film is adapted from the novel of the same name, the original is another masterpiece by Irvine Welsh, the author of "Trainspotting". Director and screenwriter Jon S. Baird has adapted this fabled unphotogenic surreal novel into a feature-length work that relies on protagonist Robertson, who brings the idea to life through the superb acting of lead McAvoy. The whole film seems to have a loose rhythm and a marginal subject matter. It is like a ticket-playing work, but the finished product is unexpectedly successful.
Welsh's novels, as always, love-hate and ruthlessly dissect the flesh and blood of Edinburgh and Scotland, and always write as if Kafka encountered yam and egg pie. However, it is difficult for the film to capture the audience with the post-modern structure like the novel, so the overall rewriting is relatively large. In view of the performance of the independent low-budget film "Dirt" in the UK, we can say that director Baird's character-centric narrative approach has achieved what he wanted very well - to make "Dirt" into one An addicting movie.
The so-called "can't stop" means that you can't do it without looking at it. Throughout the whole film, the director and actors seem to be playing a game with the audience: Clint Mansell's exciting soundtrack, James McAvoy's lighthearted and witty performance opens, and the Soviet-style black humor that appears in dozens of seconds will surely make you smile ; But in less than five minutes, there was a plot of sexual assault of minors that extremely challenged the bottom line of people's hearts. From then on, every time the film relied on comedy, tenderness, and humanity to coax the audience, it immediately relied on violence, discrimination, and aggression to fill the audience with old punches. It can be said that the rhythm is full of the bad taste of a group of corrupt men. So much so that my first reaction after watching this film was to scold the director and the starring.
It can be seen that this film is bold, sarcastic, tentative, and subtle in form. The production process is full of deconstruction and challenges to the contemporary mainstream production model, and even the art form of film itself. This rebellious attitude makes this heavy-themed film compact and lively in rhythm and bright and bold in color. Almost all of it adopts independent and bright small indoor scenes, and relies on limited space and characters to create a dramatic conflict similar to a stage play. Audiences who are familiar with Western, especially British modern stage plays, must be able to clearly feel this.
But this kind of artistic experimentation does not amount to attitudinal contempt. It can be said that this film is a private work by the director and starring actors. It carries their excavation and thinking about the humble, cowardly and frightened side of human nature, and at the same time, it is their close contact with their lives, the breakdown of their spirit and psychology, A vent and interpretation of the proliferation of drugs and alcohol. Especially when showing the mental illness of the characters, the creators on both sides of the camera have a heavy and clear understanding, which also established the rigorous attitude of this film in the production.
Excellent literary works have attracted excellent screenwriters and directors. Since then, excellent scripts, producers, leading actors, supporting actors, photography, and composition have finally come together in a virtuous circle, creating a rare low-budget literary film this year. A masterpiece at first sight. Here's a separate mention of the film's soundtrack, which is well worth buying on iTunes.
At this point I also have to talk about the main character James McAvoy. It can be said that in this generation of British and American actors, there are also standard-looking Zhou Zheng such as Chris Pine, and Mavericks such as Benedict Cumberbatch, but it is McAvoy who has red lips and white teeth, thin eyebrows and big eyes. With this kind of appearance that is not very popular in Hollywood and the West End, but is widely welcomed by girls, he has been shooting excellent works since graduation. He has accumulated such an impressive resume in just over ten years. McAvoy is really Received special favor from the goddess of luck. The same good actors may have to wait a long time, or may never be famous. For example, compared with BC, from the two co-starred in "Starter for 10" in 2006 to BC's early appearance in "BBC Shenxia" in 2010, McAvoy had starred in "The Conspiracy", "The Last Station", "The Last Stand" four years ago. The seven films "Wanted", "Atonement", "Becoming Jane Austen", "True Love's Kiss" and "The Last Dictatorship" can be said to be all award-winning and enviable.
But if you had any doubts about McAvoy's acting, Filth is sure to dispel that doubt without a trace. Few films have given actors the opportunity to play such complex, sharp and challenging roles, and few actors have been able to play such vulnerable, mean, pitiful yet love-hate roles in front of the camera. Whether it is the protagonist's extreme inferiority complex, anxiety and violent tendencies in childhood, to hypocrisy, depression, bipolar disorder, fantasy, and drug and alcohol addiction in adulthood; from a person's morals and values, to his need for feelings With resistance, it can be said that McAvoy interprets all aspects to the fullest. Two of them impressed me the most - one is the protagonist Robertson, watching the video of his wife and daughter and immersed in emotional pain, while calling the phone of a friend's house pretending to be the cartoon character's wife, his wife It is extremely ridiculous and sad and difficult to describe; the second is that Robertson and his female colleagues experienced harassment, disputes, physical conflicts, mental breakdowns, pain, hallucinations, rage, embarrassment and other processes in the very short process of going down the stairs. The difficulty span is really breathtaking. , is simply an extreme show of acting skills.
McAvoy made the character, and it made the movie. If the audience cannot emotionally resonate with the protagonist, or if the audience cannot intellectually hate and despise the character, then the tension of the film will be completely unrealized, and the fragmentary scenes will inevitably be annoying. At the same time, the actor's own Scottish-style pornography has been greatly expressed in the film. It can be said that there is finally a work that can make full use of his adult comedy talent. Confused, this is obviously the good son of the Glasgow port on the west coast and the northern highlands.
Compared to his usual brisk and lively Glasgow middle-class accent, McAvoy uses a more muffled, deep Edinburgh working-class accent in the film, which may make it a little more difficult to watch. However, although the script uses spoken language throughout, the screenwriter did not use the local dialect as much as the original, so it should not be a problem for those who meet the standard of English proficiency. However, if you don't like or understand the wretched black humor of the corrupt country, then the watchability of this film will drop a lot - after all, the director's tactic is to give a sweet date with a stick. If you don't like eating dates, then You can only be beaten, and you will inevitably lose interest soon...
Still, if you like McAvoy, rebellious british pop, or watch actors and directors conscientiously discuss topics that are important to them (whether the universal struggles of human nature have to come through white male self-esteem issues? I won't go into details about the performance of this), then this movie is still worth watching. If you happen to have a bit of Scottishness because of Trainspotting or whatever, then Dirt is clearly a must-see.
James, your wife is calling you home to cook!
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