MovieChat Forums > Fresh (1994) Discussion > Tears?

Tears?

posted 19 years ago by Chambermatic
30 replies | jump to latest

I just watched Fresh for probably the fourth or fifth time last night, and when I got to the end of the movie, the ending struck me as having a new meaning. For whatever reason, it seemed like the purpose of Fresh crying was to throw his father off of his game. The idea seemed absurd at first, but then I noticed how much his father seemed to hurt emotionally from the sight of seeing his son break down like he did. Sam's usual game time confidence appeared to be at best slightly rattled. After watching Fresh tell lies with such stone cold conviction in regard to Esteban and his other drug dealing associates, it makes you wonder if Fresh is able to be so coldly manipulative when playing against his own father. In this scene Sam makes a reference to Fresh having to let go of his childish games. It would be sort of ironic if Fresh used a "childish" trick to defeat his father. And while the movie never actually shows Fresh beating his father, it is generally assumed that he does indeed triumph over him. I guess I'm just wondering if Fresh had learned to put the game on speed and chew up his father on his own terms.

I'm looking for the master.

Ain't no masters here dude... Ain't no slaves either!

[–] lana23 18 years ago

i thought he was just emotional from everything that had went down from that lil girl gettin killed, and chuckie, rosco...etc.

Catch me towing weight in any city or state
Cuz my hustle will neva stop like a car wit bad breaks

[–] thedynamix 17 years ago

I concur and wholeheartedly agree with that.

Sad ending either way.

Brilliant film, terrific!

[–] oni013 18 years ago

I love the ending, and I don't think Fresh is just a stone-cold calculating kid. Remember that he bares some emotion to his father in the movie--the scene where he argues with him about how chess is fun, etc. shows more depth into Fresh than most of the other ones. His father and his sister show that his family is important to him.

Also obviously his dad put ideas into his head about life being a chess game, and friends in life being pawns to get where you need to go, which made Fresh do what he did. However, he's still just a kid who didn't really want to do what he had to do even as he did it, and his crying at the ending reminds us of that.

Since he feels at least a little open with his father, who essentially (from his point of view) spurred him on to carry out the things he did, for Fresh to come back to him victorious and his father still to be treating him like a little kid and to be so overbearing instead of fatherly and loving is too much for Fresh, and his emotions get the better of him. Also, remember Fresh has to leave his father to move away and won't be able to see him anymore.

Like I said, great ending.

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] 18 years ago

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[–] da_real_king1 18 years ago

He was crying because it was finally over all the *beep* he went through all the pain it was finally over.

[–] sociozen 18 years ago

He was crying because it was finally over all the *beep* he went through all the pain it was finally over.
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Exactly. For the life of me, I cannot understand why some posters do not get it. Fresh held in his emotions. His "checkmate" was getting away from the brutal life of the projects. That last scene brings me tears every time that I see it. It is so painful. He was just a child thrust into an environment not of his choosing. To hear his father tell him those things ("sink or swim I am not going to always be there for you...are you ready to beat your old man...are you ready to be king?") about life without knowing that his son has already played the ultimate game of chess...life.

[–] polysicsarebest 13 years ago

Was everything really "over", though? While I like the "checkmate" theory of yours, as soon as he says he wants to get out of the ghetto, it shows him returning... maybe just to play chess, who knows, it's never alluded to... but I thought he was crying because he can't change how things are.. you always end up going back or whatever..

-
Shuji Terayama forever.

[–] jdblick1002 10 years ago

I assumed it was because he knew it was likely the last time he would ever see his Dad, being that he would be entering witness protection and would be moved out the hood. He stated to the cop at the end who said they would both be moved for their safety, he says "i don't wanna live in no more projects". (watched this last night)

Even if he had decided to tell his Dad he would be moving away, he knew he wouldn't be able to tell him what he had done, and how he had taken his teachings (which were well meant) and applied them to dealing. His Dad seemed like he wanted the best for his son, he didn't even like him cursing.

So although he would probably be glad he was getting a new start with real opportunities, I doubt he would approve of his methods, which Michael knew. The look he gives him at the very end (when he cries), said to me that he wanted to tell his Dad everything he had been through, but couldn't as it would show him in the worst light possible, and his father would likely look very differently at him.

I saw it as a bittersweet ending, not entirely the best outcome. He had achieved his goal of getting out of the street life, but at what cost.

[–] EmpressClaudia 17 years ago

I agree, he was finally able to cry......he cried for everything he lost, he cried for his innocence.

[–] GoodEveningJF 15 years ago

Crocodile tears if you ask me. Chucky got the dope moves, movin base for Esteban.
You just HAD to look, didn't you??!!

[–] beierfilms 15 years ago

I think it's pretty clear he's crying out of regret and guilt. The whole film his father's been teaching him how to be cold and calculating in order to win. He does just what his father says, sacrifices his friends/pawns, and ends up getting a whole lot of people killed in order to escape the projects. I think he's crying because of what he's been forced to become to survive.

