"Summer King" first wins in the beautiful and exquisite lens language. The film opens with a dance of tapping pipes in the forest of three people, which attracts attention and also hints at the subsequent development of the plot. From the time when Joe, Patrick and Biagio entered the forest to build a house, the director's shots began to become innocent. The clear stream, the wild flowers in full bloom, the cascading trees, and the endless grassland. If these are only displays of the natural side of the living environment, then the newly born cicadas, the bees in the flowers, and the freshly shed snake skins herald a new life in which the three lives will coexist with crises. Run wildly on the grass, swing a sword to cut off drinks and watermelons in the air, pee into the stream, dance on the pipe, dive from the height of the cliff, and beat each other with strength that adults may be incomprehensible. . These purest joys in life are even more contagious under the aesthetic display of a large number of slow motion pictures, and at the same time the innocence and vitality of 14-five-year-olds are fully expressed.
Another advantage of "Summer King" lies in the accuracy and realism of the characterization. Joe, whose mother died young, rarely communicated with his father Frank. Joe, who was in the rebellious period, began to contradict each other, and his father's fiery temper and open-mindedness accelerated the deterioration of the relationship between the two. Although the wise sister reconciles it, just like reality, father and son will always go through such a stage of "dislike each other". On the other hand, Patrick’s life makes many people feel familiar. One scene can explain: Joe and Patrick are playing video games in the basement. Pat’s father walks down, obviously wanting to chat with the two children. But facing the child playing video games, the father was just standing at the top of the stairs, knocking up and down the wooden wall with a little embarrassment, and more embarrassedly answered his son: "There should be steel bars in it." A simple scene, one The image of a father who tried to communicate with his son but didn't know where to start was immediately established. Later, the director used more pen and ink to describe the painful family life of Joe and Patrick. For example, Joe deliberately spoke insults in front of his father’s new girlfriend to discredit his father or even call the police to frame his father, while Joe always seemed to care about but never went deep. In front of his inner neurotic parents, he almost collapsed. These passages may not be similar to everyone's experience, but I think everyone has had various complaints and dissatisfaction with their parents during their growth stages, whether privately or publicly. In the first 20 minutes of these details, even if the audience does not have personal experience in this area-although this probability is not high, it is still guaranteed to be convinced of the fact that the three children ran away from home in the future, and at the end of the film to Joe and Pat's reconciliation with his parents is understood.
Excluding the two themes of boys growing into men and communication between the two generations, a relatively small emotional branch-the triangular relationship between Joe, Pat and girl Kelly is also full of life. Joe and Kelly are good friends. To be precise, Joe has a great affection for Kelly, which is why Joe specially invites Kelly to visit his cabin. When Joe saw Kelly and Pat talking and laughing around the campfire, he hadn't noticed it yet. Until late at night, Joe saw Kelly climb on his and Pat’s bed. Joyful Joe smiled at Kelly in the dark, but Kelly skipped him and walked towards Pat. The shocked Joe's heart made waves, which became the turning point of the whole film. Some people may think that this plot setting is too bloody. After all, Joe said to Pat in the previous paragraph that if everything we have now changes or even disappears, it can only be because of women. But it must be admitted that the film’s portrayal of this aspect has always been very restrained and well-founded. Joe’s feelings for Kelly were only one-sided from the beginning. Although Kelly was also very good to Joe, it was obviously Joe. I would be wrong about the meaning of this-and undoubtedly because the other party also likes myself, it can be said that it is a common feature of the boys and girls stage. So at the moment Kelly crossed Joe and went straight to Pat, I think all the audience could experience Joe’s injury and loss firsthand, and understand the two brothers who developed it later. These life-like passages truly record the growth experience of the two teenagers. When those subtle emotional expressions can be tangibly echoed by the audience, the characters in the film, whether they are teenagers or their parents, can gain the audience’s understanding of where they are. Teenagers and their families are no longer just a few people, they have become a universal way of getting along with each other on behalf of youth, growth, and family. At the end of the film, Joe and Pat looked at each other through the car window and smiled, which not only means the disappearance of the grudge between the two, but also means that the two boys have become mature at this moment, and at this moment, they have officially become boys. man. Such a faint treatment will not make people cry, but a knowing smile is good enough, because this is what life is like.
Finally, it must be mentioned that Biageo in the trio, this seemingly the only one of the trio who has no troubles, is simple and full of vitality, whether it is the most vigorous and graceful diving posture, and The cool and free and easy pipe solo dance in the forest, or the loyalty of returning to the hut to rescue his partner at the end, are telling the audience that he is the one who has the most insight into the essence of life. And from the dialogue between him and his father who didn't show his face, we can also see where his wise and foolish qualities came from.
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