How to express the intimacy with a sense of alienation, how to express the indifference between people, Fassbender told us through this film.
1. The Arab Ali and the German woman Ali, who is 20 years older than him, have a gap in race and age, and their intimacy always has a gap. When Ellie walked into the tavern at first, everyone stared at her with a strange, wary look, an "outsider" look. The undisguised contempt for Ali by the female cleaners and the indifferent ridicule of Ellie's daughter and son remind these two lovers that you are not the same. Is this estrangement just from external pressure? I don’t think so. Everyone is affected by the collective unconscious. They must also really understand the huge difference between the two, and fear is always lingering in their hearts. The common language they have is the soul level, and the fear is also the soul level. The two forces are always pulling this intimate relationship.
2. Fassbender used a lot of foreground blocking shots in the film to create a cramped space and an uncomfortable atmosphere. Stairs, windows, and decorations on the table all reminded: barriers, barriers between people, Including the estrangement between Ali and Ellie. Even in the extremely private scene of Ali eating at Ellie's house, this kind of occlusion is everywhere. The fixed shots with obvious occlusions in the foreground give us a feeling of stability and depression. The most typical one is the section where the female cleaners chat, and the stairs hardly do much scheduling. The same is true for the heavy red door frame that always exists when the two are eating.
3. Two people who are in love should have a variety of intimate actions, but Fassbender omitted them and used medium and panoramic shots to keep us at a certain distance from them visually. In addition to omitting intimacy, Fassbender did not describe any psychological activities before the two people received their certificates. We learned the news in a distanced way, just like everyone else in the film was surprised.
Involving the audience in the sense of alienation, Fassbender does it deftly.
4. How is the alienation between the protagonists achieved? In the process of filming the dialogue, Fassbender faced the talking characters directly, using this as the foreground, focusing on this, it is a real scene, while others do it. The background, which is defocused, creates a visual effect of virtual reality, such as in the scene where Ellie tells her daughter and son that she is getting married.
5. In addition to the sense of alienation, tension is also filled in the film. Although it is not common, it is like a seasoning that enhances the slightly dull atmosphere of the film. In addition to the direct use of the plot to show the exclusion of the neighbors, the landlord, and the grocery owner against Ellie, the use of the camera also played a role. For example, when the landlord rejected Ali, Fassbender filmed Ellie's shock at that moment, and the medium shot quickly Zoom in, switch to panorama, and create tension. On the other hand, Fassbender creates a sense of immersion in the audience by confronting the characters directly, feeling the rejection and indifference of the people around him, and the tension in the relationship also comes from this.
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