When it comes to "The Hours", it is impossible not to mention Virginia Woolf's "Mrs. Dalloway", which is an important prop and clue for the film, and Woolf originally named it "The Hours". The novel is entangled in the entire film, hidden most of the time, but ubiquitous. It greatly extends the content of the film. It's fair to say that the film covers four women: Woolf in the 20s, Laura Brown in the 50s, Clarissa in 2001, and Mrs Dalloway in time and space. Buying flowers, dinner parties, kissing between women... The plots of these novels appear again and again in the movie, with different appearances and time and space, but always follow the shadow of Mrs. Dalloway.
Mrs Dalloway is a conscious stream masterpiece. Both "flow" and "stream" vividly express the feeling that human consciousness can spread freely and flow freely without restriction. It is through this means that Woolf is able to show a woman's life in one day in "Mrs. Dalloway". The film clearly and even deliberately borrows from this structure, with all three stories strictly following the one-day, one-woman model. This movie does not win with plot, but more at the heart of a woman. However, novels and movies are different art forms after all. The thoughts of characters in novels can be wild and imaginative, but it is difficult to use specific words in movies. visual representation. "The Hours" does not use illusions, dreams or images to express the characters' hearts like "Wild Strawberry", "Eight and a Half" and other films (the only illusion in the whole play is that Laura is engulfed by water, which is very exciting), but It uses a more realistic approach, mainly expressing their inner world through the characters' expressions, actions and language. This approach is more approachable and less obscure, but at the same time it tends to be sluggish and superficial. The three leading actresses have contributed greatly, it is their wonderful and restrained performances that make the film deep and gentle, or like a calm undercurrent, which can flow into your heart quietly.
The film has three stories, which take place in different time and space, but the way of telling is in stark contrast to "Heroes", which also has three stories. "Heroes" is not only told separately, but also differentiated by color, for fear that the audience will not be able to understand. The three stories of "The Hours" are developed at the same time, but they are not absolutely parallel, and have a feeling of being one. This has a lot to do with the editing of the film. The film begins with the three heroines in the same sleeping position and similar bouquets in the three space-time free transitions, like a wave after wave of ocean tides; but more often, it is a movement that is still continuing and coherent, and the time and space of the characters have been changed. Change, smooth and flexible.
The connection of the three stories is by no means merely on-camera. The book Laura was holding was once the thoughts in Woolf's mind; the old Laura sat opposite Clarissa, telling her life that was not finished in that story; Clarie, living in 2001 Sara, Sally, Richard are the names of the protagonists in Mrs Dalloway; and when Richard's last look overlaps with the longing look of his childhood, it's impossible not to shake your heart . The lives of the three women are connected in one place. Such as the meandering, circling and reciprocating of the river, coupled with "Mrs. Dalloway", there is a taste of singing and sighing. The flowing water stretches and cannot be clearly cut, but no matter how similar it is, this drop of water is no longer the same drop, but it will never be indistinguishable.
Rivers are flowing, music is flowing, images are flowing, thoughts are flowing, time is flowing, life is flowing... everything is - flowing.
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