MovieChat Forums > Rundskop (2011) Discussion > Mislabeling Jacky

Mislabeling Jacky

posted 12 years ago by mattcat730
18 replies | jump to latest

I've heard some reviewers say that Jacky is a "dark character". I disagree with this. What I found so compelling about the character was that even though he is miserable and has suffered a lot, he's still a really decent and compassionate human being. I think many people don't see this because of his rough and expressionless manner. But it's clear that he loves his family and puts them first which is shown in the scene where he sends them away before the police can raid the farm. I'd say that the plot is dark but I wouldn't say the protagonist is.

[–] donald-vanvliet 12 years ago

It's not because he did something nice for his family, that he isn't "dark".
Dude had issues !

[–] mattcat730 12 years ago

Well of course he had issues. But considering what happened to him in his childhood, he turned out to be a very good person. I think most people would turn out to be really screwed up and sick, but Jacky wasn't like that. He's just a really sad guy who wants someone to love and accept him. In the scene he has with Bruno in the hospital you can really see his pain. He wants Bruno to feel something like what he does, but he doesn't have the meanness in him like Bruno. He sees how helpless Bruno is and can't do anything.

[–] euchrow 12 years ago

Hmm not sure if he turned out to be a very good person. Considering what he did to the guy in the disco... He is what he is, not good nor bad. Same with Bruno, but we don't know his story. Reminds me of a quote by Jean Renoir: "The real hell of life is everyone has his reasons."

[–] mattcat730 12 years ago

Wasn't that guy one of the people who attacked him as a kid?

[–] daphen_axa 12 years ago

oh no i don't think he was! He just danced w Lucia in the club and was all around her, what made Jackie become nut!
anyway in the kid scene, only Bruno attacks him really. None of the other kids did something to him

regarding the OP: We feel compassion for Jackie because he has really good and likeable sides in his personnality. We also feel his pain and what he has gone through is just plain aweful so we are willing to excuse and like him. But you can't ignore he has really "dark sides"!!

[–] KayDrama 10 years ago

None of the other kids did something to him

They did hold Jacky down although you could hear them say "I didn't think he would really do it!"

[–] Errington_92 10 years ago

Jacky certainly was an intriguing character study in the context of masculinity. My sympathies were with him considering his traumatic past.

I'd rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I am not.

[–] mulholland_empire 12 years ago

the reason jacky attacked that guy from the club was because finally after years of waiting to have any type of private moment with lucia, he gets one and vincent comes up to them and embarrasses him after about a minute. he takes lucia away from jacky, then he sees him all over her on the dance floor. this put jacky over the edge and was why he wanted to kill vincent and beat the sh** outta him later on that night.

[–] Buff70 12 years ago

I agree with you matt -- Jacky could have easily beat the crap out of Bruno, who was helpless in that chair. What was the matter with Bruno anyway? stroke?

[–] mamiwata 12 years ago

I agree, Matt. I haven't seen the reviews, so maybe when they say he's "dark" they don't mean he's "evil," but the things that you say - rough, expressionless, plus depressed and messed up on steroids

[–] vcarson101 12 years ago

i think it was the testosterone. he would have been just a normal person without it. look at the end scene and what he did with it.

[–] PoppyTransfusion 11 years ago

Every person has a light and a dark, or shadow, side. If a film is worthwhile then its characters do too. Jacky is not the only character who is dark, Diedrick, Lucia, Stieve (visits brothels on his way home), the mechanic brothers, the cop who flirst with Diedrick, all of them have their dark sides. The difference with Jacky is that he was forced to confront darkness as a child and his darkness is more palpable. Imagine overhearing that conversation between dad and doctor about developing secondary sexual characteristics; what is a boy to make of such a conversation? It would have been scary if not perhaps terrifying.

To say a little often is to tell more than to say a great deal.

