When I watched this film for the first time, I just scrawled the original and didn’t know much about the film. At the same time, like many people who have never watched this film, I mistakenly thought it was a film about homosexuality. Of course I don’t understand the first time I saw it. I just remember the monotonous picture, the long and boring slow-motion description, the beautiful melody and the rough background music, the single-faced and absurd protagonist Ashenbach, the other protagonist with a handsome face and noble temperament. Chio. Because I couldn't understand the classics, I re-read the original work, and then carefully tasted the film again. I was finally moved by the story he described and the pain, mania, and thought. The first theme of the film is beauty. The composer Gustav (originally a writer) went to Venice for a vacation to relieve the pressure. At the hotel where he stayed, he met Tacio, a Polish teenager who looked like a "sculpture of the heyday of Greek art." His beauty is deeply attracted. He began to pursue him-in his heart. His eyes never left his perfect body, he felt his "abnormal", so he was worried and afraid that he wanted to escape but couldn't stop it. Finally, he persuaded himself to stay in Venice with a sloppy excuse. He learned that the plague was already in the water city. Sprawl, but he didn’t want to leave because he was nostalgic for his youth. He got a haircut and heavy makeup because he was deeply disturbed by his old attitude. He stretched out his hand several times to grasp the beauty he loves, but he finally gave up his efforts due to timidity and hesitation. . At the end of the film, the young man walked arrogantly and stubbornly to the sea. In the sunset and sea breeze, he stretched out his arms to pose a naughty and beautiful look. The composer who had been sitting on the beach watching him was also struggling to stretch out his arms until this point. The last effort cost him his life. From beginning to end, the composer and the young man had no conversation. All they have in common is the admiration and admiration of the composer's eyes, a murmured farewell, and a sentence "You must never smile like that ,you must never smile like that to anyone, I love you.
Watching this movie over and over again, I feel more and more about it. Gradually I feel that this is not a quiet literary film, it is too manic, too undercurrent, and all the doubts when I first watched this film have gradually been answered. First of all, I no longer think that this is a film about homosexuality. It can be seen from the film that Gustav has his own heterosexual person (has broken up), and his admiration for Tacchio of the same sex is not so much due to sexual orientation, as it is due to his spare love and demand for beauty, and gender. Irrelevant. Maybe you can think of him as bisexual, but for this film I think it's better not to be too entangled in sexual orientation. The love of beauty has transcended gender to become an instinctive impulse. It can be said that beauty is gender-neutral. The second is about the image of "friends" that appeared many times in the film. This seemingly friend and musician, who appeared in Gustav’s memories many times, has been arguing with him about the topic of beauty and art. He believes that beauty is sensory, belongs only to the senses, is natural and eternal, while Gustav insists that beauty is spiritual, the product of labor and thinking, has an end, and is controlled by life and reality. Gustav believes that an artist is a person aiming in the dark. He does not know what the goal is or whether it can be shot accurately. He believes that wisdom, truth, and human dignity can only be obtained by completely controlling and surpassing the senses. He believes that art is education. The highest source of art must be an example for education and become a model of harmony and strength. Art must not be ambiguous. But friends think that art does not have to be perfect, and even think that art can be pathological and evil. He said that genius is a kind of sacred talent, a kind of sacred torture, a kind of evil and sick fire of talent, evil is necessary, and it is the spiritual food of genius. Art is ambiguous, and music is the most ambiguous of all art. It can be seen that "friend" and Gustav are two extremes that are completely opposite. Gustav is an extremely superstitious person who believes in rationality. As an artist, he seems to lack the impulse and enthusiasm of the artist. His thinking is too orthodox. He hopes that his art will serve as a model for "education." Truth, human dignity. He believes that the filthy real world will destroy beauty and art, and beauty is not omnipotent and eternal. It can be said that he is a "thinking person", and his rationality leads him to lack a kind of authenticity. His rigorous and down-to-earth attitude is suitable for academic research but not