Somewhat similar to "Death Row Walk", the whole of "Far from the Casino" is still slightly dragged and scattered, because it is not a work with a clear storyline, but a kind of love that connects the scattered plots, that is, despair. In addition to despair or despair, the rough picture of the whole work creates the kind of heart-gnawing despair very full.

But this is where the film's success lies, because it takes the love of "despair" to the extreme, and anyone who has had a similar experience with the two protagonists will deeply feel the kind of negative feelings that are devastating. This is a story about loneliness, and it also tells loneliness to the extreme, which arouses infinite resonance, as if people are trapped in the story of a movie, and they can't let go for a long time.

Therefore, "Away from the Las Vegas" can definitely be called a good work, even more literary and sketchy than "Death Row Prisoner Walk".

In the story of "Far from the Casino", the character of the male protagonist Ben implements a tragic color of self-destruction from beginning to end, the strong despair is almost suffocating, and the tragic atmosphere emanating from the depths of the heart is like a black hole, swallowing all hope little by little.

This work is adapted from John O'Brian. O'Brien's novel of the same name, which is his only work, and at the same time seems to be a summary and prophecy of his life. Just a few days before the novel's publication, he suddenly committed suicide without leaving any last words. Just like Ben, the hero of the novel, he is so desperate that he devours himself clean.

Therefore, this is undoubtedly a very high requirement for an actor, because this role requires the actor to be able to feel that loneliness, loneliness, and discouragement from the depths of his soul, and to be able to show the self-destructive temperament that goes deep into the bone marrow.

The reason why Nicolas Cage can rely on this role to win the Oscar must include his superb performance, his appearance has always been very suitable for playing a middle-aged man who is frustrated in life, and the "facial paralysis" that is often teased by people is also easy to bring melancholy and loss, which is often more suitable for his play. Later, the "adapted screenplay" won Nicholas a second Oscar nomination, and the role is actually similar to "Far from the Casino": a middle-aged man with amnesia, depression, struggle, and depression.

It can be said that there is a natural resonance between Nicholas and Ben, coupled with his total dedication, so he has created the most expressive and soulful role in his career as an actor, and there is no one.

If Hugo plays the role of Ben, it will obviously be more difficult, because Hugo's temperament is more sunny and gentlemanly, although when playing the roles of Amon Goss and Anonymous, Hugo has changed his inner temperament, but the feeling of melancholy, despair, sadness, depression, and depression is not so simple, which is obviously a greater challenge for Hugo.

Obviously, "Away from the Las Vegas" will be a huge test of acting, and the character will be a type that Hugo has never tried before, and even very different from the character "Before Sunrise", how to express the sense of self-destruction and collapse will definitely be a new challenge.

But then again, the character of Ben is relatively simple, and the bitterness and loneliness in his heart do not have too many layers and details, just like a sinking ship, in addition to sinking or sinking, the despair of pain to the extreme runs throughout, like a walking corpse, the personality of the whole character is not full, just a love xù to the extreme.

Therefore, the space for the role to play is obviously relatively limited, which is somewhat in conflict with Hugo's ideas. It's not that this character isn't challenging enough, it's just that it's not suitable for Hugo's current situation.

After experiencing the experience of the role of Anonymous, Hugo now needs a broader, more profound, and richer role to explore, and explore new performance methods and techniques little by little in the process of practice, in order to try to break that layer of acting barriers and peek into a new field of performance.

Obviously, Ben, like Anonymous, is a relatively limited role in terms of space to play, and even a little more limited than Anonymous.

From this point of view, Matthew would be a more suitable choice for the "Death Row Walk".

As Tim said, Matthew's character is actually very complicated, he comes from a single-parent family, he is very filial to his mother, loves his three younger brothers, and his family is his greatest support, he even refuses to let his mother testify in court because he is afraid that his mother will collapse, but he is unwilling to express these feelings, and only covers his heart with irritability and impatience; He is a gangster, and he has always been a traitor, but he is very timid and weak at heart, and he participates in the strong because he does not dare to resist his companions. rape, because he did not dare to refuse his companion, he shot the boy among the lovers; He is full of resentment towards this society, he thinks that rich people dominate the world, and all the injustices that happen to him come from the oppression of society, but he does not dare to resist this society, and can only vent his anger on people who are weaker than him; He had no faith, he even dared to mock the Bible and Jesus, but he pinned all his last hope on a nun......