[–] ryoko_the_spacepirate1 18 years ago

His tears was a culmination of several things .. like him crying for his dead friends, that he ddnt properly grieve,Him becoming sensitized to seeing all that death and violence and knowing he was responsble .Hime finally being able to get out of his current lifestyle and his sister as well and then the final straw was his last visit to his dad and it dawns on him he wont see him again so he lets it all out then.

"your eyes say things i never hear from you "

[–] deadclock 18 years ago

He cries obviously because its good bye but another way to look at is that Sam his father was the last piece to be sacrificed. For Fresh to win a better life he had to put his own King/Bishop out of play. Something that at first meant less now meant way more than he thought.

[–] samuraimars 18 years ago

Ok - when he cries. he was finally emoting. That's why he was crying. It was supposed to be him displaying real emotions, or specifically grief or whatever, for the first time, and all that that implies. Uh doy.
And I don't think anyone assumes he then beats his Dad at chess after that. The crying is supposed to making the chess game irrelevant.

[–] pulse72 18 years ago

I think he began crying because his father was always so distant and unsypathetic to him but he loved him and respected him and he knew he would probably never see him again. I missed it was there any explanation of why his father was not a part of his life?

[–] dccheever 18 years ago

To answer you pulse, I think in the scene with Esteban and his Sister before he frames Esteban we get the answer. Esteban relays to Fresh what he already knows because Fresh set it up. Fresh got his sister to go "visit" their dad in Rehab upstate but in reality he did it so his sister wasn't at James' (The guy Esteban and his crew shot up at the store) place so his sister wouldn't get caught up in the gun fire. But Esteban reveals what we already knew as well which is Fresh's pops already checked out of rehab.

So the only logical answer i can see is that his dad was either a lifelong alcoholic or had some other drug abuse problems and therefore was an unfit father or got caught up and was taken away from his kids.

anyone else agree?

[–] BlacK-KinG-BosS 18 years ago

THANK U. The OP think after that Fresh put in all that work, he all of sudden concerned about a game? Was that part of the master plan from jump?
1. Set up Drug Lords
2. Save my sister
3. Beat dad in chess

Is dude serious? What movie was he watchin. *beep*
-THIS WEED IS FANTASTIC!

[–] Blaqkout 15 years ago

back again with this topic 3 years later.
Anyways I believe the movie was based as a chess game, I remember as soon as his father said sumthin about his defensive/offensive skills Fresh started becoming manipulative and used people for his advantage. The ending I believe shows HE DID IT, He is the king. And if the movie was extended I believed the chess game wudve been in his hands

[–] heelmaster2000 14 years ago

Yep, that's how I felt about the ending as well. Also it was what the father said about how he had to play the game in the films final conversation. To Fresh, he had already done those things and thus mastered the game, albeit with devastating consequences.

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] Arimas01 13 years ago

I only recently saw this movie once, but I assumed that he was crying because although he saw his dad all the time, his dad never really protected him. he had to live a tuff life and his dad never offerered any comfort or assistance. He was only a kid that had to make adult decisions. Living in an adult world, he was never able to put his guard down and cry. Now because all his dad cared about was chess he would never see him again. He wanted his dad to forget about the game for a minute and act like a real father and talk father to son for once. I think his cries were from anger and contempt.

[–] ntsly1 13 years ago

My first impression of him crying was simply because this is probably the last time he will play chess with his father for a long time since he's moving. He loves him and will miss him.

[–] Colonial825 12 years ago

The way I see it is this:

Watch the scene. It's months later (3 I think) so he's already been re-located elsewhere in the city (remember the city is pretty big) and the events of Esteban's trial are probably behind him. He meets with his father as usual but he's late (probably a longer distance away now, or finishing up his business with the police). He sits down and his dad is reading the paper. He looks like he's mad for him being late, but he's reading the paper too intently, glancing up at his son then back at the paper. This leads me to believe he's reading about the trial.

He says nothing about it, doesn't comfort him after all hes been through, maybe even recognizes that he was applying his chess advice to the situation(look at Samuel L Jackson's face, it's almost like he's scoffing at what he was reading) and he acknowledges it all by preparing to go all out in their game of speed chess, as if his son is now ready to take him on in a real game. That and his last speech was the last emotional straw for Fresh after everything that happened and he broke down.

He wanted his father's approval basically. There are little hints in the movie that it's what he sought from him and he ultimately didn't get it.

[–] gangsta_toes 11 years ago

I didn't see anything that showed it was months later in the film. I always thought the tears were from Fresh sitting down with his father and everything he'd just went through finally hitting him at that moment, hence the tears. I also thought it was telling that his father, always having advice or something to say didn't know how to respond to Fresh in this instance.

[–] Colonial825 10 years ago

Thought it was the newspaper in the scene- I may need to rewatch it.

[–] jeffreyd900 11 years ago

Fresh cried because he wanted his father to be proud of him. He wanted his father to be proud of the moves he's making as a man in real life, not on the chess board. Their relationship hasn't gone beyond the chess board. The only way for Fresh to handle life is the smack talk his father gives him when they play. The only sort of connection the movie shows they've had is through the chess game.
While crying may seem like a neat trick, Fresh really wanted a father who was never there for him in his struggle.