Lizzie: Really?
Grandma: Well, that is what your father used to call you.
You will wear my best coat and high heels and talk to yourself non-stop. In your own lonely world.
He said, God, who does Lizzie think she is, Betty Davis?
I never liked Betty Davis, I prefer Barbara Stanwick.
You know how you look like Barbara.
Lizzie: Mom...
This may not be the most exciting and moving dialogue in the whole show, but it must be my favorite.
Betty Davis and Barbara Stanwick are among the top 100 actresses rated by the American Film Critics Association, with the former second and the latter eleventh. The stars of the two are equally dazzling, but the difference is their star path and personality.
Betty Davis's early acting career was not smooth. Not only did she fail to cooperate with the company, but she often pursued perfection and was emotional and unhappy with the cast and crew. She knew that her 30-year-old career had a turnaround. She places equal emphasis on acting and beauty. She is frank and stubborn. She is often able to turn the tide and pull a bad film from the death line back to the theater, even before the stark film critics.
In contrast, Barbara Stanwick is not that amazing. Barbara had a very unfortunate childhood. Her mother died in a car accident, her father drank and left home, and she was reduced to a foster family and grew up. Because of this, she has also created her fragile, sensitive, capricious, strong and independent character. The characters she portrays are flesh-and-blood, real to the touch. The low-key acting style and broad play style have created this unbeaten flower that often blooms in Hollywood.
To borrow Joan Blondell's comment: "Miss Stanwick makes us laugh, makes us cry, and makes us want to hug her."
And this sentence can be used for Lizzie (Emily Mortimer) in this film.
"Frankie My Love" is the debut work of the Scottish female director Shona Auerbach, and it seems to be tailor-made for the heroine Emily. The female image that the director wants to create is almost the perfect woman in her mind. So many emotions, and even every shot and dialogue belonging to Emily, are worth savoring. So that the man in this movie is not a villain, that is, a foil.
Back in the film, the little boy Frankie is cute, intelligent, and has a sense of mystery because of his congenital deficiency, even for the mother who gets along with her day and night. The film starts when moving, the monologue on the letter paper, the soothing sound of the piano, it sounds like it is to the father, but it is actually an unintentional communication with the single mother, humorous, optimistic family atmosphere, Frankie's naughty voice and warm pictures Sense, the tone of the film slowly settled unconsciously.
What a happy family of three, almost fooled the audience, let us ignore the hardship and drift behind, that only belongs to Lizzie. But in the first few minutes, the footage of Lizzie was full of maternal love:
1. The first time shopping in a strange town, she paid particular attention to the cashier Mary's views on Frankie, knowing that he was deaf and dumb and not discriminated against;
2. "Dad" gave Frankie stamps full of stamp albums, which is actually her credit;
3. She is strict and active in the discipline of Frankie, sleeps on time, does not require special care from the teacher, and encourages him to bring hearing aids...
4. Mary Came to introduce her to her job. In front of her family, she didn't want to accept it immediately.
In just a few details, Lizzie's character is in front of the camera, strong and independent, even if work is unstable and life is tight; the feelings are delicate, and the strong desire to protect Frankie stimulates an instinctive sense of defense.
The only thing that didn't tell us was Lizzie herself. It turns out that there is such an important secret in her heart, which is all the driving force that supports her external character. What's the secret? How does Lizzie keep it secret?
Frankie has a "father" who loves him but can't see him, but they can communicate with each other. So Lizzie carefully fabricated a lie through the letter returned: "Father" is a sailor of an ocean freighter ACCAR. The route is far away from the UK all the year round, and the only opportunity to dock is to catch up with the move. Using stamps to represent his own experience inspires Frankie to work hard. Study and obey my mother's discipline.
However, there is no perfect security measure in the world. The conflict between ghosts and gods brings us two clues:
open line: there happens to be a ship called ACCAR, and it is about to dock!
The dark line: Lizzie's ex-husband Dave has been persevering in the newspaper looking for it.
The second clue is only known to the grandmother, and since then the role of the grandmother has played a vital role. What kind of person is she?
Since the beginning of the film, grandma has always been a vulgar, violent and cute old lady with a sense of humor, but since she saw the newspaper, she has questioned Lizz's practices everywhere:
1. She asked Lizzie to stop lying and tell Frankie the truth;
2. She helped Lizzie took over the job and advised her not to escape;
3. While she told Lizzie "cannot live in the imagination",
she resolutely stopped Dave's side; 4. She was worried about Lizzie's staying away all night, and would celebrate her warmth together. Heart, until the storm ceased, she finally breathed a sigh of relief and told Lizzie what was in her heart.
