1. What moved me deeply about this story was the logic of the times behind it. The dream about equality, the pursuit of equality, the pursuit of equality dream is a utopian impulse and a utopian idea, but it can be so truly practiced between people, and it is it that creates the infinitely charming warm scenes in the story.
2. This film represents my favorite type of film. It is not for big capital, not for spectacle, not for industrial system, not for a movie appearance supported by big stars, but by people for life, for The world, the love for the movie, to support the work.
Sharing the Italian movie "The Postman" today. There are too many movies called "The Postman": Chinese, foreign, ancient or very recent, but in my personal memory, The Postman has always occupied an extremely special place.
If you have seen this movie, if you like it, you may already know that the screenwriter and co-director of this movie, that is, the star of the movie, Mario's actor Massimo Troy. This is not just as subtitle information, but to reveal to everyone the first most external secret about this film.
Let me share a theory with you first. We often think that we should dig its deep secrets through literary works, but in fact the answers are often on the surface. Instead of unraveling the mystery and getting the answer, often the answer is written on the surface. In this subtitle information, it has passed us a lot of secrets about the film. If you don’t know Italian culture, we may not have the opportunity to directly know that Massimo Troy, the screenwriter of the film , co-directing and starring, what it meant in Italian culture at the time. He was once Italy's most famous film and television amphibious star and a comedy star. It's hard for me to find an appropriate metaphor for, in a sense, what he might have played in the Italian culture of the time, and what he might have been Chaplin's place. As a comedy star, he is so successful and widely loved that he has established his position as a successful person in this profession, which means a certain position in the market and in the face of success.
But the film ostensibly, even before it unfolds, tells us the story of Massimo Troy himself, never content with his role as an amphibious, wildly successful, wildly popular comedy star position. He has always longed for a work that truly belongs to him, and his definition of this work is: real, touching, and straight to the heart. Such a movie that really belongs to him is a movie he hopes to share with the society and others, and at the same time it is a true, genuine, sincere and responsible statement about society and history.
Another very interesting tidbit about this movie is that, as such a successful popular star, popular idol, and a successful person, the movie in his mind has been in preparation for a long time, like those who have been preparing for a long time but failed to shoot. Like the movie, the main difficulty he faced was just one point - investing. In other words, his popularity in the popular mass culture market is not enough to help him create what he thinks is an ideal, serious, sincere film, a direct, life-carrying force that carries a Such a film, which is a nobility of human nature and a song of human nature, has attracted sufficient investment, but on the contrary, it has suffered from financial and production difficulties for a long time.
One of the most moving stories about the film that didn't make it to the screen is that when he finally raised the money and the film started, his long-standing heart problem became so severe that doctors thought he should be hospitalized immediately for surgery. , otherwise his life will be in danger. But Massimo Troy completely put aside the doctor's advice and insisted on filming, directing and starring with an extremely poor heart condition. And shortly after the filming was finished, Massimo Troy left us. He spent his entire life making this film. In a hypocritical way of saying that I don't usually like, on the screen, all the tenderness, all the kindness, all the sincerity, all the subtleties, all the dedication and dedication of the character Mario is actually the director, The screenwriter used his life to create. So when we are watching this movie, I really hope everyone can perceive that this is a very sincere and warm message that Massimo Troy has sent us through the screen, through the years, through life and death. smile.
After telling the story about the film other than this film, we enter the discussion of the film. Likewise, the mystery written on the surface also tells us that, like "Let the Bullets Fly", this is an actor's film. This is a film completed by the director himself as the main actor at the same time, as a comprehensive and personal creator that is almost impossible in most films. So like a similar film, we can recognize a very different way of expressing the film, both in front of and behind the camera, at the same time creating and working at the same time.