very suitable for artistic creation, let alone the pursuit of beauty. His identity is a person who discovers beauty and pursues beauty, and his incompatible reason and thinking are one of the important reasons for the total collapse of his value system. Contrary to him, "friend" is a perceptual, impulsive and blind artist image. Can't say he's not here Thinking, it can only be said that he pays more attention to beauty and art itself rather than all kinds of things about it. It can be seen that beauty is his belief and pursuit. He is simple and persistent, believes in beauty and believes in eternity. His focus is not on what art (beauty) can bring us or how we should pursue it. He focuses on sensory enjoyment, the most natural enjoyment, which Gustav deliberately avoided. They have been arguing, arguing endlessly. Suddenly, there was an idea that this "friend" did not really exist, he was just a figure made up by Gustav, that is to say, it was himself, another himself. In the movie "The Brave Man", the heroine feels more and more that there is a stranger in her body. Perhaps, the "friend" in "Soul Broken Venice" is the stranger in Gustav's body. This is his second self, a divided self. The two selves kept quarreling, one ebb and flow, which made Gustav's image quite contradictory and complicated. I believe that Gustav is emotionally biased towards his "friends", but he could not make concessions rationally and had to collapse. The film uses this split personality to express the insignificance and beauty of "people". As the plot progressed, the two had another argument. "Friends" accused Gustav of pursuing perfection in art and refusing to be hurt. He believes that Gustav is actually in debt from the senses, both dishonest and hopelessly pathological-and this is the joy of the artist. Thinking about it carefully, this is exactly Gustav's worries and fears about his current situation, as well as his self-comfort under the temptation of "beauty." Gustav insisted on finding his own balance, but "friends" said that art ignores people's moral standards. This is another voice in the depths of Gustav's soul trying to persuade him. "Do you know what is at the bottom of the mainstream?-mediocrity!" This sentence is exactly what an artist who is unwilling to mediocrity shouts to a mediocre person, it is Gustav's shout to himself. The film progressed to this place, his spiritual realm has been extremely chaotic, he began to lose his sense of direction, began to doubt everything, so he chose to escape, escape Tazio, escape himself. In the end, he found an excuse to stay-at this time, his feelings have overcome reason, and he has fallen deeper and deeper. Gustav gradually moved closer to his "friends" in thought. He gradually recognized and calmly accepted that "Almost every artist has an inherent tendency to be willful and evil, that is, to recognize the injustice caused by "beauty" and Sympathize and worship this kind of aristocratic favoritism." Believe in eternity. His focus is not on what art (beauty) can bring us or how we should pursue it. He focuses on sensory enjoyment, the most natural enjoyment, which Gustav deliberately avoided. They have been arguing, arguing endlessly. Suddenly, there was an idea that this "friend" did not really exist, he was just a figure made up by Gustav, that is to say, it was himself, another himself. In the movie "The Brave Man", the heroine feels more and more that there is a stranger in her body. Perhaps, the "friend" in "Soul Broken Venice" is the stranger in Gustav's body. This is his second self, a divided self. The two selves kept quarreling, one ebb and flow, which made Gustav's image quite contradictory and complicated. I believe that Gustav is emotionally biased towards his "friends", but he could not make concessions rationally and had to collapse. The film uses this split personality to express the insignificance and beauty of "people". As the plot progressed, the two had another argument. "Friends" accused Gustav of pursuing perfection in art and refusing to be hurt. He believes that Gustav is actually in debt from the senses, both dishonest and hopelessly pathological-and this is the joy of the artist. Thinking about it carefully, this is exactly Gustav's worries and fears about his current situation, as well as his self-comfort under the temptation of "beauty." Gustav insisted on finding his own balance, but "friends" said that art ignores people's moral standards. This is another voice in the depths of Gustav's soul trying to persuade him. "Do you know what is at the bottom of the mainstream?