Gus Van Sant Character Analysis

This paper will be comparing the theme of how directors Gus Van Sant and Russell Mulcahy use father figures as a tool for character development. This strategy is present in both good will hunting and swimming upstream. Both main characters in these films suffer from different types of abuse from their fathers and find different ways of coping with the damage done by the abusive childhoods that they had suffered from growing up in dysfunctional homes with horrible fathers. The following paragraphs will discuss and analyse in depth how the directors of each of the films use father figures differently to achieve ultimately the same goal of character development. This section of the comparison will discuss how father figures are used in good …show more content…
This only made Tony stronger and made his want to succeed larger after this confrontation he went on to win event after event, and after John begins to lose interest in swimming he begins to turn on him, after he stops training before the state championships and ends up placing 5th in the championships Harold begins to abuse and neglect john calling him a “dirty little cur” he then goes about …show more content…
This first major difference in the techniques used in these films is that of having or not having the original abusive parent present in the story portrayed in the films as previously stated, in good will hunting none of the characters have parents that have a physical presence in the film making a replacement of father figure an easier process for the damaged characters whereas in swimming upstream the abusive father figure is present through the movie in its entirety, actually being one of the main characters throughout the film. Another difference in these films is how in good will hunting Will manages to find a new positive role model in Sean and ultimately Sean finds help from Will in finding closure from the death of his wife, while in swimming upstream the Fingleton boys never really find a new father figure and in turn they are pushed apart from each other but in turn does lead to much of Tony’s success in the pool but sporting success is no substitute for a broken family not just in the sense of a divorced mother and father but after the whole ordeal the brothers even today it is reported that their relationship is strained. In conclusion the way that these directors use the concept of father figures as a tool is very different in both of these films but is used effectively to develop the main characters in both positive