Falling Down 4K 1993

Life is often tough for us. We’re stuck in traffic jams or in stuffy commuter train cars. People step on our toes. We’re treated rudely. Lots of things annoy us. But most people don’t react to life’s problems the way the protagonist of this movie does, because they have something to lose. But the protagonist of the movie *Falling Down* has nothing left to lose. He had a wife, a child, and a job—everything necessary for a normal life. But somehow, he lost it all. He split up with his wife and was barred from getting too close to his family. He lost his job. Stuck in traffic, like thousands of other people, he endured it. But while other people had something to endure for, he no longer cared. He got tired of sitting in the car, so he just walked home.

And if you think about it, the main character strikes up conversations quite naturally with everyone he encounters. It’s just that the people he talks to don’t realize that this man has nothing left to lose. Many don’t understand his motives. Some think he’s a nationalist; others think he’s declared war on modern society as a whole. And no one believes that he’s simply walking home. All he needs is his family and a job.

There’s a very telling moment in the conversation between the police officer and the main character’s wife. When he asks if he hit the child, she says no. When he asks if he hit her, she pauses and says no, but she feels that at certain moments, he wanted to hit her. And so, based on mere impressions, they forbid him from seeing his child. The film also tells us that our society is so cruel that it actually breeds such people and such situations.

If you think about it, everything the main character says makes a certain amount of sense. And the people he’s encountered aren’t exactly above board themselves. And they haven’t been above board for the first time. But our hero only snapped today...

The film is very convincingly made. Probably Joel Schumacher’s best work.