When writing the article, I thought about naming the title. After thinking about it, I found that the title is the most suitable title. Rainy Night writes, on the one hand, it replays the scene of the blonde young woman alone in the movie on the rainy night, and on the other hand, she conceives her own imaginary blurry dreams.
[Note: The film review was first published on my WeChat official account : film_storage (film_storage) , link to the article: [French New Wave Classic] The elevator to the gallows (home-made fine-cut footage + source of positive film) , Baidu cloud film source: 1958 Elevator to the gallows ]
[French New Wave Classic] The elevator leading to the gallows
(Self-made fine cut clips + original short comment)
Xixue/Text
There was a patter of rain outside the house, at this moment of dying night. I have encountered three consecutive "violent attacks" in which the system crashes, and it is undoubtedly an extremely unexpected honor to be able to write on a quiet and agile rainy night. Listening carefully to the gurgling sound of the drizzle, breathing in the fresh air that is constantly floating in the ink-colored night sky, the refreshing spring night air is absorbed by the lungs a little bit.
In the past two days, I spent a lot of brainpower and time for an old French film that I just watched recently. There were a lot of thought short-circuits and operating episodes, but fortunately, I edited a more satisfactory finished product after all. I don’t know why, but for a 1958 early French New Wave work that lasted less than 90 minutes, I cut it continuously: a 40-minute rough cut and a 7-minute fine cut video.
This film is not a very suitable material for practice editing. Old European films are mostly "boring" literary style. The montage -style superimposed images that are used in mixed and fine-cutting are suitable for fast-paced, multi-screen shots, but they are not very suitable for a large number of empty shots, and the form of expression focuses on the stream of consciousness or spirit. A level of small language literary films. Knowing this, after watching the movie, I immediately found time to start editing twice. After simplification, it was difficult to choose a suitable background sound for the screen. In the end, I reluctantly chose two saxophone retro music that would involuntarily evoke the nostalgia of the listener .
At this time, the dripping drizzle that had just fallen was almost already raining, I don’t know whether the mournful nocturne I put on overwhelmed the slight rain, or the rain of this spring night was also swallowed by the still cold darkness. Silent. My consciousness began to wander and drift uncontrollably, dreaming about dizzy dreams that were like daydreams, even though it was the deepest moment of the night. Accompanied by the deep and lingering music in my ears, numerous and ever-changing pictures and images flashed into my mind.
Thinking of the yellowed pages of old scrolls, and those long-lost funs: the increasingly ethereal and distant kite string pulled by the bright spring sky, the flamboyant dragonflies hovering over the pond in early summer, half kneeling in the gorgeous grass and looking at the fallen leaves. In the golden autumn season, occasionally passing by the river, you will catch a glimpse of a lone boat fishing alone in the winter snow. As a day-dreamer who does not dream about dreaming all the time , some memories may not have been personally experienced, but they appear to be more vivid and vivid than real experiences.
Naturally, there are also large and small screens that have occupied my vision and focus in the past few years. No matter how long the time is, no matter how many films and TV works I have read, my favorite and original intention are always tied to those who have been in the dust for many years and have been affected by future generations. Ignore misunderstandings in old movies. Some are timeless classics in the history of famous shadows, some are the founders of the mountain that have been paid tribute, borrowed, remade, and adapted many times by later works, and some are always hotly debated and controversial hotspots on the screen, but more Many are still forgotten by time and sealed by the years.
"Elevator to the Gallows" (1958) has been on disk for quite some time. I have always been impressed by the title, but I have never been interested in unlocking it. This is just like "Wuthering Heights", "The Call of the Wild", and "The Catcher in the Rye". Behind my name, what kind of bizarre and blurred story is hidden and intertwined?
A brief glance at the intuitive feelings of the few viewers on the Internet, there is nothing unexpected, it is nothing more than the general public’s general view of the unpopular old movies: "ancient black-and-white film with slag picture quality", "story development is so slow", "Men's hindsight, women's inexplicable" and "strange background music". Although I always feel disgusted with these prejudices, I don't want to reverse the inherent thinking of the uninformed one by one.
I haven't watched old movies for a long time, especially foreign language movies (non-English movies) half a century ago. I am still familiar with those commonplace in the 1950s and 1960s: an orchestral soundtrack composed of saxophone + violin + drum + piano and other instruments, reserved and euphemistic dialogue, implicit and profound facial expressions, stage drama conflicts, and delicate influences Physical performance. My favorite is the title of the film. If it is a new film premiering nowadays, maybe many people will be attracted by this novel and imaginative film title.
Secondly, it is the queen of European cinema who is most loved and admired by the French- Jeanne Moreau (Jeanne Moreau) as the heroine. There are not many lines from the heroes and heroines in the film. The two are set in the film (extramarital affairs). There is almost no rivalry between lovers. However, the magic is that even though they only talked to each other over the phone line in the first few minutes, there is no real scene of two people living in the same room in the whole film. But for some reason, (at least in my opinion) the series of story lines and the perforating clues made the male protagonist be besieged in the elevator all night, and the female protagonist braved the heavy rain and stayed up all night to search for the night, which is more than the supporting role of the male and female actors. ——Young couples talk and live together all the time, with the sweetness and privacy of a lover.
Before that, I was not familiar with the director, starring, etc. of this film. I only knew that the film was Louis Malle 's debut, the first feature film. It coincided with the start time of Traffaut , who was also the core figure of French New Waveism , who filmed the growth crime film "400 blows" the following year . As for Jeanne Morro, who knows best, it is only relatively speaking. I have only seen her in the classic film "Diary of a Chambermaid" (Diary of a Chambermaid ) by the Spanish national treasure director Brunel in the early 1960s. , 1964) .
