I still want to say that movies are human dreams

Ali 2022-04-24 07:01:24

00:10 After watching the premiere at China Film Xiaoxitian, at 3:00 in the morning, I forced myself to type with drowsiness. The heart is very excited, and I haven't encountered a movie to make me dream for a long time.

Just talk about the movie itself. "Last Night on Earth" can be roughly regarded as a more complete "Roadside Picnic". The theme, imagery and even the expression form are all taken over from the upper part, but it is becoming more and more mature in video production and technical application (perhaps because the budget is larger. , of course, there are advantages and disadvantages to having more budget, which will be discussed later). Bi Gan didn't forget what he wanted to express at first. If "Roadside Picnic" is a rough but spiritual demo (in fact, picnic will give me visual discomfort, my love for it mainly comes from that a few lines of genius, and that experimental long shot rarely seen in contemporary China), "Last Night on Earth" is presented in a more audience-friendly and narratively coherent way. The unique Carey universe under Bi Gan's lens.

Thematically, Bi Gan's focus is from the interlacing of time itself, to the issue of "memory and dreams" generated by the passage of time. The female hairdresser played by Zhang Aijia said that "the mudslide is not terrible, but living in memory is terrible", but if there is no separation of people due to the passage of time, and the protagonist's attachment to their respective memories, the dreams behind them will no longer exist. From Freud to Lacan, the subconscious mind, memory and dreams have always been the topics of concern for psychoanalysis. Obviously, the story of this film also reflects the lack of reality and the interference with the characters’ memories and dreams. I have no intention of using it. Dry academic theory to analyze this wet and poetic film (although clocks, pistols, torches, mirrors, etc. are all excellent analysis materials in the film), but this echo of art and theory also proves from the side that, Separation, memory, dreams, these are all universal topics for all human beings.

Aesthetically, the movie is really an art that burns money. With sufficient budget support, "Earth" this time is more delicate and mature in both the soundtrack and the lens. The direct benefit of the abundant budget for the film is that the dream built for the audience this time is more realistic and easy to enter: the pure accompaniment with a strong sense of rhythm in the opening half hour, and the scenery that makes people feel dazzling. and composition, not to mention that long shot in full 3D starting at 70 minutes. There seems to be a chain of contempt today that just knowing that long takes is nothing more than a show of dazzling skills has no meaning for film performance itself. Perhaps the function of long shots is indeed limited for the narrative of the plot itself, but "Earth" is a work that attaches equal importance to both story and experience. The most direct impact of long shots on the audience is to protect them from always being in a state of uninterrupted peeping. , which in turn creates a strong sense of presence and participation, and (more importantly) - long takes are more prone to "halo" you. But if it is not dizzy, how can it be a dream that seems like a dream?

After boasting, let's talk about the shortcomings (or improvements). I don't think it's necessary to choose the actors who have become famous actors in this film. In fact, the performance of Tang Wei and Zhang Aijia can't be said to be very good. Huang Jue's face has been rarely seen on the screen in recent years. It feels awkward. An amateur or a new face will be more real, more like a story that happens in that damp and moldy town in southeastern Guizhou - Frankly speaking, I think the most likable person in this film is Chen Yongzhong! Maybe there are various capital and market considerations behind the selection of famous actors.

There is also a disadvantage compared to the upper part in the verse. From the perspective of images and poems, the previous one emphasized the sense of poetry, while this one is about the sense of imagery. Except for the sentence "parachuting", I haven't seen any very spiritual sentences. The mudslide that Zhang Aijia said might be popular as a new emotional chicken soup? I still miss the amazing metaphor in the picnic "when my light is on you / reunion is a dark room", maybe the director's poems are really running out, haha.

The last bug actually has nothing to do with the film itself. The point of this film that has caused most fans to resent it is its publicity and marketing. As a self-proclaimed literary film, it is a bit ugly to eat. Many movie fans and friends around me have expressed their dissatisfaction, but I don't think this is the director's fault alone. Don't children in the big courtyard such as Jiang Wen film "Evil Does Not Overwhelm the Righteous" also deserve to create 101 publicity, Bi Gan, a Guizhou native, can doing what. "Roadside Picnic" costing 1 million yuan and "Earth" costing 70 million yuan are naturally different in terms of their box office expectations. This is also doomed that a large number of audiences who are not the audience of this film will enter the theater to watch "Earth" - and then be puzzled and even insulted. In fact, while I was watching the premiere, I had already seen the phenomenon of audience leaving, and the reviews of ticketing software were not optimistic. Does the opinion of the majority matter?

If Bi Gan is really like what he said in "Thirteen Invitation", he has already expressed what he wants to express, and he will not do other works in the near future, then these insults are only temporary storms, and the most important works have been completed. There is no need to worry too much or pay attention to it; on a more optimistic point of view, the adverse market reaction caused by "Earth" will also reversely promote Chinese films to think about the promotion and distribution strategies of different types of films, and reduce such ridiculous "miscasting".

The most bad reviews I've seen for "Earth" are that it's a bad movie, I can't understand it at all, and I fell asleep after watching it for half an hour. Many people go to the cinema to pursue hi, the ups and downs of the plot, or to make you laugh; but at the same time, for a considerable number of people (such as me), the function of going to the cinema is to experience, allowing you to experience the mundane life Another life that is impossible to contact in this world, and getting into someone else's dream is naturally such an indispensable experience.

"Last Night on Earth" happens to be a movie that can bring you peace of mind.

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Extended Reading

Long Day's Journey Into Night quotes

  • Lu Hongwu: Dreams rise up and I wonder if my body is made of hydrogen. And then my memories would be made of stone.