Argentine director Gaston Duprat born in 1969 and Mariano Cohen, born in 1975, have worked together in films such as "The Man Next Door" and "The Artist", but they have not caused much repercussions. Distinguished Citizens made them famous and famous all over the world. The film carefully fictionalizes the writer Daniel Mantovani (played by Oscar Martinez) who won the Nobel Prize for Literature, a history that no one in the history of Argentine literature has ever won the award.
At the beginning of the film, while waiting for the Nobel Prize ceremony, the protagonist bowed his head and pondered, and seemed to be dozing again. He was called by the welcome lady and entered the hall like a dream. Throughout the awards ceremony, the film was full of sarcasm, blaming the failure of such a great writer as Borges to win the award.
The film is divided into 5 chapters, from Barcelona, the town of Salas, childhood sweetheart Irene, the volcano to the hunting, which clearly summarizes the protagonist's four-day walking trajectory and the mysterious life that took a sharp turn. Why did he gradually become in a critical condition after returning home, the crux of the matter is probably fame and fortune, just like a small town in a paradise. The film starts from the fact that the Nobel Prize itself is a Vanity Fair, and the female assistant Nuria introduces him to many recent affairs and activities, which are all pushed by Daniel.
After winning the award, he has not written for 5 years, which is confirming what he said after awarding the award to thank them for deciding the end of my creative career. If a writer cannot create, he will undoubtedly enter the countdown of his life, just like his novel "The Lost Face".
Can the lost face be found? In such a depressed mood, in the snow-like invitation letter, he only agreed to the request to go to his home town of Salas to grant him the "outstanding citizen" ceremony of the town. And asked to go back quietly, even Nuria would not let her follow.
Traveling in such a secret way, as soon as I got on the plane, the captain shouted it on the horn. The name could not be changed wherever it flew, and it would be difficult not to find out. The paparazzi had no food, or the famous star would have no entertainment value. What happened in the four days from April 11 to 15, the film curtain slowly opened. The hometown of Salas, which has not returned for 40 years, is 700 kilometers away from Buenos Aires. There is a small black spot that cannot be found on the map at all. The fat driver Raymond is indeed very scary. After picking him up, he drove a broken car on the road.
The big fat man claimed to be taking a small road, and when he was 100 kilometers away from his hometown, he had a "bang" tire. In the cold night, he had to tear off his new book and set it on fire to keep warm. Ironically, as he said, in order to survive, one needs to burn one's own book. The puncture heralded the start of this treacherous journey.
Interestingly, he told a story to Big Fat, saying that Paraguay had a pair of twin brothers. When they grew up, one became rich and the other was still poor. Both brothers fell in love with the prettiest prostitute in the town. Brother married her. Later, the poor brother came to the rich brother's house and shot him in the head. After burning the body and destroying the traces, he put on the rich brother's clothes and became the rich brother. The wife didn't recognize him when he got home. , lived together for a few months, maybe the former prostitute recognized it and deliberately didn't say it. Later, when the creditor came, he didn't even think that he was a fake rich brother, so he shot him in the head, and then came Destroyed the corpse.
This story is just like what Lao Tzu said depends on misfortune and good fortune. The next day Daniel came to Salas, stayed in a humble inn, and then walked to the town government. There were many people watching on the road. This glory was just the beginning. The mayor asked him to get on the fire truck, and the warm welcome started. Getting on a fire truck is a safety warning in itself, and ironic. At the ceremony of accepting the "Outstanding Citizen" in the small auditorium, a promotional video about Daniel's life was first shown.
The writer was born in a small town on February 15, 1952, nicknamed Didi. After his mother died 40 years ago, he went to Europe and never came back. He won the highest literary award through his creation, and his novels are all about The town of Salas, as Faulkner wrote his town. The mayor called him a member of the Panassas Literary Temple, who brought supreme glory to the town and made the town world-renowned. The hospitality of his hometown certainly moved Daniel. The excitement of receiving the "Outstanding Citizen" medal from the beauty queen of the small town is beyond words.
There are highs and lows. What follows is the upper body of a series of bizarre events. An old friend Antonio came over to say hello, saying that after marrying Irene, he had a daughter and invited Daniel to dinner at his house. On the way, a son who claimed to be a character in his novel "Desert Boy" asked him to sign and invited him to lunch, saying that he must go. Irene came to see him in a broken car and took him to see the lake, but the lake has dried up, like their dried up life, there is nothing to see.
