As the only members of the Double Palme d'Or in the history of Cannes, the Belgian Danes have the same aesthetic style as before, and they will never come back empty-handed every time they are shortlisted for Cannes competition. In addition to the two Palme d'Or awards for "Rosetta" and "The Child", "The Boy on a Bike" won the Jury Prize, "The Son of Others" won the Best Actor Award, and "The Silence of Ronald" won the Best Screenplay Award. And last year's new work "Young Ahmed" won the best director. However, I don't quite agree with this Best Director award from Cannes. Generally speaking, this award is given to directors who are innovative and breakthrough in artistic style, such as Filipino director Mandoza "Kinari", Mexican director Reygadas "In the Light" and Polish director "Cold War" Wait, the pros and cons of such works are controversial, but the director's style is quite distinctive. For the Darney brothers, their aesthetic style has long been recognized, and two Palme d'Or is enough to show that there is no need to encourage them with a "Best Director Award". In fact, this new work still continues the aesthetic style of the two brothers unchanged, and naturally there is no breakthrough.
It seems to me that the Darney brothers are stuck in the realist aesthetic they are famous for: realistic subject matter, hand-held photography, close-to-the-character follow-through, zero soundtrack, etc. , it is difficult to see too many new ideas. And this time, the problem is more on this sensitive and controversial subject. The protagonist is a teenager influenced by extreme Islamism. He intends to murder his teacher and is sent to work on a farm, so as to reflect on his crimes. The camera often focuses on the protagonist's body movements, but is stingy at capturing the characters' facial expressions and inner drama, except for the knowing smile when talking to the little girl on the farm. During the whole process, the protagonist either turned his face away or turned his back to the audience, completely unable to see his real reaction when talking with his family and teachers. The director seems to want to use this Bresson-style characterization method to create a sense of plot suspense and leave more room for the audience to imagine the inner world of the characters.
This method undoubtedly creates a strong sense of psychological tension and mobilizes the narrative rhythm, but in this extremely complex and extreme religious theme, this aesthetic style makes it impossible to accurately grasp the psychological state of the protagonist, and naturally it is impossible to analyze this youth problem. the crux of the matter. Whether it was the single-parent family, the rebellious mentality of adolescence, or Islamic teachings caused his extreme behavior, the script did not make any conclusions and left room for the audience to explain by themselves. During the "reconstruction" of the farm, the psychological counseling provided by the psychiatrist and the sudden love sprouting failed to help him correct his radicalism. Instead, he repented in the final dramatic climax, in which the process of ideological transformation seemed persuasive. Insufficient strength. Therefore, this looks more like a realistic work that empties social criticism, but uses superb skills to manipulate it. The Darney brothers are obviously not thoughtful enough this time.
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