If you want to be different, what should you do and what should not be done?
In recent years, mock criticisms that begin with the words "how and how are contemporary college students" have become quite common on the Chinese Internet.
Every time I look down on the topic, most of them are in a posture of a stick.
What are contemporary college students like?
Really stay up late to skip class and bring a cheat sheet. Is this kind of life state?
This [American Animals] has already met with mainland audiences at this year's Shanghai Film Festival .
The film shows us the living conditions of four ordinary American college students and the crisis they caused——
Why are we born ? How to prove our uniqueness ?
The small print at the bottom of the poster is also broken: No one wants to be ordinary .
The male protagonists under the camera seem to be no different from other students-but they have long lost their way in the contradictions of life .
In the daily social situations of study and life, it seems to be out of touch with the surrounding people.
The color of the whole film is gloomy, the soundtrack is gloomy, and the protagonists' speech and behavior are also lazy ;
Under the restrained atmosphere, the crazy expressive power of fast editing and scene switching, the intersection of fantasy and reality, and the deviation and overlap of past and present memories are the main melody .
Under the appearance of ease, the restless hearts of the protagonists are waiting for the opportunity to erupt.
"You always want to do something to make yourself special , even if you don't know what to do."
What are the motives of the degenerate teenagers?
This film is adapted from one of the most daring art thefts in American history . Four college students plan to steal the first edition of Audubon’s "American Birds" collection worth tens of millions in the school library .
They were already empty and confused , but after they got involved in the chaotic plan, where would they go?
It’s hard to say that the protagonist’s behavior has any guiding significance;
But their original intentions, consequences and influences, along with the eternal changes of them and those around them, can wake us up like a heavy blow:
If you want to be different , what should you do and what should not be done?
①
The wrong way, the subversion of the American dream
"It will be dangerous, but very exciting."
Planning strange and weird illegal activities, the protagonist confuses life with the plot of the movie, and draws inspiration from the movie.
With a few simple symbols , the life nature of the protagonists and most American youths has been exposed:
The carnival's appearance is wrapped in a bottomless void .
Throughout their lives, from the entire country to their parents, they have all assured them that you are unique .
Yes, we are all, that's right-but the four protagonists' understanding of this concept and the actions they implemented have deviated.
The four protagonists in [American Animals] no longer need to indulge in lewdness and do all evil like in [A Clockwork Orange] ;
But whether it is an over-repression or over-indulgence life, if it is not properly adjusted, such as the choices made by the characters in the film, it will lead to the abyss of regret .
Crimes in life will be punished , and there will not necessarily be an unexpected turn in some movies.
When the belief in taking the wrong path to rebel, has since begun to collapse, only the evil-hearted people will finally begin to think about the price to pay.
Similar motifs also appear in the [ Guessing the Train] series directed by Danny Boyle .
My own value is not filled in the true sense, but I choose to evaporate my excess energy in an extraordinary move——
Just like Langton running away with big money in [Guess the Train] , accidental dead babies and dead friends.
If the hormones are burned in the wrong place, they are sacrifices themselves .
While paying tribute to Quentin Tarantino’s masterpiece, it probably also implies that although the bloodless case is still full of chaos and unbearable drama, it will soon lead to an unmanageable ending .
[American Animals] is one of the biggest highlights of the film by using documentary films and feature films to interlace.
The prototype characters who have been released from prison played a very rare direct role in the way that they participated in the shooting to the greatest extent but did not affect the effect of the film itself.
Looking at these clips, it is clear that Warren is really a pleasing bastard —a real, pleasing bastard.
Evan Peters , who plays him , is actually very good at portraying such roles;
But Warren himself is definitely such a real "pleasing bastard" that you will never see in a movie .
It can be seen from their words that apart from regret , the four of them are still typical college students;
These years of prison life has made it impossible for the outside perspective to change them. All their growth depends on the transformation of their hearts .
It is amazing and very naturally, the audience will love and compassion not only the role, but they themselves up -
This is the coolest part of this film.
②
The filling of soul, the price after distortion
In the 2004 theft case of Transylvania University Library, four Lexington students aged 19-20 stole rare books and artworks and tried to sell them at Christie's auction house.
The police started investigating from the auction house’s collection information and traced back to them via email. All four people served seven and a half years in federal prison .
The book they were about to steal, the first edition of "The Birds of America" drawn by John James Audubon , was sold at a high price of £5.7 million in 2003 .
In 2013, there were only 119 known copies of this book in the world , 108 of which were collected by museums, libraries and universities .
Before writing the script, director Bart Layton wrote to the protagonists in prison to invite cooperation-their reply became the basis of the script.
The director was surprised by the candor of the letter and the motivation described by the protagonists to start the plan—not about money, and everyone has a special reason.
It can be seen from the letter that none of the four of them intended to go so far; as a result, the plan was not as good as the change , and things started to go wrong.
This is also a very interesting starting point in plot creation-because these criminals are very unique .
The director, and childhood is revealed as important as the quality, as well as lifestyle and environment for the growth -
This lost generation is constantly looking for ways to become special and interesting . This is the original intention of his creation.
This generation of young people has excellent living conditions and is well educated, and has been placed high hopes since childhood;
The uniqueness of life is their right. They were promised to grow into successful people, but the result was not as expected.
[US animal] is a film about unrest, lost , self- awareness doubt, self- expression difficulties, the future loss of warning record .
It is these that make these young people embark on a path of no return.
Coincidentally , [Death of the Holy Deer] and [American Animals] , which also involve the subject of juvenile delinquency , have obviously worked hard on the metaphor of the title .
As soon as the film came up, there was a hint like the beginning of [2001: A Space Odyssey] .
Modern people not only want physical satisfaction , but also need spiritual enrichment ;
And animalized primitive impulses and instinctive desires cast the horns of evil in these four young people.
More than ten years have passed since the incident, most of the time the protagonists spent in prison, they had grown into completely different people when interacting with the protagonists ;
The actors do not need to feel obligated to the prototype characters, but focus on finding a way to interpret the mental state in the film——
This is achieved through the interlaced performance of feature films and documentaries in the film, achieving an extremely wonderful collision effect.
A wrong choice affected everyone involved in the case.
(The retired police officer said that the case was actually solved within 45 minutes, but it took longer to check the information.)
This case is one of the most memorable cases in his 34 and a half years of professional life. The police officers hope that the seven and a half years in prison will give them real reflection and education .
She finally forgave them after watching the film —in her eyes, the four children were no longer criminals, but just did stupid things .
Chas said that he is not proud of his actions portrayed in the movie, but his decision to go astray when he was young is what made him grow up to be the person he is today .
If you set fire to your body, you can't escape.
The end of the film is covered with regrets , which makes people sigh and sigh;
But the rebirth of the protagonists can also see the light behind the dark clouds.
What I want to say is probably: Do not make a big death, trouble you all to realize the value of life through legal means . thank you all.
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Text: Yorkshire Viking
The article comes from WeChat public account: movie detoxification
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