1. Explanation of the storyline:
The story unfolds slowly after a man was shot three times in the swimming pool of Sunset Villas. Gillis is a down-and-out second-rate Hollywood screenwriter who defaults on rent and car rent because his script is unappreciated. On this day, in order to escape the rent-seekers, Gillis accidentally drove to Sunset Villa, and met Norma Desmond, an outdated star of the silent film era, and his servant Max. Norma kept Gillis on the grounds that he needed help rewriting the script, and fell in love with him. Norma's family is rich and can spend a lot of money for Gillis, but Gillis is not satisfied with Norma's old-fashioned life, and finally runs away after a big quarrel with her on Christmas Eve, but it causes Norma, who suffers from depression, to cut her wrists. , almost suicidal. Gillis had to stay at Sunset Villa and became Norma's lover. At this time, Betty, a young girl who had met Gillis a few times, brought a bright color to Gillis's dull life. Betty was born in Hollywood since she was a child. After she missed the actor, Betty decided to become a screenwriter. The two began to write scripts together at night, and finally fell in love. Betty, who had been engaged to Gillis's friend, admitted that she fell in love with Gillis, and Norma also discovered Gillis co-writing the script with Betty alone at night. That night, Norma called and told Betty everything about Gillis, and Gillis finally couldn't bear it anymore and decided to leave Norma and her prosperous place. Finally, the neurotic Norma shot and killed Gillis. The next morning, police officers, news reporters, and documentary filmmakers flock to Norma, a 50-year-old former star, who finally realizes her dream of standing in front of the camera again.
2. Theme: - The shattering of Hollywood's mythical dream
The second-rate screenwriter Gillis in the film and Norma Desmond, a once-popular actress in the silent film era, are actually fringe figures in the bustling Hollywood scene, or: abandoned people. When Gillis first entered Hollywood, he was just like Norma Desmond, who had been in the spotlight, and was full of complacency, but reality, time, or the change in photography technology defeated them.
The chaotic dream that Gillis had on the first night of her stay at Norma's Sunset Villa was a figurative reveal of the essence of Hollywood: "I dreamed of a man grinding his organs, and this man could not see his face, and the organs above them. Covered in a black cape, while the chimpanzee next to him is counting the money, and the music is still playing.” The chimpanzee symbolizes the powerful rulers of Hollywood, and the act of grinding organs means the loss of life, and also heralds the end of the film. slaughter. In Hollywood, most people are like those who grind their organs, spending their whole lives chasing the moon in the water and the flowers in the mirror. So did Gillis, so did Norma Desmond, so did Betty.
When Gillis wanted to run away from Hollywood because of his rent and car rental arrears, the fate of Sunset Villa made him stay again. This is Hollywood, a seemingly beautiful opportunity, but it leads to the end of death; Norma Desmond retired from the film industry for more than 20 years, but he still lived in the prosperous dream created by himself, relying on the letters of his servants and his own vague imagination to continue his life like a withered life, and finally went into a mental disorder. In the sound of gunshots, she completed her last performance; Betty was born in Hollywood since she was a child, and she had her nose modified for audition requirements. Later, she fell in love with screenwriting, but fell in love with her fiancé's best friend, and suffered lies and deceptions.
3. Flashbacks: - Monologues of the deceased
The film unfolds slowly with the monologue of the dead Gillis. At the beginning of the film, Gillis was shot three times in the swimming pool, and the monologue sounded. Through the film monologue, we learned about Gillis's hidden heart, his inner rebellion, resistance and cowardice.
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