First of all, the most distinctive and successful aspect of this film is the way in which its various lenses are connected. He has almost completely abandoned ordinary editing techniques, or, in other words, simply ignored the principle of montage. Jia Muxu just added a black screen for a few seconds between every two shots to connect the scene before and after. In this way, the meaning, association, metaphor and so on between the shots that the original montage focused on are almost completely disintegrated, and a black screen (or blank space) for a few seconds cuts off the continuity of the scenes before and after.
However, this seems to be very clumsy. There is no skillful connection at all, but it produces an unexpected and wonderful effect. Although this caused a brief break in time and space on the screen, it also created what Brecht called the "separation effect". Of course, the alienation effect here is different from Brecht's original intention. . Jia Muxu is not trying to distance the audience from the screen in order to achieve the objective of thinking objectively. His alienation, the break of time and space, and the scene before and after, coincides with the eternal theme in the movie: loneliness, distance, and reached a certain level. Kind of perfect resonance. The compulsory separation of the two scenes before and after, this distance, which is short but never connected, seems to be a metaphor for the subtle relationship between people, and it also symbolizes the attempt between the three protagonists in the film. The embarrassing situation of being close, but never reaching, heralded the sad ending at the end from the beginning.
Of course, it is precisely because of this special lens connection that objectively limits the number of lenses in this film. It is also the limitation of the number of shots that makes the directors mostly use long shots, and most of the time, the camera is still there to shoot, as if it is an eye watching quietly. Even if there is a moving camera occasionally, it is placed in the car, shooting people in the car, strictly speaking, it is also a fixed lens. And the biggest feature of this shooting method is that it gives people a sense of silence, which is even a bit suffocating. In addition to the unique touch of Jamusch’s style, it seems very casual, but does not have allegorical lines, which makes The feeling of loneliness and dazedness flooded the screen. The camera is like a slightly sad eye, staring blankly at the three protagonists, and we feel this emotion through it. Of course, because the film is black and white, in this era of color film, it can bring a nostalgic and sentimental overall atmosphere to people, and it fits perfectly with the theme. It is no wonder that Jia Muxu prefers black and white films so much.
The second aspect is the handling of characters. We can see that the characters in the whole film are processed by the edge, not to mention the fact that it is almost always the case when it is in the long-distance scene, even when it is in the mid-range close-up scene. Especially the two male protagonist Willie and his cousin Eva, I think it should be the director can handle, as long as the two people appear on the screen at the same time, they are always separated on both sides of the screen, and there is always one thing between them. Separate them, either a table, a cabinet, or a chair. It goes without saying that this kind of treatment is to highlight this estrangement and distance, to achieve his confusion, loneliness, obstacles to communication between people, and the rendering of incomprehension. It seems that Jia Muxu has become obsessed with this kind of sentimental loneliness, so he is so extreme in the influence and handling of the characters. This kind of complex can be seen in many of his films. I remember that his recent film "Broken Flower" seems to be very mainstream, but it still has not been able to completely get rid of this feeling. Of course, we like him precisely because of this, so we seem to be lucky.
Of course, although the tone of the film is sentimental, it still can't conceal the little sense of humor of Jamusch, just like a small snack in a big meal, giving people the feeling that is bright. The scene I was most impressed by was watching a movie in a movie theater. A man named Billy asked Eva to go to the movie, but Willie and his friend Eddie also wanted to join, so we saw one in the movie theater. Very embarrassing scene that can't help but laugh. Eva was sitting between Willie and Eddie, but Billy was squeezed by the side. The three of them were watching the movie enthusiastically, but Billy was extremely impatient. Of course, we knew that his intention was not for the movie (of course to get close to Eva), so he wanted to get close to Eva, but was blocked by Eddie. Then, he handed the popcorn to Eva, but when he took it back, Eddie took the sheep hand in hand. Seeing his anxious but helpless look, I couldn't help but laugh. In fact, this whole shot is very long, most of the time it just shows four people staying still, watching the movie, the rhythm is also very slow, but it seems to be magical and can attract you. Among them, the acting skills of the four actors who are not showing their sensuality but are able to send and receive freely play a very important role.
The ending of the film is also very ironic. In order to recover Eva, Willie boarded the plane to Budapest, but did not expect that Eva did not get on the plane at all. Eddie thought that they had both gone to Budapest and drove back helplessly. , And Eva finally returned to the motel where the three people lived at the beginning, but the room was empty. In the end, the three of them were still unable to connect together, and all efforts were at a loss. Only one person was left alone and human beings are lonely. This is also the theme that Jia Muxu always firmly believes and always expresses.
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