Neuropathy, pale hair, cancer, wheelchairs, these are not what people who eat popcorn in pursuit of visual stimulation want to see on the screen.
"Marvin's Room" is a typical art film in the nineties. Does not deny the cruel reality, but is full of a touch of warmth. The whole film is like a slow zooming shot. The camera leads us to gradually get closer to everyone in the film. From the beginning, the first impression, good or bad, has been deep into their hearts.
Unlike the heroes in commercial films who will come forward immediately when facing difficulties, several people in the film have been running away. Beth is unwilling to face the reality of her suffering from blood cancer, and never removes her wig even in front of her relatives; Li ran away from home with the children, away from her son Hank, who always troubled her. She has never visited in 20 years. The father who was in bed with the old sickness; and Hank wanted to win the praise of his relatives by speaking big words, but he didn't dare to face his hazy dream-go to someplace else. By the end of the film, everyone has changed.
The cause was Beth's illness. When the blood test is needed, Beth's fear and cover-up (emphasizing that she is just lacking in vitamins and wanting to avoid the blood draw) has established the character's mental state. At the same time, Hank ignited the photo, and the act of burning the photo and the house symbolized his growing up.
Because of the need to find a suitable relative for bone marrow donation, Beth called her sister Li, and the family got together for the first time in 20 years. In the room of father Marvin, this first meeting was not smooth, but ended in chaos and screams.
Most of the ways to expose and resolve contradictions are presented through dialogue. In my opinion, the most touching part is the chat between the two sisters in front of the mirror. The lens indirectly shows the process of the two people's hearts getting closer. At first, it was the image in the mirror, and there was also the second reflection of Li, that is, there are two mirrors of Li; then, when the two sat down, Li showed her beauty box to her sister, and the lens shot the two people from the mirror. Close-up shots; later, Beth first offered an apology for the dispute to solve this problem. With the chatter from his father's sleep, the camera cuts to the real portrait naturally. At first, they were outside the house, and the two people were talking about it. When it came to a more private personal question, the camera slowly moved closer, leaving the door frame outside the frame.
At this point, the lens movement has finally returned to normal, with positive and negative cuts, mostly close-ups. During the period Beth recounted the sad story of her boyfriend's drowning. In the end, Beth finally took off her wig in front of Li. Although she still seemed to be considerate and embarrassed, Li has become the closest and trusted person to Beth.
Therefore, after Beth fainted in Disneyland, she was finally able to stop her depression and express her fear and weakness in front of Rei.
In the end, there was no suitable bone marrow pairing. But Hank really went to someplace else that morning. Faced with Beth's condition, Li's first reaction was still to escape, but then went back to the kitchen and began to face it all. One of the props used in the film—the impressionist sliding door was opened for Li who came with the medicine. In Li’s mind, the impressionistic father and sister, who were originally vague, became clear, in Marvin’s room. So many romantic spots swayed for the first time...
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