Update on March 5
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First of all, I am not very cold with the previous works of the top. It is not that it is bad, but it is a bit too weird for me. I like Water Shape Story.
The movie touches on current civil rights topics such as race, gender, and sexual orientation. It does not pursue political correctness too much, but uses excellent art design to present us a dreamlike love story. This is also part of the charm of the film. It does not make viewers think too much of the things around them, and can indulge in a floating, bubble-like, fairy-tale temperament.
Let me feel free to port one port below.
Several of the main characters in this film "just happen" are marginal people in a certain sense: Elisa is a female aphasia; coworker Zelda is a female of color; neighbor Giles is a gay and even bald; and the murloc is not even a human . As for the security chief and the doctor, they are already Bai Zhinan and science students respectively.
The most attractive movie is the love between Elisa and Murloc. As for why this is an inhuman love story, let us first examine the source and background of the story. We know that Toro is a fan of Cthulhu mythology. Although he claims to be inspired by the 1954 thriller movie "Black Lake Demon", after watching the entire movie, we still can't help but think of the famous Cthulhu myth. "The Shadow of Innsmouth."
The aquatic race that appears in "The Shadows of Innsmouth"-Deep One-has a half-man, half-fish and somewhat frog-like image: bulging eyes, white belly, scales on the back, slimy body There are gills on both cheeks, and the lifespan is extremely long, and it will not even die. It can be said to be very strong. More importantly, the deep diver has a black history of mixed blood with humans. Mixed races are almost the same as ordinary humans when they are young, and they will slowly transform into deep divers as adults, and finally return to the ocean, surrounded by miracles and glory, and live forever in the deep diver's city.
So we suddenly found the prototype for Elisa and Murloc in the movie: Murloc is a deep diver; and Elisa is a hybrid of deep diver and human. This can also perfectly explain the "scar" on Elisa's neck that is not clearly explained in the film-this is her unformed gill, which has been transformed after being awakened by the murloc in the water. And the love between Elisa and the murlocs has become more reasonable. These are two alien species who have strayed into human society. They are holding hands and heart-to-heart. They are so rich that they sprinkled a handful of dog food for us and turned back to the ocean. , By the way, killed the villains that represented human inferiority-arrogance, discrimination, violence, lack of sympathy and tolerance.
Of course, this is a more ingenious way of explanation, and it bypasses a gray area in the human subconscious—the ethical forbidden zone of love between humans and beasts. Then let us remove the interference of the above background information and recollect.
In the story, the two parties in love are both marginalized groups. Elisa is educated, but as a woman and aphasia, she is only engaged in cleaning work in the institute; the murloc has no name, it was transported from South America here, although it is considered to be the most important asset in the institute, dominating the institute The general was able to dispose of his life at will. Until they met. At first, perhaps because the murloc was in a more unfree and marginal position, Elisa felt sympathy for it. Elisa, who has always been a listener in her life, began to actively try to communicate with the murloc and discovered that the murloc can recognize language and communicate with the murloc. Intelligent creatures that communicate with people. Murlocs don’t feel that Elisa lacks any element as a “human”. Elisa in its eyes is a more real and complete Elisa than others. She showed it her love of music and dance, and even showed it to it. Her desire. In the end, Elisa found that there was no gap between her and the murlocs, and only each other could truly understand each other in this world.
As a result, the scene where Elisa and the murloc embraced in the water produced a more fascinating and wonderful atmosphere. We ignored their identities as individuals and looked at these two creatures in the beautiful river of love across the screen.
The only person in the film who clearly appears as a villain is the security captain Strickland. We know the following facts: He participated in the Battle of Busan in 1950, and met the current general during the war; he himself escorted the murloc from South America to the confidential research institute in Baltimore; his family has a wife and children; He likes to read "Positive Energy", fills his chest with confidence, and has a powerful world view. It gives people the impression that he is a good middle-aged person in the system, capable and thoughtful, but because of his own personality, his thoughts are easily deviated. He always wants to be an abuser and likes to treat everything with violence. He does not understand, does not understand his people or things. Therefore, he was confident in his life for several decades, until he met the hero in his life, and sighed that "the true god also died."
So, don't look down on fish and frogs. Once they stand up, they are very tall.
By the way, take a look at Strickland from Cthulhu's perspective. Strickland encountered something mysterious and unknowable. As his understanding deepened, his mental and physical condition deteriorated step by step, and finally he collapsed. Can be regarded as a more typical "investigator" type of tragic figure.
Let’s talk about Elisa’s neighbor Giles. Comrade Giles’s emotional life was in a mess, perhaps because the social atmosphere at the time was relatively conservative. He dared to love but didn’t dare to speak like a young virgin. He silently went to the unrequited little white-faced shop to buy disgusting jelly pie, and he paid for it. Filled the refrigerator, and finally found that the opponent was a racially discriminatory little bastard, and he was despised and rejected.
At first, Giles basically only wanted years of peace in his life, unlike Elisa, who had a restless and fighting heart under his soft appearance. In a scene where the two of them were in the same room, Giles even heard the sound of the TV and asked to change the channel, and the famous picture of the Birmingham Movement in 1963 was being shown on the TV-the Public Safety Commission used wolf dogs and fire hoses to disperse black people Demonstrator. Maybe Giles is just disheartened and doesn't want to be disturbed by the noise made by opponents who are also in a weak position with him. He has expressed his attitude, thinking that individuals are powerless in the face of the cold reality, and he also said dejectedly. Maybe it's because I was born at an untimely time. This may be the common reflection of most people in the face of unfair situations. After the beautiful fantasy was broken, Giles stepped forward to help Elisa welcome the murloc. This may be Giles's first act of resistance. This move changed the character and he became the narrator of the entire story.
There is also the doctor and spy Hoffstetler. Unlike other characters out of sensibility or empathy, Hoffstetler decided to protect the murloc from a rational point of view. He knows the value of protecting a creature to mankind. This is not only to give mankind some good feelings, or to reflect his own civilization level, but also to find a way forward for technological development, and even to improve himself. Cognition finds a reference.
Unfortunately, not everyone values this value. In the context of ideological confrontation, all Hoffstetler's requests were rejected by the sentence "We don't need to learn, we just need to let them have no chance to learn".
The movie restores the 1960s. The material is extremely rich, people drive Cadillacs, and the broadcast media try to exaggerate the national consciousness and the fanatical pursuit of the future. This is a fairy-tale era; but at the same time, the cold war cloud covers the sky, accompanied by the space race. Because of irrational factors, the civil rights movement is in full swing. So life is full of antagonisms and contradictions. The director made a love movie under this background, focusing on the views and practices of specific individuals when facing problems. It can be said to be very warm and touching.
Update on March 5:
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