(This article is reproduced from the BunnyBearDiary public account)
Went to watch "At Eternity's Gate" in the evening. The latest Van Gogh movie is directed at Dafoe. As far as the work itself is concerned, too much effort, the talent does not match the ambition. The first is photography. The hand is a little harder and harder, which makes me miss Lubezki. The second is the lines, this is really a big injury... I can't bear to say this part... You can go and see how you feel, it's pretty cute.
Speaking of performance, share my performance notes for William Dafoe who plays Van Gogh:
Performances at this level have already crossed the technical level. To use the metaphor of painting, this level is to feel the intuitive feeling of the painting created by the actor, not to analyze his painting skills. Therefore, there is no need to mention how delicate the relationship between him and other characters is, and those moving and powerful moments of performance, Dafoe must do well.
What surprised me the most and my favorite was that Dafoe’s interpretation of Van Gogh was not crazy, even in my opinion, he was more sober than most people-he knew that when he asked strange women in the garden to pose as models The purpose of the time, he even knew that he did not want to expose the reason for the boy who shot him. Although in the film Van Gogh was repeatedly hospitalized and drank alcohol according to others, the image of Van Gogh drawn by Dafoe is the image of Sober. Sober here is also very interesting to avoid the state of "analytical mind" (the movie shows that Van Gogh likes to paint to make him stop thinking), but is only firmly rooted in the present React and know what you are doing . In my opinion, this is full of adventurous spirit. Of course, the film mentions Van Gogh’s previous attempt to be a pastor, and finding a way to communicate with God in nature, giving Van Gogh a sense of rational mission, so this is more in line with the image of Van Gogh portrayed in this film. .
I think that the state of mental disorder is most easily transformed into "immersed in one's own thinking state" by many actors. Dafoe's Van Gogh actually provides us with the basic background to interpret the artist, that is, rooting in the present, feeling, reacting, and jumping out of our own thinking . This kind of "living in one's own world" is not disconnected from the real world, it is connected with people , and even in this example, it is seeking connection and understanding with others.
An extension of this is that Dafoe's Van Gogh seems to have a need or even desire to connect with others , and his performance is not subtle. This is also a relatively unfamiliar characteristic when most people talk about Van Gogh. This is not inconsistent with other character traits, and he is very smart, because he makes Van Gogh more lovely and more distressing . This is also a smart choice for an actor to make his role more understood and loved by the audience.
However, Dafoe also firmly expressed the state of "I live in my own world" (after all, Van Gogh was notoriously bad at communication), and when he spoke through him, "it was purely for self-expression, not for pursuing your identity. Or try to prove yourself, or convince you of your status . In other words, when Dafoe's Van Gogh listened to others, he focused his whole body, rooted in the moment, and gave his reaction in this space, but when he was speaking by himself, he was free to express himself instead of In the communication state . This nagging is very interesting to me. In most of the conversations between Dafoe and others, his eyes are out of focus but point firmly . This is the natural state when people focus on their own expression (when changing a topic, the eyes will inevitably change direction) . Whole body. This is obvious in the dialogue between him and the pastor of the mental hospital. He is only in the last part (the critical moment about whether he can break free from this mental hospital), and his eyes are in the state of communication. Then he looked at the priest in focus and spoke.
There are two other moments that I was amazing:
- When the pastor of the mental hospital asked "You feel angry sometimes", his reaction was that his pupils dilated and he smiled. It's a smile that is understood. This reaction is beyond my expectation, but I like it very much. This reaction reflects how much Van Gogh likes others to understand him, and a character characteristic emerges.
- When Van Gogh read the letter, he didn't seem to be reading the letter attentively, but rather as if he was listening-he was not dealing with his own thinking, but firmly rooted in the present reaction, almost like doing it at the same time. Receiving information and disseminating feelings are two things . This is a state only possessed by artistic geniuses with strong sensibility. At that moment, I completely believed in the genius Van Gogh played by Dafoe.
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