The movie takes us back to the first half of the 20th century, to the turbulent, tragic, sharp, historical period of the first half of the 20th century, full of grand moments, eras, and scenes. But in the background of such a magnificent era, what we see is a warm little story. We arrive at a small fishing village in Italy, and we are confronted with the life and changes of a little man caused by a big man who accidentally entered their midst. In fact, this is a favorite story of social news, lace news, and entertainment news. It is also an ordinary, usually tragic moment, when a small person encounters a big star by accident, encounters a big person, and his personal life. So completely changed. But this change is not equal, because for the big man, this is just a chance encounter or an episode in his life. When he left here, everything seemed to have never happened, and the fate of the little man could no longer be reversed.
It's a commonplace story loved most by tidbits, social news, entertainment news, or dramatic melodrama. But this movie is different, and in this movie, everything we just described happens, but it doesn't just change the little Mario. Although it does push the little character Mario to a tragic end like a similar story routine, in the narrative system of the whole film, in the visual presentation of the film, in the value expression established by the film through visual language And in the value system, we see that Mario's death is not a tragedy in an absolute sense.
Speaking of Mario's death just now, I'm very sorry, and for the first time I really feel that spoilers are ethically unjust. Because such an ending appeared so abruptly and unexpectedly. And the audience who watched this movie for the first time will have a life experience of being hit hard and battered when the moment comes. So I'm sorry, I can only pray you guys have seen this movie before this.
The fate of the so-called little people has been changed, so the routine of encountering a tragic ending has not been changed in this film. But when we take this ending back into the narrative as a whole, we cannot simply judge this ending as a tragic ending. Because it contains the lives of the little people and the big stars, truly a completely equal encounter in the sense of thought, belief, historical choice. It means that the little man has finally made the big man and him change places, and at the same time change the big man's life, and this change is deep and inner. So we can also call this story a moment of sincerity between people, between people's lives, and even exaggeratedly speaking of the encounter of souls. At the same time, it is a moment full of emotion and warmth.
In my experience, the first time I saw this film on the big screen, it moved me deeply. I'm rarely moved by warm stories. In the era when I was growing up, there was a kind of culture that might be distorted and morbid to you. We were ashamed to be emotional, we were ashamed to be sincere To express, we are ashamed to express that we also have softness, and we are also moved by softness. But when I watched this movie for the first time, it not only touched my softness, it not only touched me with warmth, but also aroused the warmth in my heart, and it made me not ashamed to try to share this with you. warmth. The reason is that it is full of positive energy in such a common encounter story of a big star and a small person, in such a commonplace about - now we may use the word I don't like called "positive energy" - full of positive energy. In the display of noble human nature, in such a story of sincerity and warmth between people, it also conveys to us the logic of an era and the changes of an era to human life. And this era itself was created by people who tried to change their own lives, and at the same time, to change the times and society.
Therefore, in this story, it is not a simple human-to-human encounter, soul-to-soul collision, nor is it a simple warmth created by sincerity between people, but it is precisely through promise The Bell-winning poet Neruda, the greatest poet in Latin America in the 20th century, and the idle young man in a small fishing village who was despised by the people around him and regarded as useless by the people around him, in this unequal relationship. In the encounter of the relationship, a social ideal that was shared by thousands of people in the 20th century happened to be conveyed. It is not a social democracy in the sense of a pure political concept, but a society that is more of a utopian concept and utopian impulse. equality.
We see this equality in the encounter between the Nobel Prize-winning poet and the idle young man in a semi-literate fishing village, in their conversation, in their sharing, in their discussion of language, poetry, and metaphor. At the same time, we see the inequality in equality in that old story set, that is, the memory of Mario and Neruda's memory of Mario disappeared without a trace. He did send a letter saying send my stuff back, he completely ignored the emotions he once had and the promises he made, but in the end this inequality was reversed by the end.
In the main story situation, what we see is Mario's ten times of sending letters, Mario experienced love talk, Neruda attended Mario's wedding, we saw this series of dramatic scenes, this series of an emotionally charged expression. But we also saw that in the main part of the story, Neruda is always speaking, Neruda is instructing, Neruda is teaching, and Mario is listening. Actor, Mario is following. In the end, Mario used his sincerity, his love, his actions, and the changes he made to his life, making Neruda a listener and Neruda a follower.
