Intellectually, of course I know it's only an above average (a little bit) film work, but as "one of Josh's favorite fans in the world", every one of his works deserves my 5 stars Great reward. ——What's more, this one has grown too much than the previous one, and it is telling a story about growth, about the journey of maturity.
After the experience of the debut of Happythankyoumoreplease (2010), Josh Radnor's performance in this part is more skillful, or, more down-to-earth. After all, a middle-aged man's self-examination process, such a story itself is more tenable, and then with the director's own various literary tastes, it is not an exaggeration to call it a Josh Radnor-style Woody Allen style. A cute uncle and a young girl, isn't this exactly what the literary and artistic youth are striving for in the anti-Hollywood love theme? Don't forget the heavy taste of Whatever Works (2009), although Josh Radnor's skills are not so "old thief".
Liberal Arts shows strong subjectivity from the starting point. Jesse's narrative perspective first fixes the audience in the role of a 35-year-old chaotic man: the story happens naturally, such an uncle who is not too successful and not too sober , turned out to be a special existence in Zibby's mind - different from the maturity of those bastards in college life, but the seductive beard hides still immaturity, he will still be too strong, too aggressive, even female Children have to make a big fuss about things like reading vampires.
Is this a common problem with mature men? ——If I also fall in love with an old man who is 16 years older than us, if I become that old man who thinks he is vicissitudes and sensible? Things in the world, once they can really be thought in a different way, may not be so difficult to solve.
Many people will strongly feel the breath of Woody Allen, because director Josh Radnor implements the literary temperament of the whole film, connecting all the plots with artistic topics, and the mood is accompanied by classical music, English novels, romantic poetry, oh my god, this Isn't it the uncle wearing small glasses in Annie Hall (1977), the world that has been chattering all the time, a level summarized as "literary youth". Looking back at Josh Radnor, he himself has implemented this actor's stubborn interpretation of art topics in his performance in How I Met Your Mother, and he enjoys it. Ted Mosby's favorite movies will always be watched repeatedly. The singer also wants to share with others, this kind of strong literary youth temperament has been manifested in his performances ten years ago, not to mention becoming a director.
As a new generation of New Yorker, Josh Radnor is also not stingy with his love for New York. Through the rendering of classical music and tricky shots in Liberal Arts, he shows the romantic and sweet New York in his eyes. This kind of urban complex is also very powerful. It is accepted by everyone because it is nothing new to express the love of the city through movies. People off-screen have also become more in love with the city through these attempts to communicate with the city. (Thinking of a lot of movies about Beijing)
Of course, Josh Radnor's previous work is also about New York, and the plot is more closely related to New York, and all the plot takes place in urban life. But at Liberal Arts, the New Yorker has become smarter, and the sweet words about New York are all made easy and effortless. I think this is also a self-renewal of a director's expression.
As an eternal topic of literary and artistic youth, Liberal Arts spares no effort to express the director's own interests in the ambiguous method - the words are practiced from the beginning of the film, the large green lyrical shots, classical music and Coffee bookstores, air-to-air conversations on handwritten letterheads, and disputes in book clubs all pull love in different directions; on the other hand, hippie discussions about gods, gifted writers, and suicidal attempts are all driving Jesse, a literary youth, to some extent. introspection and reflection. Of course, all these foreshadowings are also the accumulation of the common hobbies in the last three pages. After the pain, Jesse knows how precious it is to meet a soulmate, and it's even the right age. (Actually, young people in literature and art don’t care about age, and the reason why they miss it is because they are not confidants.)
During this growing process, I also saw those ridiculous flaws in Jesse, like a mirror, which also reflected us. —— Attacking all the things we don’t like. In fact, Zibby is right, “Why do you have the final say?”
I think this kind of self-mockery about his own mental state is exactly what Josh Radnor insists on. right thing. Literature and art is a precious attitude, but it also has many imperfections. The first thing is to understand it clearly, which is more important than everything else.
Liberal Arts is romantic and gentle, soothing and beautiful, but of course it's not good enough (the film's rhythm problem is serious, it doesn't even handle the protagonist's deep emotions at the climax, and the editing is also slightly flawed), while That's what Josh Radnor is starting to do.
This New Yorker I love is just beginning to get ink ready.
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