What makes me unbelievable is that Moreau has an unshakable strong aura and extraordinary temperament, which is different from the contempt and carelessness of the contemporary drama Queen Betty Davis , and Joan Crawford 's determination and courage. Catherine Hepburn 's stubborn perseverance, Marlene Dedley 's coquettish and charming . She has a unique, maverick personality trait, lazy when sad, innocent and full when happy, cold and arrogant when arrogant, tired and loose when relaxed.
Although the two movies I have watched so far are not the most famous masterpieces of Jeanne Morrow, whether it is the scheming and deep-seated country maid, or the gloomy conspirator who conspired with her lover to murder her husband in the film, Dignified lady. Her personality is embedded in the deduced role, both like her and not her real person. It is difficult to define whether it is a role actor or a character actor, and whether it is a method actor or an authentic character. Actor (real actor)?
It was past half of the writing, and when the people were sleeping soundly in the middle of the night, they looked up at the pale sky of a figure under the reflector. The melodious music was mixed with intermittent and irregular raindrops. As if I could hear the frequency of my heartbeat and pulse beating, I couldn't help but think back to the picture in the film "The Elevator to the Gallows" that directly reflected the theme of the film's title:
After the male protagonist Julien Tarvenier shot and killed his boss and female protagonist husband, he left the company and was about to leave, but found that the rope he used to commit the crime was still hanging in the air. And this rope directly connected him and his boss's office, so he hurried back to the company and walked to the center of the elevator, but was accidentally locked in the elevator by the subordinate responsible for the switch deployment, unable to move or get out.
He spent a cold, hungry and thirsty night in the small elevator room, trying to uncover the device at the bottom of the elevator. Unfortunately, when he ventured to reach the bottom end of the elevator along the inner ropes, he was trapped in the air by the security guards who rounded the room at night. Is Yan Zhi a malicious joke, or is it good luck?
The sound of rain is getting stronger and stronger. I am curious if there are any passengers who are struggling to walk on the rainy night in the early hours of the night when the rain is pouring down. Imagine such pedestrians walking in the rain under a straight, thin street lamp, some with umbrella handles that can barely withstand the swiftness of wind and rain, and some poor people drenched in the rainy night and darkness. Rushed quickly.
This situation is undoubtedly the most memorable scene when I was watching this movie: Florence Carala , the heroine played by Na Moro , continued to walk on a sudden rainy night, and she did not hurriedly move behind her. The lonely goalkeeper was surprised. The sudden heavy rain did not slow down her walking pace, nor did it repel her desire to continue looking for her lover.
However, looking at her walking alone in the rain, her eyes are full of exhaustion, fatigue, helplessness and loneliness. At that moment, no matter how strong and determined she is, she will feel chilled. I feel sorry for myself, and also for the person who is thinking in my heart, the disgusting and lingering name husband, the delicate and innocent little daughter, and every passerby who passes by, and the lavish visitors from all corners of the world. Compassionate.
The film has many highlights and wonderful points that I have seen, but those shortcomings are also obvious, such as: the intensity of psychological activities dilutes the thrills of the suspense itself, the development of the story is not exciting enough, and although there are many coincidences, they are not dramatic. mean. I pay more attention to the artistic conceptions and expressions presented in the film. When watching and appreciating European films, we should not pay too much attention to the story itself, but should pay attention to the inner core and ideological concept behind the story. As far as the story itself is concerned, naturally it cannot be compared with the compact, intense and exciting murder, crime, and suspense of Hollywood dramas.
But the sublimation of the inner core, just like the potential meaning of the title " Elevator to the Gallows ", is personally understood as the inner struggle, hesitation, entanglement, and confusion of the criminal , after experiencing a series of psychological activities. Redemption and the inferiority of human nature itself (escape from cover-ups, try to get away with it).
The four protagonists in the movie, two lovers, two murders, and two criminal groups, are all criminals who have committed legal crimes. The murder of the middle-aged cheaters was a long-planned and logically conspired young couple who robbed the middle-aged male proprietor who was trapped in the elevator and turned on the engine of the car, and murdered German tourists after stealing the car and revealing the fake identity. . It seems to be an unexpected unintentional sin, a young and frivolous impulse, but in fact it is a greed motive and criminal thoughts that have been dormant in my heart for a long time.
The story itself is an ordinary, very ordinary way of narrative, even at the time it was a shameful script. But what is remarkable lies in the essence and profound meaning it expresses, as well as the literary style that French films are very good at digging out the dirt, ills, and weaknesses in the depths of human nature.
The spring rain that accompanied me all night and is also recorded in the whole article, with a trace of coldness and coldness of remnant winter, but the unique moistness and freshness of the spring night that drifted into the night and moisturized things made me moved. .
Falling asleep, and the memories of the old movies left in my mind: the lonely young woman walking alone in the rainy night, the reckless young men and women who tried to commit suicide by pushing the door and taking barbiturate salt , and the lovers who were racing in the middle of the night for a moment and laughed. , The ambiguous middle-aged lover who whispered at both ends of the phone in the early morning, the murderer who was stuck at the bottom of the gallows tightly pulling the elevator rope , and the helpless, lonely, shallow-haired lady walking like a ghost in the strange world , Dreaming together.
——Written at 1:12 in the morning and rainy night on Sunday, March 5, 2017
END
[Declaration: The pictures and texts are all original, please do not use them for commercial purposes without authorization, or modify or extract them privately, offenders must be investigated! If you need to quote or learn from, please send me a private message! Thank you for your appreciation! 】
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