There are spoilers, there are spoilers.
Looking forward to looking forward to, this film can be watched.
Looking at it, in the most tense part of the ending, I dozed off, and my sleepiness was even stronger than that of Arvin at the end of the film.
I really didn't expect that the movie that I can't wait to finish reading the original and eager to see through will be filmed like this.
IT Joker, Spider-Man, Dudley Cousin, Alice, New Batman, Winter Soldier, John Connor, One of the Little Women, Afu in the independent version of Joker. . . . . . This is a set of casts that have their own IP background, their own topics, and the two can have intersections. Among them, Elvis’ granddaughter has become the one with the smallest amount of topics, if Haley Bennet is not counted. The most commendable thing is that there are young actors in their early 20s and under 35, all of whom are acting online. Before watching the movie, it is really hard to imagine that the final film effect will waste such a dazzling cast and such a wonderful story so thoroughly.
About the narration:
Mr. Donald Ray Pollock’s novel of the same name reads a lot like a story that happened "a long time ago" told by an old man in the village sitting in a rocking chair. The background of the story is not complicated, the content is not fresh, and the characters are only two or three generations. There are many incredible but very real parts in the story. It happens that Mr. Pollock is especially good at telling stories, so violence, chaos, religious fanaticism, political corruption, The cruelty of war, the extreme ugliness of human nature, fatalism, etc., are all melted into short novels. Director Antonio Campos and his brother, who had never written a script before, adapted the novel into a script, probably because he particularly liked the original, so he invited the author himself as a narrator.
Until I watched the film, I didn't know what kind of effect the director hoped the massive narration would achieve. There were two main questions:
How unconfident is the director of the script that needs narration to explain the plot?
How distrustful of actors does the director need to explain the psychological activities of the characters next to him?
Mr. Pollock can tell stories, but the director really doesn't need to arrange narrations like a case documentary. The presence of several narrations either spoiled the atmosphere or spoiled the rhythm.
for example:
1. Lenora's mother, Helen, thought that her husband was going to take her out to relax. After leaving Lenora to Emma's care, she got in the car. At this time, the audience who have not read the original are the same as Helen at this moment. They don’t know that this is the last time she and Lenora have met. When the plot of her being killed appears, they will naturally feel sorry for her, and the voiceover spoils the plot that follows; and The viewers who have read the original know that she is about to usher in a tragic ending. At this moment, they are beginning to sympathize with the character (again), and the existence of the voice-over is as annoying as a strong reminder.
2. A clip of Lenora changing her mind before committing suicide. The young girl who was initially discouraged and wanted to find her short-sightedness, realized that she could be a mother by herself, so she suddenly found courage and didn't want to die. If you use other methods, such as the actor's actions, facial expressions, etc., you should be able to show this psychological activity. Even if you can't express it through performances, at least the change of "don't want to die" can be seen by the audience. But in the process of changing his mind, he accidentally stepped on the air, and finally died. Such a reversal is really sad. Obviously you can use the least external sound to set off the atmosphere, so you have to let the narrator tell the audience that she has changed her mind! Don't want to die!
3. Arvin gets in the car of the perverted couple. This paragraph is very exciting in the original book. If I remember correctly, in the original book, Arvin's father has no intersection with Carl, and the adaptation of the film is also good, making the encounter between Arvin and Carl and Sandy more "destined". Seeing this, viewers who have not read the original work must be nervous about whether Arvin can escape safely (the mentality of "I know that Arvin will be fine but still nervous"), and those who have read the original will know that this is a rhythm. Faster and faster and finally rushed to the scene of a small climax. When the husband and wife were preparing for the hunt and Arvin had realized that something was wrong, the three people in the front, middle and back positions of the car had their own plans in their minds, and these plans were all related to one or two other people:
Carl: I thought that Sandy was seducing Arvin to prepare for the hunt; I thought that Arvin didn't realize the danger, or didn't care if Arvin realized it; I didn't know that Sandy was actually trying to kill himself at this moment.
Sandy: I thought Arvin didn't realize the danger; I fantasized about killing Carl, letting Arvin follow him far away, and even had a few children with Arvin.