-mediocrity!" This sentence is exactly what an artist who is unwilling to mediocrity shouts to a mediocre person, it is Gustav's shout to himself. The film progressed to this place, his spiritual realm has been extremely chaotic, he began to lose his sense of direction, began to doubt everything, so he chose to escape, escape Tazio, escape himself. In the end, he found an excuse to stay-at this time, his feelings have overcome reason, and he has fallen deeper and deeper. Gustav gradually moved closer to his "friends" in thought. He gradually recognized and calmly accepted that "Almost every artist has an inherent tendency to be willful and evil, that is, to recognize the injustice caused by "beauty" and Sympathize and worship this kind of aristocratic favoritism." Believe in eternity. His focus is not on what art (beauty) can bring us or how we should pursue it. He focuses on sensory enjoyment, the most natural enjoyment, which Gustav deliberately avoided. They have been arguing, arguing endlessly. Suddenly, there was an idea that this "friend" did not really exist, he was just a figure made up by Gustav, that is to say, it was himself, another himself. In the movie "The Brave Man", the heroine feels more and more that there is a stranger in her body. Perhaps, the "friend" in "Soul Broken Venice" is the stranger in Gustav's body. This is his second self, a divided self. The two selves kept quarreling, one ebb and flow, which made Gustav's image quite contradictory and complicated. I believe that Gustav is emotionally biased towards his "friends", but he could not make concessions rationally and had to collapse. The film uses this split personality to express the insignificance and beauty of "people". As the plot progressed, the two had another argument. "Friends" accused Gustav of pursuing perfection in art and refusing to be hurt. He believes that Gustav is actually in debt from the senses, both dishonest and hopelessly pathological-and this is the joy of the artist. Thinking about it carefully, this is exactly Gustav's worries and fears about his current situation, as well as his self-comfort under the temptation of "beauty." Gustav insisted on finding his own balance, but "friends" said that art ignores people's moral standards. This is another voice in the depths of Gustav's soul trying to persuade him. "Do you know what is at the bottom of the mainstream?-mediocrity!" This sentence is exactly what an artist who is unwilling to mediocrity shouts to a mediocre person, it is Gustav's shout to himself. The film progressed to this place, his spiritual realm has been extremely chaotic, he began to lose his sense of direction, began to doubt everything, so he chose to escape, escape Tazio, escape himself. In the end, he found an excuse to stay-at this time, his feelings have overcome reason, and he has fallen deeper and deeper. Gustav gradually moved closer to his "friends" in thought. He gradually recognized and calmly accepted that "Almost every artist has an inherent tendency to be willful and evil, that is, to recognize the injustice caused by "beauty" and Sympathize and worship this kind of aristocratic favoritism." , He is just a figure concocted by Gustav, that is to say, it is himself, another self. In the movie "The Brave Man", the heroine feels more and more that there is a stranger in her body. Perhaps, the "friend" in "Soul Broken Venice" is the stranger in Gustav's body. This is his second self, a divided self. The two selves kept quarreling, one ebb and flow, which made Gustav's image quite contradictory and complicated. I believe that Gustav is emotionally biased towards his "friends", but he could not make concessions rationally and had to collapse. The film uses this split personality to express the insignificance and beauty of "people". As the plot progressed, the two had another argument. "Friends" accused Gustav of pursuing perfection in art and refusing to be hurt. He believes that Gustav is actually in debt from the senses, both dishonest and hopelessly pathological-and this is the joy of the artist. Thinking about it carefully, this is exactly Gustav's worries and fears about his current situation, as well as his self-comfort under the temptation of "beauty." Gustav insisted on finding his own balance, but "friends" said that art ignores people's moral standards. This is another voice in the depths of Gustav's soul trying to persuade him. "Do you know what is at the bottom of the mainstream?-mediocrity!" This sentence is exactly what an artist who is unwilling to mediocrity shouts to a mediocre person, it is Gustav's shout to himself. The film progressed to this place, his spiritual realm has been extremely chaotic, he began to lose his sense of direction, began to doubt everything, so he chose to escape, escape Tazio, escape himself. In the end, he found an excuse to stay-at this time, his feelings have overcome reason, and he has fallen deeper and deeper. Gustav gradually moved closer to his "friends" in thought. He gradually recognized and calmly accepted that "Almost every artist has an inherent tendency to be willful and evil, that is, to recognize the injustice caused by "beauty" and Sympathize and worship this kind of