Waitress, Director, Murderer-
"Waitress"
by E-Knight
In 2007, there seem to be a lot of movies with pregnancy as the main story line, and the reviews are all good: "Good Pregnancy", "April Three Weeks and Two Days", "Juneo" ", the Chinese film "Apple", and this "The Waitress".
"The Waitress" is completely different from the previous movies. It is also a comedy, but it is not as relaxed, exaggerated and funny as "Good Pregnancy" and "Juneo"; it also has a strong sense of reality, but not like "Apple" Emphasize moral and behavioral judgments. Watching "The Waitress", you will smile silently and sigh silently. Isn't it special that a film that combines fun and depression, but also attracts you to watch it?
This is the story of Jenna, an ordinary waitress in a small pie shop in a small American town. What she has is the most ordinary life, and the ordinary troubles that ordinary life brings: her husband controls everything about her, she is not allowed to have private money, she is not allowed to approach other men, and she is required to obey completely. This kind of "love" makes Jenna feel that her life is slowly shrinking and withering. The only time she can get self-satisfaction is to create new pie: "I hate my husband pie", "Jenna's characteristic strawberry chocolate oasis pie", "Fall in love pie". She has been saving money secretly, thinking about leaving here one day to participate in the pie contest and start her new life. Unfortunately, she accidentally became pregnant with her husband's child. Unlike ordinary women who are about to be mothers, she does not feel the affection for her children at all. In the process of going to the hospital for treatment, the pregnant Jenna and Dr. Bomat, who had just arrived in the small town, began a affair...
This is the best small production movie I have ever watched this year. The beginning of the film is a bit dull, but after the story unfolds, the gentle, delicate, and realistic style will attract you. The film is very small: the story is confined to a small town, and the outside world is just a shadowy existence. The content is also narrow and simple. There are no racial issues, drug abuse or international politics, but a woman's depressing marriage and her fear of pregnancy and childbirth. But these little troubles can also show people's survival dilemma. The film is also very lightly shot: the picture is light and beautiful, turning the process of making pie into an artistic display; in the bitterness of dark chocolate, the film is also mixed with light and comic colors. Dr. Bomat, who likes Jenna, said: "Maybe we can find some time to have coffee or something." Jenna replied, "I can't drink coffee. It says on the unhealthy food list you gave me. What kind of doctor are you? "Then the two kissed enthusiastically... The film was still very finely shot: probably because it was a female director, the back of this very depressing film was filled with more and more gentle emotions. There is no big evil person in the whole story. Even Jenna's husband is not a complete badass who abuses his wife. When he discovered the money that Jenna was hiding in the house, he held Jenna fragilely and wept bitterly. You will see that these are delicate and vivid "characters", not "characters" that can be summarized by labels.
This is a film made by a female director. The story is about female fertility and marriage. So is it a female film? I don't think so. I would rather think of it as a work describing personal growth and self-realization. Jenna faces three main relationships in the movie: her relationship with her husband expresses her "self" side, and her husband can be seen as a symbol of negative problems in life. In this relationship, Jenna is always the one who obeys, requests, avoids, and dreams. Her relationship with Dr. Bomat is a manifestation of her "self" side. Although it is emotionally invested, it is not so much love, as it is a kind of spiritual sustenance, a kind of comfort, consideration, freedom, Desire for respect. When she saw the doctor with his wife, she realized that she was not after the love of the doctor, but her own freedom. And what brought her change was the third most important relationship: the relationship between Jenna and the child. In this relationship, Jenna has found her "superego" and her way of liberation. She didn't like children at first, and her deep fear was that she was not sure about her life. Since I have not found the foundation, where will the child be placed? But when the child was born, the director made the final decision for the protagonist with the help of natural motherhood, and Jenna got a new life from the child. She named her pie shop by her child's name, which can be seen as a sign that the protagonist can finally be faithful to herself.
One of the great things about the film is that it does not set a simple contradiction and then try to solve it-most films will do this: the protagonist has to find a sum of money, he does it or fails, the game is over; someone has to catch it The protagonist, the protagonist finally dodges or is finally caught, the game is over. "The Hostess" didn't use any miracles or turnarounds. Even if the old man Joe gave Jenna the last money, it was only an enlightenment, so you can't even see the amount of the check. However, this feature is also the lack of the film: too much presentation makes the film seem fragmented and a little vague, and the direction and intention are submerged in the plot. Comparing "American Beauty", which also expresses a suppressed soul, you will feel that there is indeed a big difference between male and female directors.
Speaking of director Andrinie Shelley, she is indeed a talented woman. As an actor, she has three roles in the film as editor, director, and acting. The waitress with glasses she played is quite outstanding. This film was created by Andrinie when she was pregnant based on her own feelings. After watching the film, I suddenly discovered that the 40-year-old filmmaker had been killed in November 2006, half a year before the film was released—sometimes reality is more like a movie than a movie.
The murderer of Andrinie Shelly was a 19-year-old Ecuadorian who was involved in construction and maintenance. At that time, he was in charge of the repair work of the apartment, but the loud noise made Andrinie, who had been writing scripts at home, unable to work at ease. So she found this man and claimed that if he didn't stop, she would go to the police. It is precisely this Latin who does not have a legal right of abode in the United States, and the deadline for his project is approaching. During the argument, he severely pinched Andrinie's neck, causing her to faint. The Latin thought she was dead, so he hung her from the bathroom rail, pretending to commit suicide. Andrinie ended her life tragically in this way. It is said that the story of the 17th season and 15th episode of the TV series "Law and Order" is adapted from this tragedy by Andrinie Shelley.
In addition to the impermanence of life, the feeling that life is like a drama, the death of the female director has also generated many other topics: some people say that the film’s box office performance (a small production of 2 million won 20 million at the box office) and the attention of film critics are both Thanks to the director’s murder; some people say that this is another victim of Bush’s foreign immigration policy; others say that Andrinie pushed this person too quickly, and the other party had to resort to violence...probably because of the involvement In addition to sensitive immigration and ethnic issues, in the DVD trailer, friends did not say anything about Andrinni’s memorial. In addition to the last work of "The Waitress", she also left behind a four-year-old daughter, Sophie—the little girl led by Kelly Russell at the end of the film. Ca
n't help but think of a short poem in Feng Zhi's prose:
A passerby, for some reason,
died here.
All passers-by, pass by here,
please pray for him.
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