Isabelle Huppert is an actress who is closest to Greta Garbo in appearance and temperament in contemporary film circles.
The feeling they give is described in one word: cold.
But carefully taste the cold and different between the two.
Garbo is aloof, her eyes that never look directly, leave too much room for interpretation, but never give anyone a chance to communicate, which makes her even more mysterious.
It is said that Marlene Dietrich and Garbo are both Hollywood superstars, but they have never met. Marlene Dietrich, four years older, idolized Garbo. Under the arrangement of friends, the two finally met. At that time, Garbo was sitting on a high platform in the living room, and everyone stood looking up at her. Marlene Dietrich walked over, looked up at her, and said, "You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen," and said a lot of things like that. Garbo then replied "Thank you very much, next?"
Huppert's coldness is more of an alienation.
She didn't shy away from looking directly, even under the gaze of everyone, she didn't panic at all, and looked at everything around her coldly, as if she was in it, but she could get out at any time. She watched from the sidelines, so in the face of the messy reality, she would never be in a mess. She is not attached to the answer, so there is no doubt and confusion.
This is an overly rational face. But the smile on the corner of her mouth, intentionally or unintentionally, broke the illusion of graceful abstinence and was clearly a provocation. This provocation of human nature makes it easier for her to touch moral taboos. So she can always play those roles that challenge people's morality.
She is not addicted, her eyes are always cold, and she can always return to reason. Once back to rationality, Huppert became a master at dealing with problems. Because this petite body contains a strong heart. So, no matter how chaotic and complicated the worlds those characters are in, she can solve them in the end.
In the movies "Piano Teacher" and "The Future", she has such performances.
The most complicated of them all is her performance in director Paul Verhoeven's film "Her".
one,
Huppert in "Her" is a middle-aged woman living in a fucking world.
Her dad is a super murderer who is serving a sentence. Her mother, who is over old and still hormonal, raised a fresh meat to get remarried. Her son had a girlfriend. Both of them were white, but they had a black child. The funny thing was that her stupid son insisted that the black baby was his own son. At this time, she was raped.
Afterwards, she was unusually calm.
First, I cleaned the dinner plates that were smashed at home during the fight, then I went to take a bath, washed the blood, and ordered takeout for myself. The next day, I went to the hospital for a health test and bought an anti-wolf spray and a hammer.
After she had dealt with these things in an orderly manner, at a friend's dinner party, she casually told everyone the fact that she had been sexually assaulted. When her ex-husband and best friend asked questions with concern, she impatiently changed the subject, as if the matter was over and there was no need for further discussion.
Is she really as casual as she seems?
Not really. Otherwise, she would not recall the day of the incident over and over again.
The first time she recalled it, she asked her cat, the only witness, why she hadn't given the thugs some color. The second time she recalled, she fantasized about fighting the thug and finally smashing the thug's head with an ashtray.
From beginning to end, she didn't ask anyone for help, just a little harsh on a cat. Because she has no one to rely on.
His father brought her only disaster. Her mother is willful and irresponsible. Her stupid son can't tell the difference between true and false. Her husband is a thing of the past.
Why didn't she call the police? When she was ten years old, her father was jailed, and the police and the media leaked her photos. Since then, the whole country has known that she is the daughter of a murderous demon. This led to her complete distrust of the police, so she never thought about calling the police.
two,
This is a woman who is completely helpless, but she has no intention of putting on a bitter scene herself.
Because of her father, she has been harassed in various ways since she was a child. The calmness and ease she has cultivated in this harsh living environment is nothing but a survival instinct for self-protection.
Therefore, she did not feel that there was anything unacceptable about her being sexually assaulted. However, the constant sexual harassment text messages sent by the thugs made her a little annoyed and aroused her fighting spirit. So, while rationally dealing with the bad things that kept happening around her, she secretly collected clues and made up her mind to punish the wicked person by herself.
Such a person has the ability to normalize all suffering.
The Christmas dinner scene where Pell reveals her life experience is her most "everyday" and the most ironic scene in the entire film.
Shengle remembered that the Catholic sacred ceremony was playing on the TV in the living room. In another corner of the living room, Huppert was drinking wine and talking to his male neighbor about his father easily. She said that her father, a devout Catholic, would draw a cross on his forehead every day before going to school, and he would do the same to the children in the neighborhood. The move has drawn dissatisfaction among non-Catholic parents. As a result, his father brutally killed 27 people around him in a fit of rage.
Apparently the bloody story caused physical discomfort to the male neighbor. But Huppert did not stop, she continued, adding more details, not only 27 human lives, but also 6 dogs and several cats.