aristocratic favoritism." , He is just a figure concocted by Gustav, that is to say, it is himself, another self. In the movie "The Brave Man", the heroine feels more and more that there is a stranger in her body. Perhaps, the "friend" in "Soul Broken Venice" is the stranger in Gustav's body. This is his second self, a divided self. The two selves kept quarreling, one ebb and flow, which made Gustav's image quite contradictory and complicated. I believe that Gustav is emotionally biased towards his "friends", but he could not make concessions rationally and had to collapse. The film uses this split personality to express the insignificance and beauty of "people". As the plot progressed, the two had another argument. "Friends" accused Gustav of pursuing perfection in art and refusing to be hurt. He believes that Gustav is actually in debt from the senses, both dishonest and hopelessly pathological-and this is the joy of the artist. Thinking about it carefully, this is exactly Gustav's worries and fears about his current situation, as well as his self-comfort under the temptation of "beauty." Gustav insisted on finding his own balance, but "friends" said that art ignores people's moral standards. This is another voice in the depths of Gustav's soul trying to persuade him. "Do you know what is at the bottom of the mainstream?-mediocrity!" This sentence is exactly what an artist who is unwilling to mediocrity shouts to a mediocre person, it is Gustav's shout to himself. The film progressed to this place, his spiritual realm has been extremely chaotic, he began to lose his sense of direction, began to doubt everything, so he chose to escape, escape Tazio, escape himself. In the end, he found an excuse to stay-at this time, his feelings have overcome reason, and he has fallen deeper and deeper. Gustav gradually moved closer to his "friends" in thought. He gradually recognized and calmly accepted that "Almost every artist has an inherent tendency to be willful and evil, that is, to recognize the injustice caused by "beauty" and Sympathize and worship this kind of aristocratic favoritism." In an argument, "friends" accused Gustav of pursuing perfection in art and refusing to be hurt. He believes that Gustav is actually in debt from the senses, both dishonest and hopelessly pathological-and this is the joy of the artist. Thinking about it carefully, this is exactly Gustav's worries and fears about his current situation, as well as his self-comfort under the temptation of "beauty." Gustav insisted on finding his own balance, but "friends" said that art ignores people's moral standards. This is another voice in the depths of Gustav's soul trying to persuade him. "Do you know what is at the bottom of the mainstream?-mediocrity!" This sentence is exactly what an artist who is unwilling to mediocrity shouts to a mediocre person, it is Gustav's shout to himself. The film progressed to this place, his spiritual realm has been extremely chaotic, he began to lose his sense of direction, began to doubt everything, so he chose to escape, escape Tazio, escape himself. In the end, he found an excuse to stay-at this time, his feelings have overcome reason, and he has fallen deeper and deeper. Gustav gradually moved closer to his "friends" in thought. He gradually recognized and calmly accepted that "Almost every artist has an inherent tendency to be willful and evil, that is, to recognize the injustice caused by "beauty" and Sympathize and worship this kind of aristocratic favoritism." In an argument, "friends" accused Gustav of pursuing perfection in art and refusing to be hurt. He believes that Gustav is actually in debt from the senses, both dishonest and hopelessly pathological-and this is the joy of the artist. Thinking about it carefully, this is exactly Gustav's worries and fears about his current situation, as well as his self-comfort under the temptation of "beauty." Gustav insisted on finding his own balance, but "friends" said that art ignores people's moral standards. This is another voice in the depths of Gustav's soul trying to persuade him. "Do you know what is at the bottom of the mainstream?-mediocrity!" This sentence is exactly what an artist who is unwilling to mediocrity shouts to a mediocre person, it is Gustav's shout to himself. The film progressed to this place, his spiritual realm has been extremely chaotic, he began to lose his sense of direction, began to doubt everything, so he chose to escape, escape Tazio, escape himself. In the end, he found an excuse to stay-at this time, his feelings have overcome reason, and he has fallen deeper and deeper. Gustav gradually moved closer to his "friends" in thought. He gradually recognized and calmly accepted that "Almost every artist has an inherent tendency to be willful and evil, that is, to recognize the injustice caused by "beauty" and Sympathize and worship this kind of aristocratic favoritism."
