"Masquerade" is definitely the most difficult film I have ever seen, even more difficult than Tarkovsky. No wonder Bergman said that the reason why this film means a lot to him is that "for the first time, I don't care whether it is accepted by the public or not. ". .
However, I believe that the reason why this film has such a high status lies in its pioneering visual exploration of the theme of "true self and false self", and my "do not understand" is ultimately because I did not understand these video techniques, from the general direction That said, it doesn't hurt to understand the greatness of this movie. This imaging is mainly manifested in several aspects:
1. At the beginning, the little boy touches the screen, which symbolizes Bergman's real fake self (Bergman said in the interview that the little boy is a metaphor for himself) vs the real self of the movie (the screen symbolizes the movie and also the author's self) The other side, the author's heart, the author's true self).
PS: It can also be seen here that there are two pairs of true self and false self in this film. One is Little Boy (Bergman) and the screen (Bergman's film), one is Elisabeth and Alma. The former is easy to ignore.
2. In the middle of the movie, the picture suddenly "collapses" from the middle, and then completely "disappears", and then we see a person's hand being fixed by a nail (Bergman once said that he believes that the hand is the most representative of the inner activities of a person) (It is also the reason for the frequent close-ups of the hands in the film), so the nails on the hands are of course a symbol of Alma being injured by the contents of Elisabeth's letter). This passage is the transformation of Alma;
And then we see Elisabeth out of focus in front of the camera and then suddenly in focus. This is the transformation of Elisabeth - from losing interest in life to gradually regaining confidence.
To fully understand the transformation of the two of them, we must first understand one thing, that is: the film Alma and Elisabeth can be said to have always been two sides of the same coin, one is the "false self" and the other is the "real self" (the film has There are multiple hints, most notably when Alma and Elisabeth say they look alike during the chat). When Alma and Elisabeth first went to the beach, Alma was like a "fake me", talking very actively, and wearing a mask in reality (I didn't want to take the task of Elisabeth, but accepted Elisabeth with a smile for work), Elisabeth, like the "real me", is taciturn.
And this scene is the turning point, they symbolize the beginning of the whole movie to reconstitute itself, the false self represented by the two characters and the true self are reversed. Alma became more reticent, while Elisabeth became more active.
3. In the second half of the film, we will gradually be unable to distinguish which part is reality and which part is hallucination or dream or even surreal. Some clips are real, and some are not at all (like the one where Alma meets Elisabeth's husband and goes to bed and Elisabeth watches). Bergman also didn't want us to be very clear, so he didn't even suggest at least a black-and-white/color picture like in Mirror, but just rubbed all the pieces together. The director deliberately confuses these completely so that the audience is more focused on feeling the chaos of Alma and Elisabeth merging against each other.
4. There is a scene in the second half of the film where Elisabeth lifts Alma's bangs, and they lean against each other. This symbolizes that they are essentially the same soul. A very iconic video clip of the proposition "true me vs false self".
5. There is a monologue in the second half of the film where Alma says Elisabeth hates children. The same lines and the same events in this part were shot twice with close-ups of the two characters, and finally their faces were stitched together to symbolize that Alma and Elisabeth are the two forms of one soul (the true self and the false self). This kind of imagery is very pioneering and interesting.
6. Another such episode I can think of is the one where Alma meets Elisabeth's husband. This clip of Alma and Elisabeth's husband kissing + having sex and putting Elisabeth's face at the front or back of the camera. Full of surreal atmosphere.
7. There is a scene where Elisabeth sucks Alma's blood, which is also very surreal. It should also be a metaphor for the idea that they are actually a soul or even an individual.
Personal understanding of some images: 1. The lighting and extinguishing of the two carbon rods in the projection lights at the beginning and the end, as well as the subsequent series of projection lights firing and extinguishing and the forward and reverse movement of the film, etc. - the beginning and end of the film story .
Note that, as mentioned above, this film actually has two pairs of true self and false self, so it can be understood that this film has two stories.
One is about Bergman making the film. This story is divided into two parts, one can be considered as a "tidbit" (this part will be analyzed in the image interpretation below), from the two carbon rods in the dark until the little boy (Bergman) touches the screen Then the entire segment where the woman on the screen is completely clear is part of the "bonus"; one is the "feature", the plot story of the film itself being produced.
Another story is naturally the one between Alma and Elisabeth that most people see. This story is actually included in the first story as well and is the feature part of the "first story". So why separate it out? Because the nature is different. The first story is essentially about Bergman making the movie, and the second is essentially about the story in the movie. A reality and a virtual one are of different nature.
Knowing this, we can understand that the gradual clarity and gradual blurring of Alma and Elisabeth on the screen touched by the little boy symbolize the beginning and end of the story of Alma and Elisabeth, respectively. And when their story is over, the little boy's (Bergman) story about the making of the movie is over, so we see the end of the charcoal flames out.
2. Various imagery at the beginning, including phallus, killed sheep, stone walls, trees, spiders, women bathing in a river (a scene from an early silent black and white film, by the way), a man being captured by various Scared (a shot from another of Bergman's own films), nailed hands. . . And so on—all kinds of thoughts, memories, and experiences inside the little boy (aka Bergman). We can see that when the film shows these images, the background is all white, and it is a completely independent space, and this independent space is the brain world of the little boy (Bergman). In connection with the little boy sleeping behind, we can think that this is the brain world of the little boy in his sleep, that is, the little boy's dream.
The purpose of showing these brain worlds is on the one hand, bad taste (penis), on the other hand, it should be a tribute and emotion (quoting other people and their own movie scenes), on the other hand, it sets the tone for the surreal style of the film (spiders, stones, etc.). wall, hand held by nails three times).
Cutting and cutting the camera and cutting to the dead body also marks the end of the presentation of the inner world of the little boy (Bergman).
What is more interesting here is that the angle of the dead body is also very surreal. It can be said that Bergman uses the "surreal style" as a link to achieve a smooth transition from the inner world to the real world.
3. Dead bodies, telephone rings - Bergman's metaphor for his real life when he made this film. Bergman once mentioned in an interview that before filming "Masquerade", he was entangled in the tedious affairs of the Royal Swedish Academy, and joked that "I feel like a dying person, but it's not true. Die, and have to come back to life every time the phone rings" (not exactly, but that's probably what it means).
So we see the little boy (Bergman) falling asleep in bed and then being stunned by the phone ringing. The environment where the little boy is in various corpses (the camera gave many close-ups), which symbolizes the externalization of the little boy's (Bergman) mood - feeling like a dying person. That's exactly how Bergman felt and felt when he made this film.
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Finally, make a small summary.
1. After writing so much, I suddenly found that if I want to make a generalization of the film, then it can be said that "Masquerade" is not about the story between Elisabeth and Alma at all; "Masquerade" is simply about "Bergman". The whole process of making a movie based on 'The Story Between Elisabeth and Alma'" This story!
2. After analyzing all the way, it is found that "Masque" is also quite powerful in creating a surreal atmosphere. However, the most powerful part of this film is the visual exploration of the proposition of "true self vs false self". (In fact, although the surrealism of this film is very powerful, I personally think that the most powerful in this regard is "Eight and a Half")
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