"Crossor Behemoth" is suspected of copying the "Godzilla" monster movie (the movie was originally set in Tokyo, but it was accused of infringement by Toho, and finally the stage was moved to Seoul), but the film was not Tell a typical monster story. The director invited Anne Hathaway as the protagonist, and the connection between her and the monster became a big gimmick in the film. The film will use monsters to express characters, and external scenes to express inner struggles. Under the fun packaging is a rather serious theme.
Gloria, played by Anne Hathaway, is an unemployed drunkard and unemployed writer. She has no goals in her idle life, and was eventually driven out of the house by her boyfriend who could not stand her. Desperate, she had to return to her hometown. Frustrated young people return to their hometowns to seek salvation and find themselves. This is a common type of modern people's plight, and this film also borrows this model. It's just that things are not that simple. Gloria will experience adventures, the whole process is ironic and lively.
After Gloria returned to her hometown, her condition did not improve, and she was still trapped in a vicious cycle of drunkenness and lethargy. If you want her to change, you have to make her aware of the seriousness of the problem and the harm caused by drunkenness and loss of control. The director put the monster on stage. There is a wonderful connection between the monster and Gloria. The monster destroys the city and kills the innocent, making Gloria feel guilty and sad, and then reflect on her out of control and absurd life. At first glance, this connection has some "nonsensical", but it is not as simple as "the monster is the incarnation of Gloria". The appearance of the monster itself is not malicious, but it will cause huge damage with a single move, so it is also trapped there. The monster and the city have become a contradiction, which happens to be a manifestation of Gloria's current situation-out of control, trapped, and self-destructive; at the same time, this contradiction is manifested in a fierce form, making Gloria aware of the seriousness of the problem .
The unity of the monster and the city not only reflects the contradiction, but also expresses Gloria's sincere reflection through the monster's apology. The director also used a detail to explain this intention. When my old friend Oscar went to ask others how to write in Korean, he thought of an excuse for getting a tattoo because he was afraid of being suspicious. The monster apologizes to the people of Seoul, that is, Gloria apologizes to himself. The biggest victim of the absurd life in the past is himself. Only after he admits his mistakes can he really start again.
Another detail is mentioned by Gloria, because the monster only appears in Seoul, and the rest of the world is not affected, so I don't care much, at least I can't empathize with it. For example, in this small town in the United States, the biggest change is that the bar business has improved. Gloria is also a portrayal of the bustling situation in Seoul. Gloria can only rely on herself in the end.
Gloria can only rely on herself and there are objective reasons for others to be unreliable, especially men. Among them are not only the patriarchal discrimination and threats faced by women, but also the harm caused by other individuals losing control. Gloria will not only fight against it, but also learn from it.
The ex-boyfriend used his own wrong, narrow, self-righteous standards and values to examine and demand Gloria. Whether it is drinking out of control or working in a bar, his views and actions are based on his own rather than for Gloria's sake. From his point of view, he may love her, but he wants something that meets his requirements instead of the real Gloria. But even so, Gloria wanted to return to him for a while, because of the two men he could choose at that time, the other was worse. This other one is Oscar, an old friend from his hometown. He further tried to control her entire life, threatening her with violence in order to achieve this goal.
Oscar appeared as a good person at the beginning, and there are some clues behind the enthusiastic care. For example, he didn’t care about Gloria’s alcoholism and asked her to work in a bar. Then he took advantage of Gloria’s drunken memory loss and often made her own claims, slowly invading her life step by step, hoping that everything was under his control. middle. Oscar wants to control Gloria, not because of sexual needs or perverted desires (of course, gender differences and physiognomy always exist, and in the end, from a certain angle, they can also be connected by different routes). He is to gain a sense of superiority. To gain a sense of superiority is to conceal one's extreme inferiority complex. Gloria, who was very good in childhood, was the source of Oscar’s low self-esteem. After that, Gloria went to New York to become a writer, but he still nestled in a small town and inherited an outdated bar, although life no longer overlaps. But for Oscar, the shadow always exists. Now, a failed Gloria is an excellent target for Oscar to gain a sense of superiority and rebuild confidence.
Oscar is as negative as Gloria. The difference is that Gloria uses alcohol to indulge and escape, while Oscar seeks comfort from those who are weaker and more miserable. The two idiot friends that Oscar made made him very wise and martial. But Gloria is after all a better person than Oscar, who made him jealous. His plan on her gradually fell through, and Oscar began to lose control.
The out-of-control Oscar became a huge obstacle to Gloria's return to normal, and its destructiveness also reflected the external harm of the out-of-control. Gloria must defeat him. She thought of a good way: she went to Seoul and let the monster appear in the United States to defeat the violent and out of control man. This treatment is not only very clever and interesting in performance, but also expresses the rich meaning of the theme. Gloria chose to go to Seoul instead of going back with her ex-boyfriend, indicating that she refused to compromise with men and patriarchy, and also refused to compromise with her past. After the monster left Seoul and appeared in the United States, it represented her out of the predicament and regained herself as a self-confident and outstanding woman. In the end, the violent and arrogant Oscar was easily defeated, which embodies the patriarchal inferiority and fragility. There is no need to be afraid to fight bravely and defeat the paper tiger. Gloria has also completed a self-breakthrough.
Through the popular classic setting of "Monsters and the City" and the corresponding replacement of "personal self" and "big self", a frustrated woman breaks through obstacles (male power), overcomes self, and expresses struggling salvation through destruction and battle. Wait, it is very interesting and eye-catching, the effect is very good. However, this setting also has a loophole that cannot be ignored: Monsters only appear in specific areas at specific times. Why do Koreans automatically act as cannon fodder every time they don’t evacuate without setting up restricted areas?
The answer is simple, because if there is no "cannon fodder", there will be no Gloria's introspection, no Oscar threat, and ultimately no breakthrough and transformation. This is the sacrifice of details for the theme, which is regrettable.
At the end of the film, the crisis was resolved, the monster disappeared, and Gloria, who ended the "battle", walked into a bar on the streets of Seoul. Gloria's mood was still uncomfortable for a while, and the bartender asked her what she wanted to drink and pulled her back to reality at once. There are temptations everywhere in daily life, and Gloria's "battle" will continue.
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