When I read the original book a few years ago, I didn't have a dog, and I even had some fear and dislike of dogs. In addition, I never liked the Chinese translation of books. I read it once and left it behind. Now that I have been raising a dog for more than a year, I really understand the moving part after watching this movie.
There are many elements throughout the film, including racing cars, pets, and families. If you use the past "genre films" to speculate, racing movies will have the extravagant and exciting life of racers, luxury car beauties, choices or thinking at life and death, etc.; pet movies will inevitably have touching stories between pets and their owners; family Movies inevitably have conflicts and contradictions among members, and they choose to tolerate or break up after running in.
If you simply mix these elements and put them into a movie, you will most likely lose the focus and fall into the predicament of wanting everything but doing nothing well, and leaving the audience in a cloud of clouds.
This film not only accommodates these elements, but also unconventional, moving the audience in the seemingly plain plot.
The film uses Enzo’s perspective for narrative. It can be seen that the director is trying to avoid the “sensational” stage, and all the plots that “should” climax repeatedly are narrated plainly and plainly: For example, Eve was narrated from the process of illness. There is not much to directly show the pain of cancer and the hardships in the anti-cancer process. It is just to photograph the daily life of Denny, Zoe and Enzo. With Denny, he would not comb her daughter’s hair to prepare lunch at the beginning, but later he was able to braid and braid skillfully. Bringing food to show how long Eve has been in hospital, and the plot of Eve's death does not show the heart-piercing cry and affectionate life and death, but only to show Eve's peaceful face after his death, and to borrow Enzo's mouth. Said that her soul has been freed.
There are not so many thrills and drunken fans in the bridge section of the car. Denny is an excellent racing driver, but his career is not going smoothly. Racing is his ideal and his way of supporting his family. The focus of the racing clips shown in the whole film is actually not. In the racing car, in addition to showing Denny's excellent racing skills, Denny took a look at Eve, who has not known him for a long time, and Eve was also deeply attracted by him. Once Denny took the old Enzo to experience racing.
Other “deserved” contradictions did not appear at all. For example, Eve never accused Denny of not caring enough for her family. She has always supported Denny’s dreams wholeheartedly, even though Denny missed the birth of her child, and in the past 7 years, the racing career has not been too much. More progress. Denny's friends did not intrigue or fall into trouble. The team boss and lawyers also gave him support, and even the doctors at the pet hospital were very reasonable. Yes, there are not so many dog-blood plots in life. Although there is maliciousness, there is no need to deny kindness, right?
The most intense conflict in this film is probably the custody struggle for Zoe. Eve's mother finally chose to be honest, and Denny forgave Eve's parents.
The plot is already so plain, why is it touching?
Probably Enzo’s body seems to have a human soul living in it. Probably "People will tell the truth in front of dogs." Probably it was Enzo's desire to protect the family when he rushed to bite the contract. Or maybe it was. Enzo's white hair and urinary incontinence at the last appearance of Enzo's embarrassment and weakness, don't need to be sensational, just seeing these pictures, it is already a crit on the dog owner.
I want to cherish time and love my dog.
View more about The Art of Racing in the Rain reviews