I think friends who have seen this film will not forget the montage at the end of the film. Throughout the montage, what fills the screen space is Mario's sincere and affectionate voice of the small fishing village captured by Neruda, which forms a real, often more profound, voice engraved into the The memories of life in our bodies. And in this voice contains Mario's actions, Mario's changes, Mario's choices and Mario's final attempt to read his own poems in public places and public gatherings.
This story deeply moved me, and it made me not ashamed to express my feelings, and what I want to share with you is the logic of the times behind this story. A logic that we have forgotten today and that we have spurned again: the dream of equality, the pursuit of equality. The pursuit of the dream of equality is, of course, a utopian impulse and a utopian idea, but it can be so truly realized and practiced between people that it creates this infinitely charming and tender scene in the story.
"The Postman" is a true film with a dual protagonist, Mario, the idle and helpless young man in the fishing village in the story, and the man who accidentally lives in political exile, political expulsion, and political persecution in this small fishing village. The world-class poet Neruda. The story focuses on the exchange between the two of them, so inevitably, it was because Neruda changed Mario's life, but in the end it was also because of Mario that Neruda changed his heart.
If we extend such a discussion, we will find another translation of the film, which is a Taiwanese translation, which has absolutely nothing to do with "The Postman". I believe this translation is a reference to the title of a novel by García Márquez, the great Latin American writer, A Murder That Was Made Public. It is very interesting that this is also one of the few foreign literary works that have been adapted into Chinese films, which is "Blood Morning" directed by Li Shaohong. So why is it called "a pre-publicized courtship event"? This translation also places the main part of the story on Mario, and on a love story Mario experiences in the film, and in this sense, the film should have been a story with a happy ending. The moment of falling in love because of a young, beautiful, charming girl who suddenly met, would still be an impossible love for Mario, the young man despised by the people of the fishing village, and Its ultimate achievement, through the help of Neruda.
If we regard this love story as the main part of the film, we will probably discuss Neruda as a so-called benefactor of narratology, the so-called "assist" in popular language. However, such a narrative is not completely self-sufficient. It is in the love clues of this "previously publicized courtship event", so simple, so charming, so fairy tale-like and so realistic, the courtship event that connects Nie Ruda, what kind of magic weapon did this benefactor give Mario to make his impossible love succeed and complete? It is very clear in the film that it is poetry. Not just poetry, not just poetry, but a deep understanding of the ontology of poetry, about language, about metaphor, about the medium of poetry, and the mystery of poetry and the charm of poetry.
Why can't we just indulge in such a small cost, a small film, and a small story that we can see at a glance with tenderness and tears in our eyes again? It is because we only need to recall a little, what place does poetry occupy in the society and reality we live in today? Is it still possible for poetry to have the magical power of a magic wand like in the film? Can we still imagine a young girl today, because when her suitor begins to read the verses, when she begins to discuss the poems, she is shocked, she is fascinated, and she looks at him with respect and admiration in her eyes, There is even worship. What I'm discussing here is not just poetry, not just social attitudes towards poetry, the oldest art form, but the special place that poetry has in the film, precisely calling out what we have forgotten, what has been Our Buried 20th Century History.
At that moment, poetry was the dream of changing the world, the belief of changing the world, the logic and principle of altruism, and the choice of knowing one's own insignificance, but still not hesitating to bear the suffering of society and the responsibility of history. It is such a big background that once gave poetry such a magical, mysterious and sublime position. And today when we think of poetry, we are not only full of utilitarian, realist contempt, but we also very easily cite a sentence such as Milan Kundera, saying that there was a time when " The era in which the executioner and the lyricist united", our trial of that era included a trial of poetry.
When we quote Milan Kundera's words, we completely ignore that Milan Kundera is a person who experienced that history, participated in that history, carried pain, carried wound, carried trauma, Just told such a story. When we forget that history, we judge poetry, we judge dreams and impulses to change the world when we simply stand in the perspective of the victors. We forget that we are simultaneously judging ourselves and our reality, and rejecting the possibility of our future.
