Written in the previous words, this article is my thesis when I graduated from college. Because it is a thesis, there are many restrictions, and it is inevitable that it will be restricted in its performance. Many contents must also be "used", which of course destroys the agility of the article. Liu Xie said in "Wen Xin Diao Long": "The heart is correct and then the sound ends, and the reason is correct and then the algae." In this respect, the thesis is inevitably somewhat incompatible. But after all, for this article, I did a lot of homework and improved in the process, so I just call it hard work. Even if the content itself has not much to be adopted, and there is no need to polish it, it is better to leave it here as it is, which is regarded as a souvenir or a testimony.
Introduction The impact of the disintegration of the Soviet Union on Russia has penetrated into all fields, and the film industry is no exception. In the past two decades, many Russian film works have focused their perspective on the relationship between father and son, in order to reflect on the inextricable connection between Russia and the Soviet Union. Such as Pavel Chukhley's "The Thief", Alexander Sokulov's "Father and Son", and Klebnikov and Popogrebsky's "Name Disappeared on the Map" . These films all use the depiction of the father-son relationship to show the complex emotions of the Russians towards the former Soviet Union, and make an in-depth analysis of the subtle relationship between the two. These films have received rave reviews at major film festivals. In 2003, "Return" won the Golden Lion Award and the Best New Director Award at the Venice International Film Festival. It is worth mentioning that this film is the directorial debut of director Andrey Sarkintsev. The ability to win such a weighty award fully demonstrates the unique artistic charm of the film.
1. Story—Growth and Transformation "Return" uses a prose structure to tell the story of the return of a father who has been away from home for many years: Andre and Ivan are brothers, they went home after a quarrel, the mother told Their father is back. The father had been away from home for twelve years, and the two brothers had no impression of their father. With curiosity, the two confirmed their father's identity through an old photo clipped in the "Bible". In the yellowed photo, the young father is with his mother, hugging his brothers when they were young. The next day, the father and the brothers followed their father out for a seven-day camping trip. During this period, the father's tyranny and dominance made the two children tremble, and the contradiction between the father and son gradually intensified. Finally, after a conflict, his brother Ivan climbed the tower, and his father fell to his death. The brothers dragged his father's body onto the boat, and then his father's body sank to the bottom of the lake with the boat. The two brothers accidentally saw the old photo again, and the image of the father on it no longer existed. From a story perspective, "Return" is about the relationship between father and son and the theme of growth. Father's coming home is not a true return, his death is the official return of fatherhood. The father is dead, and the new "father" (the son who has completed the transformation) is born at this moment. The story of the film takes place within seven days. The father returns on Sunday, the three of them start hiking on Monday, and the story ends on Saturday. This pattern coincides with the seven days of creation in the Bible. The mother said that his father was a pilot, implying that his father was a divine being. If this is not very convincing, then the picture of the father sleeping in bed clearly shows this point. The composition and character modeling of this picture are strikingly similar to the famous painting "Dead Christ" by Mantenia. Then Ivan pulled out an old photo of his father, which was sandwiched in an illustrated version of the Bible. And on the page with the photo, the content of the illustration is the biblical engraving of the German painter Carolsfeld "Abraham Killing the Son and Sacrificing". "Bible. It is mentioned in the Old Testament that, in order to test Abraham's loyalty, God required him to kill his only son Isaac as a sacrifice. When Abraham was ordered to kill his son, the angel promptly stopped him and offered sacrifices for the lamb. From here, it has been implied that the father's "child-killing complex" in the heart of the film corresponds to the son's "father-killing complex", which constitutes a conflict between father and son. Freud believed that a person's thoughts and behaviors are controlled by his childhood psychological defects. Thanks to the care of the mother and grandmother, the brothers are more feminine and even cowardly. This is due to the lack of "father" status. The characteristics of maternity determine the brothers' strong sense of identification with their mother. In the opening of the film, the friends dived on the lighthouse, but Ivan did not have the courage to jump down. Amidst the ridicule of the partners, Ivan curled up on the lighthouse and shivered. It can be seen that Andre and Ivan’s partners are all boys, and Ivan’s rejection by their partners shows that he is not gregarious in a male-dominated social environment. The mother who came to find her son comforted him with her arms, but also stifled his independence. When Ivan said, "If you go down (instead of jumping off the lighthouse), you will be laughed at by your partner", the mother replied "No one will know." Her behavior and language invisibly rationalized his cowardice and perverse willfulness. He was satisfied with his self-imagination under the protection of his mother's wings. On the other hand, it also prevented the construction of his male values. The appearance of the father fills up their lack of masculinity and reshapes their male values. At the dinner table after the father returned home, the father had the absolute