Re-watching "Dirt", it is difficult to describe the feeling in it. I am reminded of a common sense that if you mix all the colorful colors of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, purple, etc., you will get black. Black, the color of dirt, as shown in this film, sexism, violence, homophobia, deception, conspiracy, arrogance, promiscuity, the mixture becomes a dark and sticky picture in front of people. Irvine Welsh’s works are inherently full of contradictions. He can always take the best and the worst, the cruelest and the most vulnerable, the most despicable and the most noble things, with a subtlety to the milligram ratio. Presented before your eyes.
The role of the hero Bruce is a perfect expression of such a contradictory combination. Some people say that the past of Bruce and his brother was the origin of his madness, but I think Bruce's madness was born with it, and it began to sprout quietly before then. The partiality of his father towards his brother was the cause of his paranoid eagerness for quick success as an adult, and it was also the cause of his brother's misfortune. Even the authenticity of this past episode is questionable, after all, his brother's vision only appeared during his illness.
Bruce's visions can be classified into four categories. The first is the distorted animal face that people he sees will become, including his own. This type of illusion is extremely negative. The appearance is ugly and abrupt and accompanied by a sharp sound. It usually appears when he is mentally oppressed, when he is nervously prepared, such as having a fierce quarrel, or a long conversation, etc., which can be partly attributed to For his underlying social barriers, along with the negative delusions brought about by bipolar disorder. The faces of these animals also contain strong hints. For example, his own pig face represents filth, while the sheep of his good friend Blades symbolizes cowardice.
The second is the illusion of his brother he saw, which usually appeared when he was depressed and alone. At this time, he was able to put down his defenses, but still did not get rid of the negative emotions. Let alone the authenticity of the incident, this is a potential self-reflection and self-loathing emotion, which shows that he has strong doubts about himself deep in his heart, and this will eventually lead to a mental illness in his life as a result of his choice.
The third is the illusion of a mad doctor. This illusion usually appears after he "behaves", representing a neutral self-assessment, how his mental state is, whether he can achieve his expectations, and so on. Interestingly, since this is an evaluation system of his own defensive nature, the accuracy of the system also changes with his mental state. When this illusion first appeared in the film, the hall they were in was still bright and spacious. The complexion of the crazy doctor looked no different from ordinary people, and the medicine bottle he took out was also of normal size, trying to repair himself. But when this scene appeared for the last time in the film, the walls of the hall were already covered with a thick layer of dirt that created unpleasant associations. The crazy doctor's face looked as haggard and pale as Bruce at the time, with the medicine in his hand. The bottle was ridiculously big, the doctor asked: "The greater the pain, the bigger the medicine bottle, right? Right?" It also indicates that Bruce's mental self-correction ability is on the verge of collapse.
The fourth illusion, that is, Bruce fantasizes about being his wife after wearing women's clothing. It is mysterious and beautiful, tells all kinds of good things about Bruce, and gives clear and strong instructions: if we want our family to be complete , The only thing you have to do is to get a promotion. This is his stressful reaction after his wife left him, and from the scene when they met in the supermarket, it can be seen that his wife's face suddenly changed when she saw him, which was a mixture of panic and disgust. Explain that his wife must have been treated with suspected violence before him. Their separation is inevitable and irreversible. This level of illusion of the wife seems to be a split personality on the surface, but in reality I prefer to call it a psychological suggestion.
Powerful psychological hints can indeed produce a certain degree of illusion, but this illusion does not belong to a kind of mental illness. As you can see from the last part of the film, when the gangster strapped Bruce to a stool and began to bend over to look at the lady's handbag Bruce was holding, Bruce yelled at him: "Don't touch her things!" He clearly stated that it was " "She" instead of "I" proves that he did not have a split personality at the time, but clearly knew that he was playing his wife. And then Bruce gave a further explanation when holding his colleague’s hand: "I just want to make myself feel closer to her, do you understand?" It means that he knows what he is doing and the reason for doing this. This is inconsistent with the symptom that the general split personality cannot realize the existence of another personality.
Combining this point to look at the previous homicides. As a "blonde eyewitness", Bruce remembered the appearance of several perpetrators at the time, so he did not explain him before stalking the suspects during the whole process. The clue where it came from locked these people, but a scene of stalking appeared abruptly. Bruce discovered the truth of a murder case based on the reason that his wife left him and wandered in the street disguised as his wife. The next thing he had to do was to investigate the case a little bit in accordance with the normal procedures, and to investigate the case. One by one, his colleagues will be defeated. Because of this, he will be so confident in the opening that he will "win" the game. On the one hand, due to the paranoia in his personality, he wants to win; on the other hand, the psychological hints imposed on him due to the departure of his wife make him think that he must win. For him, winning this game wins all he has lost.
What he didn't expect was that the blow of his wife's departure, as the source of facilitating and pushing him to "investigate" the case, also reminded him of what he had lost in the course of his investigation. To some extent, he has to maintain the illusion that his wife has not left in front of his colleagues and friends, while forcing himself to face the bloody facts, because this fact is a strong hint that he thinks that he can change himself This fact is a lifesaver. This is a vicious circle, a vicious circle, which also caused his mental state to deteriorate sharply, and eventually led to a ridiculous tragedy.
above. And why I kept avoiding the mother and son during the whole process, because I think the symbol of the mother and son is not as beautiful and hopeful as it seems. At first glance, people might think that this is showing the humanity and kindness in Bruce's heart. However, after looking back, you can feel the deep irony in it. The tragedy faced by the mother and son is the death of the husband. When the mother asked Bruce if you also lost someone, Bruce choked and acquiesced. Obviously the boy's mother had always believed that Bruce should have had someone close to him died, but the true story of Bruce was that his wife and daughter divorced, not death. Moreover, when Bruce committed suicide and hanged himself, he used the scarf knitted by the boy's mother for him. If the mother and child symbolized beauty and kindness, then these were the things that ultimately killed Bruce. He was not redeemed at the end of the film, and the appearance of the mother and son only gave him a brief astonishment. In the end, it was still turning heads, tears, and hysterical smiling faces, and the fourth wall quietly collapsed. The black humor would draw a continuous depressive ending that was neither heavy nor light, itchy and painful.
After all, the role of Bruce from beginning to end is as sung in the end of Creep: I don't belong here. I don't belong here. I don't belong here.
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