In the story of "Death Row Prisoner Walking", Tim does not use a lot of shots to show Matthew's inner intricacies, nor does he use a sympathetic perspective to defend Matthew, he focuses more on the conversation between Matthew and the nun, and concentrates on presenting Matthew's inner struggle and transformation. Tim doesn't even give much ink to the court trial, but more deeply outlines the intricacies of Matthew's character.

This qiē makes Matthew very demanding of the actor, because the actor must show Matthew's inner level in a limited space, which will be convincing. As Tim persuaded Hugo, he wanted to find an actor who was restrained enough but delicate enough to show the layering of the character.

There is no doubt that the character of Matthew is the most intricate of all the characters that Hugo has been exposed to so far.

Although Amon Goss in "Schindler's List" is also very complicated, Amon's personality has a historical background after that, and the oppression of the entire environment has created Amon's character, and even Amon's struggle and resistance are just like fireworks, which are directly extinguished before they have time to dispel the darkness in the night sky.

Matthew, on the other hand, reflects the problems of modern society as a whole, which are controversial but do not have an accurate answer, such as whether criminals deserve mercy, such as how to grasp the sentencing standards, such as whether the death penalty should be abolished, whether the idea of money is eroding the law, whether the condemned prisoner is the object of God's salvation, and whether the anger and extremism of the victim's family should be connived......

These questions are not like the World War II background behind Amon Goss, these are unanswered questions. However, Tim does not intend to give his answers and explanations, he does not answer these questions in the movie, and his objective position dictates that the actor must rely on his own performance to present the problem, and then let the audience come up with their own answers after watching the movie.

Is Matthew really that pathetic? Is Matthew's Self-Redemption Real Enough? Is Matthew's confession logical enough? Is Matthew and nun interactions persuasive? Does a murderer like Matthew really deserve sympathy? Is the story that revolves around Matthew really convincing?

This also makes the performance difficulty of Matthew's role skyrocket.

But then again, after Hugo carefully studied the script of "Death Row Walk", he also realized that the character of Matthew still has some similarities with Amon Goss and Anonymous, not because these three characters are murderers, but because these three murderers are not so simple, they all have their own stories behind them, and they are not simple faces.

Matthew actually has the same inner struggles as Amun, but Matthew's struggles are more complicated; Matthew, like Anonymous, is actually faithless - or has a deformed interpretation of faith, but Matthew ultimately chooses to redeem himself; Matthew is actually the same as Amon and Anonymous, and the deceptiveness on the outside is contrasting, but Matthew is kind in the heart, which is essentially different from Amon and Anonymous.

Therefore, Hugo felt that challenging the role of Matthew was a bit self-repeating, even though he knew that it was a completely different role, and the difficulty of the performance was also a new challenge, not to mention that all the backgrounds, motives, personality styles, and the focus of the director's attention were all different. But the role of Hugo is still a little hesitant.

After comparison, Hugo found that, just like the two works "Away from the Las Vegas" and "Death Row Prisoner's Walk", the two characters of Ben and Matthew are also on par with each other. Both characters have their own strengths and weaknesses, Ben's challenge is fresher, but the characters are relatively single; Matthew's character is very rich, but he is also the type of murderer.

Even with reference to many factors such as scripts, characters, directors, and investment, there is almost no difference between the two works. It is foreseeable that no matter what Hugo's decision is, the media will not like it too much.

"Stay away from the casino" still hasn't found an investment, but the salary for Hugo will certainly not exceed $500,000; "Death Row Walk" has a certain budget, but considering the small cost system, Hugo is bound to overwhelm his salary of less than one million.

But objectively speaking, no matter which role Hugo chooses, it will definitely be a challenge, and it will not be a wrong choice. This made Hugo a little excited, the addiction that has not been vented in the "Seven Deadly Sins" can finally be fully played this time, and Hugo is now starting to get a little geared up.

It's just that which role should you choose? Is it to choose "Stay away from the casino", the work of the authentic Oscar winner? Or do you choose "Death Row Walk", a strong contender with slightly more depth and no less difficult acting?

This is indeed a blissful annoyance.