Noir films and comedy films are the two most common forms of the Coen brothers. Their creations usually adhere to the spirit of humor and entertainment, and do not stick to the traditional plot-first habitual mode, and the films are highly recognizable. The themes they express and the themes they discuss are usually in the same vein as the times, and they basically focus on the national spirit of American society. This is probably why "Frozen" won the Best Screenplay Award at the American Independent Spirit Award.
The suspenseful aspect of the film is that the audience knew in advance the mastermind of the kidnapping case and the accomplices involved, but made frequent mistakes in the well-planned kidnapping case, so that the whole case was ridiculous to the extreme. Shelley, a dealer of a car dealership in Minnesota, decides to kidnap his wife Jane and defraud his father-in-law for ransom in order to pay off his debts. He hired two kidnappers to carry out this seemingly complete, harmless plan for him. But accidents happened frequently, and innocent people died one after another, including a policeman. Maggie, a police officer who is pregnant with Liujia, is in charge of investigating the case, and soon finds Shelly through various clues. Shirley's father-in-law insisted on sending the ransom to the kidnappers himself, which angered the kidnappers. The kidnappers shot Shirley's father-in-law, and Shirley's father-in-law struggled to shoot the kidnappers before he died. After the kidnappers who fled with their injuries found their companions, the two had a disagreement over the ransom and killed each other. This pre-planned kidnapping case eventually exceeded Shirley's expectations, frequently out of control, and eventually turned into a big deal. In the end, Maggie cracked the case, and Shelly paid the price for her greed.
The Coen brothers appear to have an "intricate" preference when it comes to script plots. "Frozen" takes the investigation as the main time line, but the motivation of the suspense is not to find out the criminal and solve the truth of the kidnapping case, but to present the truth at the beginning of the film, which is indeed different from the same type of American films. The audience already knew the clues and motives she was looking for before Officer Maggie. This was a pre-designed crime. When the situation got out of control again and again, the audience could probably guess that the narrative was actually biased towards the "kidnapping case". How to be frequently changed” at this level. At this point, the Coen brothers devised three plot layers. The first level is Shirley himself, his interactions with clients, his family, his co-operating kidnappers, and police officer Maggie. The second floor is where two kidnappers commit crimes. The third layer is the addition of Police Officer Maggie after the incident, which makes the case more complicated, the level of the plot gradually deepens, and the case becomes more confusing.
In terms of highlighting the theme of the film, the car undoubtedly carries an extremely important role. After industrialization, the automobile quickly replaced the horse as the portrayal of the American spirit, and the "nation on the wheels of the automobile" was born. For American men, the car is like a horse in a Western, meaning freedom, dreams and adventure. Shirley is a car sales manager by profession. Cars of different styles and colors are parked outside his office, and even the road outside the office window is full of traffic. He sells the "American Dream" faithfully, trying to use his mediocre ability to try "American adventure", even at the risk of breaking the law. However, when he embarks on his adventure, the situation frequently spirals out of control, beyond his expectations, and the American Dream deviates from the track and becomes more and more remote, just as Shelley drives a car and drags another car in the snowstorm at the beginning of the film. In a white fog.
In terms of character creation, the Coen brothers also took a different approach. The film did not interweave characters and events in parallel, but spent more time focusing on the characters, depicting each character's personality through the characters' language and actions in their daily life. Character characteristics, let the relationship between the protagonist and the supporting characters gradually become clear in the daily description, and then move forward with the event. However, the supporting roles seem to be more attractive. Although they are all small characters, they are very distinctive and even a little lovable. Compared with the mediocre and stereotyped protagonists, the supporting roles are much more interesting. In this subversive thriller and suspense film, the only positive and normal character is Officer Maggie. She has excellent work ability, tenacity, integrity and humor. She is a traditional character, and it is the normal character of Officer Maggie. 's character image highlights the madness and absurdity of the other characters. From this, it can also be seen that the legal system and the common people are also one of the characteristics of the Coen brothers.
In the visual style of the film, "Frozen" did not follow the influence of traditional genre films, which were influenced by film noir, and set the mainstream direction as stylized, but chose a very naturalistic style. Some bloody scenes in the film were Shooting in the form of realistic scenes, natural lighting effects and records, a shooting method similar to a news documentary, all contain an uncontrollable sense of crisis. In terms of natural scenery, the large snow scene and pure white color highlight the purity of the picture and the cruelty of the murderer, which is extremely ironic. The use of lenses in the film is also very distinctive. Fixed lenses are widely used, such as a large number of moving shots and transitions, as well as a large number of long shots. There are few panoramic shots, and shots are constantly used to explain the environment and character actions. Create a whole new style. Through these minutiae, the Coen brothers tell the audience a ridiculous tale of pursuit of the "spirit of American adventure."
In the end, the movie still has to return to moral judgment, which is also the consistent style of Cohen's movies. Shelly was such an ordinary person, looking mild and conservative, the kind you wouldn't find in the crowd. It is such a mediocre person who, for the sake of money, tries his own way, even ignoring the life and death of his wife from beginning to end. Is the American spirit really everywhere? maybe. However, it can never be idyllic. Violence, bloodshed and crime are not necessarily just stories and pictures on the screen, but may happen at any time in peaceful daily life. The American people cannot be too relaxed and optimistic.
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