The film's psychological portrayal of Gustav is extremely delicate. From the very beginning, when he appeared in Venice as a mainstream musician and a workaholic, he was actually a very ordinary character. His behavior is plain and vulgar, and on the whole very popular. But his identity is after all a musician and an artist. His profound artist temperament cannot be ignored, even if he is not aware of it. Therefore, in the depths of his heart, another person will be split, a person who is completely at the other extreme to argue with himself. When watching a movie, you can find that Gustav’s behavior is becoming more and more sensual, more willful, and more and more real, as if the artistic side of the body is gradually gaining the upper hand, and the rational consciousness restrained by the secular has gradually weakened. Until it disappears. His pursuit of Tazio became more and more obvious. He began to not deliberately hide his gaze, and began to follow his footsteps unadornedly. Of course, he couldn't accept this change for himself from the beginning. He still has a lot of deep-rooted concepts that cannot be denied immediately, so most of the film Gustav is in an extremely contradictory state, something that he wants to do but is not daring to do it, and can’t let go of it. state. He is challenging his own value system, and he cannot be stimulated at this time, otherwise he will collapse.
However, he was deeply stimulated. One of the most representative is the performance of folk orchestras. People who have watched the movie must have been impressed by the chilling laugh of the clown playing the guitar. I think in Gustav’s opinion, it’s not just a person laughing, it’s a world laughing. Laughing, laughing. And he is the one being laughed at. why? Is it because he is in love with the same sex, or because the person he loves is so beautiful and he is already old and declining? I think it seems to Gustav to have both. On the one hand, it is a strong and fanatical love, on the other hand, it is extremely low self-esteem. Possession and self-esteem also have a huge impact, making his already confused soul even more troubled. At this time, Gustav’s behavior in the film was already extremely weird. He began to put on makeup and beauty to make himself look beautiful, dreaming strange dreams, and falling into deep fantasy. When the film progressed to this point, he was actually close to collapse. Both the worldview and values have collapsed, and the only support is the beauty of Tazio. The reappearance of "friends" at this time is a very important detail. When he shouted to Gustav, "Nothing is left, your music is dead, and your mask has been exposed." , That represents Gustav's complete transformation in spirit, he has become another person completely and completely. He was completely lost, completely lost himself, and completely fallen. He no longer has the ability to think, nor the ability to love beauty. At that moment, all he could do was to watch. However, when he saw Tazio, who was like a god in his heart, being bullied and humiliated by other boys on the beach, his last hope was shattered-even such a beautiful person is not truly sacred and inviolable, then in this world What else can be complete.
But to say something, personally, I think Gustav's ending is his accomplishment of himself. Madness is the most beautiful state of a person.
Although this movie is very classic, it is not without flaws. The more obvious point is that the film has been extremely dilute the image of Tazio, he has always been a very impressive figure: a beautiful boy, like a god. Apart from this, we cannot enumerate other adjectives for him. The director's arrangement is of course to highlight Gustav, but this also largely caused the plot to be incomplete. After all, if there is no in-depth description of Tazio, it is impossible for the audience to have a deep understanding of Gustav. But perhaps this is exactly the effect the director seeks: using a critical landscape to cleverly refuse.
So much for the time being.
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