WINNING

US, 1969,127 minutes, Colour.
Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Robert Wagner, Richard Thomas.
Directed by James Goldstone.

Winning is not so much a story of speed and thrills (although there are plenty of both) as what the title tells us. It is about the realities and unrealities of winning. There are the crowds, the excitement, the applause soon forgotten, as well as the loneliness, the emptiness, the being left alone with glory and alcohol.

Winning is also about people, about Frank Capua, the ageing winner, the run-of-the-mill divorcee he meets and marries, and her teenage son whom he adopts. The film shows the inadequacy of husband and wife to make the marriage work, despite the boy's hero-worshipping of Frank. The wife soon seeks consolation with Frank's wolf-friend and co-driver.

The dialogue is a mixture of the trite and the intelligent, especially on the American way of life and on personal relationships. The screenplay seems to be most successful when it is wordless and the camera focuses for long periods on the expressive faces of Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. There are several effective imaginative scenes, for instance where Frank slowly eats an ice-cream, thinking, while his car is being overhauled. Robert Wagner's part is poorly written; perhaps the fact that it is under-emphasised keeps our attention on the central theme. The film is certainly more than a racing thriller.

1. The title says 'Winning'. The advertisements mentioned the thrills of winning. Critics suggest that there is more. What do you think the film is about?

2. Frank Capua says, in the laconic American style, "I drive great, but my life’s crap." He wants to do something about it. How accurate would it be to call this 'repentance'?

3. Discuss the significance of the scene after Frank's first win: he wanders the street past the workmen, taking down the bunting and decorations; he is drunk and looks for sympathy. Compare it with the scene of the party after his Indianapolis win. How do they symbolise and illustrate the truth about Frank and the nature of winning?

4. How did both Frank and his wife, as well as the co-driver, played by Robert Wagner, act badly and 'sin against' the others? Was each individual completely to blame?

5. The resolution of the film is repentance and forgiveness - did each do this?

6. Discuss the role of the son in the film and his effect on his mother and step-father in their reconciliation.

7 With which character did you sympathise most? Did you want Frank and his wife to be reconciled? How true is it to say that Winning shows how repentance and reconciliation are basic values for a harmonious world?

8. What did the film have to say about the bally-hoo of the American way of life?