There is an old Chinese saying that hooligans are not terrible, but they are afraid that they are educated. What Nightcrawler tells is the history of a self-improving and studious street thief who entered the press through the sale of exclusive live videos.
Louis Bloom, who made a living from the theft and reselling of metal raw materials, tried to find a long-term job but was repeatedly rejected because of his identity. He inadvertently discovered that the first-hand video materials of various accident and homicide scenes could be sold to TV stations and received high returns, so he exchanged the stolen bicycle for a handheld DV and a police walkie-talkie, which has since been used as the first-hand video. The data provider has embarked on the path of news media.
From shooting news to making news, from fighting competitors to cleaning up his own portals, from building personal relationships with key people in the TV station to establishing and promoting his own company, Lou's road to success is not only due to his hard work and hard work. His work is rooted in the despicable behavior of breaking through the moral bottom line time and time again. Of course, like all black satirical stories, the film was founded in Lou's company, and stopped in due course as the team grew, leaving only a cold full moon shining on the city's night sky.
Rather than being a feature film, Nightcrawler is more like a biographical film of virtual characters. The movie gives a textbook-like story, and the sections and settings are quite satisfactory. The quality of the film is worth 4 stars, but Jake Gyllenhal's portrayal of the protagonist Lou Bloom once again dedicated a 5-star actor-level performance. It is said that in order to successfully build the image of Lou Bloom, Jake successfully lost 30 pounds through the diet method of running 15 miles a day and chewing gum (the weight loss skills get= = ps Xiao Lizi may owe one weight loss to the actor). When this thin, torch-eyed man appeared on the screen with a smile on his face, we could even feel the dark birds and bursts of chill hidden in it through the strange distortion of the corners of his mouth and the abyss-like eyes. This face almost makes people forget the warm cowboy in Brokeback Mountain and the bewildered agent in the source code.
Although Lou is the absolute protagonist, the film does not seem to try to dig into the characters' hearts or portray a complex, three-dimensional, and tangled portrait of a character. On the contrary, our angle of view is almost the same as that of Lou's camera. It is cold and has a sense of distance, and we cannot see through the inside of the character. The characteristics of this character are shown step by step by the plot, which is usually the way of narrating the villain in general commercial films, but the villain in this film is the protagonist.
There is almost no suspenseful gimmick in the character development of the film-starting from the opening of the film Lou attacking the guard to snatch the watch, his personality has basically been defined. Such a drama character is actually very typical: smart (more accurately, street smart), sleek, cruel, ambitious, and extremely versatile. Since then, its behavior and plot trend is almost constantly verifying this. Therefore, his speculation, camouflage, gaining favor, using relationships, and selling teammates are actually inevitable and logically limited by the characters themselves.
And all the unexpected surprises that make the plot fascinating are basically due to the conflicts between the protagonist and other characters, and the handling of external events. The latter is of course all kinds of news materials. Except for the scenes of several accidents and homicides, the focus of the narrative is on the multi-person homicide case in a luxury mansion that is a turning point in Lou's professional life. The use of thrilling and suspenseful elements is just right, and even a wonderful drag racing scene is added.
In contrast, the relationship between characters is actually the highlight. I have to admire the excellent performance of the supporting roles in this film, especially the standard market temperament workers Rick starred by Rene Russo, the news director of the milfs Nina and Riz Ahmed, these two are most closely related to the protagonist. A business partner. The interpretations of the two are true and clear, and are closer to normal people than the protagonist. Nina's vanity and compromise, Rick's diligence and selfishness, make the entire humanity level fuller, and the protagonist's personality is even more obvious.
Whether it is the exploited of these peers, or the stumbling block on Lou's road, such as industry competitor Joe and the suspicious detective Frontieri of the protagonist, these people are all being manipulated by Lou. Lou's success as a news clue collector is certainly inseparable from his diligent learning of cultural knowledge and professional skills, but the film is obviously more focused on his untrained career world.
Let our seniors teach us that where there are people, there are rivers and lakes, so if you want to make waves in the sinister waves of the rivers and lakes, you must grasp the hearts of the people. Lou clearly understands this. For the high-ranking director Nina, the aesthetic praise from a man's point of view, the respect for obedience to authority from the subordinate point of view, and the sharpness to its core interests when the relationship is shaken, these tricks of both soft and hard have put the old river in prison. Take control. Lou's strategy for success lies in that he clearly knows what the other party wants, he only needs to bind the common interests of the two to her, and that's it.
In contrast, Lou's control of Rick did not go so smoothly. Lou made the same mistake as many leaders: imagining his subordinates too simple. While cruelly exploiting Rick's low-wage labor force, Lou tried to stabilize his military spirit through Xu Qiyi's high position as the company's vice president-work hard with me. Will we be afraid of lack of money in the future when we are on the market? This is what almost all entrepreneurial bosses have said to employees seeking salary increases. It's a pity that 90% of startups will kneel down, and there are very few who can become famous, so employees are not fools-no, they will pay dividends now! Rick missed his decision because he had never really seen his boss. Not only did he ask for money, he even dared to blackmail Lou. So, when Lou found out that his fateful little brother had become a time bomb, he wisely made concessions and got rid of him by others' hands.