right to speak and decide. The brothers who grew up in a female-dominated family environment showed rejection, especially the younger son Ivan. In this scene, the father is often at the center of the picture, implying his authority. He distributes food to his family and pours alcohol to his children. The eldest son Andre showed awe. From his eyes, he could clearly see his admiration for his father and his yearning for strength. The younger son, Ivan, behaved a lot more gloomy, and from the beginning he expressed disgust and rejection of his father. In his view, his father's strength and strength made him uneasy. This fear is similar to the "castration complex" proposed by Freud. Ivan’s repulsive emotion is because he does not understand the meaning of his father. Father is not present in his childhood memory, and his mother is all of his feelings. In his subconscious, his mother is his protector. When the father proposed to go out camping with his son, the mother and grandmother chose to accept passively at the dinner table, declaring the complete defeat of the maternal power in the face of the patrilineal power. There are several times in the film that the son questioned his father’s identity, all of which were raised by his younger brother Ivan: Going to the attic to look through the photos was the first questioning of his father’s identity; when he was sleeping on the night before departure, he suspected his father’s identity as a pilot. Questioned the second time. The elder brother Andre used "he is on vacation" to defend his father, which shows that the two brothers have different attitudes towards his father. The younger brother questioned, but the older brother approved. After the father and son embarked on the journey, the contradiction between them began to become prominent. First of all, the father arrogantly emphasized that the child should add the word "dad" to the communication with him, which aroused the disgust of the younger son Ivan. The communication between father and son is unequal, and the father's dominant position is very obvious. He is like a general, giving orders to his son. First of all, he sent his eldest son Andre to find a restaurant. After Andre was too playful, his father severely questioned him, and his son was not allowed to argue. When Andre replied obediently, "Dad, I promise you will never do this again", the father comforted his son with satisfaction. What followed was Ivan's "resistance", he refused to eat, and his father's majesty did not seem to be able to deter him effectively. At this time, his father used a strong arm to make Ivan obey. Andre is obviously more submissive than Ivan, but we cannot judge him to be more cowardly. Judging from the opening scene of diving, brother Andre is more courageous than younger brother Ivan. His obedience lies in his maturity and his age, so he can identify with his father's identity and behavior more than his younger brother. And Ivan is more sheltered by his mother, and male values are weaker than his brother. After coming out of the restaurant, Andre and Ivan were robbed by gangsters. When my father caught the bastard and let the brothers deal with it, the two brothers showed cowardice at the same time (from another aspect, it can also be understood as tolerance) and let the bastard go. The father angrily scolded his sons, "There is nothing in your crotch." This sentence clearly reveals the father's male values, which are sex and violence. Whether it's sex (spying on a passing girl in the car) or violence (making the son beat up the gangster), the son is unacceptable. This is the estrangement between father and son, and also the conflict between the son's own male values and the Oedipus plot. The three came to an isolated island for camping activities. The father and son who embarked on the journey reminded people of Noah and his sons. The sons also like to fish and use diaries to record daily events. The father and son who came to the island began a primitive life. They used natural tools to create the necessities of life. To some extent, it was also a process of creation. After the brothers fished, under the guidance of their father, they started a bonfire in the wild and ate game. Under the light of the fire, the fish in the fresh-keeping bag were one by one, just like Ivan's inner suffering at this time. In the tent that stayed overnight, Ivan questioned his father's identity for the third time: "He may be a gangster who will tear our throats apart in the jungle", and his brother Andre laughed at his unfounded worries. The first "large-scale" conflict between Ivan and his father was the next morning. The father interrupted the brothers’ fishing activities and drove the brothers away. Ivan was very angry at his father's tyranny and kept complaining in the car. The father was fed up with his son's chattering, and dropped Ivan and his fishing gear into the cart, and drove Andre away by himself. Ivan stood there for a long time, and was soaked by the heavy rain, when his father drove back to pick him up. This kind of corporal punishment made Ivan cry and asked why his father came back and why he took the brothers to camp. In Ivan's view, his own value was not recognized by his father at all, and the ideal he constructed in his heart was ruthlessly torn apart by his father. Ivan complained that "My mother and grandma and I had a very good life without you", and complained that "You came back to taunt us?" These words show that he subconsciously agrees with matrilineal comfort and rejects patrilineal authority, that is, Oedipus A manifestation of the complex. The wheels driving in the rain got stuck in the mud. The father ordered the children to get out of the car and taught them how to get the wheels out with branches. In the process, Andre suffered a slap in the face and a nosebleed when he slapped his father. Then the camera focused on Ivan's face for a close-up, and the audience could clearly see Ivan's gloomy and angry face. Then the brothers