[–] rzaxlash 10 years ago

Decent and compassionate human being? Did we watch the same film? This guy is one of the angriest characters I have recently seen on screen. Yes, I realize he had an awful past and a lot of his issues stem from PTSD, having had to do hormone therapy since an early age and probably steroid induced anger, but ultimately you are responsible for your own actions, and throughout the course of a 2 hour movie, Jacky embodies an animal. He is a bully to just about everybody near to him, using his strength and force to get what he wants. How many of his coworkers does he headbutt? He is socially awkward, and as a result of that, racist, homophobic and probably misogynistic. He beats a man to death simply because he didn't appreciate him being at a club with a girl he desires. He assaulted and killed 2 or 3 cops, none of whom had mistreated him during the arrest. He deals with criminals, performs in illegal activities and quite honestly does not have a redeeming quality. People like him are a threat to society and ought to be institutionalized or jailed. I enjoyed this movie and felt it was an interesting character study, but I am tired of these violent, "Misunderstood" Protagonists. I had a similar issue with Raging Bull btw.

[–] PoppyTransfusion 10 years ago

This guy is one of the angriest characters I have recently seen on screen. Yes, I realize he had an awful past and a lot of his issues stem from PTSD

SPOILERS BELOW

His issues stem from having his balls hacked off with a stone as a kid. It's way past PTSD and, unsurprisingly, he is not only angry but rageful. Angry, rageful people may do things that are indecent at times but it does not mean they are indecent or lack compassion at their core. There are moments in the film that show Jacky's kind, human side. It's quite clear that you have no empathy with Jacky's plight at all. I've not used the Transformers line in a post before but it seems to apply here: You can't tolerate watching a character development involving someone prone to rage and violence, stick to Transformers. There I've done it now!

what a season
to be beautiful
without a reason

[–] rzaxlash 10 years ago

weak rebuttal, topped off by the obligatory Transformers line. Which components of Jacky's kind side are we alluding to here? Him shoving his father in a car to hide him from any legal troubles? Stalking a woman in the middle of the night, breaking into her apartament and basically threatening to come in? Headbutting 4 different people in a 2 hour film? Or maybe killing a few cops? Hey, if these are the type of people you consider decent, who am I to judge? And for the record, I enjoyed the movie, I will probably like it even more upon a second watch. I think dark protagonists can be fascinating.(Walter White, Tony Soprano, etc..) But I would never refer to them as decent.

[–] PoppyTransfusion 10 years ago

Of course it's the obligatory Transformers line! Can I put 'no sense of humour' on the imaginary list of deficits I'm compiling for you as a viewer? And while I'm into trotting out obligatory lines let me remark that you're clearly about 12 years old hence the lack of understanding of the film. So stick to Transformers.

Speaking of obligatory lines: The critic (troll) who needs to establish his or her credentials by listing films and, in your case dark protagonists, that run contrary to their criticisms of the film (or character) they're dissing is quite a cliche, of which you may need reminding.

I could write more about Jacky but you would continue to judge my points as weak because it's clear from what you write/your questions that you are too far out to empathise with Jacky. The fact that you wished to diminish his plight as merely PTSD (though PTSD is never a merely matter) is prime evidence for the degree from which you're removed. Not that such a remove matters too much; each of us will struggle with certain films/characters as we do people, it's life. The fact that not everyone agrees with your view indicates that your view is partial and the character of Jacky has other sides that mean he can be seen differently; each according to their perceptions.

what a season
to be beautiful
without a reason

[–] rzaxlash 10 years ago

I get his plight. He is not the most complex character arc. And you've yet to post anything specific regarding his high moral character. I guess if somebody stepped on my balls, it would give me carte Blanche to go around killling people.

[–] PoppyTransfusion 10 years ago

I've not suggested he has a 'high moral character'.

I guess if somebody stepped on my balls

Once again you diminish what happened. This isn't what happened to Jacky and it seems to me that unless someone smashes and cuts your balls off with a rock you aren't going to get it either.

I'm not posting anything specific because there's no point. He doesn't have a character arc in an expected way but there is one without doubt. You don't get the character, you minimise and invalidate what happened to him and you judge him as though everything were normal when it's pretty far from normal. You're not sounding a very nice person yourself.

what a season
to be beautiful
without a reason