In 2011, there was a film called "Midnight in Paris" that was very popular among young literary and artistic people. The total length of the film was just over 90 minutes, and it was full of nostalgia for the golden age of literature and art in the past. The poster of the movie is also very interesting. The hero played by Owen Wilson walks among the classic paintings of Van Gogh.
At that time, I thought, director Woody Allen is really a cute little old man of literature and art. The movie is like a flowing literary feast. With the help of the hero's dream of crossing at midnight, the classics of the past can be traced back to the past year by year.
"Midnight in Paris" has a very paradoxical theme: everyone thinks that the era they live in has many problems, and the past era that existed in art and literature is the golden age, when the hero comes to Hemingway, Picasso, Fitzgerald's time was deeply honored and fulfilled, but it was interesting to find that people were nostalgic for the older years.
It can be seen that literature and art are really beautiful things. Let some ordinary years in the past shine with extraordinary light, and the longer the time passes, the more charming they are. It was such a wonderful thing to see when I watched the movie "Genius Hunter," especially when Fitzgerald and Hemingway came in as supporting characters, and it gave me a kind of closer to some kind of American literary gold. The illusion of the times.
The movie "Genius Catcher" tells the story of the friendship between the genius editor Max Perkin and the genius writer Thomas Wall in the 1920s and 1930s, as the one who excavated and launched Fitzgerald and Hemingway. The great editor, Max Perkin, has an admirable record of excellence, but he has always been unknown. He has devoted his life to the writers' literary dreams. With the selfless help of Fitzgerald, whose wife was ill, his talents were depleted, and he was in financial trouble, Max would always emphasize: "The work belongs to the author." "The editor did not create anything." All he had to do was put The best of the work is in the hands of the reader.
For Thomas Wall, a young and arrogant author, Max was like a father and a friend. When the desperate Thomas ran all the publishing houses in New York, spit out bitterness and cynicism in Thomas's office with impoliteness and almost rudeness, Thomas was just Softly said: I want to sign you. In Thomas's short creative career, Max gave unreserved help and encouragement. Thomas's writing will never end if he doesn't control his writing. The piles of manuscripts are like a sweet burden for Max. He knows Thomas's writing well. Genius, but also know the arrogance and self-confidence that Thomas carries as a genius.
As an editor, Max knows too well what kind of topics are more attractive to readers, and what length of works is most suitable for publication. In literary works, Max will have some market-oriented considerations. As a creator of words, Thomas is sensitive and fragile. For his autobiographical works, he is as difficult to choose as he treats his own children, and every deletion and modification is as painful as cutting flesh. When promoting the publication of the two works "Angel, Look at Hometown" and "Time and River", Max and Thomas had too many discussions and "games", and also experienced long-term mental and physical pain. .
Fortunately, "Angel, Look Hometown" made Thomas an instant hit, "Time and River" was directly hailed as a classic by critics, and Thomas began to be compared with the greatest writers.
The film focuses on the portrayal of the relationship between the two people for more than ten years. At first, Thomas had unreserved trust in Max, and the relationship between the two even attracted the jealousy and "pathology" of Thomas's lover (Nicole Kidman). Later Thomas would be displeased with Max's drastic cuts to his own work. When the success of works such as "Time and River" was more dependent on Max's modified voice, Thomas would be angry. He was too talented, full of passion and enthusiasm. Talented, and at the same time extremely paranoid and conceited, that he always indulges in some kind of whirlpool.
In my opinion, to a certain extent, the beauty of the movie "Genius Catcher" lies in the unique beauty of that era, in the film's portrayal of geniuses like Thomas, and in the changing relationship between Thomas and Max. Delicate description, they are like the mentor played by Williams and the math genius played by Matt Damon in "Good Will Hunting". The key is not who has achieved who, but that neither can leave the other, if there is no Mike For a great editor like Thomas, many genius horrors can only walk alone, and eventually disappear into the crowd. Without a genius like Thomas, Max would probably be too lonely.
At the end of the movie, Thomas fell seriously ill and fell into the hospital where his father had fallen. At the age of 38, at the last moment of his life, Thomas wrote a letter to Max with difficulty:
I still want to write, I want to write this... I'm afraid I'm running out of time... I want to tell you that no matter what happens, my feelings for you will not change. It will be like the day in November when you picked me up at the pier and we climbed to the top and felt the warmth, the glory, and the power of life together. your forever friend Tom (Thomas)
It was after Thomas's new book "Time and River" was published under the operation of Max, and the critics praised it. Thomas, who was skeptical about it, returned from Paris. After knowing everything, he was very excited, and took Thomas for a walk all the way to himself. The house I rented when I first arrived in New York. They climbed to the top of the building. Thomas said that he was very desperate at that time. Looking at the bustling New York city, he wondered when he would have his own place, and then he said some words of thanks to Max.
The sky was slowly darkening, and the lights were lit in the distance. The two looked into the distance, with Max's head resting on Max's shoulder.
The movie "Genius Catcher" is not the kind of emotional release or emotional film. The film just records some stories that I am interested in smoothly, but it also spends a lot of space on the less attractive and even some bloody passages. superior. In my opinion, it's not a perfect movie, but it's still worth watching.
Editor Max famously said: Nothing is more important than a book.
With such a heart of awe and sincerity, in those so-called golden ages of literature of the past, this was probably the cutest thing ever.
Head image: Stills of "Genius Catcher"
Caption: I think the scene of Thomas and Max cuddling on the roof is very similar to the following scene, from the 13-year-old movie "She", in a lonely world, someone really understands you and accompanies you, it's not an easy thing .
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