were on the boat again, braved the heavy rain, and followed their father's slogan to their destination. At this time, the contradiction between Ivan and his father seems to be beyond reconciliation. Ivan treats his father like an enemy, and his father continues to use his power to suppress Ivan. Therefore, when the brothers lie down for the third time in the film, Ivan clearly expressed his tendency to kill his father: "If he touches me again, I will kill him." The lighthouse appears for the second time in the film, when Father and Andre are climbing up to it to get a bird's eye view of the island. Like the beginning of the movie, Ivan showed fear of the lighthouse. He stood under the tower and used "my leg hurt" to cover up his cowardice. The eldest son Andre enjoyed all this, and even took the initiative to tell his father a joke during the meal. This shows that Andre has a stronger sense of identity with his father, and his behavior is closer to his father. At this moment, Ivan felt extremely frustrated and lonely, because his ally Andre also seemed to have leaned toward his father. The cold war between Ivan and his father finally turned into a storm after the brothers’ delayed "homecoming". The brothers did not return according to the time set by their father because of their playfulness, which made the father annoyed and abused the two sons. Both Andrei and Ivan were knocked to the ground, and Ivan, who could not bear it, raised his knife against his father. He began to use the violence his father used to solve the problem, even though it was his father. Weeping Ivan threw down his knife and rushed towards the forest, with his father chasing him after him. In a hurry, Ivan climbed up to the lighthouse he had been afraid to face, and threatened to jump off. At this time, his father suddenly fell to his death by accident, leaving his two sons in shock. This is the third time the lighthouse has appeared in the film, and Ivan has shown great fear of it in the first two times. And this time, Ivan defeated himself and climbed to the lighthouse. The father fell to the tower at this time, and the death of the father was also the growth of the son. After setting the gods, his brother Andre played the role of "father". He commanded Ivan and dragged his father's body onto the boat together using the method he learned from his father. Andre's tone became the same as that of his father, tyrannical and indisputable, as if he had become another father. The boat carrying his father's body slowly sank to the bottom of the water. For the first time, Andre and Ivan shouted "Dad" from their hearts. They screamed and rushed toward the boat. At this moment, they suddenly felt the meaning of their father. The father who symbolized strength and courage disappeared, and a new "father" was born. The death of the father is more like a ritual, symbolizing the handover of fatherhood. The brothers who returned to the car were sad, but accidentally discovered that the father in the old photo had disappeared. This forms an intertextual relationship with the photos clipped in the "Bible" mentioned earlier, that is, the emergence and disappearance of patriarchy. In the series of black and white photos at the end of the film, there are only two brothers, and the father has disappeared, as if he had never existed. Here the director used surreal techniques to make the audience question his father's existence. In fact, it doesn't matter whether the father really exists or not, he is just a symbol that marks the growth of the two brothers. The cold war between Ivan and his father finally turned into a storm after the brothers’ delayed "homecoming". The brothers did not return according to the time set by their father because of their playfulness, which made the father annoyed and abused the two sons. Both Andrei and Ivan were knocked to the ground, and Ivan, who could not bear it, raised his knife against his father. He began to use the violence his father used to solve the problem, even though it was his father. Weeping Ivan threw down his knife and rushed towards the forest, with his father chasing him after him. In a hurry, Ivan climbed up to the lighthouse he had been afraid to face, and threatened to jump off. At this time, his father suddenly fell to his death by accident, leaving his two sons in shock. This is the third time the lighthouse has appeared in the film, and Ivan has shown great fear of it in the first two times. And this time, Ivan defeated himself and climbed to the lighthouse. The father fell to the tower at this time, and the death of the father was also the growth of the son. After setting the gods, his brother Andre played the role of "father". He commanded Ivan and dragged his father's body onto the boat together using the method he learned from his father. Andre's tone became the same as that of his father, tyrannical and indisputable, as if he had become another father. The boat carrying his father's body slowly sank to the bottom of the water. For the first time, Andre and Ivan shouted "Dad" from their hearts. They screamed and rushed toward the boat. At this moment, they suddenly felt the meaning of their father. The father who symbolized strength and courage disappeared, and a new "father" was born. The death of the father is more like a ritual, symbolizing the handover of fatherhood. The brothers who returned to the car were sad, but accidentally discovered that the father in the old photo had disappeared. This forms an intertextual relationship with the photos clipped in the "Bible" mentioned earlier, that is, the emergence and disappearance of patriarchy. In the series of black and white photos at the end of the film, there are only two brothers, and the father has disappeared, as if he had never existed. Here the director used surreal techniques to make the audience question his father's existence. In fact, it doesn't matter whether the father really exists or not, he is just a symbol that marks the growth of the two brothers.