The more she spoke lightly, the more she showed how deeply the incident had hurt her, so that, after thirty years, she still remembered every detail, showing that this experience still tormented her.
In front of outsiders, she looks indifferent and indestructible, and only in a corner where no one dares to reveal her vulnerability.
three,
Such a woman must be lonely.
She and her ex-husband clearly still love each other. After her ex-husband heard that she had been sexually assaulted, he secretly protected her downstairs the next night.
She heard that her ex-husband had made a new little girlfriend, and she was jealous, and she secretly put a toothpick in the dish of her ex-husband's girlfriend as a prank. But the two did not get back together because of some conflicts in their lives.
Because she was too afraid of loneliness, she ignored her ethics and went to bed with her best friend's husband.
She wants to gain a sense of presence from another man, who only uses her as a tool to vent her desires.
The day after the man learned that she had been sexually assaulted, he blatantly made sexual demands. Later, she had a car accident and needed to walk on crutches, but the other party still slept with her. After seeing this clearly, Huppert clearly announced the end of the relationship between the two.
But she ended one messy relationship and immediately jumped into another messy relationship.
A pair of new neighbors moved across from her house. The female neighbor is enthusiastic about community welfare, and the male neighbor is a gentleman. Hearing that the community has been unsafe recently, he took the initiative to send her home. When the strong wind hit, he took the initiative to help her close the doors and windows.
So, lonely, she couldn't help seducing the handsome gentleman's male neighbor.
When the thug was about to assault him for the second time, she stabbed the other party's hand and tore off the other party's mask. She found out that the person who raped him turned out to be her warm-hearted male neighbor.
The thug she had always wanted to catch was right in front of her, but she let her go.
At this point, loneliness became her biggest obstacle.
The most incredible and perverted scene in the film is when she re-enacts the rape scene with her male neighbor in the basement.
When the male neighbor asked her if she would like to visit the basement, he was undoubtedly seducing her. And her slightly moving eyes showed that she understood all this, but still agreed.
If the last time she was violated was forced, then this time she was violated voluntarily. Not only willingly, she also orgasms. Her orgasm continued as the male neighbor was ready to leave. Her howling voice and the surprised eyes of the male neighbors attracted, obviously, she got more this time, so it is difficult for you to tell who is the mastermind this time.
Four,
After this orgasm, she realized the danger because she was out of control.
The other party is not a trustworthy person, and the male neighbor violated her just out of a physiological need. From his rightful reasons and his guiltless expression, it can be seen that it is not the first time that he has committed violence. When Huppert asked him how many people he had raped in total, the male neighbor did not respond, that is, he tacitly agreed that she was not the only one.
Huppert's family experience told her that losing control was the greatest danger. Not losing control is the greatest victory in life.
She finally walked out of the ruins of her native family and built everything she didn't allow anyone to destroy.
So, in the end, she planned to kill the male neighbor. Returning to rationality, she is invincible in the face of reality.
She "took the way of others, but also treated others", lured the male neighbor into the game, and finally killed the male neighbor with the help of her son.
The "why" sentence before the male neighbor's death shows that he thinks this is the default game of both parties. And Huppert's mouth showed a sly smile
It is the most powerful response to his game mentality of hurting others.
His son is not stupid. He recognizes the black baby as his son because he needs a baby to prove that he is a good father to regain his confidence and gain a sense of existence.
After Huppert understood, he arranged for his son to work in his own company, and through his son to kill a male neighbor, he wanted to give his son a chance to grow up.
Then she faced up to her loneliness and accepted it. Confess to your best friend what happened between you and her husband. Pinghe accepts that his ex-husband has a new girlfriend.
Later, he stepped forward to comfort the female neighbor who was about to move. This is the ironic scene at the end of the film.
Huppert went to comfort the female neighbor, and the other party proudly said that he was fine because he had faith.
While this devout Catholic follows the leader of the world to perform holy rituals, he boldly allows his husband to rape Pell. Facing Pell, she did not show any guilt or sympathy from beginning to end, but for his dead perverted husband, she commented sympathetically, "He is a good man, but he has a dirty soul." What a great believer .
This is undoubtedly a powerful mockery of religion from director Paul Verhoeven.
All of Huppert's disasters in the film are basically brought to her by people of faith.
At first it was his father, then the husband of the female neighbor. While they drew a cross on their chests, they were blatantly violent. This is Paul Verhoeven's loud questioning of faith as a form of violence.
Time, for some, is indeed a gift, a ripening agent for charm.
For example, film director Paul Verhoeven, at the age of 80, can still make such a spicy, sharp and wonderful film.
For example, the heroine of the film, Yu Peier, at the age of 60, her acting skills are so mature, yet so full of energy. This vigor is the source of her always "young" charm.
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