As for Joe, who is a competitor, he can also be regarded as an initiator for Lou. Joe was robbed of business by a fledgling dark horse, so he could use the savings he saved up early to upgrade his manpower and equipment. Since he couldn't win over Lou, he used his strength to suppress Lou. Lou is soberly aware that the negotiation is invalid in this situation, so he cleanly casts a black hand on the other party. As for the detectives, suffering from neither evidence nor Sherlock Holmes nor the protagonist, so they had to watch Lou put on a cooperative attitude but ran the train with the truth, and finally left calmly. No way, it is estimated that Lou, an incredible virtue, also learned the law online by himself.
The end of the film is ambiguous, and Lou, who is guilty of crimes, is at ease with impunity and strengthens his team. Whether it is helplessness or indignation, this ending is actually full of naked reality. Similar movies with traditional concept villains as winners are actually not rare. Except for the deliberately set reversal, the once controversial "Born Murderer" and the recent Gone Girl are similar.
This will certainly bring a moral impact and a sense of violation to the viewers, but in fact the film itself chooses an objective and neutral narrative very carefully, without any moral criticism, but leaves the thinking to the reader. Lou, the protagonist of the film, is an extreme typical, he is also hiding in a dark room and watering the green plants in front of the window, but he is not like the killer Leon who hides his warm side under the coldness. He is almost a total villain in terms of morality and humanity. Being motivated and eager to learn is only a ladder of utilitarianism for him.
For such a character without much discussion in morals, the film certainly does not intend to use it as a model to induce ignorant teenagers to follow suit. Even if there are many people who are sophisticated, play scheming and even have entrepreneurial experience, they are more of a black bridge of reality. Students who are interested in working hard in the workplace can laugh it off. For relevant experience, please go to any success learning book, which is written more clearly and does not violate the law.
This person is bad, then what? If the film tries to say something extra, it should be for everyone to think about the reason for the success of this "bad guy". In the ecosystem of news media, news is like energy that progresses layer by layer along the food chain, from reporters to TV stations, and the TV stations produce news programs to broadcast to the audience; but the flow of the money food chain is the opposite. The TV station’s ratings determine The number of viewers, the higher the ratings, the more profit the TV station will profit from the advertising company. Obviously, in contrast, the direction of money is the "right" direction, so the TV station racked their brains to raise the ratings, and thus decided the direction of the news reporter's report. This also provides an ecological niche for the existence of people like Lou.
Regarding what the masses like to hear, it seems that Meidi TV and CCTV disagree. The film once again caught the taste of the news media and the audience and slapped the face. The director Nina told Lou that everyone should watch the bloody and exciting. Anyway, they are also on night gear. Nina also made a bunch of vulgar titles "Horror House", "Horror Night"...stupid, low-level but very eye-catching, and the goal was achieved. Compared with the thankless path chosen by the idealistic media elites in the American TV news editorial room to enlighten the masses, it is much easier to cater to the masses directly, not to mention the transfer of benefits as chicken blood. In Party A and Party B, "As long as it is needed by the masses, we are willing to contribute" in this film is literally translated as "As long as the ratings can be increased, we will show you anything that violates the law."
As a representative of the American melting pot, Los Angeles in the background of the story certainly did not forget to be pulled out to lie down. Even if the film does not put the problem on the table as clearly as in "Crash," it is undeniable that the issue of race and the gap between rich and poor is surging in Los Angeles, like a dark corner with no lights under the night. News keywords such as whites and rich areas mean greater influence, while minorities are basically related to the bottom and poverty. Therefore, the news value of white people being shot in the wealthy area is far greater than the deaths and injuries of the Latino migrant workers in a car accident in every element. Rick’s casting role, Riz Ahmed, is of British-Pakistani origin, and the racial setting given to Rick seems to have another meaning-low salary, hard work, and illegal labor. In such a metropolis with frequent crimes, the misfortunes of low-level people such as Rick and Joe will naturally not cause too much attention from the police, and Lou has been able to escape sanctions with unskilled means.
The protagonist Lou's road of struggle is precisely along this ugly rift in society. He understands the rules and uses the rules, and uses those who are also comfortable with the rules. Without the fascination of capital, and without media professionals like Nina who dared to flout the rules, there would be no room for Lou to survive. Unfortunately, these all exist.
The irony is that no matter how dirty the first pot of gold is, the victor standing on it can always wash away the filth and blood easily, and appear in the spotlight with a bright smile. They will talk and laugh confidently in suits and shoes, recalling the difficulties of starting a business, and maybe occasionally express their regrets for the teammates who have already been kicked out of the game, but those blood-stained watches can only be placed in the most secret. Corner or bottom of the trash can. Just as the heinous crimes of American colonists were concealed by the magnificence of European palaces, Columbus, who was heavily indebted, is still regarded as a hero and admired by others. Human civilization has been distorted by interests on a large or small scale. What the movie can do is only one part of revealing the truth, and what is cruel and helpless is that we are equally powerless to this reality rooted in human civilization. Money is not the original sin, but human nature is.
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