This is the last paragraph of the solar eclipse performance in the first scene of "Whale Circus ." After watching this movie, I can’t help asking: How heavy is the darkness? Can we really escape?
"Whale Circus" is the work of Hungarian director Bella Tal in 2000. Any excellent work of art is a mirror through which people can look at themselves and get a deeper understanding of themselves and the world they are in. On the surface, "Whale Circus" is completely different from the kind of realism we know. It seems to have a strong metaphorical color, but Bella Tal's own strong opposition to her movie is a fable. In his opinion, film language is a simple language, which is different from literature. As far as a table is concerned, a writer can describe a table with hundreds of words, while a film can be shown with only one lens. The audience You can immediately see what kind of table this is, no matter how interesting it is, it is still a table. He urged the audience to just go to the movies, trust their own eyes, and not think too much, so that they can understand his movies well. His words were eloquent, and I recalled my movie-watching process. When I watched "Whale Circus" for the first time, the last scene, the sad music sounded, my tears couldn't help but shed. Why are you crying? I really don't know, but there is an inexplicable sadness and touch. When I watched the movie for the first time, I didn't have time to think about the theme and meaning of this movie. Later, I watched it a few more times. I brought my mind and started thinking and analyzing. The shock in my heart was no longer comparable to the first time. However, I am always willing to ask questions about what I like, so I checked a lot of his interviews and paid attention to his own statement, hoping to reveal the true nature of the film in such an article, rather than using my own subjective imagination. Instead of real.
What is the story of "Whale Circus"? A large truck carrying the world’s largest whale and a mysterious guest named Prince came to a dilapidated and desolate Hungarian town. It was winter, when the town was full of social problems, lack of coal, phone calls, school closed, and from time to time there was a shop that was robbed by thugs. The riot is on the verge of breaking out. The prince who never shows up but only appears as a shadow is the caller of the riot, and what he advocates is destruction. The film basically tells the story through a person's perspective. This simple, simple-minded postman named Janos witnessed the entire process of the riots from hidden crisis to outbreak, and then suppressed. He did nothing, but became a wanted man, and finally a real fool who stayed in a lunatic asylum.
The English name of "Whale Circus" is Werckmeister Harmonies, which is derived from a 17th-century musician, Andreas Werckmeister. The theory of equal temperament is summarized, and it is advocated to change the tuning with the traditional pure temperament method, and use the twelve equal temperament method. In the film, a highly respected music theorist-Mr. Ester-believes that pure law is created by God and the twelve equal temperament is man-made. He said that "we must change Wickmaster's mistakes." But later, when his ex-wife and her lover, the chief of police, used force to control the chaotic situation and finally invaded his home, he could only retune the piano to a twelve equal temperament, because that would make it easier to sell. give others.
Audiences who are accustomed to fast editing may find such a black-and-white movie obscure and incomprehensible, or even fidgeting, because its tempo is really too slow. The whole film took more than two hours and only used 30 shots. I know if masters like to use long shots, anyway, Bella Tal is also a master director who is famous for long shots. The advantage of long shots lies in the continuity of time, one scene at a time, which is the same as the rhythm of life. If you understand this, and watch it calmly, this kind of movie is still very attractive.
The first shot of the film was 10 minutes and 20 seconds long. If it weren’t for Kodak’s film that could only be shot for 12 minutes at most, Bella Tal would definitely want to continue shooting. He joked that the limitations of this technology are also a kind of "censorship." . In fact, this shot is not unbearable, because it is always in motion, and the skillful scene scheduling replaces the editing, which can also make people enjoy watching. The first scene took place in the bar. When it was closed, Janos wanted to direct a scene for everyone. He asked three people to act as the sun, the earth and the moon to show the trajectory of the planet. The camera rotates around them flexibly with the movements of the actors. Janos’ face appears so simple in the changing light and shadow. He is like a child. It seems that he has seen a solar eclipse for the first time in his life and experienced the universe for the first time. mystery. With a trace of awe and surprise in his voice, he said slowly: "At that time, the air suddenly became cold. Can you feel it? The sky darkened, and then it was completely dark. The dog was barking, the rabbit curled up, the deer Running in a panic. In this unreasonable twilight, the bird was also confused. Then...complete silence..." At this time the music sounded, beautiful and sad, the world really quieted down, only the music was in the ears. surround. Janos paused for a moment, and then continued: "All creatures are silent. Will the mountains move forward? Will the sky collapse? Will the ground crack? We don't know. We don't know. A total solar eclipse happened." He Stopped again, the camera slowly opened, everyone stood there quietly, motionless, the camera moved up, brought in a lamp on the roof, the light glowed white, illuminating The whole picture, in this light, I saw a trace of divinity. Later, when all the drunk men in the bar were infected by Janos and began to spin and dance, I understood what Janos said before the performance, "A simple person like us can also understand immortality. Boundless, feel the silence and tranquility".
The film opens with such a wonderful scene. The darkness brought about by the solar eclipse disappears over time, replaced by light, but this is just a scene, and everything that happens in reality afterwards pushes people into darkness. , The weight of darkness overwhelmed people.
