Text/The Devil's Hymn
This article contains spoilers.
The "Love Is" trilogy is a very "romantic" movie.
This romance is two kinds of romances that extend from the temperament of the movie itself to the outside of the movie. The film itself, the style of the trilogy is in the same vein - the film is composed almost entirely of the dialogue between the lovers played by Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy from beginning to end, and the director's camera is always in an unobtrusive bystander role. The role of the narrator is "hidden", allowing the audience to concentrate on the details of the two's lines, expressions, and movements.
This is an "unconventional" approach that breaks away from the preconceived viewing context of many viewers . The rhythm that people are generally familiar with is - the beginning that quickly grabs the audience's attention, several emotional explosions are arranged in place, and the end of the story is moderate and conclusive; and the "Love Is" trilogy hardly has the above-mentioned ordinary movies. Any characteristics, without psychological preparation may not be able to accept this style at first glance.
Therefore, after watching these films, it is easy to feel like running water at first, and even make people feel that the name is not worthy of the name; but the viewer seems to have a lot of stamina after a moment of self-precipitation, and finds that the dialogue between the two is very lingering. Completely discontinued, but just right.
The interesting thing about the art of film is that the so-called stylization is often walking between "completely wrong" and "it can only be like this" , and the evaluation obtained is whether the sword is off-track or off-track, often in the simple details— -The actors, the plot, the lines, and even the framing, obviously the "Love Is" trilogy does it well.
A young man and a woman met on the train and hit it off. When they got off the train, the boy plucked up the courage to invite the girl to get off the train and go shopping in Vienna all night. They parted ways the next day. In the blink of an eye, nine years have passed, and the two people who met by chance once again left an open ending with endless aftertaste. When the third movie came, all the romance was mixed with triviality, estrangement, career, and life. The reconciliation before midnight, Reminds me of the beginning again.
The romance outside the movie is that the nine years in the movie are also nine years outside the movie—Ethan Hawke has more lines on his forehead, and Julie Delpy seems to have lost a lot of weight. From 1995's "Love Before Dawn" to 2004's "Love Before Sunset", 2013 "Love Before Midnight", director Richard Linklater plus Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpe's same team has also been baptized by time in reality. This implicitly makes the reunion in the film more dramatic, and it also makes the audience feel more immersed in the fate of the characters in the film.
The "Love Is" trilogy is also "unromantic" at the same time .
Movies with the label of "romance" also have their own context - praise and reflections that focus on the permanent theme of love are not common, and novel narratives of dramatic encounters, reunions, love and external forces are often It has become commonplace, and love has often become a detached and solidified concept in many works.
We rarely see the starry version of romantic true love in a love movie at the same time, and it is truly and believably combined with the chicken feathers of life. But in these films, the two soul lovers we saw were imperfect in character and destiny from beginning to end. They did not reunite when they were young as they were destined, and the quarrel would become seemingly impossible. Reconcile conflicts that are about to collapse.
The second part of the reunion between the two started with a friendly conversation and a polite smile, and finally turned into an eruption of negative emotions in the car. The unsatisfactory life originally made the two of them accept the reality of confusion, but after the reunion, they found The real existence of the other person's feelings rekindled the possibility of a possibility so dangerous that they would have to break the whole life of the moment. Ethan Hawke kept talking about the unhappiness of his life and marriage, and Julie Delpy was gradually hysterical and emotionally broken down in the back seat of the car.
In the third installment, "Before Midnight," this conflict intensifies to an extreme. The contradiction between the two is no longer the misunderstanding of the long-lost reunion and the inner decision of each other in the second part, but has become a collection of contradictions in family and life and career - the audience is surprised to find that they are as easy to speak as our common husband and wife. Hurt people, just don't understand each other.
The gravity of reality is heavy. After romance and complex and noisy reality collide, what should it be?
I thought that the answer to this question eventually became the most classic part of the "Love Is" trilogy. First of all, this series of films acknowledges the reality that even a soul lover-like "love" cannot connect two people 100%, and there are also misunderstandings and mutual harm between them. But at the same time, the ending of "Love Before Midnight" gives a seemingly bland but amazing answer——
After romance and complex and noisy reality collide, there will be inevitable contradictions and quarrels, and the test and harm of reality to love will always be inevitable. Young lovers discover that the perfect love in fantasy does not exist.
But at the same time, the definition of love is simpler for them - there is still a reason for them to be together. They will still try their best to save each other.
Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke end up in a hotel room after a stormy argument at the end of "Before Midnight." Blaming each other seems to rip the true love tone of the entire trilogy, and Julie Delpy puts down the harsh "I think I don't love you anymore" and storms out of the room.
Ethan Hawke sat in the chair, looking at the mess - the tea with the teabag still in the cup. Closed door. Pour the red wine that I haven't had time to drink. Messy empty bed.
Then the camera moves to Julie Delpy sitting at a tea table by the river, looking indifferent. Then Ethan Hawke came and approached him with the time machine story he just made up, implying that today would be the best night for you. He amused his lover and tried to save his lover with the attitude of returning to the first acquaintance 20 years ago, but this All efforts seem to be in vain. Julie Delpy still had a cold expression on her face. Then he was about to give up. He sighed, shook his head slightly, returned to confrontation from the role of the showman, and began to vent his emotions:
"You're like a little girl like everyone else who just wants to live in a fairy tale. I'm trying to get things back, saying you're beautiful, love you unconditionally, and your ass is as good as 80, trying to tease you Lol, put up with all your gibberish. If you think I'm a dog that always comes back to you, you're wrong, but if you want true love, this is true love. This is real life, not perfect , but true , you're blind if you can't see that. Forget it, I give up."
Ethan Hawke threw away the note to amuse the other party, his eyes looked aggrieved elsewhere. The same scene where the two sat together lasted for nearly a minute of silence. Just when the audience thought they would break up, Julie Delpy took the initiative to answer with tears in her eyes: "Your time machine What? How does it work?"
This time, the process of reconciliation is more of a metaphor. In the stormy quarrel, it is difficult to say who is the right side, they are both hurting each other, and the final reconciliation process is that each of them is on the verge of collapse and actively saved a hand for the reconciliation of the two. .
If Ethan Hawke doesn't feel ashamed to come to the river and try to amuse her with goofy jokes, if Julie Delpy continues to grit her teeth and refuse to reconcile after he gives up, this couple will both end.
But neither of them. They are not perfect couples, and they are not always rational and understanding objects, but on the final issue, they finally admit this imperfection, but they are always trying to use love to overcome all kinds of imperfections brought about by them. question.
For real-life couples, this passage must be thought-provoking . Love is not enough to cover all problems, which is clearly the reality. But love still has its own powerful, incomparable power, and it is also a reality.
There is a saying that goes well: a movie that can make you lose your mind for a moment after watching it is a good movie.
I watched the "Love Is" trilogy with Qiqi, and the ending of "Love Before Midnight" was the most shocking moment for me. I think this movie will also give us inspiration, we may also encounter various problems, quarrels and hurts rushing to our foreheads, but as long as we don’t lose heart after quieting down, and don’t doubt that even if it is full of barbarians, love still exists, So let's continue to live with these barbarians. This is the imperfection of life, but it does not prevent the existence of true love itself.
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