I suddenly remembered watching this movie these days because of the worship of it many times in "Sleepless in Seattle". It seems that as long as it is a woman, no matter whether it is young or old, she will be sighed at this romantic and infatuated love.
Finally I had time to sit down and start to enjoy this piece. The director of the film is McCarey, and the starring roles are the famous Gary Grant and Deborah Cole. In the film, Deborah Cole plays the former nightclub singer, and Gary Grant plays the romantic single gentleman. The plot is very old-fashioned: the two people who have a marriage contract meet in a beautiful postal ship. The beautiful scenery of the good day naturally brings a romantic relationship. They plan to learn to live independently in the future, and meet in the Empire State Building in six months. Effective in flying. Unfortunately, it was a catastrophe. The woman was unable to reach the date of the two due to a car accident. As a result, misunderstandings and clutches were caused later. Of course, the ending is very happy and happy. The hero finally discovered the truth at the last moment and held the heroine in his arms. At this moment, it is estimated that many people will shed tears. ――However, I didn't.
I like this film. It has nothing to do with Fengyue and love. What I pay more attention to is the realism of the film and the use of simple details in the shooting. People say that Hollywood is a dream factory, and simple stories will make them as gorgeous as fireworks and touch people's hearts. This movie is the embodiment of this sentence. A very clichéd story has become a classic for a century.
Carefully tracing the foundation of the classics, it is not difficult to find that romanticism based on a realistic perspective has laid the foundation for the success of the film. Many people have criticized Qiong Yao or some other romantic novel writers. The main reason is that most of the characters in the books or movies are non-human fireworks. They don’t need to eat, and they don’t need to consider livelihood issues. They just need to talk about their love - no matter it is. Teacher-student love, year-end love, or love triangle--that's it. When people look at this beautiful love, they always have questions: What do they rely on for survival?
The screenwriter of this film cleverly incorporated people's basic requirements for reality into people's acceptable romance. Let many seemingly impossible things have a realistic basis that may happen. For example, Nick, the protagonist of the film, does not have a job. He is welcomed by women like a socialite, and he always walks among the flowers. At the beginning of the film, various news media rushed to report the gossip story of his empty glove white wolf-he is about to marry a beautiful and beautiful woman with a net worth of 600 million US dollars. Until now, this is the little white face who eats soft rice.
The director and screenwriter seem to like to pave the way for this seemingly clichéd plot to create a clear gap with the subsequent plot. Therefore, at the beginning of the film, a lot of shots and plots were used tirelessly--mostly the reactions of others to reflect Nick's image of bothered and young. Most of the viewers who see here will think that Nick seems to be incapable of moving true feelings, and will not be ruined with someone. However, wait a minute, as the plot deepens step by step, it is found that Nick's likability, especially for women, is not without reason. He is humorous, funny, considerate, knows how to advance and retreat, and is caring (filial piety to old grandmothers, loves children). More importantly, he is still a natural artist, but he is too perfectionist, which leads to his inability to tolerate the flaws in his art work, and he has since put down the brush in his hand. These plots are all paving the way for the following text. Let the audience understand that this little white face is not nothing but gold and jade. If he really doesn't eat soft food one day, he can still survive.
After laying the groundwork for the heroine, the heroine is about to play. The experience of the heroine is now in China, and she will definitely be despised as a "second wife" who is about to become a regular. She used to be a singer in a nightclub, so she should have the smell of smoke and dust, which is just vulgar powder. However, her appearance was varied, and she was very reserved. -----According to the old Chinese saying, it is simply out of the silt and not stained. Although I used to be in a dusty place, I insisted on my own views and had my own independent thoughts; although I was contracted by a rich businessman to get married, but they were together because of "love" and "gratefulness", not for money; although I know that Nick is The famous man whom everyone loves, but neither humble nor overbearing, dealt with Nick's "mouse" very decently... After years of painstaking practice, this woman has succeeded in having the appearance and posture of the upper class. In addition, she also has The characteristics of his own birth: simple, generous, peaceful and tolerant. And this kind of woman is undoubtedly a spring breeze for Nick. The two seem to be different, but they are very similar in their bones: they have a sense of justice, love, and common hobbies and language...
So, in a very confined environment, that is, on the luxurious cruise ship, a love Falling from the sky. This unpredictable and unforeseeable love is not like "Titanic", which can instantly evoke the thunder and fire of the hero and heroine.
The heroes and heroines are not like the dizzy young men and women who are in love at every turn, wishing to advertise their love to the world; even less like the heroes and heroines in the current Hollywood blockbuster, they usually go from strange to bed in less than 5 minutes. No matter how many moral principles are violated! On the ship, after a series of accidents, the two of them secretly fell in love, the corners of their eyes and eyebrows were full of love, but they had to take into account too many external laws, so they missed each other anxiously, but did not dare to be too swagger. After all, they are all people who have a marriage contract. Other people's hearts cannot be too hurt.
The two of them desperately contained their feelings, and their desperately contained longing exploded the night before they disembarked. ----Don't get me wrong, they just analyzed their own situation and the difficult life they might have to face in the future. Because after they leave each other's rich prospective spouses, they have to struggle again at the lowest level of society. The man said that he had six months to adapt to society and win the first pot of gold. After thinking about everything, the woman decided to wait for him for six months. As a result, during these six months, men started to work and women returned to singing in the nightclub. The two souls did not leave in the grind of society, but moved closer.
After analyzing the characters of the male and female protagonists, it can be found that Hollywood in the 1950s allowed men and women to fall in love, and they were also more concerned about personal relationships and spiritual communication. Mutual appreciation and mutual identification based on reality are the basis of the two people’s feelings; the confined space on the ship is the psychological space where the two people’s feelings are generated; the gossip, prying, and intentional hints of the many on-board visitors are the catalysts for the development of the two people’s feelings... In summary, due to various factors such as the time, location, and people, this quasi-marital relationship has to be discussed even if it is not.
