4/8/2019 1 Comment Analysis X: The Onion FieldIs anyone really innocent? That question is key to understanding the 1979 film, The Onion Field directed by Harold Becker based on the 1973 nonfiction book by Joseph Wambaugh which chronicles the real-life events of the case which were presented by the book and movie. The movie itself follows two separate storylines. The first one focusing on two detectives, Karl Hettinger (John Savage) and Ian Campbell (Ted Danson) who are new partners initially just out on patrol. The second storyline primarily focuses on Gregory Powell (James Woods) and Jimmy 'Youngblood' Smith (Franklyn Seales), both criminals who commit crimes set by Greg to fuel his ambitions. The two storylines intersect when the officers pull the criminals over and are subsequently taken hostage. During which, Greg murders Ian Campbell while Hettinger flees. The rest of the movie focuses on the ensuing trial and case of the criminals aswell as Hettinger's life following the murder. The movie ends on a positive note for all the characters, whether deserved or not. Sadly, true resolution alludes any of the main cast of characters, but this is presumably because the book/movie ends before all the real life people found a true conclusion to their stories. In this analysis, I will primarily be focusing on characters/acting and themes. ![]() The characters in this film are extremely well fleshed out. This is to say of course, that The Onion Field book author Joseph Wambaugh did an excellent job in interviewing the right people in the case and the director of the film excellently adapted these notes into his film. As such, these characters are not plagued by being one-sided like many movie characters often are. An example of this complexity is Greg's life story. When Greg is questioning his mother and father, the viewer can see that he believes that he took the role as "the man of his family" by spending his time raising his other siblings. It is difficult to tell whether this is completely true or not, but in the film, his parents do not deny it. This then explains why Greg felt the need to create an artificial family of his own as an adult with himself as the dad, his wife as the mom/sister, and another son/brother type. Greg constantly feels a need to be in control and to be powerful. Setting himself up as the faux dad in the story achieves these goals for him. Yet Greg makes it clear that for all his talk about the importance of family, he only truly cares about himself. For all his talk about having to act as a father, he is only proud of himself for filling that role and believes anyone else would have been incompetent doing so. Ultimately, Greg is a character who is obsessed with his own sense of self, he believes himself to be wickedly charming, intelligent, and good-looking, but these are far from true. Greg is a classic ego-maniac and this is masterfully portrayed by his actor, James Woods. James Woods portrays Greg as he likely actually is: a strange man with an inflated sense of self and true loyalty only to himself. Sadly, Greg's character only really gains depth during his trial when the viewer can begin to piece together why he thinks the way he does. New York Times journalist Janet Maslin puts it best in her article on the film where she comments, "[a]fter their capture, Mr. Seales and especially Mr. Woods become less exaggerated and more frighteningly plausible. Mr. Woods has some superb exchanges with Ronny Cox, who gives a fine performance as the detective in charge of interrogating the pair. This latter part of the movie is by far the most successful, perhaps because the courtroom scenes at last require the characters to explain themselves". Personally, I agree with Maslin's analyzation. Up until the murder, Greg Powell particularly is a bit cartoony. Now, I don't doubt that anything he did wasn't true, but the audience is introduced to him more as a caricature rather than an actual person, which results in the audience not empathizing with the story until later on in the movie. Yet when the audience is able to relate to the story, the film becomes completely engrossing. ![]() The next most important characters to focus on are Jimmy Youngblood and Karl Hettinger. Jimmy comes across as extremely sympathetic in the movie thanks to his portrayal by Franklyn Seales. Jimmy seems as though he is a guy without much direction who gets in over his head and is sucked into a scheme that he wants no part of. Jimmy is later framed by Greg which causes him to get a death sentence, despite the testimony of the woman who raised him. At the conclusion of the film, Jimmy appears content with the prison life and even admits that there's "nowhere he'd rather be" than in a prison courtyard. Despite the already daunting nature of this admission, Jim says this as he watches a frail old man, not too dissimilar from himself, wandering through the prison yard alone. One of the true tragedies of the film is that Jimmy has been resigned to a fate where he will die alone in prison, unable to move on from his inadvertent involvement in a cold-blooded murder. To me, Jimmy was the most sympathetic character in the film since his suffering primarily was the result of misguided but not exactly malicious decisions he made. Truly, Jimmy is an effective character because he draws the audience's sympathy. ![]() Now, Karl Hettinger is perhaps the best character in the film. John Savage portrays him as relatable, tragic, and sympathetic all at once as he shatters and must bring himself to pick up the pieces after the murder of his partner. Karl does everything from shoplifting to considering suicide in an attempt to cope with his crippling guilt. Karl was put in a difficult position during and following the murder, having been criticized as an incompetent police officer and struggling with failing his partner. Where Jimmy is sympathetic, Karl is empathetic. His reaction to the death of his partner is extremely realistic and that really captures audience attention. He might not be the most innocent character in the movie, but he certainly tried his best with what he was given. Themes are powerfully and carefully used in The Onion Field. The most important ones can be summed up as follows: acceptance, suppression, and direction. To start with acceptance, all the characters are forced to accept their situations following the murder and its subsequent consequence. Initially, all the main characters struggle to live with what happened. It is a hard road for the characters, but one they eventually all find. This teaches the audience that real happiness, the element the characters are in-tune with by the end, is found through accepting one's situation and living one's life. Now, this does not mean that change is bad, but rather, it argues that someone should not torture themselves over an un-ideal situation, rather, they should treat it as temporary and find the positives in the difficulty. In this way, the film really speaks to the audience, as everyone has problems they struggle with, but as long as they realize that most of their problems are likely not permanent, they will be fine. Now for suppression, the movie handedly condemns suppression as the bane of the character. Jimmy suppresses his desire to escape and/or defy Greg while Karl suppresses his desire to talk about his pain and defy his partner's wishes, allowing them both to be kidnapped. In short, suppression causes nothing but pain and hardship for the characters, leading them down dark paths. If nothing else, one should speak their mind, for life is not kind to those who do not. Finally, direction is another prominent theme in the movie. Initially, none of the main characters have a real direction. Greg seemingly has a plan of where he wants to go, but this plan is convoluted and inefficient. The detectives are a different kind of directionless, having no real focus until the kidnapping. Afterwards, the two criminals are set upon specific paths, while Karl is placed upon an even more directionless path. Overall, the film argues that misery is all that can be found in a oath that one does not take control of. If someone is set down a path, it should be a path they choose or built to achieve their goals. The major message to be found in the movie is: choice equals happiness. Truly, The Onion Field is a very effective film in terms of characters, acting, and themes. The characters are believable and engaging with themes that are relatable and solid. While this film may be based on real life events, it certainly stands on its own as a work. Future audiences and filmmakers alike should pay close attention to this film. It is not only a movie that is full of realistic and intriguing characters, but also themes that everyone would take to heart.
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