As a title, "Assassination of the Gunslinger", according to the Chinese preface habits, focuses on assassination, as if it is an action, a scene, and a microcosm of a plot, because it is short-lived and eye-catching. The English name "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" literally translates to the assassination of Jesse James by the coward Robert Ford. Although lengthy, it conveys to us the heart of this film, two characters: Jesse James and Robert Ford, and one event, the assassination. From the perspective of direct perception, this kind of long name is not an electric and flint-like assassination of Kennedy, but an event with cause and effect and time details.
Starting from the title of the film, the director used a broad and slow lens language to explain the cause and effect of the entire assassination incident. A large number of long shots in the wilderness slowly turned from a black spot in the distance into a robust horse; Subtle expressions on the characters' faces, motion capture, and plenty of shots of looking at the world outside or inside through windows or ice cubes, give the illusion of the other side. Jesse James is rocking slowly in the reclining chair, and the camera is chilling and slow, like a clear view from heaven. Cinematographer Roger Deakins, who has been nominated for four Oscars, is credited with this film.
First is the picture. This is the first thing that distinguishes film from other arts. Vast, ethereal, are the characteristics of the film. The creation of a sense of space is unique. The director excludes the sandy sky of traditional western films, stimulates gunfights and heroic beauties, depicts Jesse James and Robert Ford from the depiction of the soul and narration of cause and effect, and seeks according to the perception-action routine will make people more disappointed, what the director tries to explain is Tension and struggle in a state of calm, which seems more like the norm of life we can perceive. Therefore, the director is trying to tell the two ways of growth in a legendary story in this normal life. Jesse James and Robert Ford. Both became famous in their early 20s, one was admired by others, and the other was reviled by others. The pursuit of glory should be a common choice at the beginning of growth. Even when Robert Ford shot and assassinated, he was thinking of being cheered by others and achieving fame and fame. It's just that in his immature mind, he can't become Jesse James, and then he will be destroyed. These are the two results of extreme idolatry.
In the assassination scene, from the previous presentation, Jesse James was more like seeing his own destiny and seeking relief. He gave his usual pistol to Robert Ford. When Zhang newspaper became more nervous, he took off his gun holster and exposed his back, which also made Robert Ford guilty and infamous. It is said that in the modern American language, Jesse James also means injustice, while Robert Ford is a coward and a traitor.
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