The British writer played by Ewan McGregor didn't really want to take up this job since the beginning. If it weren't for the high salary, he would never go to an island in the United States to write a biography for the former British Prime Minister Adam Long. It is precisely because of his disinterest in politics and the status of an absolute outsider that he got this job. In other words, long before going to the island, the actor The Ghost already had an outsider mentality. This work originally belonged to a person named Mike, who was also a close associate of Adam Long, but he died accidentally on the beach on an isolated island, so the actor "accidentally" became a replacement for the dead. In "Strange Tenants", because the former tenant committed suicide by jumping off the building, the protagonist Trelkovsky also "accidentally" became a replacement and moved into the apartment of the deceased. In The Ghost Writer, although The Ghost was only taking over Mike's job at the beginning, he lived alone in a small town hotel on an isolated island, but later moved into Mike's bedroom.
The protagonist in Polanski’s lens is always influenced by the society and invisibly controlled by the people around. The heroine of "Cold Blood Cry" is afraid of men from the social background at that time. The hero of "Strange Tenants", Trelkovsky, belongs to the accent. The lack of sense, coupled with the surrounding people treating him as a substitute, in fact, invisibly made him gradually deformed from a substitution of identity to a substitution of psychology, and was finally "forced" to embark on the path of suicide by the former tenant. The protagonist The Ghost in The Ghost Writer was pointed out by the islanders as a foreigner because of his British accent, and no one called him his real name from beginning to end. Instead, he called him Ghost and repeatedly hinted that he was just dead. Person Mike's replacement. Adam Long said, it would be great if Mike was still there; female secretary Amelia Bly said after seeing the press release written by The Ghost, you might be the next Mike; even the gardener insisted that The Ghost drive Mike's usual BMW. The car... until the end on the road where Mike was killed.
The Ghost is almost another Trelkovsky! Also in life, he is often instructed by people to obey in order to survive, but he is invisibly pushed on the road to death that is not his own by the people around him.
While portraying the male protagonist’s psychological condition, Polanski did not forget to lay down rich details and suspense, and successfully created a suspenseful atmosphere. In the end, when the truth came to light, it also made people feel unexpectedly recalling the plot but found that it was reasonable. , This is actually the key to the success of a suspense film, and The Ghost Writer did it very well.
The deciphering part at the end of the film is very fast-paced, and there are several scenes that I like very much. For example, the confrontation between The Ghost and Adam Long on the plane. The two wonderful performances made the rivalry full of tension, especially Pierce Brosnan surprised me; the subsequent assassination was even more exciting, just a few shots perfectly created a thrilling atmosphere, edited Very good; the final new book conference is naturally the climax of the whole film, whether it is when The Ghost spreads the first few pages of the biographical manuscript on the table, or when the mysterious little note is passed on by everyone, the photography skills are all Makes people's eyes bright. The most unforgettable thing is the last fixed shot. The album manuscript that was blown across the street by the wind gives people a feeling of bleak and helplessness. In the upper left corner is the promotional portrait of Adam Long smiling and watching it all indifferently. .
The ostensible meaning of "The Ghost Writer" is ghost writer, secret writer, referring to the position of the male protagonist, and the word Ghost implies the male protagonist's identity. What Polanski might want to ask through this title is, is it just the actor who is The Ghost Writer? He is helping people write the past, who is helping him write the future? Maybe it's the people who make the actor the second Mike invisibly, they may be The Ghost Writer of the actor. But in fact there is another protagonist in the story, and that is politics. This person called politics is in the film from beginning to end, but he never reveals his true face. He controls everyone behind his back. The hypocritical wallman Robert Rycart, who was favored by Adam but eventually betrayed Mike, hides in his husband without flaws. Ruth Lang, who controls British diplomacy behind his back...Even Adam Long, the only one who could be truly righteous, eventually died under the gun of this "ghost" called politics. So The Ghost Writer refers not only to the male protagonist, not just to everyone around him, but also to directing all these political games behind the scenes.
Although the details of The Ghost Writer are not comparable to Polanski's own predecessors, it is already very good. The film's photographic editing, soundtrack and performance are all brilliant. It is a political psychological suspense film worth watching.
PS: Ewan is naked again on the back! Nosebleed~~~~
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