2. Structure-Interlacing and juxtaposition of space and time From the Macedonian film "A Rainstorm Is Coming" in 1994, some good films such as "Pulp Fiction" and "The Sun Also Rises" have adopted the form of segmentation, disrupting the normal narrative structure, making the story space and time interlaced and juxtaposed. The structural model of "Return" also obviously has the characteristics of this trend. The structure of the film is "seven days mode", that is, the story of the seven days from Monday to Sunday. The date here becomes the dividing point of time and space. This structural pattern is clearly presented as a round-trip pattern in the sense of space and a linear pattern in time. The interleaving and juxtaposition of internal meanings caused by the concept of interlaced time and space makes the structural meaning of the film present a complex and diversified state (pattern) . (1) Use a fixed time as the unit to define the stages of plot development, that is, to allocate the events in the film to the same span of time. In the film, the change of date is explained through the subtitles in the middle of the story, and the length of what happens in each day is also very close. Develop the story according to the standard linear narrative, and use the "day" as the division unit to account for the progress of events. (2) The suspense driven by the plot, through the division of unit time, reflects a gradually deepening and progressive trend. The director set up a lot of suspense in the film, mainly focusing on his father. His father's occupation, identity, mysterious transactions and phone calls, and his father's digging of boxes on the island all promoted the deepening of the suspense. Of course, the director did not reveal the suspense in the end. However, in the development of the plot, the audience's expectation for the unfolding of the suspense is the basis for the gradual deepening of the plot. (3) Presenting the difficult journey of the son's growth, showing the profound meaning of narrative omission brought about by the time interval. The process of transforming a son into a "father" is always accompanied by pain, depression and loss. Using the contradiction between father and son constantly aroused, compressed the time course of son's growth. It metaphors the hardships of the actual journey, and corresponds to the history and reality outside of the movie. (4) With the potential branch in the structural model-the "round trip" model, creating a reversed "time tunnel" leading to the past, echoing the narrative style of mythology, and evoking the audience's memory and nostalgia. A large number of iconic nostalgic objects and events appear in the film footage, such as old factories, old cars, old photos and so on. And with the traditional way of life, such as taking local materials when living in the wild, and using vodka to drive away the cold, it evokes the audience's nostalgia for the past. Unlike ordinary movies that use flashback montage and cross-editing to represent time and space, this film combines things and events from different time and space into the same time and space, blurring the boundaries of time. The absence of a specific age enhances the symbolic and metaphorical nature of the film. This is also the characteristic of myth in the narrative style.
3. Theme-The creation of national allegory art in Russia and the Soviet Union is controlled by the environment and affects the environment. The Hungarian critic Hauser said: "Art affects society and is also affected by social changes. The relationship between art and society can be mutual Subject and object. In fact, the influence of society on art determines the nature of the relationship between the two. When society determines art (this situation is particularly prominent in primitive culture), it is rarely influenced by art. When history enters In a more advanced stage, art reflects the characteristics of society from the beginning, and society also left traces of artistic development from the beginning." Therefore, we must see the simultaneity and mutuality of the influence of society and art. If the "Return" is interpreted in a broader socio-historical text, you will find that it is closely related to the socio-political situation in Russia. Dai Jinhua said that the important idea of ideological criticism is to pay attention to the factors "not" told in the text --- to pay attention to those meaningful blanks, that is, "structural rifts and blanks." As for the identity of the father in "Return," there are too many such "structural rifts and gaps." These blanks are decoders that unlock the deep meaning of the film. In some domestic movies, such as Jiang Wen's "The Sun Also Rises" and "Let the Bullets Fly", there are a lot of gaps in plots and details of hints, which are left to the careful audience to gradually lift their veil. In terms of plot, the whole film has a lot of blank space. What did the father do during the twelve years away from home? Why did he come back? What is in the mysterious box on the island? All this seemed to be a dark thread in the film, but it was later cut off following the death of his father. This is not a mistake of the author, but a deliberate act. On the one hand, the film uses them to create the tense atmosphere of the film, on the other hand, it strengthens the mystery and illusion of the father. The purpose of blurring the image of the father is to tell the audience that this is an allegory of political thinking based on the theme of father and son. This film was shot in 2003, exactly twelve years after the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991, the same year as the father left home in the