There are many things that can be discussed in depth in this Woody Allen film. Here I choose a point that I find very interesting, and talk about the two roles of Cecilia and the actor Shepherd who played Tom.
Between the ever-perfect Tom and the real Shepherd, Cecilia finally chose Shepherd. Shepherd said to her, "Do something impulsive for once in your life!" Cecilia complied, and Shepherd turned her back.
Cecilia chose the real moment, and she should have been prepared to face the reality she was familiar with, the reality of the emptiness and the submissiveness, and the supremacy of interests. However, the fact is that she thought she chose the real, but in fact, she chose another kind of fantasy on the screen - the prince and Cinderella, love at first sight and desperate.
But only a movie character set like this will be forever loyal, and the ambitious Shepherd abandoned Cecilia after persuading his character to return to the screen as he wished; what induced her to choose reality was fantasy. But an important detail in the film is a deliberate shot of Shepherd on the flight back to Hollywood: the others relax in relief after the drama is finally over, while he is lost in thought. Is it to deceive a sincere and innocent person with a bad conscience, or to find out that he actually has a secret love for Cecilia? But in any case, he has also chosen the truth he pursues; the frank and passionate conscience, the hazy and passionate truth, can only be pinned on his character Tom. Tom's eventual return to the screen symbolizes the honesty, reliability, bravery, and romance of Shepherd's heart that can only be preserved in the fantasy of the screen; the plane has a stronger symbolic meaning: taking him to reality, while bringing sincerity and romance to innocence stay behind forever. For him, the screen and reality have drawn a sharp line; the problem is that when people think that good things can only happen in movies, they are no longer pursued in real life.
As for Cecilia, who has always pursued true romance and beauty in her heart, and thus more determined to break up with her rogue husband, she should ask: What happens after Nora leaves? She will either fall or go home. The close-up of the heroine's face at the beginning and end of the film seems to link the whole film to the end, forming a cycle; it seems to imply that Cecilia's life is also such a cycle that alternates between fantasy and reality, and can never get out of this circle.
Nothing is more real than real life; fortunately, the next movie is on. The past, present and future of life are so miserable, so I leave a dream to escape and live for a while. If not, how can we have the courage to face the real tomorrow?
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