The hard story of a man

In recent years, the new American directors touted by the French "Cinema Manual" are not the kind of "geniuses" and "geeks" with sharp, distinctive styles and groundbreaking. Take Jeff Nichols, who was on the list this year, his "Asylum" appears to many people to be popular. I even missed it at first, because as early as last year, I won the award at the "International Film Critics Week" at the Cannes Film Festival.

The controversial movie does not mean that it is a good movie, but there is no doubt that it must be a movie worth studying, because different audiences must see/perceive things differently. This kind of doomsday-themed movies have appeared a lot in recent years, Lars von Trier's "Doomsday Thriller" is a successful example. This movie feels a bit similar. It also starts from the observation point of the protagonist suffering from mental illness and spreads to the various characters around him.

But I am most interested in not just the specious "predicting the end" story on the surface. In the process of the male protagonist’s behavior changes, I constantly feel that this is a difficult story about how men shoulder family responsibilities and protect their families from danger. The so-called "Storm Shelter" is simply a double metaphor. On the one hand, he wants to protect his wives and daughters to the utmost extent, and on the other hand, he is still an isolated person suffering from emotional illness and being criticized by outsiders. He has been forbearing and suppressing, and only by seeking a quiet and unknown place can he relieve his pressure. In the end, his emotions broke out in the restaurant and the scene where he hugged his family with his family after a fight with his colleagues made me sad.

Michael Shannon delivered a superb and perfect performance, but unfortunately it was ignored by Oscar. The transition and convergence of the real/dream scenes in the film is very exciting, constantly strengthening or highlighting the psychological changes of the male protagonist. The director also has a good grasp of the narrative. The illusion about the male protagonist does not give an answer from beginning to end. An ambiguous attitude runs through the whole play, which is also an excellent example of creating a suspenseful effect.

From this independently produced film, I gradually realized: Really good movies are not all works piled up with styles, but more importantly, whether it can touch the hearts of the audience and can inspire me, whether it is from life experience or Personal emotions.

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