Grandma is also a mother, so she knows Lizzie’s weaknesses best and how to protect her. She will not construct dreams like Lizzien, but instead look back and face reality to make the worst plans. Frankie can no longer have to fantasize, but Lizzie He can't die, after all, what Frankie needs most is a living person. Although she did not change Lizzie's choice, it also deeply affected her. In addition, her grandmother did not let Dave affect their life order, and did not break Lizzie's painstaking efforts to re-establish the peace.
Lizzie is now facing a difficult choice. If Frankie is told the truth, the little boy's simple dream will be shattered, and his expectations of his father are high, which can explain why he would expect surprise after another. Lizzie is deeply familiar with this feeling. Frankie's dream is her own dream. In the past, she gave up everything for Dave in exchange for her cautious and sensitive character, and since then gave up her ex-husband. For her now, this secret is the bottom line, and it is a hurdle in her heart that she can't step through. Perhaps even she herself hasn't noticed this. Therefore, another difficulty faced by Lizzie is whether it can overcome this hurdle and re-establish trust in the outside world. This is an important point that the film wants to express.
The heavy thoughts pressed Lizzie's fragile nerves, and finally broke out when the little girl took Frankie to peep at Lizz's privacy. The dialogue in this paragraph was very touching. I believe many people saw Lizzie "I'm here, Frankie! I'm" the living one here! I'm the one that still is here" when I cried. Lizzie almost collapsed, but still insisted that her life with Frankie was enough, and she didn't need a mere "father", so she almost told Frankie the truth.
But Frankie is really a special kid, he is not only smart, but also precocious. Confidence and bravery surpassed his mother. When the mother came to confess, he was sad and not angry for her. Lizzie finally didn't say anything, rekindling hope.
Lizzie finally made one last bit of effort, but it didn't succeed. Sad and helpless, she sat on the beach, dazed but at a loss. Facing the sea is like facing a mirror, reflecting my life and even my heart (the music at this time is Pelt's "The Realm in the Mirror", which means endless repetition and no direction).
The story has turned around since her dialogue with Mary, but in the face of new opportunities, Lizzie still insists on being independent and defensive. "No past, no present, no future." She wanted to give Frankie a perfect father, but she was also afraid that she would fall into emotional involvement and repeat the same mistakes. The details of her first meeting with her "father" Gerald Butler are also worthy of intrigue:
1. Lizzie asked for white water when ordering, and she was not very well-dressed (after all, not for dating), and she was embarrassed by her usual simplicity; Gerald asked for it. Heavy-flavored American coffee, ordinary cigarettes (foreshadowing), casual, crisp, carefree, but come prepared.
2. Lizzie gave Gerald a stack of Frankie's letters, but he only gave a reply to himself. He wanted the other party to fully understand Frankie but didn't want to understand himself through this; Gerald talked less and thought a lot.
3. Lizzie talked about paying; Gerald looked around, first to conceal his inattention, and second to cause misunderstanding (very decent image).
The plot went smoothly afterwards. Gerald was a perfect "father" and had a perfect day with Frankie, but when they asked Lizz to get along for another day, Lizzie refused the more perfect ending. The reason is very simple. The love for Frankie belongs to her only. She does not ask or want a third person to bear it. She does not want her hard-working "father" to be easily taken away by this temporary "father". Maternal love is selfish. Yes, this is vividly reflected in Lizzie.
Gerald's idea is not wrong, he believes that more getting along is more caring, and there is no conflict with Lizzie's original intention.
It was the sentence "You have to trust somebody someday" that finally hit Lizzie's weakness, letting her understand that the long-term mistrust made her life lose its due brilliance, and it was the appearance of Gerald that made her understand. Not only Frankie, but he also needs one more object of hope, a person who can be trusted.
So she painted her nail polish, dressed up for the new day, drinking and celebrating. Her heart no longer felt lonely (to be precise, self-enclosed). Now that Frankie has been allowed to fall in love with others, and when others fall in love with Frankie, he is also allowed to fall in love with others again. Lizzie finally passed that heart.
In his favorite song, Lizzie and Gerald danced, talked about their own hearts in front of him, told about their past, kissed goodbye... The
last Lizzie could already pluck up the courage to meet Dave, and can also pass on Frankie’s gift to pass on Dave Love for son. I think the gift belonged to him because of his undiminished paternal love, even if he had no affection for Lizzie, even if he was a villain who made Frankie deaf.
So when we went back to the beginning of the article, we re-read the dialogue between Grandma and Lizzie.
Lizzie is indeed as beautiful as Betty, and once as lonely as Betty, she even has the fragility of Barbara, but her strong independence eclipses everything else.
Let us cry, let us laugh, and finally, let us embrace.
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