film. This is no coincidence. Father is a symbol of the transformation of Russian society. In the 12 years between 1991 and 2003, Russia changed from a socialist country to a constitutional country, from a planned economy to a market economy, and from a unified value to a diversified or collapsed value. The film abstracts an authoritative return, that is, Stalinism in the Soviet era. In Russia in a transitional society, the old ideology has not been completely dispelled, and the new one has not yet been maturely established. At this turning point, the Russian people are full of confusion and confusion. On the one hand, during the Soviet period, especially the Stalin period, the Soviet Union was filled with an atmosphere of terror. Stalin's repressive rule and personality cult made Soviet people breathless and lived in a repressive social environment. Mikhalkov's "Poisonous Sun" directly shows the horror atmosphere under Stalin's rule. But on the other hand, after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the two major camps in the world collapsed, and Russia was no longer able to fight against the United States. Although Russia is still a major military power, its political status, economic capabilities, and cultural development are all showing a trend of decline. The Russian people's great power complex has been frustrated, and they can't help but feel a little disappointed, so they miss the prosperity of the Soviet era. The father represents the strongman politics in the Soviet period, a radical development concept. It can even be said that "he" is the Stalin government. The young "Russia" (son) cannot do without the influence and restraint of his father before he truly matures. In the film, the father controls his son in his own way, which is the same as the repressive policy under Stalin's rule. His management method is authoritarian and rude. While emphasizing obedience, the democratic rights of the managed are gradually being marginalized. The life of father and son on the island has also returned to the original way. The father taught his son how to use tree branches to get the wheels stuck in the mud, make wooden bowls, and build tents. Father distributes food to everyone, and the three of them work together, which also coincides with the mode of communal economic production in the Soviet era. In the end, his father fell to his death from the tower, seemingly accidental, but in fact it was the inevitable failure of the rude and authoritarian rule. Because of the lack of real and effective communication between the father and the son, his rule cannot be heartily approved by the ruled. Father died, just like the disintegration of the former Soviet Union, a brutal and authoritarian regime collapsed. Without the asylum of his father, the brothers must rely on their own ability to go on, just like Russia is now. When the father sank into the sea with the boat, the brothers yelled "Dad". At this time, their respect and love for their father emerged. But now Russia has no cherishment and miss for the original "father" of the Soviet Union? Even if he has hurt himself. This kind of blood is thicker than water, and Russians who have experienced the changes of this era should all empathize. Interestingly, the national characteristics of Russia are deeply manifested in the father and son: authoritarianism, brutality, arrogance and rudeness. The father is like Ivan the Terrible, Peter the Great, and Stalin in Russian history. The son's apparent obedience and belief doubt also represent the usual characteristics of the Russians. They suppress their individuality under power, but they have a strong personal consciousness in their hearts. Individual consciousness and collectivism coexist, and the Russians are such a contradiction. As we all know, the civilization of the Russians from the Caucasus was much later than that of Western Europe. Russia only embarked on the road of civilization after Peter the Great reformed. Even so, the level of civilization in Russia is still criticized. In the eyes of Western Europeans, they still have a remnant of wildness, with the self-satisfaction of nouveau riche. As the movie "Russian Ark" said: "Russia embraces the whole of Europe, and even her mistakes are also borrowed." Post-Soviet Russia is staggering on the road of west wind. The advanced ideas and dross culture of Western society have flowed into Russia. Russia is standing at the turning point of history. It needs not only the tolerance of maternity, but also the determination and determination of men. Only a leader with both paternal and maternal temperament can lead Russia through a period of confusion and into a new era.
Concluding Remarks Purely historical films are trapped in the bottleneck of lack of creativity due to the rigidity of their film forms, and "Return" represents a new way of film creation. "They not only try to revisit history, but also emphasize the far-reaching influence of history on reality and the diversified response of reality to history. In a sense, they can even be regarded as a trial of history in the form of films." In life, an intertextual relationship between reality and history is formed. Not only does it leave more room for the audience to associate and interpret, but it also avoids serious preaching on historical subjects. The background environment is blurred, and the connotation of the author's thoughts is conveyed through carefully constructed character relationships and details. This new type of film language gets rid of the limitations of the background of the times, it has a point but is not clear, and its intention is more far-reaching.
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