Monday, April 09, 2007

Inspired by "Rocky Balboa"


I just finished watching the DVD of Sylvester Stallone's "Rocky Balboa", his sixth and last installment on the travails of the fictional, Philadelphia-bred underdog boxer, Rocky. The movie was enjoyable, poignant and quite a departure from the previous chapters. That is, there was no Adrian, no villain, and (spoiler alert) no victory for Rocky.

But what really inspired me was the director's commentary by Sylvester Stallone!

You have to rent it and listen. The man, not known for his acting abilities despite his success as an action star, is a terrific writer. He has tremendous insight on his characters, their motivations, their feelings and their goals. Listening to him map out the scenes, the lighting, the set-ups was very thought-provoking. His comments had me thinking about my characters, the dialogue and upcoming scenes. I was just so surprised by how much wisdom Sly had to impart to viewers on the end of the series.


But the ultimate motivation for me was his last words as a montage of everyday folks running up those museum steps and throwing up their arms in the classic Rocky pose.
Sly said, "Just keep punching, just keep punching, you never know, you never know, you just may hit your dream right on the jaw."

Damn! Enough said!


Thank you, Sly! We're going to miss you, Rocko!

6 comments:

Jennifer Shirk said...

You're right! That IS motivating!

Chicki Brown said...

Wow, great minds think alike! We watched "Rocky Balboa" last night too, and my husband and I both LOVED it.

First of all, it was a story championing older adults to do their thing. Second, it told such an emotional, touching story.

This is long, but I had to share what I just read on Friday, by uber agent, Noah Lukeman. He uses Rocky as an example in his series on character development:

Interdependent Journeys

In Rocky, Rocky has many journeys, including the journey of getting in physical shape (becoming a better boxer), the journey of getting in mental shape (overcoming his self-doubts and taking seriously that he can be heavyweight champion of the world), and his budding romance. There is a point in the movie when, depressed, he stops training. What is actually happening here is that his second journey (mental shape) is impacting his first journey (physical shape). We realize that the two depend on each other. Without the proper psychology, he won’t train at all.

Finally, it is his girlfriend that turns him around. The third journey (romance) impacts the first two journeys. These journeys all run parallel to each other, and are well timed. If Rocky had reached the mental standstill earlier in the work, before he had met the girl, or when he didn’t know her that well, then she couldn’t have been there to propel the other journeys at the right time. The other journeys run their course as far as they can, and when they run out, she picks up from there. They are like sprinters handing batons to each other. The journey that ultimately propels us to the finish is the girlfriend; without that, there would be no more training and no heavyweight bout. Thus, it is perfectly fitting that when the bout is over, Rocky ignores the reporters and the first thing he does is call for her, that the final shot of the film is on the two of them. Rocky shows us that the psychological journey is stronger than the physical journey, and that the romantic journey is stronger than the psychological one. Rocky, ultimately, is a romance."
(from "The Importance of the Journey - Pt. 5" by Noah T. Lukeman

I've seen every Rocky flick and I NEVER THOUGHT OF IT LIKE THAT!

Chelle Sandell said...

My hubby loves Rocky. We had a talk about the storyline and motivational value. He feels it's something even a guy can get.

Angela Jefferson said...

Hey Denise!

Great minds DO think alike! Rocky! Rocky! Rocky!

Heidi Blackstone said...

You gotta love Sly :)

Haven't seen "Rocky Balboa" yet but loved all the others.

The scene of him running up the steps and raising his arms always made me want to get up DO something...ya know what I mean?

cheers
Heidi
http://heidiblackstone.blogspot.com/

Bella said...

After reading your comments and Denise, I have to watch this movie. Never watched it before.

Bella