Arvin: Realizing that the husband and wife are unkind, prepare for self-defense, and try to pretend to be calm and not knowing what they are going to do.
Originally, this paragraph could be handled with more tension than the original, such as the soundtrack, shot changes, performance, editing, etc., forget it, but the director has to add a narration to explain Sandy’s psychological activities at this time-it’s as if I know the protagonist When it came to life and death, I was squeezing sweat for the protagonist. Suddenly someone approached me and said, "This woman wants to have a baby for Arvin", I. . . . . .
Regarding the adaptation:
In an age when North American film and television companies and streaming media are competing for political correctness, it is really difficult for Mr. Pollock's original work to be adapted into authentic movie scripts. If it is filmed into a TV series, maybe. . . There are also difficulties. Let's just say Theodore. Even if the script can restore the role without changing it, I'm afraid there is no one to play it. Like Sandy, he represents the darkest, most evil, and most indifferent part of human nature, "parasitic" on their other half, forming a complete "evil" image. Roy does not have Theodore, Carl does not have Sandy, and the scope of evil and the lethality are not so great. And Theodore is more hateful than Sandy in that, more often, Sandy is an accomplice, and Theodore is the main evil person. It is a pity that such a character is treated as a character who has no sense of existence or even no sense in the movie. It is better to delete it completely. After all, Harry Melling doesn't need people to sing harmonies or accompaniment, it's okay.
Apart from the consideration of political correctness, I can only understand the one-sided treatment of the second generation as either a budget issue or a script issue. Take Willard and Roy as examples. Arvin's father Willard gradually went into madness due to extreme despair (and poverty) after his wife was terminally ill. From verbal prayers to killing living creatures as sacrifices, starting with small animals, killing more and more, until killing people, and finally committing suicide. Everything happened in a small forest clearing behind my house. This open space is soaked with too much blood, and it has experienced too many sacrifices. It is more disgusting and terrifying than what is shown in the movie. But from the perspective of spirituality or fate, a person once tried to save the loved one. I prayed countless times here, did not hesitate to kill, and finally followed my lover here, then anyone who wants to hurt his son on this land will not end well. However, the film greatly weakened Willard's gradual distortion process, and also greatly reduced the horror/spiritual color of the "Prayer Wood" place. As a result, Arvin seemed to be lucky. As for the excessive advancement of the time of Roy's death, it destroys the theme throughout the original work: fate. In the original book, Roy lived for more than ten years after killing Helen, and survived while fleeing with Theodore until Theodore died. The reason why he met Carl and Sandy was because he decided to go home to visit his daughter, so his death directly confirmed that "it was not that it was not reported, the time has not come." In the movie, he seemed to be cleaned up by the husband and wife group in less than 72 hours? This is called coincidence, not destiny.
About editing:
Soon after I started watching, the editing was so obtrusive that I stopped to find out who the editor was. I am still wondering how I cut another sentence after reading "Creed". It was later discovered that the editor was the director's wife. . . I can only understand it as a budget issue.
other:
Shooting on 35mm film, I like it. Personally feel better than the digital high-definition TV picture quality.
In an interview, the director said that in the scene where the spider is spread, real spiders are used . (Harry Melling is great!)
I personally feel that Harry Melling is the strongest acting in this film, followed by Pattinson. But Pattinson is much more handsome than the characters in the original book. The original Preston should have meat on his face. It is a fat figure who looks clean and gentle but always has a trace of insignificance. This character in my head resembles another acting school, Jesse Plemons.
Of all the changes, the most incomprehensible is the end. Comparing the original work again, after Arvin killed the sheriff, he left the scene, "If he walks faster, he will be on Route 50 in an hour. If he is lucky, someone will let him take a ride." The full text ends here. To say good luck, he has gone for good luck three times (Carl missed the shot, Sandy shot the empty bullet, the sheriff missed), and luck was a bit too much, so he still said, "What will happen to him, it depends on him." "I'm dead" tone. At the end of the movie, "He needs to sleep now. And I feel very lucky that someone is willing to let him take a ride." This is not fate, this is the protagonist's halo.
Thanks to the friend in the discussion forum who suggested that you finish reading the novel before watching the movie, so that I did not miss a good story, and I have enough material and understanding to write this review.
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