I had three in 2000, and I was definitely amazed at the cartoons – definitely about Chip and Dale, but definitely not a movie about toxic waste. Just now “Erin Brockovich” was released, a drama by Steven Soderbergh, based on real stories, with Julia Roberts in the lead role. At that time, Roberts had already been a goddess in Hollywood for almost ten years. “Pretty Girl” (1990), “The Cheer of My Best Friend” (1997), “Notting Gill” (1999) – their name itself became a genre. Julia was known by those who didn’t drink much of her films. In the role of Erin Brockovich, she radically changed her role for the first time: without makeup, without that famous wide grin that seemed to be able to sell everything from romantic comedies to shampoo.
1993 r_k. Erin Brockovich – two separated, three children of evil, a mother of three children. For a racket – seventy thousand dollars. At home there are sick children, a wash of dirty whites and broken dishes. This is not “the beginning of the great path of environmental activism,” but rather hopelessness, which still manages to crumble away – blindly, in spite of, without a chance, simply because there is no other choice. Erin is not one of those who give up. There is no light, connection or status. The exhaustion is obscenely intrusive and the boy should not be told anything if it would have been more reasonable to talk. Her life is low in common defects, but soon she gets along afloat, like a human being who simply cannot do it any other way. And we are in a position to work hard to bring one of the largest energy corporations in America to a standstill.
When Erin shows up at the law firm after a recent attempt to find a job, she expresses hostility from people who wouldn’t let her into the office. Minismaid, leopard print top, red pick-ups – not at all the same dress code as you’d expect at the office, where everyone is wearing suits. Ale Erin comes not for punishment, but for justice – after her lawyer Ed Mezri (to the famous Viconn Albert Finn) files a case against her about the accident. Vaughn literally rushes to his office – not with curses, but rather with blackmail – in the most sensual word. Erin seems straightforward: “Since you have already failed my right, you will have to hire me – I would like to rectify the situation.”
Food, destruction and wine, will be ripe. So Brockovich, without legal knowledge, but with an inexhaustible supply of anger and obstinacy, resigns his place in the office. And, to be honest, this comes as a shock to everyone. Minus, leopard print top, red pick-ups – she’s getting so excited that she’s not going to work, but for the evening. Colleagues whisper to each other, wanting to look askance, and the boss carefully respects him: “You could take a little look at your wardrobe.” To which Erin explains with a phrase that has since become a cult favorite: “As long as I wear one instead of two, I wear what I want.” This is the Declaration of Independence. In the world, every woman (dosi) judges by the visor on her blouse and her long-sleeved shirt, Erin sharpens her eyes and looks straight. She doesn’t follow the rules of the court codes, but she doesn’t mindlessly speak with my directness – and she herself will become the strongest one.
One working day, the bitter old documents that fell asleep at the chef’s office, Erin spends time on this amazing thing: among the documents about land sales are medical evidence. She’s not a lawyer and doesn’t know what she’s kidding herself about, but she’s missing out on the illogicality itself. And those who easily ignored everyone else. This importance translates into research. Erin goes to the small Californian town of Ginkley – there, where the towns are already fatally ill from strange illnesses. Some have cancer, some have stillborn children, some have wrinkles and swelling. People explain this by saying “bad water” or simply bad luck. Ale Erin does not believe in failure. She begins to collect stories, hearsay from people, and train doctors. And the picture gradually emerges of such a hollow shelter: the energy giant Pacific Gas and Electric fatally poured toxic chromium into the city water – a stream that literally tore the whole place away.
This discovery launches a process that transforms the primary secretary into a key figure in one of the most important environmental processes in the United States. Erin tells Mezri to take the right hand, and then actually leads herself. Vaughn collects hundreds of evidence to prove that people have the right to the truth – and in doing so, it is possible to seize the power of life in the face of financial collapse.
But the strength of this film lies not in the story itself, but in the way it is told. The fact that Steven Soderbergh allows his heroine to be imperfect, non-streaming, non-human. Roberts plays with microscopic precision and without thirsty indulgence to the point of view: Erin can instantly tear away the buriedness, make you laugh and break your heart. In this role, Julia Roberts stops being just “blushing.” Vaughn is the backbone of the film. She has anger, fatigue, vulgarity and everything else that cannot be formulated. This heroine is alive and well in the frame.
Soderberg sees this story as much as a report about a country that has languished under the illusions of power. Roads covered with saws, burned-out fields, cheap cauldrons at gas stations, people who rack coins at the cash register. This is not the America of the world – this is the America that drinks kava out of plastic cups and prays that there will be money left for the farm before the end of the year. Here, in the middle of this everyday landscape, the story of true injustice is told. This is America, where real people work in second-hand stores and don’t have health insurance. The woman, without legal knowledge, reveals an environmental disaster that was covered up by a corporation with billions of dollars in profits.
The story of Erin Brockovich is not a guess. It turned out to be true. Ala Soderberg does not shy away from her morality. Vin doesn’t ignore the damn saga about “a little person against the system” – he shows what life looks like if you just don’t respect the system. Soderbergh shows America as it really is – a land where everyone needs to live, where everything smells like gasoline and utility bills.
Between two eras – a movie about people and a movie about everything else – “Erin Brockovich” became a breakthrough. This is a film about those who, from the very beginning, can be noble for any feat. And not about a woman, who wants to argue that “you can do it,” but about a person, who simply doesn’t want to have her eyes crushed by injustice. If the critics were merrily joking, they said, Chergova’s “story with a happy ending” about the “sexy mother” of a skinny sleeper. Twenty-five years have passed, and this heat seems simply pitiful. By now it is clear: this very “overly twisted” story has become one of the greatest stories about women’s power. Roberts won her Oscar for this role, but she was a real winner in another way. Vaughn created a heroine that you want to love, and not just show off. The woman is tired, barking, afraid, but still moving forward.
“Erin Brockovich” became the first great film of the year 2000, having collected over a quarter of a billion dollars from rental sales, so that the story of one woman could reach the scale of a political thriller. A quarter of a century has passed, but the film has only gained relevance. We live in a world where corporations control everything – from water to algorithms, and this story sounds even louder, however. Vaughn is not old, it’s not about the past. Humanity is what protects us when all other systems fail.
