There are movies that talk about love in a special, unobtrusive way, and then we feel deeper, and we always remember such films, perhaps not the plot, but certainly the feelings. Always the attitude of Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson in Lost in Translation somewhat resembled the form of love that was deeply developed by the protagonists of A Million Dollar Baby.
Theoretically, we have learned to divide love to phyllis or platonic, friendly love, then Eros or love expressing longing for what is being loved,erotic love and finally agape - the ideal of love. Agape is the most mystical of all love, devoid of the need for physical satisfaction, is selfless and sacrificing itself. Agape love is metaphysical, it's not provable by chemical processes, as science says that the primary human urge is the desire for self-preservation, which in this case is not valid. While erotic love is poor because it wants to own, agape love is rich because it generously wants to give. It has, in fact, 'cristoid' characteristics, exceeds friendship and erotic love, and is immortal because it dares to lose itself. I point out the crystalloid features because Frankie Dunn is just through them asking for redemption from his past sins that we do not know anything about.
''It's the magic of risking everything for a dream that nobody sees but you''
Rare are those who did not cry after Eastwood's gem, which, by the way, collected as many as four Oscars. Many of the critics, prior to the Oscars, declared it a breath-taking drama, and the director was a cinematographic equivalent of Hemingway. Maggie Fitzgerald, embodied by the maestral Hillary Swank after brilliant performance in Boys Do not Cry, is a waitress from the Missouri district who is 31 years old, with a great heart and dreams that only she crazy believes. She arrives in Los Angeles at the box office to find Frankie Dunne (Clint Eastwood) because she wants him to train her for the World Boxing Championship. He decisively refuses to train a woman, telling her that she is already too old for a boxing career anyway.
Here we also have Morgan Freeman, who plays the typical role of Morgan Freeman, namely a modest old man who has that quiet wisdom and insight like some ancient Greek prophet, and then the narrative ability that introduces us to events. His humanistic approach perfectly adheres to the tone of this film. Together with the minimalist, piano sequences compiled by Eastwood, Freeman's silent narration tells us that this will not be a typical sports film, but a heroic, tragic and painful display.
"The only person who comes to church that much is the kind that can not forgive himself for something."
If Agape love is the main backbone of this film, I will show the following examples. Namely, Clint Eastwood was never in a role that was not so vulnerable, gentle, helpless, and compassionous as much as Frankie Dunn's role. He doesn't live in peace for the sins of the past that remain unknown to us. We find out that Frankie has a daughter who is alienated from him, returns his letters unopened, and doesn't want any contact with him.
In order to get rid of this weight on conscience, Frankie goes to church every day, and in conversation with the priest we can notice a strong irony and re-examination of the main Catholic dogmas. When Maggie enters his life, everything begins to change. It will be his path to liberation and dismissal. However, Frankie doesn't open the door immediately. His first rule is that he sets the boxers he is training, the one he applies in his personal life: "Always protect yourself". Nevertheless, Maggie's determination to become a fighter and her refusal of the feminine position convinced him to start training her.
Faith and redemption through love and reconciliation
Soon there is a strong connection between them, it is precisely the agape love I talked about at the beginning. He paternally takes care of her, and she is somewhat of a daughter who desperately misses him. It's interesting that here it seems that we still get what we need in our life, only that it doesn't have to manifest itself in that way or through the person that we most expect.
Frankie was imprisoned, alienated and mentally disturbed by the inability of channeling guilt from the past, but also because of the inability to express love. Maggie, who doesn't have anyone, needs him who doesn't have anyone. She gives him meaning as he gives her meaning, or communion. This reciprocity creates a caring, perhaps even parental love that is disturbed by unjust circumstances. Namely, in the boxing match for the title of the champion, Maggien's rival is unsportsmanlike to give her an unacceptable blow after which everything goes wrong.
A paradoxical act of love
Frankie's efforts to reconcile with God and man, his endless confrontation with a priest who doesn't even trust him to send letters to his daughter, then reading his favorite Yeats, clearly show how he seeks to find spiritual peace and purpose in his life. In spite of the Catholic devotion, there is no scene of meditation prayers with a priest or confessional in the formal sense, although the context and circumstances meet such an environment. Namely, there is still something that belongs to the strictly private sphere, and this is somewhat Protestant heritage, according to which the priest is not a mediator between man and God, and Clint Eastwood grew up in a Protestant family.
In my opinion, Frankie decides on the act of agape love that ultimately paradoxically manifests through euthanasia. They will find redemption without religion, confirming the principle that there is no mediator between God and man, but redemption is achieved through the act of love and sacrifice. And now, how much it is to some one's sin, and how much evidence of love that sacrifices oneself, remains the personal matter of every individual.
This was my translation from Croatian to English from Ziher hr article ''Retropetak: Metafizička agape ljubav trenera i učenice'' by J.Lovric