Hail, Caesar!--Love Caesar And Cohen

Hail, Caesar!

For the majority of movie fans, every shot of the Coen brothers is worthy of unconditional expectation and support. Eddie Mannix is a Hollywood producer who also plays the role of a "fixer" for a major studio (a bit like Winston Wolfe in Pulp Fiction), in charge of smoothing out bad press for stars and maintaining their glossy public image. The film revolves around the main line of Baird Whitlock's kidnapping, telling the story of Eddie's running on four sets in 27 hours, solving various difficult problems one by one.

From the content level, this film is easy to remind people of Godard's and also of the Coen brothers, but this time, the brothers' directors turned their styles 180 degrees. The light and humorous brushstrokes combine inadvertent small events into an all-encompassing ukiyo-e, presenting a glamorous Hollywood. Although there are still many jokes about the film industry in the film, "Long Live Caesar" is more like a love letter to Hollywood in its golden age. Those once-innocuous mockeries are no longer scathing ironies, but rather nostalgic self-mockery.

The Coen brothers maintain their usual style in the film, with exaggerated and deformed character settings, absurd plot development, and those bad tastes and high-level humor only found in their comedies. Channing Tatum contributed a well-choreographed and affectionate tap dance in the film. Scarlett Johansson created a secular female star who is elegant on the surface and secular behind the scenes. Jonah Hill's less than one minute of playing time has grabbed the camera.

There is also a discussion about Jesus in the film: the protagonist, in order to ensure that the image of Jesus in the new film does not offend any denomination, convenes four clergy, representing Catholicism, Orthodoxy, Protestantism, and Judaism. Unexpectedly, because of the nuances in doctrine, the four sects started a hilarious quarrel. This scene shows the skill of the Coen brothers; the editing rhythm is precise and sophisticated, and it is worth the ticket price of the whole movie (of course, I did not buy a ticket).

It can be said that this is a story about belief, and the belief here is not limited to religious belief. Under the cloud of the Cold War, McCarthyism prevailed, and the people lived in anxiety and self-doubt. Hollywood's powerful dream-making ability is trying to create a paradise parallel to religious beliefs for these lost people, or a sanctuary of beliefs. And our protagonist, Eddie, as a devout believer, pinned his faith on confessions again and again, and his frequent self-examination could not cover up his confusion. Finally, we may have to return to the same old question: why do we live?

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