Insects rustling, the sun is shining brightly, and the water is rippling, this is the consistent geographical perception of Italy. Mention this Apennine peninsula, which is rich in products and rich in humanities, always reminds people of long poems with religious myths as the background. In last year's hit "Call Me by Your Name", Guadagnino accurately reproduced the beautiful Mediterranean scenery in the original book with a classic and ironed lens. Andre Acimonte wrote a large number of vibrant texts, supplemented by the nostalgic graininess unique to 35mm film, impregnating the midsummer scene that makes countless people dream about. This highly coordinated and unified image characteristics, in addition to the unique phenological environment of the location, is naturally due to the director's rich experience and strong intuition in image scheduling.
After watching "Happy Lazzaro", my thoughts fell into a deep pool again, like the protagonist lost in the cracks of time, the psychological tremors during the viewing process also gradually stopped, aphasia, along with the sound of the escaped pipe organ, Escape in the drooping night. However, such a psychedelic immersive experience does not wrap people in a high-density intimate atmosphere like the former, but separates them from the complicated and intertwined clues, leading to another kind of strange and open inspection. If CMBYN entrusts the first love as perfect as an ancient Greek statue, then Lazaro's bizarre journey from the pastoral to the metropolis, from the past to the future, is more like a deep metaphor. The edges and corners of time and space were largely erased here, leaving only a few unexpected whispers.
The film is in many respects in the same vein as director Lovalcher's first two works, "The Holy Body" and "Miracle": the skillful use of natural light, the surreal ending of the finishing touch, but the most outstanding is her formula of Italian folklore and nursery rhymes. , the wonderful inspiration extracted from it.
In terms of theme revealing, the film is intentionally split into two parts. The first half of the film depicts a secluded rural beauty like a peach blossom garden with a poetic image, which contrasts with the dark line of the revival of the tenant peasant system, giving people a sense of oppressive crisis. . And after the voiceover about the story of the saint and the hungry wolf was settled, the core of the narrator's intention to write became clearer: Lazaro, the symbol of the "good man", fell off a cliff and woke up at the bottom of the valley. He was Lazaro who came back from the dead in the Bible Lu is a traveler who has witnessed the dislocation of time and space and the vicissitudes of life. He is also a son of virtue who was banished by two seemingly completely different civilizations, a desolate and happy martyr.
At this point, the rendering of the class order in the original environment is coming to an end. Although the main line of the film is not yet clear, it is more like a series of fragmented and unrelated plots: the peasants and the manor who are increasingly numb due to the enslavement of the tobacco industry. The status of the Lord is very different, and their fate is like a mayfly shaking a tree. At the beginning of the film, the overwhelming exploitation of the power contract is pointed out by a pair of young lovers whose elopement is blocked. The image of the Marchioness has two meanings here: the monopoly of profit production/the censor of thought and behavior. Under the discipline and restraint of its overwhelming power, no matter the limited resistance of the villagers or the "kidnapping" farce planned by the nobles, it is like riding a lonely boat against the waves. Significant steering and propulsion.
And just as the commercial reality show in "Miracle" introduced the contradictions related to the modernization process in a timely manner, Lovalcher's new work also arranged the role of police officers who were opposed to "tradition". It was their seemingly abrupt visit that broke the Years of stagnation and dead silence in the village have dragged this dark corner, on the edge of civilization, into the concrete forest. At this time, the film jumped out of a pure class allegory and rose to a confusing fantasy, paving the way for a series of style transitions in the second half, including scenes, photography, and sound effects.
It should be pointed out that many directors like to give images a richer and progressive sense of hierarchy through segmentation processing. However, when the script lacks a smooth and self-consistent logic to tie the internal structure of each part, it will make the film appear obviously disconnected and broken. Fortunately, Lovalcher can always use convincing skills to place his point of view on the characters overflowing with aura, filling the gap left by the narrative take-off. The little girls in "The Eucharist" and "The Miracle" have extremely pure and delicate hearts, free from worldly dross. Back in this film, the key character is Lazaro.
To this world, Lazzaro is like Jessomina, who has experienced ups and downs in Fellini's "The Road", but is still kind-hearted. Explain more. As the incarnation of purity and goodness, his existence is more like a reference that is almost unrealistic, including the face and tone of the characters, which are indistinguishable from the gods walking out of the painting, which happens to correspond to the poster with the texture of oil painting. As friends chattered about returning home, he sat in the moonlight and wept silently, like a weeping Madonna.
Maybe it was touched by the melody scattered in the night sky, maybe it was pity for the fate of my friend Tancredy, or maybe it was stinged by the cold words and deeds of the world... The answer is impossible to verify, the only thing that is certain is that when the weather changes In the ever-changing world, the senses that carry memories will eventually be dulled, and the companions who used to get along day and night have become strangers curled up beside the railroad tracks.
Just like the imaginative scene in the film: the villagers gathered around the window at night, looking at the faint red light that flickered in the distance, guessing that it was a torch lit in the palace. As the story switches to the second act, the true meaning of the light source becomes apparent: the signal tower symbolizing the wonders of modern industry, and the series of external changes it alludes to (evolution of civilization, social restructuring, demise of the feudal class), and these dynamic characteristics The contrast is the original sin that cannot be washed away from the depths of human nature, and Lazaro's always bright and clear eyes.
Against the backdrop of the perfection nurtured by this rural environment, the city where the villagers flocked together is like a suffocating prison that gathers bankruptcy, stealing, robbery and fraud. In the face of the collapse of the global capital giant and the refugees living in various parts of Europe, the director did not put out the ideological slogan head-on, but used the breathing film image to let the audience follow Lazaro's footsteps and shuttle through the conflict. The chaos of the country, indirectly into the discussion and discussion of real issues.
Such a poetic and unusually vivid technique shows that on the basis of inheriting the mantle of his predecessors, his bold and mature exploration of his own author's style, after colliding with women's unique soft and perceptual perspective, instantly bursts out a kind of simplicity but not lightness. , full but not empty vitality. It's no wonder that today, when the Cannes Film Festival is highly politicized and the creation of propositions is dull, such a universal warning oracle can break the restrictions of regions and cultures and make everyone move.
At the end of the film, Lazaro was beaten by the mob in the bank, and he was dying in a pool of blood. His figure turned into a wolf, and he slid into the traffic with the sacred pipe organ music, and ran in the opposite direction on the road. It was like a residual temperature in the turbid world, which embodies people's fantasy of the existence of light. The author privately thinks that, compared to constructing such a miracle that seems like a fantasy, the creator's real intention is to inspire people outside the curtain to think consciously. Is what we are doing today worth the perseverance and dedication of Lazaro? ? In other words, can a world that is farther and farther on the road of strife and division really provide shelter for such clumsy goodness?
I cannot answer this poignant question, but I can only quote a few lines from Baudelaire's "Flowers of Evil", which are reserved for the best and most reverent wishes to all the pure creatures in the world:
"I love reminiscing about those bare years
Holy youth/look simple
The face is sweet / The eyes are clear and bright like water
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