In fact, the realism of the film is not limited to the foundation of the screenwriter's love for the hero and heroine. The storyline of the film with laughter in tears is based on the deep economic, social and cultural background of the Americans at that time. The film was shot in 1957. After the end of World War II, the United States entered a period of economic development. After entering the 1950s, especially after Eisenhower became president in 1952, the middle class gradually increased, the American economy began to stabilize, and the entire society was in a state of living and working in peace and contentment. This period of relative stability and prosperity is often regarded as the era of prosperity for Americans. In this era, rebellious art forms such as the "Beat Generation" and "Hippie" styles have not yet become the mainstream forms of art. Whether it is film, art or music, the mainstream is still praising tranquility and pure beauty. Hollywood has also achieved unprecedented development at this time. In addition to some fairly classic films, a large part of easy small production films also emerged in this era.
It is based on this background that the film simplifies the originally complicated story and deifies and simplifies the complicated human nature to cater to the taste of the public. If the love story of the hero and heroine is placed now, it would be earth-shattering and complicated. Mistresses, little white faces, money, rich women, extramarital affairs... these words will brighten people's eyes on any newspaper that is entertaining and gossip, and the paparazzi will definitely go out to chase the news. However, in the film, the screenwriter weakened these seemingly gossip things, and kept enhancing the love between the two with details. Even if there are good people criticizing or even peeking at their behavior, it is also shown as a comedy factor in the film. For example, in order to avoid suspicion, when the two went to a restaurant to dine, they happened to be back to back, but they didn't know each other. At this time, the spectators next to each other were whispering, thinking that the two of them deliberately made it for others to show. When the whispers turned into laughter from the crowd, the two poor people found the crux of the problem, and after being embarrassed and talking to each other a few words, they had to leave one after another. There is one stone and two birds in this bridge: on the one hand, it highlights the boredom of good deeds or gossips, and on the other hand, it tells the audience that there is indeed a "heart and soul" between the two.
The screenwriter deified and simplified the complex human nature, and also demonstrated the weakening or even deification of the roles of the two original prospective spouses. ――The heroine’s ex-boyfriend still persists after her car accident, takes care of her, and wants to tell Nick the real reason why the heroine can’t go to the appointment. Such men, whether in the past or in the present, are indeed rare. But this joyful storyline is a product of the social culture at that time. In that kind of peaceful atmosphere, the public likes to see this kind of stories with lots of people. Therefore, the screenwriter is happy to write the whole story positively, which not only earns the audience's tears in the film, but also makes the audience laugh with tears at the end.
In addition to the realism basis, some details of the film are also remarkable. On the one hand, these details are a reflection and harbinger of the plot before and after, and on the other hand, they are also a symbol of the implicit culture of the society at that time. Among them, there are two more impressive details. The first one is when the heroine returns to her ex-boyfriend's New York home, she stands at the window and looks at the sunset. The sunlight at this time just transmitted the Empire State Building in the distance onto the glass beside the heroine. The heroine's beautiful face and the Empire State Building in the glass windows reflect each other. This shot is very beautiful but also profound. On the one hand, it can show the heroine's expectation for the date in six months. For them, the Empire State Building is a symbol of love (for viewers who have watched this film and "Sleepless in Seattle", the Empire State Building has also become a symbol of love). The future six months from now is both real and illusory. The reality is as brilliant as the setting sun, and the illusion is as far away as the flower in the mirror; on the other hand, the Empire State Building reflected in the glass also hints to the audience that the future of the two will not be too far. smoothly. The struggle with fate will not be as smooth sailing as imagined. Although the things in the mirror are gorgeous, they are fragile. If you are not careful, you will have branches. ―Sure enough, on the way to the appointment six months later, the heroine was hit by a car just below the Empire State Building and was sent to the hospital immediately. Because of this, she missed the appointment.
The second detail is about the kiss of the two. In the whole film, although the two are earth-shaking in love, there is no intimate action. The most direct intimate action the director shows to the audience cannot be cuddling arms, waist, and pull hands. Similar to a reality blockbuster movie before you start a French kiss and then go to bed, this movie is too old-fashioned. Look at "Titanic", how open Jack and Lucy are. They dared to go straight to the subject when they were on the same boat; you see them in "The Smiths", they just met in South America, and they ran on the bed before they finished the dance... Familiar place, the time when the story of "Thai" took place is similar to the time of the original film. Generally speaking, people's conception of love and sex is similar. Why is the difference between the film and the film so big?
In the final analysis, the audience and the director are different, which leads to the different handling of details in the film. In this film, in addition to the emotional gestures such as holding hands that are directly seen, the audience can judge through a detail that the hero and the heroine finally kissed each other under the control of their emotions. Why is it judged? In one detail, the two held hands and walked down the stairs along the side of the ship. When you walked to the audience’s perspective, you could see the lower body of the two, and when the upper half of the two was covered by the upper boat, the two stopped moving, and then they started the classic action of kiss in the movie. The two fit together, female The protagonist stands on tiptoe... The legendary kiss finally happened! The processing of this shot or this detail also has the effect of one stone and two birds: one can be explained as two people can use this sneaky behavior to deal with the good things on the boat, because before the paparazzi took pictures of the two together for everyone It's entertaining; the second is to make this kiss more subtle and beautiful and interesting. From a personal point of view, I still appreciate this shooting technique.
"An affair to remember" ("Golden Jade League") is not a big production film, nor is it too classic in the world's film and television history, but it has moved a number of fans, which is also a unique Charm!
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