After New Year's Day in 2020, I read a news-the headline was Nicholas Cage, yes, not Nicholas Zhao Si, but Cage. Cage, 55, surprised locals by making an unexpected appearance at a pub in Somerset, England. Instead of partying with the stars in Hollywood to celebrate New Years, he celebrated New Years 2020 with the locals at this little bar called the Streetcar Social Club, where he invited everyone to drink and even joined as a member.
When I saw this news, what came to my mind was not the biochemical expert who saved human beings in "Brave to the Dead Island", not the honest and brave FBI agent in "Changing Face", nor the mercenary arms dealer in "Lord of War" .
There's only one image in my head -- Ben. Yes, the drunken drunk who's leaving Las Vegas.
I even yanked the movie out of the library again, opened a bottle of wine, didn't need any side dishes, and sank with Ben.
For me, this movie is special and irreplaceable. For Cage too, it is his greatest performance. There is no one, and the Oscar judges are also knowledgeable. There was no controversy about the golden man that year.
I'm glad that when I saw this movie, it was over. In the depression and despair, with the ethereal and sad soundtrack, I secretly prayed not to end up unfinished, not to take Sera back to Los Angeles to start a wonderful new life , No!
Obviously, the original author and director were not so vulgar, and they made a great movie.
What is a great movie? There is no standard. Just like who you fall in love with, those with standard options often don't have standard endings.
For me, the greatness of this movie is not just the great performance of Cage, but also the kind of truth that the whole movie expresses, a kind of truth that strips away all the pretense.
2019 has passed, I have read a lot of public accounts, and the articles are very sad.
2019 has passed, and I have seen many people with bitter faces.
Efforts may not be rewarded, and efforts may be rewarded by thousands of people.
The outlook on life has been subverted again and again, and the depths of my heart have been demolished and rebuilt again and again.
Getting older is really not a good thing. You will find that you see less and less beauty. In this world, it is often the dark law that controls everything.
I can't forget, a colleague, at the office window, lit a cigarette, was silent for a long time, and spit out a sentence from the bottom of his heart and the smoke ring,
"It's boring..."
Yes, life is boring most of the time.
At the end of the year, I was having dinner with a good friend one day. He was half drunk, and suddenly his eyes were red: I have to exercise, I feel that I can no longer secrete dopamine, and I have to stimulate it with external force. I heard it works.
I ask what's wrong?
He said that he was a little depressed and bored every day.
I said did something happen?
The answer is, no, it just feels like there is no hope in life, no hope.
Speechless.
Just like when the wine is half full, there is truth. After half-time in life, it was revealed.
What about success, career? When the wine glasses meet, it is the sound of broken dreams. When you are forty years old, you are no longer confused, because you have seen the boredom and cruelty of the second half, and you no longer believe in propaganda and lies.
What are you talking about, love? In a materialistic world, most are lost. Under the impact of various pressures, the closest people are also the most vulnerable people.
Occasional declarations of love resounding through the clouds, more quarrels;
There is not only warmth, but also chicken feathers in the chai rice oil salt sauce vinegar tea.
That marriage certificate can only testify that you once owned it.
Ben once had it, and with the residual respect that his secretary, boss, and friends have left for him, we can also see his happy life. But that's all over, he's just an alcoholic now, a drunk that everyone avoids.
Why did he become an alcoholic? Is it because you can't write good works? Middle-aged career bottleneck? Or because of a failed marriage?
As Ben himself said, "I've forgotten that I lost them to drink, or I lost them because of drinking."
But who cares? are no longer important.
With age, mineral water and sweet drinks have gradually drifted away. A cup of strong tea or a cup of beer is best matched with the bitter taste of double IPA to match the bitter middle-aged life. And when life abandons you and you get tired of life, then a drinking life becomes a drinking life.
Ben is so. My wife and children are lost, my job is lost, my friends are gone, and my credit card is overdrawn. When living has become a torment, it would be better to drown in wine. Thinking of this, Ben was relieved, he happily sold all his property, took the last money, and brought countless wines, he came to Las Vegas. This gambling city, full of feasting and degenerate atmosphere, is like a mirage in the desert.
He drank in casinos, in bars, in the car, he drank everywhere, drank happily, and smiled brightly. This background music is cheerful and relaxed, Ben is also happy from the heart, like an enlightened wise man, he has clear and easy-to-achieve goals without any tangible or intangible burden, this is almost a kind of life Highest realm.
He met Sera.
Who is Sera? She's a prostitute, a street warbler, from Los Angeles like Ben, controlled by a pimp named Yuri. Ben almost bumped into her when he was drinking, but when he met Sera for the second time, he wanted to do something.
