The movie "When a Monster Comes Knock on the Door" is adapted from the novel of the same name by British writer Patrick Ness, and the Chinese translation is "Devil Summon". I once found the original English version of this book for a quick glance. It is indeed a very readable work. Although the words and sentences are relatively simple, the rendering effect of the text and the atmosphere is very strong. It is a rare and excellent book. Of children’s literature.
From this point of view, the movie "When a Monster Comes Knock on the Door" faithfully inherits some of the advantages of the original work, such as its powerful graphic expressiveness. The film is full of dark fairy tale textures, very demeanor of "Pan's Labyrinth", whether it is the background image with all the points, or the flexible and vivid CG effect, it is obviously another low-key show of the modern film industry; In the repeated confrontation between the protagonist and the "monster" he summoned, the tree man, the tree man took the initiative almost every time, forcing the protagonist to a corner with nowhere to escape, successfully creating a very nervous Atmosphere.
Speaking of tree people, the tree person Groot in "Guardians of the Galaxy 2" next door is leading his family to sweep the world, and the popularity has exploded. Almost everyone is adorable by the cute little tree people in the film. nosebleed. However, the tree man in "When a Monster Comes Knock on the Door" is a completely different style of painting. He is mysterious, powerful, arrogant, and intriguing. Coincidentally, the two treants in "Guardians of the Galaxy 2" and "When a Monster Comes Knock on the Door" have one thing in common, that is-behind them, there is a hunk. Tough guy. Many people were surprised when they learned that Groot's dubbing in "Guardians of the Galaxy 2" turned out to be from "Boss Don" Van Diesel in the "Fast and Furious" series. This kind of bald old driver can handle such a cute character. In "When a Monster Comes Knock on the Door", Liam Neeson, who once starred in the "Hurricane Rescue" series and wielded a lightsaber in the "Star Wars" series, is responsible for the interpretation of the tree man. What's more interesting is that , Liam Neeson also nominated for the best motion capture performance award of the Washington Film Critics Association last year with this virtual role, the old man will still play!
As for other actors, the overall performance of the starring actor Lewis McDougall is still good. He also appeared early in the previous year’s "Peter Pan" starring "Uncle Wolf" Hugh Jackman. It is indeed worthwhile to take the lead this time. In addition, there are actress Felicity Jones, who has starred in "Theory of Everything" and "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" and nominated the Oscar queen twice for "Eighty Years of the Foggy Forest" and "Alien 2" Sigourney Weaver plays the protagonist’s mother and grandmother respectively, escorting the movie. Spanish director Juan Antonio Bayana, who once shined with works such as "Lonely Castle" and "Tsunami Miracle", has achieved good results in both word of mouth and box office, and he has now been finalized as destined He is the director of the box office bomb "Jurassic World 2", and I am looking forward to what kind of spark he will make with "Xing Jue".
The story of the movie "When a Monster Comes Knock on the Door" has its complexities, but its context is very clear. Connor, the protagonist, is facing the most cruel predicament that came early in his life-his mother is already dying, his father and mother left for the United States after divorcing, and getting along with his serious grandmother is very unpleasant, and he is also bullied by gangsters at school. Almost a gray and bleak life, Connor was standing on the edge of the lonely orphan, as if someone would come and kick him into the endless abyss at any time.
At this time, a tree-man suddenly appeared in front of him. The tree-man was strong and ruthless and unkind. He forced Connor to listen to him to tell three stories, and finally asked Connor to exchange the stories from his heart. However, the existence of general tree people seems to be true, and in the eyes of Connor, it also seems to represent some kind of power beyond reality. Connor’s attitude towards him has changed from the fear and resistance from the beginning to the last. Plain and calm.
After watching the movie, many people are very keen to talk about whether Shuren really exists, whether it is a conjecture of the protagonist, or a concrete manifestation of life's destiny, and some even say that Shuren is Connor’s grandfather—— Because in the last scene of the film, there is a picture of Liam Neeson hugging the protagonist’s mother in his childhood. It can be seen that Liam Neeson also played a hand of Connor’s grandfather in the air, but we also know that the tree The person is also played by Liam Neeson. This detail will never be arranged by the director. The intention behind it is indeed intriguing.
However, in my opinion, the real existence of Shuren is not really important. What is important is the three stories he left to Connor, which really shines in this movie. In fact, no matter what kind of existence the tree man is, it cannot change the fact that he helped Connor through the most difficult years. He has a very important position in Connor’s growth, and this importance is undoubtedly related to These three stories are linked.
The first story tells the story of the seemingly righteous prince who has hidden conspiracies to seize power and become a generation of kings, while the innocent witch is framed as a murderer. This story tells us that we must look at everything dialectically, and not be confused by its superficial phenomena. In the adult world, no one is not associated with lies. Sometimes the truth does not have the right to speak, and the result determines everything. . The second story tells the story of a pharmacist who was gradually marginalized because of the priest’s preaching, but the priest’s two daughters were seriously ill and could only be saved by the pharmacist. The pharmacist finally rejected the priest who would rather pay the price of giving up his faith. The reason for his plea is precisely that the pastor has given up his faith. This story tells us the importance of faith, spiritual faith, and even replace half of the physical healing. When faith is abandoned and despised, it is very likely that this world will come to an end. The third story telling is also the one that makes the protagonist and the audience the most immersive-the most unbearable thing is that there is no sense of existence, and the sense of existence depends on others to achieve-people will always be It is a social animal and cannot be changed. If when a person becomes an almost transparent existence, no one gives him any response, that kind of heartbreaking loneliness is huge and terrifying. In fact, loneliness is the normal state of life, but loneliness, which is completely ignored, is a demon that devours and twists people's hearts.
Three very good stories, even if they are taken out as fables individually, can definitely stand alone. Putting them in the movie "When a Monster Comes Knock on the Door" is undoubtedly even more meaningful-these three stories , Is the guiding light to bring Connor to grow up and to the adult world. So after listening to these three stories, Connor gave back to the tree man the darkest secret and the most difficult story in his heart-death, which was also a complete transformation of Connor himself. The previous Connor was overwhelmed by his mother’s critical illness, and he knew that his mother was helpless but wanted to lie to himself. The pull of the huge contrast between reality and thought is the easiest to collapse. of. After listening to the three stories of Shuren, Connor finally calmly faced the thoughts in his heart: He could not hold it anymore, and even wished his mother died sooner.
However, we finally saw Connor in bed expressing his affection and dissatisfaction to his mother while his mother was dying. Isn't it inconsistent here? Note that there is actually a difference between thoughts and emotions. Connor’s heart has already accepted the fact that his mother will leave him sooner or later, but it is precisely his unwillingness to lose his mother’s strong emotions that makes him fall into great pain. This gave birth to the dark thoughts in his heart. The movie "When a Monster Comes Knock on the Door" is not only dedicated to us three wonderful and meaningful stories, but also tells us with the final ending: what matters is not how you think, but how you do it. Knowing this, you will finally enter the threshold of the adult world.
In the final scene, when Connor opened his mother's childhood drawing book, he was surprised to find that all the stories told by Shuren were recorded by his childhood mother. This also allows more room for interpretation of the ending of the movie. Some people say that Shuren is actually the recurrence of the story told by his mother to Connor in Connor’s subconscious mind. Others say that Shuren once helped his childhood mother. The mother once again called the tree man to help her son. This is also one of the most interesting aspects of the movie "When the Monster Comes Knock on the Door", which can be interpreted from many angles, even after watching the movie, it can still make the audience talk about it.
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