I watched a movie a few years ago, but when I watched it again, I didn't remember most of the content, and I couldn't help but doubt my memory again. . .
The film is based on the self-report of a young man. "I" was in my early twenties, and I was idle all day because I didn't have a job. I dreamed of becoming a writer. In order to collect materials and satisfy my inner curiosity, I watched the people passing by on the street and let my eyes be pulled. When my eyes are drawn to a special person, I start to follow. Such behavior is bizarre and can only be done in secret. Once you get caught up in it, you can't help but get into trouble. So I set rules for myself, the most important of which is that if I know someone's job, where I live, I can't follow that person again. This is the most important rule, and the one I broke first.
Cobb played a big game, he cheated everyone, and used "I" to cover up the truth. The blonde woman became an accomplice in her own death. And "I"'s mind was tightly controlled by Cobb, step by step into the game he set up. As soon as Cobb appeared, he had a strong aura, making the "me" who was actively following him embarrassed. "Who am I? Why you following me? (you want to know) what's in my bag? A series of questions to gain the initiative in the conversation. Then I learned from Cobb's mouth that he is also doing similar "unknown" activities to me ”, and the situation is worse than mine. If I was just stalking others and imagining other people’s lives, then Cobb was blatantly breaking into other people’s houses, taking valuables at will, and peeping at other people’s privacy. Cobb doesn’t seem to care This behavior is seen as theft, which he claims makes people reflect on the meaning of their possessions. Cobb said everyone has a box with business cards, photos, letters, diaries, etc... these hidden objects, in the The owner has a deep desire to be seen.
Cobb's words doubled the desires I used to follow. Cobb seems to be a more mature, sophisticated, unscrupulous version of me. Under his guidance, I unknowingly let go of the rules and started following purposefully and consistently. The object of following is the owner of the house with Cobb who broke into the house last time - the blonde woman.
I was attracted by the woman's temperament. One night in a bar, I couldn't help but approached to chat, and only then did I know something about her. From the contact, I slowly learned that she was caught by her ex-boyfriend, the bar boss. In his safe, there is a dark envelope. I came up with the idea of helping women with the burglary techniques I learned. When I contacted Cobb, he confessed the fact that he was in a relationship with the person who had broken into the house. Cobb was furious and said he would cut off contact with me. And at this point I didn't know that Cobb was acquainted with women.
I sneaked into the barman's office, opened the safe with the code the woman gave me, and tape the money to me. Just as I was about to leave, someone broke in. In desperation, I knocked the man to the ground with a hammer and ran away. When the woman was found, she told me the truth. During a burglary, Cobb found the body of an old woman. Cobb needs someone similar to his modus operandi to frame the case to get rid of the charges against him. And I came to the door myself and became a lucrative prop. I was angry and panicked, and I threatened to turn myself in and tell the police. At that time, the woman's lies will be self-defeating under the questioning of the police.
The mystery of the story was revealed at this time. Unexpectedly, after listening to my account, the police said that there was no old woman case, and there was no way for Cobb to investigate. At this time, the film uses the method of alternating scenes, flashing the conversation between Cobb and the woman that night. It turned out that after confirming my actions, Cobb finally revealed his true purpose. He took money to do things, and he took the money of the bar boss, and what he did was to sink a murder evidence into the sea. The woman has a carpet with blood from the boss's murder, and using this, she carries out an increasingly greedy blackmail on the boss. Cobb immediately used the hammer to kill the woman, and completed the task given to him by the boss. In the end, all the evidence points to me killing the woman, the blood on the hammer, the method of murder, the underwear and photos that I have kept in my possession, even the address I should have given was Cobb, but I only elicited the one with my handwriting. A credit card belonging to someone else.
Following this film as Nolan's debut already reflects his penchant for non-linear narrative. In Nolan's script, the truth is always hidden until the very end. The disruption and reorganization of time adds to the suspense of the film. Seeing what happened later in advance makes the viewer puzzled, and it is only after watching the whole film that he suddenly realizes. Use the unknown to tease the audience's psychology, and use false facts to deceive our brains again and again. Nolan is like Cobb in the movie, playing with us all the time. We have no choice but to follow the lens of his narrative all the time.
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