He stopped Sera, and the invitation was sincere, $500. Sera didn't like a drunk, but she needed money. As she said, "I bring out the best in the men who fuck me. It's not easy, but I'm very good." She is professional and dedicated, "I can just become who they want me to be.” Meanwhile, Sera calls physical service a show she’s good at, and of course, numb. “For 500 bucks, you can do pretty much whatever you want. You can fuck my ass. You can come on my face. Whatever you want to do.”
But Ben didn't need that, he paid Sera, he just wanted company, he needed someone to listen, and he wanted Sera to drink with him.
What a pure drunk! Unlike those old prostitutes or perverts who gave 200 dollars and wanted to play 500 tricks, Ben was polite and gentle. At this moment, he spent 500 dollars just to find a friend. He regarded Sera as a person and a friend.
When Sera woke up from Ben's arms the next morning, she was heartbroken. And when the pimp who controlled him was killed, the first thing she did after being free was that she wanted to bring Ben home.
Is this love? do not know. Maybe pity, maybe longing. Sera is a prostitute. She should have lost her expectations for love, but she is still afraid of loneliness. The house she doesn't want to rent is just a place to come back and wash away the smell of clients. She longs for a home, and there is a home she looks forward to seeing Here, the person waiting for her to go home.
It doesn't matter who this person is, whoever appears at the right time is who, she doesn't have to choose. Sera knows even more that she is not qualified to ask Ben to do anything. She accepts this person as she is and does not try to change him. She buys him clothes, drinks with him, and gambles with him. She wants to be with him and pay for him. , waiting for him.
The biggest irony of life is coming, what is this if it is not love?
This is precisely the highest level of love! It's the paradox of life...
Does Ben love Sera? do not know. But he also needs Sera.
He has been abandoned by the person he loves the most, the scars are too deep and painful, and he too needs someone to soothe his lonely and painful soul.
He stayed and he said, "You are my angel." But he also said, "You can nerver, never ask me to stop drinking."
Sera accepted it completely, and she even bought him an exquisite small wine jug.
There's really not much one person can do. Do whatever you can.
Sera needs Ben and accepts Ben, but she knows she can't save herself, and neither can Ben. In order to survive for herself and Ben, she must also continue to sell her body.
Ben, although a drunk, knows that. Sera is his angel, but he doesn't want to admit that he loves her, admitting it is like jumping into the abyss, he doesn't even want to think more, he still continues to drink bars, life is too sober, it's endless pain.
If he drank too much, he would also bring prostitutes home.
Maybe in his heart, he hates Sera for talking about loving himself.
You love me, why do you want to hurt me? He probably remembered a person in his life who had left him, and he hated it.
Perhaps, when he was awake, he already knew that his time was running out, and he didn't want to stay by Sera's side any longer. For the last part of the journey, he didn't want to be tired, he wanted to go alone.
People are very complex, and it is even more difficult to interpret such complex emotions. This piece of Cage's performance perfectly expresses this complexity, but the inner turbulent performance is restrained. A pair of earrings and a glass of wine complete the release of this emotion.
Sera broke down and she kicked Ben out of the house.
She chose to face the world by herself again, endured the beatings and rapes of perverted clients, packed her bags and left the house by herself, wandering the night streets of Las Vegas by herself, just like before she met Ben.
But she still had one last glimmer of hope.
In the final scene, Ben, who was terminally ill, shivered and waited for Sera. He finally made the call. He is a weak soul. He is not afraid of death, but he is still afraid of dying alone. On the last journey, he wants to see the last angel in his life again. The room was extremely dark, but Sera opened a curtain and a shimmer of light shone on Ben's body. The background music was long and sad, filling the screen, lingering and endless...
"You are my love." Sera murmured. She finally shows her professional side to Ben, and Ben's life finally shines under Sera's caress as he stands up and enters Sera.
"You know I love you." Ben said the words tremblingly.
"I know, I love you." Sera sobbed in response.
This is the most powerless expression and the most real cry.
Yes, this life, I used to love you, you know I love you, but I'm leaving, goodbye.
In the last scene, Ben glanced at the angel beside him, then glanced at the god of death who came beside him, exhaled his last breath, relieved...
Sera woke up and sat by the bed alone, she didn't cry, she didn't feel sad, she knew that two desperate people can't change anything, they can stay together, have a story, enough is enough, she won't expect too much.
Some people say that the two things that men love to do are "drag a good family into the water and persuade a prostitute to follow the good".
It's really cheap.
The moving part of this movie is precisely that it does not persuade the drunkard to reform, and the prostitute follow the good.
Reasons and morals have been heard enough, just like you persuade a terminally ill patient to be cheerful, but the pain is not on you after all!
Positive energy, positive energy, or positive energy. There is nothing wrong with positive energy, but who avoided negative energy?
When chicken soup turns into dog blood, who can take responsibility?
You don't need a reason to live well, you don't need to stay when you leave, because I am who I am.
You can nerver, never ask me to stop drinking.
Salute to Cage!
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