Erin told him that in the years after you left, she couldn't get out, and she paid attention to everything related to you, including your book of course. The two couldn't help but kiss in the car. But the car broke down and never started. It looks like a run-down, ignorant and unknown town. Money and power still play a vital role here.
Interestingly, someone knocked on his door, and the bright little sister who opened the door unexpectedly asked him a question and kissed him. He said you can be my daughter, you can't, you are confused. Having said that, the next scene is very funny. The naked girl is eating bread on the bed. He then calls and refuses all activities. He wants to enter the gentle village with the little beauty.
In the evening, he came to Irene's house. Obviously, this mansion can be seen at a glance that this is the rich man in the town. Antonio brought three sheep's heads with a smile, saying one for each person. During the meal, Antonio recounted his married life with Irene in the same bed every night, and let Irene kiss him blatantly. This kind of crazy show love undoubtedly gave Daniel a blow to the head. A bit of a sovereign declaration of warning.
After dinner, the careless Daniel talked about a beautiful girl and took the initiative to go to his hotel room to ask for him. Just as he was talking, he found that the naked little girl on his bed was actually Antonio and Irene's daughter Julita. Take off a small pepper. There is also a boyfriend who is close to Tarzan. The scene was embarrassing. Later, Antonio recounted the interesting stories of hunting and fooling foreigners, saying that foreigners held shotguns and thought they killed the wild boar.
At Antonio's insistent request, Daniel followed him to the small town's bar, this small romantic place. Antonio, who declared his love to Irene in this way, said one thing and did another. He said that all the girls here were fucked by him. dozens of times. Daniel was tired and bored. When he returned to the hotel, an old man brought his son Julian in a wheelchair and begged him to buy a new wheelchair for $9,800 for the child, but he refused. He said that this is what the government should do. , then all those who need it will be found, and he will not be able to bear it. But later, he still called Nuria and asked her to buy one for Julian or give him money directly.
The real turning point was in the selection of small town paintings. The upright Daniel excluded the paintings of the town "overlord" who claimed to be Dr. Romero, which led to his life risk. Subsequently, Romero organized people to distribute leaflets, claiming that his novels smeared the town, humiliated the people living here, licked the butts of Europeans, and was a traitor to Argentina and a lackey of Europeans. Even the statue that the town had just erected for him was smeared with red paint.
It's really a misfortune. Even Irene drove over and grabbed him, accusing him of his depravity, which made him confused. At this time, Antonio drove over and said that he had been at Daniel's last night, and Daniel knew the origin of Irene's anger. . A degenerate town is a world where a group of gangsters bully. No one pays any attention to him anymore.
Julita also came and asked him to take her away, saying that she didn't want to live the life of her mother in this deadly town, but he really refused this time, and Julita left disappointed. Daniel's return to his hometown this time has undoubtedly made the whole town feel extremely disappointed in him. It seems that he has failed everyone, and will he despair of the town?
But he still insisted on attending the painting awards ceremony. On the way to his speech, he was besieged by a group of people gathered by Romero. In desperation, he was rescued by the fat Raymond and let him escape through the back door. On the way, I met Irene in a hurry, Irene told him to leave immediately, and asked him not to go hunting with Antonio. Irene's broken car couldn't start again. She asked him to go back to the hotel to pick up his luggage. She waited for him at the intersection.
Daniel went back to the hotel, packed his luggage and went downstairs. He told the guy at the front desk that your novel was written very plainly. I would publish it in a journal and give him a tip. In fact, he would tip the young man every time he went in and out, but this young man loved to write and boldly asked Daniel to read his novel.
But as soon as Daniel went out, he met Antonio who was driving over. Antonio wearing goggles made people feel weird. Sure enough, in the dark of the night, he revealed his true identity, and ordered Daniel, a traitor, to get out of the way. He took a long gun with a scope and shot at Daniel's feet, so scared that Daniel dropped his suitcase and ran away, only to be shot down by the fool in the car, Rock. . In the voiceover he tells himself about death, everything becomes weak and orderly, and your name will be immortal!
