From the details revealed by Aniston in "Fall Out", it is obviously boring to speculate how she broke up with Brad Pied. However, the similar experience of the actor himself makes his performance no longer need to think about the role, but it is certain. If it is said that Aniston's performance in "Rich Friend" is still a little trance, especially her eyes seem to be uncertain, then she is like a duck to water in "Fallout", playing the heroine Brooke vividly . In contrast, although the actor who plays his boyfriend Gary is also quite a powerful character, and his cooperation is not satisfactory, but after all, there is a lot of aura full of vividness.
The director of "Fallout" cast Aniston as the heroine, which is the right person. Of course, this can also be said the other way around, the director found the right script for Aniston. Compared with the beaming "Rich Friends", "Fallout" undoubtedly contains a lot of tragic elements. However, if it is pure tragedy, it seems to be quite reluctant to push Aniston to Vivien Leigh in "The Blue Bridge". And let the hero and heroine finally reconcile, and fall into the common Hollywood cliché. After all, times have changed, and the traditional concept of family supremacy, after the impact of TV series like "Sex and the City", has unknowingly disappeared. The breakup or divorce between men and women is not enough to make people talk about it. On the contrary, happiness after separation has become a fashion in life, and it has become an increasingly popular theme on the screen.
There used to be such a famous saying about monogamous marriage, which is called: each other's prisoners and each other's guards. If such a definition of marriage holds true, then divorce is a prison break, or some sort of release-style release. Marriage is still like this, let alone cohabitation. Perhaps considering the Protestant ethics in the United States, "Fallout" did not dare to joke about marriage, and set the relationship between men and women only as cohabitation. Cohabitation has the nature of trial marriage, success is a fluke, failure is common. Affirming the failure of cohabitation is far more acceptable to American audiences than praising divorce. Hollywood movies are merciless when they scold the U.S. government and the U.S. president. Once traditional ethics are involved, they immediately become cautious and walk on thin ice.
"Fallout" is a step in the impact of traditional ethics, which is to no longer reintegrate two broken hearts, but to allow each other to achieve their respective integrity. It can be said that this step is very small, but it is the success or failure of the trial marriage. It can also be said that this step is a big step, and it is categorically affirmed that breaking up is not a bad thing. Just a little more reasoning forward, and a logical conclusion will be drawn: Divorce is also a kind of happiness.
As we all know, one of the most beaming scenes in Hollywood movies is when a lover gets married. In a snow-white wedding dress, a suit and leather shoes, the bride took her father's arm, walked into the church in "Wedding March", and walked towards the happy and overwhelmed groom. And so on. This is a fairly common ending for Hollywood movies. The story after marriage, only heaven knows, the groom knows, and the bride knows.
Perhaps the novelty of "Falling Out" is that it did not start from the wedding, but after living together. After the newly-married Yaner, what followed one after another was how to live together. The quarrel after the honeymoon is often caused by a trivial matter. For example, who should wash the dishes, who should wipe the table, who should push the vacuum cleaner? The gender war between husband and wife started at the end of Qingping. Get it right, smile at each other, and reconcile with each other. If you don't get it right, the two sides will turn against each other, and if you can't bear it, it will lead to a big disaster.
In the film, Aniston vividly explained the cause and effect of this war between the sexes. Although the scene in the middle of walking naked is somewhat exaggerated. But to protest and vent anger by dating other men is really funny. Originally, from a couple to a roommate, the tragedy has been full of comedy factors. What's more, they have to deliberately make out-of-the-wall stimuli and challenges. The content of war is heavy, but the way of fighting is light. For this reason, Hollywood movies are also unique and have another job.
How did it end? This is a very successful suspense design for this film. Watching this pair of men and women fight each other fiercely, every audience will care about their ending, will they be together or separated? Following the traditional Hollywood model, the result is usually a reunion that everyone likes. Otherwise, a clean break, a lover will eventually become a stranger. It should be said that it is unexpected to lead the story to an ending that is neither reunion nor stranger. The novelty of "Falling Out" is precisely that it successfully blends comedy elements into tragedy. In other words, in a comedy of the clutches and reunions, a kind of simplicity that conforms to human nature is written. The film tells a story: it is also happy to be together, and it is also happiness to be separated.
The end of the film is to let two old couples who have broken up meet again, and then go their separate ways with smiles that bless each other. This is called Hao Ha Ha Hao. Between men and women, it is always easy to get along, but difficult to separate. To be together is to want something, to be scattered is to have nothing. To unite is to bring two hearts together, and to scatter is to return freedom to the one you love. In the past, it was usually because of love, and because of no love, it was separated. The ingenuity of "Falling Out" is that breaking up with each other is not because of a complete loss of love, but because they both still love each other, but at the same time they find that returning freedom to each other is also a way of love.
There are many ways to love, and giving each other freedom is also one. The last smile of the hero and heroine left on the screen is quite bright. Of course, this kind of brilliance is a kind of brilliance in the style of rain over the sky, a rainbow after a storm, and a grateful melody towards God in the last movement of Beethoven's "Pastoral Symphony". From such an ending, and reminiscing about the previous quarrels and conflicts, you will find that there is a different taste. "Falling Out" can write the emotions between men and women to such a degree that it can be called a masterpiece of Hollywood movies in recent years. And letting the "divorced" Aniston play the heroine is the icing on the cake. The judges of the Oscars, don't ignore this play, let alone Aniston's performance in this film.
Written in New York, June 11, 2006
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