One of the many reasons for doing this retrospective was to be able to showcase this insanely misjudged movie for what it is, a cracked masterpiece soon to rise above its detractors’ accusations of “small minded American conservatism” or “liberal boomers’ wet dreams”, to reveal a film of impeccable craft and down right nastiness. Just take a look at any interview with Zemeckis during the awards season rush of this movie - the guy looks positively confused as to the reception of this movie. Not that it didn’t have the heart and Hollywoodisms necessary to sweep the award season and box office, but because the film is far more than the reputation preceding it, an unfortunate indictment of an entire generation’s passive engagement with the outside world and the people around them. Forrest exists as a proxy for the U.S. and its citizens, blindly stumbling into situation after situation, unknowingly taking credit for things he had nothing to do with, as well as benefiting financially in a major way, from the devastating destruction of an entire black shrimping operation in New Orleans, to taking credit for Elvis’ slutty swagger (we see you Marty McFly). And yet, Forrest never seems to notice or care about this, placing his faith in God and country, rather than recognizing his highly privileged position in society, all despite his “simple-mindedness”. FORREST GUMP is linked through a long line of Zemeckis-lead satires, yet it finds the director reaching for a new, classically-styled lens in which to capture the madness on screen. The film sits perfectly at the midway point between the capping off of his more manic comedies with DEATH BECOMES HER, and kicking off the path he has continued to journey down: prestige-level filmmaking more than capable of garnering a slew of awards,, yet one that also disguises a more complicated and bitter center than most movies made throughout the last several decades.