Thinking about it, how could Antonio, who was so angry and mixed with bandit, let him go and didn't take his life. It was a fortune, at least he had to humiliate him. At this point, Daniel's secret joy before returning home is in stark contrast to his immediate frustration and even despair after returning home. In fact, his series of actions touched the insurmountable high-voltage line of the town. He thought that his fame could at least offset this embarrassment and small flaws, but he didn't expect it to be incompatible.
The small town has the rules of survival in the small town. The living beings here seem to be at peace with each other, and there are a few gangsters like Antonio and Romero. a step far. The smoky atmosphere of the town of Salas is equivalent to that of most third world towns. The mayor needs balance. He can't just slap his butt like Daniel and get away. If he offends these wicked people, how can he live, let alone the general public.
In the film, when Daniel first arrived in the town, he was invited by the local TV station to do an interview, and a drink advertisement was suddenly inserted in the middle, which was very amused. The economy determines the superstructure and determines the right to speak, at least in small towns. The story of the twin brothers told by Daniel directly addresses the risk of life changing between rich and poor. You, Daniel, came to the town and became a stubborn iron rooster. You also provoke right and wrong. Of course, this is unacceptable to the town. If you don't use a gun to drive him away, you also need to use a broom to drive him away. After all, they still know the number of Nobel Prizes.
Therefore, they who live in the small town must be consistent with the outside world. Right and wrong and right and wrong are not important, but how to better survive here. Daniel's insistence finally made him embattled and eventually became the enemy of the town. Of course, this is a great irony, so unreal and magical. He went from being the "outstanding citizen" of the small town to the bereaved dog that everyone yells at, which is tantamount to a bizarre absolutely true reality. A real Vanity Fair that needs to be matched with fame and fortune, otherwise it will be out.
People always have to pay a price in Vanity Fair, and occasionally Xiuxiu can, but if you really want to fall into it, you are asking for hardships. The ancients even said, "Everyone is good, but one must prevent one person from being annoyed. If everything is successful, one must prevent nothing from ending." If you want to be a human being, it is better to be detached. Originally, Daniel wanted to be detached at first, but he couldn't resist the temptation of homesickness.
I said that there is no real peach blossom in this world. Where there are people, there is fame and fortune. It is destined that the show of fame and fortune will not stop, and the buried volcano will eventually erupt. Just like Hu Lita, who is willing to devote herself to escape from the town, you can see at a glance how bad the comprehensive ecology of the town is. Daniel traveled thousands of miles and excitedly moved the cheese here, and almost lost his life as a result.
Yes, a few years later, Daniel and his assistants all wore black to attend the launch of their new book "Outstanding Citizens", and the solemnity of this scene matched everything described in the book. He said that all writers are egoistic, narcissistic and vain, and claimed that the most worthwhile thing in my life was running away from that place called Salas and showing the scar on my left chest from a gunshot wound . This scar is a big reward given to him by his hometown, a more dazzling, imprinted and more tangible medal than an "outstanding citizen".
Sometimes, being kind to others is just wishful thinking. For people with personality defects, it is impossible to communicate equally. Therefore, this world is untouchable, but fortunately it can be avoided. This Daniel just wanted to return home, and although he deliberately kept a low profile, accepting the "Outstanding Citizen" award itself is a fallacy. It seems that he never thought about being close to the hometown.
This "cowardice" includes many things, but only "qing" is the premise. A lot of betting, a lot of memory, all kinds of beans will be poured out because they are close to the village, and this has a chemical effect. Not everyone is looking forward to seeing you, and as soon as you hit it, you may start a fight.
Sophistication has never been as simple as Daniel thought. His arrogance is useful in the civilized world. It's fine to ridicule you at the Nobel Prize ceremony, just like someone here on TV every day scolds the United States as ok. If you scold a certain type of authoritarian country, you have to be careful. Therefore, snobs always pretend to be confused, and scold the United States and the West on TV every day, because they know that scolding the United States is nothing, and they still earn money. In fact, this kind of snobbery and virtue really have the potential to be "traitors".
A small town, a life-and-death strangulation of Vanity Fair, let a Nobel Prize winner experience a treacherous journey in a nightmare. This is both real and magical life.
In today's globalization, the hometown that cannot be returned, the hometown becomes the hometown, even if the nostalgia is overflowing, the nostalgia can't solve the worries, how can the soul be settled? People are traveling, wherever they go, there is nostalgia and hometown, so let the hometown remain in the dream.
2017, April, 28
View more about The Distinguished Citizen reviews