So in this sense, the role of the narrative function that poetry plays in the whole story brings us back to a specific historical moment, a specific way of looking back at history, looking back at history, and re-touching the inner nature of history. The text of the film is far greater than such an expression of the story of the film. And it moves me because today the whole world is consciously and unconsciously joining a camp that imagines that it can share and join the victors, join the powerful, join the mainstream society, and judge that special era. And Massimo Troy, as the winner of his era, did not share the logic of the winner camp at all, and was still full of affection, courage, and sincerity, like Mario in the story, like the story in the story. Just like Neruda, go through the twilight, the barriers, and the barriers created by power, look back at that era with affection, and at the same time summon that era for us and bring that era back to the screen.
In the last paragraph of the film, we unexpectedly encountered that tragic moment. We unexpectedly encountered a severe pain, and it was almost too late to comfort ourselves, and we had to follow up the process of the film story again. , we heard the voice of the fishing village that Mario had fondly captured for Neruda, and at the same time we heard in Neruda's imagination, informed by others, the turning moments and tragic moments of Mario's personal life . In all of these voices, we follow Neruda, and we identify with Neruda's repositioning of himself as listener and follower.
In the film, the dramatic scenes, the relationships between the characters, and the wonderful dialogue grab our attention, but at the same time, everyone may overlook it, but in fact it is also captured by it, it is the film language in the film. element. To be precise, what is very prominent in this film is the overall power conveyed and carried by the space modeling score in the film, that is to say, the selection of the film's location, the work of the artist, and the effective use of it. The language of the film constructs such a quiet and barren small fishing village that seems to be far away from the world. It is such a space environment that already carries drama when they meet, and also carries the possibility that we did not expect or unpredictable.
And then the most powerful element in the film is the mise-en-scène. The mise-en-scène was first borrowed from the notion of dramatic theory or dramatic practice. On theatrical stage, mise-en-scène refers to the relative displacement between characters and between characters and props, which is the most basic form and means of stage narrative and stage representation. It is also in the sense of scheduling that an actor who is physically present can use his body to convey important ideographic means and ideographic information outside the performance, or as an organic part of the performance.
Mizmo is the language of the stage as well as the language of the theatre, and the film borrows the word from stage art, from theatrical art, giving it a whole new dimension. In a movie, it is not only the relative displacement between the characters in a frame, the relative displacement between the characters and the props, but also the relationship between the camera and the characters, the relative displacement between the camera and the characters, the relative displacement of the camera in a specific It is the most basic language form of the film, the most important language form, and also the form that contains the most abundant possibilities of the film language.
In this film, we see exactly ten letter deliveries, a wedding, in such dramatic passages and scenes, the most subtle, most accurate, most moving representations, in fact, not only happened between two people The movements, the shapes of the two people, the dialogue between the two people, and the relative positions between the camera and the characters, the relationship and the position of the characters in the same frame and in different frames. The gradual approaching of the two men is conveyed through the repetition of such mise-en-scène and the subtle changes in each repetition.
The final farewell scene is the first and only time in the film that symmetrical cuts are used for the two people. The two people, in a completely symmetrical frame and with a completely equal scene, show us that the film ultimately wants to convey the theme of this warm story between people, that is, the existence of equality. The concept of equality, in the language of film, is finally conveyed to the audience visually and intuitively through completely symmetrical cut shots. It can also be said that at that moment in the movie, it is more of an expectation of equality, or a preview of equality will come in ways we did not expect.
This film represents my favorite type of film, it is not for big capital, not for spectacle, not for a movie appearance supported by big stars, not for the industrial system, but for the life and the world by human beings. , For the love of movies, to support the works.
Finally, I would like to remind everyone once again that if you watch this movie, if you watch this movie again, please remember that this is a greeting and a message from Troy through the screen and his voice. kind of calling.
View more about The Postman reviews
