Nietzsche's pessimistic, anti-god, ridiculous, arrogant but intelligent and attractive Colin Firth (Stanley), in addition to his own unique British gentleman temperament, the role really has too many shadows of the old man Woody Allen. The old man has this kind of capital and charm. He has been talking about himself for more than ten years, but he still allows you to buy tickets willingly and see his wisdom hidden between the lines in the film.
We often say that people who see life too thoroughly are unhappy. Maybe because I myself believe that "life is short and fleeting." The essence of life is originally impermanent. If it is enlarged to the perspective of the universe, then it is a tragedy in itself. The destiny of an individual has no influence on the ultimate operation of the universe. Individual sorrows and joys and emotional fluctuations are actually meaningless to the universe. So, am I nihilistic, am I pessimistic. Woody Allen actually expresses himself in different scripts: thinking that life is actually meaningless, thinking that other people who live for happiness are ignorant and superficial. However, even such a genius who firmly adheres to Schopenhauer's pessimism and nihilism cannot but succumb to an unexplainable magic in the universe. In Annie Hall (1977), he joked that this unreasonable and unexplainable existence was just a need; in Whatever Works (2009), he added that this is a wonderful and precise arrangement in the vast universe, so he accepted In Midnight in Paris (2011), he used the words of Hemingway to say, "True love can make you forget the fear of death" ("I believe that love that is true and real , creates a respite from death."). In Magic in the Moonlight, although Stanley has always used rationality as the criterion and benchmark for his actions, when all this is related to love, logic fails in the face of magic. And if you use "mental vibration" To explain, it seems quite reasonable. We have exhausted our lives to guide our lives with logic and reason. In fact, sooner or later, we will lose in this magic. Therefore, life is not entirely meaningless. Because not everything can be explained by our eyes. The game is fun because it doesn't follow common sense. With these uncontrollable and unsolvable factors in life, we once again realize how small human beings are in this natural world and in this universe. How can we ignorantly think that human beings can perceive everything. We use modern science to analyze human nature and deconstruct emotions. How nihilistic and arrogant we are. "If everything has an answer, then it will be difficult for us to live." Life is alive, and sometimes we have to deceive ourselves to live better. Talent is natural, but kindness is a choice. Because sometimes, our truth is a sharp knife to disillusion other people's hopes, just hide it well.
The old man is still so self-conscious and narcissistic. He never conceals the neurotic traits because he doesn't care at all, and he is more or less proud of it. Genius is equipped with neuroticism. And what I think of is the line "where there is a real superiority of mind, pride will be always under good regulation." Colin Firth played Mr. Darcy in the BBC set of Pride and Prejudice in 1995. , They feel from the bottom of their hearts that they are far superior to the world in a certain way (although in interviews, he is never so invincible. Who knows, he always makes jokes about real human nature). However, I just like his sincere neuroticism. Sophie asked Stanley, what good would she do to marry him. "You have a chance to live with a genius!" he roared. It is your honor to be able to spend a lifetime with a genius, you should be proud of it, and you should not be ignorant of praise. Think about it, you, a girl from a small town, who has no pursuit and no accomplishment, is still a liar who wanders around and praised you when she proposed to you. This feeling is much like Darcy's proposal to Lizy back then, direct, proud, and frank, but it is really terrible at proposal. But is there any way, how many young girls can resist the proposal of such a charismatic geek, it can be considered unique. And the same thing, the old man said in Whatever Works. When someone asked the young Melody what is the advantage of marrying a strange old man, she proudly said, "I enjoy a gifted wife." You can say that this is a kind of vanity. But the old man seemed to be saying: The worship of genius was originally justified.
The old man always likes to start with his eyes on the aesthetics of women. This is reflected in Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Whatever Works and Magic in the Moonlight. That's also true. After all, if you talk about the resonance of the soul, how can you lose the window of the soul? And what is pleasing is that Stanley said, "but more than that". For a woman, how important such recognition is. In the movies of the old man, you can often see such examples. Identifying women's wisdom is the highest evaluation of them. However, Emma Stone elaborated in this drama the most instinctive call of women emotionally. Maybe women can be equal to men in intelligence, career, or other aspects, or even better. But in front of the person they love, they only care about whether there is "conquer the heart". So, when I saw Colin asking innocently "You have already conquered my mind, you also want to conquer my heart?", I really smiled. To be respected by a genius, there should be a kind of gratitude for the love, but in the face of love, girls are just girls. Fan Bingbing said in "Twelve Ways of Edge", no matter how tough she is, no matter how she is called "Master", she is always a girl and needs to be loved by others. Therefore, in this magic, girls are all made equally ordinary, no exceptions.
If you also think that the old man has compromised with this pessimistic world, perhaps, this is just an illusion and a lie he gave everyone. But if you are also willing to put aside your inherent worldview and be an ordinary person for the time being, behind this seemingly irrational, you can also feel a burst of fresh joy.
This is a magic, an escape from reason and logic.
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