1.
The line between reality and fantasy in the movie is blurred, and many clues illustrate this, to give a few examples: One is a weird hotel, and there is only one waiter, Chet, in the whole process, who is both the front desk and the other. It's a shoe shiner, no other guests can be seen in the hotel, a mechanical elevator operator, a fan that turns slowly, only one corner of the lobby is dazzling with sunlight, the rest of the place is lit, and the corridors of the guest rooms seem endless. Endless...everything feels surreal and oppressive; the most obvious clue is the painting on the wall, which actually coincides with the image of Barton by the sea at the end of the film, suggesting both reality and illusion the mix of.
2. Charlie Charlie
The top few comments on why Charlie is Patton's fantasy character have made it very clear. What I want to explain here is the relationship between Charlie and Patton. Barton and Charlie are actually one body, they are both in this body called Barton, and the plot of wearing the wrong shoes already hints at this. It's not hard to see that Patton is a writer whose identity is given to him by the outside world, the way he lives, while Charlie is more like his true self, his soul (Barton's novel is about wrestling with the soul). , while he wrestled with Charlie), he represents a real commoner, representing strength and anger. The police came to Patton's room and threatened him to hand over the murderer. Patton had no warning but felt Charlie's coming and said, "Charlie is back, it's too hot, he's back." Facing the detective representing power, Charlie was angry Soaring into the sky, the gas blazes everywhere and kills them mercilessly. After killing, he said to Patton: "Sometimes it's so hot that I want to crawl out of this skin". This represents Barton's desire to break free and face his true self.
More details: The police told Patton that Charlie was actually a killer and showed him the photo. The photo was taken from an overhead angle. Charlie was in a very fragile and decadent state, as if he was in some kind of predicament. The shadow on the wall was not himself, but a majestic figure like a policeman.
After the police left, Patton's thoughts were flowing, and during the writing process, a scene in the corridor was inserted, in which there was still a pair of shoes at the door next to Patton's room, and at this time Charlie had gone to New York or disappeared.
3. WWII, Hitler, Jews
Funk is a Jewish surname. There are several references to Jews in the film, and the boss of Temple Films berates his minions for belittling his Jewishness. The policeman's last name was German, and the policeman expressed contempt when they noticed that Fink was Jewish. Charlie said to him as he killed the last cop: "Hey, Hitler." It's a very meaningful statement. All the characters in the film who represent Hollywood, who represent the powerful, are anti-Semitic, and Hitler represents them. Barton actually despised these greedy and rude Hollywood businessmen in his heart, but he didn't dare to resist, because the other party was the boss, the rich man, and controlled his future development. All these helplessness and impulsiveness turned into Charlie's anger, fantasizing about it. In the middle of the night, he shoots the aggressive police officer and taunts him before dying.
The plot of the film company boss wearing a military uniform clarifies the historical background of the story: when World War II is coming to an end, thinking in combination with history can get more information.
4.
When Charlie was comforting Patton, he wanted to say, "Leave the green hills without fear of running out of firewood, where there is life, there is hope", but instead said, "Leave people's heads without fear of running out of firewood, where there is head, there is hope. ". After writing the novel, Patton went to a dance party, declared himself the creator, then pointed to his head and said, "This is my uniform! This is my uniform!" Charlie entrusted Patton with a box when he set off for New York, saying that it contained his life. the most precious thing. According to the later plot, it is easy to guess that it is actually Audrey's head, the head of a behind-the-scenes writer, and the head of a Hollywood commercial writer. From this we can see that the head is the most important body part of the writer. There's both dark humor and the director's deep sense of the career of a Hollywood writer.
The most amazing thing about this movie for me is the editing and sound effects.
In terms of editing, the film begins with a long shot and several cross shots explaining Barton's success on Broadway in New York and his youth. The long shot started with theater props, went to the theater staff, and then swept to Barton, who was slightly nervous behind the stage, and finally settled on the stage seen from Barton's perspective. Amidst the enthusiastic voices of the audience, Barton walked to the stage in a flattering manner. The film uses a lot of main camera, so that the audience can empathize with Patton's embarrassment. The matching and editing of the movie is particularly clever. When the idea is exhausted, Patton sits at the table and looks up at the ceiling. The camera zooms in and the ceiling gets bigger and bigger. You can see its rough texture, and the sound of popping can be heard in the ears. The side sounded, and suddenly the camera caught the white paper being typed one by one by the female secretary on the typewriter. It implies that Patton has been stuck in this state of helplessness, and even going to the office for help will not be effective.
Movie sound effects hide a lot of detail. For example, every time Barton looked at the beautiful beach picture on the wall, the sound of the waves would ring in his ears. Hearing the sound of the waves in the room, which is not possible in the display, such processing is completely formalized. Every time the door of the room is opened and closed, there will be a heavy sound, as if the room is to be sealed off, which makes people feel a sense of depression. The sticky sound of the glue when the wallpaper falls off the wall is unforgettable.
In short, this is not a movie that you can understand its meaning just by watching it once, this is a movie that makes Sherlock Holmes unable to stop.
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