Director: Nicolas Windin Refn
Cast: Elle Fanning/Jena Malone/Abbey Lee/Karl Glusman
Rotten Tomatoes: 46%
IMDb: 7.0
Metascore: 57
"Neon Demon" is the kind of " unexplainable " Okay, but I want to watch the movie again.
It is said that after watching the movie in Cannes, all parties began to explode: some of the media left the room in anger, some raised their arms; the model group was unhappy, saying that the film had discredited the fashion circle; some people loved it tightly, while others scolded them. The Danish director Nicholas Winding Refn had a look of disdain: "My wife said, this is my best film so far."
I missed the film when I was in Cannes, but it was released in London immediately after returning. In 2011, NWR won the best director in Cannes with "Drive". Ryan Gosling, who was wearing an embroidered baseball jacket and was on the cutting edge of fashion, became a screen in the dark. icon. I can't remember most of the plot, but the light and shadow of the street lamp mottled on Gao Commander's face is impressive, and the loneliness of Zhen Zhen walking alone seems to see through the screen. The NWR of "Only God Forgives" (2013) has undergone a tangled transformation. The story is not well told, and the visuals are similar to the previous work. In "Neon Demon", after turning into a female perspective, it has the effect of bringing back the dead.
It's Los Angeles again. The girl Jesse (played by Elle Fanning) arrived for the first time, but the city accepted her with surprise. "Every day, hundreds of girls come here to realize their model dreams. They are all good, but you are outstanding." The agent in a pink suit said with certainty. The photographer was obsessed with her, the show director made an exception for her, the makeup artist loved her, and her colleagues were jealous of her. This kind of thing happens often in everyone's life: you don't understand why some people are lucky and go smoothly. There seems to be an unwritten theory: the reason why superstars can stand out from the crowd is because they have a halo/aura that you may not see, but you will notice him/her in the crowd. It won’t work if you change to someone else.
Perhaps the special thing about Jesse is that she is natural, with no hyaluronic acid face and silicone breasts; she has an indifferent face and has little interest in anything, as if she knows that she can get everything without fighting. The cold face is the most expressive, because it doesn't say anything, but it seems to be able to say everything. When people desire something too much, they will be paranoid, and when they are paranoid, they will have a look of strength written on their faces. Desire falls to the heart, and people can't be immortal.
The cranes that fell into the flock of chickens were eaten before they could stretch their wings a few times, with no bones left. This is not entirely a metaphor, because NWR really used exquisite lighting to set scenes with a flowery girl, shooting bloody and weird cannibalistic shots. The contradiction between the visual language and the theme of the film is the fascinating part of this film. Like Duchamp's urinal (perhaps a less appropriate metaphor), the audience felt offended. Beautifying the taboo has also become an art, and it must be thrown severely on the old stubborn face. The arrogance of the youth subculture is shown here.
"If you mess with your parents, your neighbor's friends will think you are cool." NWR was very cynical when it was screened in the UK. If the youth subculture in the 1960s was accompanied by words such as "liberation", "rebellion", and "freedom", then what has this subculture evolved into today? Refusal to be defined, refusal to be classified, refusal to be put into the established framework. Breaking the wall, deconstructing, and the binary opposition no longer exists. Gender can be blurred, good and evil can be reversed, and beauty and ugliness can be interchanged. I am me, fireworks of different colors.
In fact, I think NWR is not criticizing the fashion industry, but the current definition of "beauty" and people's paranoid desire for "beauty" in a unified format. Natural "beauty" is certainly valuable, but how long can it survive under the jungle law of the sky bridge? The film reminds me of Mika Ninagawa's "Embarrassed" (2012), under the crystal-clear skin like a ceramic doll, empty. When "beauty" can be manufactured, modified, manipulated, and sold, it is no different from any product circulating in the capitalist market. "Beauty" makes people vomiting.
When I interviewed for a curatorial project last time, the interviewer asked me if you had the opportunity to curate a solo exhibition, what do you think? I answered very sincerely: In fact, I have always admired filmmakers who give the audience new ideas in the visual language of movies, such as Sorrentino, such as Dolan, such as "Orange", such as "Victoria", such as "Son of Sol" "For example, "Henry Hardcore"... In addition to telling a good story, a movie can also be eye-opening occasionally and show a personal way of viewing. If someone is willing to do this, the audience will let go of their stereotypes. , Take a look, why not? If there is another time I will say, please add "Neon Demon".
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