"Florida Paradise" seems to be more called "Florida Project" or "Florida Project", because the location of this film, Orlando Disneyland, was codenamed "The Florida Project" during the initial planning period. After its completion, it naturally changed its name to "Walt Disney World". Director Sean Baker cleverly borrowed the name as a pun, implying that although the park is perfectly completed, there are still many unspeakable social realities not far from it. They are as rough as the code name. Primitive, not being noticed.
Sean Baker is a director with a strong "authorship" and a relatively uniform selection of materials. This brilliant "Florida Paradise" is a continuation of his attention to marginalized figures. At the same time, compared with his previous works, "Buddha" is larger in length and full of narrative, which in a sense has also achieved his breakthrough in self. Roughly speaking, this breakthrough includes at least the following three aspects:
First, the duration. This nearly two-hour movie is Sean’s longest length to date. His previous works were all around 90 to 100 minutes. It echoes his cold, stern and independent style, and is even shorter than "Buddha". More powerful. Once the duration of the movie reaches two hours, the director must deliberately "extend" certain parts in the tailoring process, and the so-called "extended" in "Florida Paradise" is expressed as a (intentional) influence on Moonee and his friends' daily lives. ) "Poetic". Day after day, over and over and over and over and over and over again, they seem to be "boring" life, from the first look of interest, to later a little dull, and then to the final speechlessness, it can be said that Sean is through this. "Repetition" and "stretching" test the nerves of the audience-of course, it is more psychological than sensory. For at least three-quarters of the entire film, the director has spared no effort to outline the "B side" of this Disneyland, but at the same time there are jumps and omissions. For example, stories mostly take place during the day and outdoors, and the sun is often so bright that people can’t open their eyes; the plots are mostly without the participation of adults, and the adults have no way of knowing their past, let alone their current joy, anger, and sadness. "Florida Paradise" is not a documentary and revealing like a "documentary", it seems to me more like a complete fictional work, because the traces of "poeticization" in the narrative process are quite obvious.
Second, photography. Sean Baker’s last movie, "Orange", was shot on the iPhone throughout. The different media brought a novel and sharp experience to the audience. But in fact, it is not difficult to find that the medium and image style of "Orange" are highly consistent with Sean's early handheld and DV works. Behind the roughness, there is hesitation and anxiety. But this "Florida Paradise" is very different. Sean used 35mm film for the first time, which gave the director a calm, soothing, and ambiguous "literary and artistic temperament" that had never been seen in previous movies. No longer choose to use digital photography. On the one hand, the light can be rendered more natural and real, and the environment and people, especially the skin of children, can be expressed more three-dimensionally; on the other hand, it is more important that film is the medium itself. It further expands the layering and depth of Sean Baker's film language. Between the audience and the characters in the play, it is no longer simply a clear and unpretentious window, but like a filter embedded, which intentionally or unintentionally "artizes" and "abstracts" the story. The director achieved a breakthrough in his narrative style through the selection of photographic media in this new film.
Third, casting. William Dafoe should be the only actor who can be regarded as a star in Sean Baker's movies so far, and the director also admitted that before Bria Vinaite was discovered on Instsgram, the role of the heroine's mother was originally planned to be played by a famous actor. It seems that with the budget becoming more and more adequate, choosing big-name actors is the trend. But the breakthrough I want to talk about is not here. Compared with the old work, the characters in "Florida Paradise" make people feel more "acting" rather than "reproducing" their own state and reaction in similar situations. The subtle difference between this seems not worth mentioning in other movies, because "performance" and "reproduction" are sometimes the same thing, but for Sean and his movies, they are very important. . To a large extent, the excitement of "Orange" and other early works by Sean Baker (such as "The Takeaway") lies in the actors. The two female protagonists (Cindy and Alexandra) in "Orange" are transgender people with similar experiences. In "The Takeaway", although the male lead is Korean, after all, they are also black hair and yellow skin, enough "Fake the real", besides, another important role in the play, the boss wife, her real work place is in a restaurant in Chinatown. The roles played by these non-professional actors are usually consistent with their true identities in life. Therefore, movies often exude a different kind of brilliance and charm, and the empathy of the characters during the viewing process is more direct and natural. To some extent, this part of the brilliance and charm is relatively lacking in "Florida Paradise". Although the children "play" well, lively and innocent, it is easy to make people love, but combined with the theme of the movie, and it With the cruel social reality behind it, we can’t help asking whether this compassion is useful or not. Behind these "performances", I wonder if the kids who really grew up in motels are like Moonee and Scooty.
For example, Brooklynn Prince, who plays Moonee, is already an old actor who has been "a battle-tested". Although she is only seven years old, she has been on the screen at a very young age. This role is believed to have been for her. It's handy. Valeria Cotto, another little girl, Jancey, has appeared in a movie for the first time. Perhaps there is a certain relationship in the role setting, but we can still clearly notice that the images of the two little girls in front of the camera are actually quite different. Compared with the young Valeria, Brooklynn is much more sophisticated and sleek (maybe this is also At the end, I was not too moved by tears and running the main reason). Whether it is immature or sleek, we may not ask too much about children's innocence and innocence, but as a movie for adults that seriously discusses social issues (or at least uses this as the original intention), Sean is here The slightly reserved edge undoubtedly discounted the strength of the film. Compared with "Orange" and "Takeaway", the touch of the characters in "Buddha" seems to be a bit eclipsed for me.
In any case, "Florida Paradise" is a landmark work for Sean. As a "niche" director, his mastery, scheduling, partial and overall view of the film in "Buddha" Unity, the combination of reality and art have all won a wider audience for this film. Going to popularization seems to be an inescapable proposition in the self-development of independent directors. This "Florida Paradise" shows us some eyebrows. Through this further attempt and breakthrough of our own style, we have reason to look forward to Sean Baker's next film.
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