and pretend to be other self. People can change themselves and they get known for their response towards the change.
All in all, Gran Turismo is a beautiful and enjoyable movie. It's an inspiring and well-told story with some really excellent racing sequences and the edits. However, the movie's predictability and cliches might turn some people off.
