Being a winner, without winning.

Misha Pisha
Nov 5 · 6 min read
Photo by Josh Appel on Unsplash

Don’t you ever wonder what it's like to be a winner, wouldn’t it be great to just bathe in the minute of glory. Well, in that case, you have come to the wrong place, as in this text response essay I will be comparing the two films “The Hustler” by Robert Rossen and “The loneliness of the long-distance runner” by Tony Richardson where both protagonists can be considered winners without actually winning anything.

You got talent

So what beat me?

Character

In the film “The Hustler” by Robert Rossen, “Fast Eddie” Felson is leading against the legendary pool player “Minnesota Fats” by over $18,000 when he gets too cocky and when Charlie asks him to quit and take the winnings, Eddie says “the pool game is over when Fat’s said its over” and afterward begin to lose non stop leaving with less the amount that he came with. When he comes back in several weeks he defeats a rich bloke in a game of billiards, but this isn’t really considered a win, as the girl that Eddie truly loves kills herself. “I traded her in on a pool game”, this event is quite shattering for the audience and again shows that the protagonist has absolutely no control over himself and those that are around him suffer. So, is Eddie a winner?

It's possible to say that he is a winner because right after his girlfriend's death he came back and beat Minnesota Fats and was declared as the winner, however from my perspective, I wouldn't be able to call him a winner as his addiction to pool led to the death of his girlfriend.

Get on me Bert, I can’t lose.


Both “The loneliness of the long-distance runner” by Tony Richardson And “The hustler” by Robert Rossen highlight the protagonist as an individual who comes from a lower socio-economic background and is associated with criminal activity. In the film “The loneliness of the Long-distance runner” this is clearly illustrated in the scene where colin and his friend sneak into a bakery to steal a box with cash and coins, which they later get busted for and get sent to a juvenile prison called borstal

In the film “The Hustler”, the very first couple of minutes expose Eddie and Charlie as small-time hustlers who go around bars and scam people for their money, which is considered as an illegal activity.

By their looks, they have no issue with this which exposes the lack of sympathy for others and their hard-earned money.

This screengrab from the film “The loneliness of the long-distance runner” reminds me of something like an over the shoulder shot. With absolutely no context it’s obvious that something sinister is about to happen, the audience will first focus on Colin, who is scouting to see whether anyone will witness what is about to happen. Whilst, his friend is checking to see if there are any valuables in the car and whether it is open or not. This is quite an effective shot because its a dead giveaway of both these characters' personalities which solidifies my previous statement about Colin being associated with criminal activity.

Running has always been a big thing in our family, especially running away from the police.

This statement shows that crime takes its roots into the family. So it isn’t something that Colin had developed himself.

This image shows that Colin has the ability to push himself the extra mile, it’s almost as if running is in his blood.

I can relate this to the film “The Hustler” when Eddie said, “How can I lose”. It was at that moment when Eddie said the following statement, he began losing because of his lack of character. On the other hand, we have Colin who is the exact opposite of Eddie, he has character and respects not only himself but those around him which is why he loses. Colin loses on purpose as if to let the Borstal administrators know that he is independent and doesn’t follow someone else’s rules. In my opinion, this is a very risky gesture as he probably prolonged his stay at this center by doing so.


This medium shot puts Eddie on the spot as the more dominant persona in the room, judging by the man at the back it’s obvious that he is amused, which helps the viewer who doesn’t know much about the sport understand that Eddie is not your average pool player.

A very dark scene, and a medium shot, with the three dim lights that focus the audience's attention on the triangle of balls. This medium shot likewise highlights the importance of both the players as they are in the center of the shot. The film used lots of medium shots like this one in return letting the audience know that 8 ball pool is a highly respected sport that lots of people watch.


To complete this comparison, I will summarize what I think about both of these films.

Both “The Hustler” and “The loneliness of the long-distance runner” highlight that no matter where you came from you can be a winner, however, they also make the audience realize that if you're a winner in one thing, doesn’t mean that you will be a winner in everything else. This is quite a bold statement that would be treated harshly in our society as there is a huge belief that if a man or woman wins matches, gets good grades or has an amazing salary they are a winner, which unfortunately isn’t true in all cases.

Photo by 🇸🇮 Janko Ferlič - @specialdaddy on Unsplash

Bibliography

En.wikipedia.org. (2019). The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (film). [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Loneliness_of_the_Long_Distance_Runner_(film) [Accessed 2 Nov. 2019].

En.wikipedia.org. (2019). The Hustler (film). [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hustler_(film)#Themes [Accessed 5 Nov. 2019].

Quotes.net. (2019). Hustler Quotes. [online] Available at: https://www.quotes.net/movies/hustler_5512 [Accessed 5 Nov. 2019].

Contis, E. (2019). Types of Shots in a Film: The First Tools to Building a Shot List. [online] Careers In Film | Film Schools & Colleges. Available at: https://www.careersinfilm.com/types-of-shots-in-film/ [Accessed 5 Nov. 2019].

Quotes.net. (2019). Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner Quotes. [online] Available at: https://www.quotes.net/movies/loneliness_of_the_long_distance_runner_6828 [Accessed 5 Nov. 2019].

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