"Heaven and Earth" as a western film is actually an anti-western film in the form of a western film. It is more like an elegy to mourn the time in the West. Therefore, "Heaven and Earth" is very lyrical, and the rhythm is very slow. It seems that the faster rhythm is not enough to express the inner emotions, so that it penetrates into the hearts of the people. With pictures and slight plots, the inner feelings of the characters in the story are shaken little by little. Come out, I can't bear to explain it all, just shaking, shaking a little, pulling out a little bit.
The story in "Unlimited Heaven and Earth" took place in 1882. At this time, the westward movement in American history had already taken effect. A large number of Borderlands had their own masters. Those who could let the cowboys The natural borders of "the ocean is wide and the fish leap, and the sky is high, the birds fly" have become less and less, and the era of cowboys has passed. The conflict in life between cowboys and the settled people, because of the intersection of life boundaries, has become more and more serious and more and more incompatible. For cowboys, they advocate a natural, free, unfettered, and unfettered lifestyle, while settlers began to abide by rules, obey norms, and pay more attention to hygiene habits and other more modern lifestyles. At the same time, because of the dense population And become a by-product of cunning, greedy, insidious, and slavery. Among them, the conflict between freedom and rules is the biggest conflict between cowboys and settlers. But with the end of the Westward Movement, complete freedom has become less and less visible. The elegy of "Heaven and Earth" is such a tragic song. It not only sings the cowboys' pursuit of freedom, but also portrays the lifestyle and inner world of their group in detail. As the Boss Spearman, because of the death of his wife, he chose to exile himself and slowly licked his wounds in the vast west of the vast grassland, while his main assistant Charlie was facing his own life because of the drift of life. When true love is too slow to confess, hesitates. Other cowboys, such as the young Button, were abandoned since childhood and were saved by Spearman and others to raise him. Although Mose is a tall man, he is docile and courteous. It's just such a group of people, they are driving the herd, and they don't want to influence others, they just want to graze well and live a free and happy life. But Baxter, the settler, contacted the town sheriff and wanted to take all Spearman's cattle and kill Spearman and others. As the first settlers, they are far from abiding by democratic rules, and the evil in their hearts is the first to breed. So the confrontation between Spearman and Charlie and Baxter is inevitable.
In 1882, the barbaric era was over, and modern civilization had not yet been established. Just like the current China, the barbaric Cultural Revolution has ended, but the civil society in the modern market has not yet been established, so intrigues and kidnappings are rampant in the world. It is somewhat similar to the time in "Unlimited Heaven and Earth". However, the pursuit of primitive freedom by Spearman and Charlie still exists, just as the people first thought of disaster relief in the face of an earthquake. The primitive simplicity is still there, but we rarely have representatives like Spearman and Charlie stand up. , Use their bravery and persistence to speak for the simple emotions of human beings.
The tragedy of "Unlimited Heaven and Earth" is the greatest tribute to past Western films. It is also the best Western since "Unforgivable". Both "Heaven and Earth" and "Unforgivable" are summaries of Western films. The paradox is that the stories of both happened at the same time. The story in "Heaven and Earth" took place in 1882, and the story in "Unforgivable" took place in 1880. It's time for the Western Cowboys to decline. In addition to these two wonderful westerns, so far, as a genre, there are very few excellent westerns. A few of them are like "The Battle of Yuma Town", "Zorro's Mask", "Legend of Zorro", "Liberated Jiang Ge" and so on. Others like "Old Nowhere" have shadows of westerns, and " "Brokeback Mountain" is more like a romance film than a "Western".
"Unlimited Heaven and Earth" is a tragic song, and another layer lies in the director Kevin Costner, who became the master director with "Dancing Without Wolves". However, in the following "Future Water World" and "The Postman", he broke his head, and another "Unlimited Heaven and Earth" failed to restore his due reputation. Although the films he directed are not so ugly and the artistry is not bad, his destiny is to make a joke for him, cruel jokes, which made him unable to really cheer himself up in art for many years. And this very good "Heaven and Earth" has also become the last film he directed. There has been no new production in the past 10 years, and I don't know if he can bring up his guide tube again. Such sorrow adds a layer of off-site meaning to "Unlimited Heaven and Earth", and it is even more tragic. Alas!
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