Janos first heard about the strange things that happened in the town from various people. He was a simple person. Although he was not suspicious of what he heard, he did not believe it. He was always willing to look at life with an optimistic attitude. . But the real ugliness gradually happened before him. He was harassed by drunks in the square. He witnessed the two sons of the police chief making a mess at home, and yelled what his father might say: "I'm going to be harsh. You!" He also accidentally heard the prince's shocking declaration on the truck with the giant whale, and the prince claimed to destroy everything. The culmination of the violence occurred in the hospital, where thugs beat patients with wooden sticks. He saw his uncle's body. In the end, he was inexplicably wanted and had nowhere to escape and was admitted to a mental hospital.
Bella Tal tirelessly uses the lens to show faces. Every actor has a personality in his eyes. You can understand what he said by watching the scene before the climax. The crowd marched on the way to the hospital, only the sound of sonorous footsteps. The camera was shot overhead first, and then lowered. It slowly swayed up and down around the crowd, all faces were seen under the changing lights. Each of them is different, but at this time they have only one common goal— -destroy! This shot lasted for four minutes, and the sense of fear gradually deepened.
The most amazing scene appeared behind this scene. People rushed into the hospital, and the camera slowly followed, moving from room to room like a bystander. The patient was dragged out of the bed by the mob and beaten up. Everything in the room was overturned and smashed. However, the most surprising thing is that no one yelled, cried, or cursed in this scene. We only heard the sound of metal knocking, the sound of broken objects, the mob and the victim remained silent, but it was precisely because of this. This silence makes the scene more powerful and shocking. When two thugs tore down a curtain and the camera pointed to an old man standing in the bathtub as skinny and naked, the music rang and the thugs were stunned by the scene in front of them. Perhaps they were touched by the old man and they stopped. Beaten up, slowly evacuated from the hospital one by one. The camera followed them out of the room, into the corridor, and then left the group of people, shaking to the right, the face of Janos hiding in the dark appeared in the camera, his face was full of horror, and his eyes did not blink. This scene made me feel how powerful the power of images and music can be. In fact, this can't be expressed in words at all. I can only watch and listen, and then I am shocked to a mess.
In Bella Tal’s films, the scenes are also the protagonists. In his words, "there are also faces". He and his wife (also the editor of all his films) often take a year. To find a suitable shooting location. "Whale Circus" was filmed in seven different locations. Due to the frequent shortage of funds, the entire film took three years to shoot, using seven photographers. However, this did not affect the overall feeling of the film. All the scenes, especially the location, are always a dilapidated and desolate scene. Listening to the sound of the wind and the crows of the crows, watching the falling leaves on the ground, the fires on the square, the smoky smoke, people's shabby clothes, and bitter faces, one can always feel a bit of cold and sadness. When asked why his movies always feature ugly places and ugly people, Bella Tal said, "This is my country. This is our world." He hopes that people are watching his movies. After that, I can understand a little bit more about their lives, how the people of Central Europe live, and what is happening there.
What exactly does Bella Tal want to express in such a movie? He said that he hopes he is closer to life, not closer to the movie. He used his own way to show the reality he knew, poverty, chaos, irrationality, lack of faith, and violence. Although he claims that his films show Hungary, in fact, his films have a global character because he focuses on people and their living conditions. It can be said that this situation does not vary because you are in a different country. different. He said in an interview: "Film records real life. It is very simple and certain. We try to think about the quality of life, because everyone has only one life, so how to spend this life is very important. To understand life The quality is very important."
The reality in his films and the reality in neo-realistic films have both similarities and differences. The difference between them is that they care about people and their situation. But neorealism cares about people in society, and it often adds political factors, and Bella Tal said directly, “Politics is dirty. My movies have nothing to do with politics. Politics shouldn’t be any art. The object of expression.” In addition, the people in the neo-realistic movies are extremely social, and the people in Bella Tal’s movies seem to have removed the mask of society and can exist in any nation in the world. Or in the country, the town in this film has no name, only the lingering poverty and desolation. His movies are about disillusionment. People always believe in something, but in reality, faith is finally shattered because faith is based on illusion. Just like the music theorist in "Whale Circus", he hoped that everyone would start to use pure law again and give up the twelve equal temperament without divinity, but in the face of reality, he gave up this idea. And Janos has a sense of reverence for the universe and God. On this point, in addition to the first scene mentioned just now, we can also cite other examples: In his small and tattered hut hangs a A map of the world; when he saw a giant whale for the first time, he admired it with a reverent expression. He told everyone he met that everyone should look at the huge animal created by this god. Amazing thing, God created such a strange animal to make himself happy. But in the end, such an innocent person was chased by the circling helicopter with nowhere to escape, and in the end he could only sit in the mental hospital without a word. Speaking of this, everyone may wonder if Bella Tal wants to rebuild religious beliefs, but he said that he is not a religious person, and this is only because religion is part of life. Therefore, for Bella Tal, life is the highest principle, and his only purpose is to faithfully represent life.
The difference between "Whale Circus" and neo-realistic movies lies in the form. The truth of neorealism is to extend the lens to the streets and alleys, to show society and people in a way that resembles a documentary, to abandon artificial lighting and choose non-professional actors; and Bella
Tal’s reality is shown in another form. Each of his shots is carefully designed. The lighting, photography, and scenery are all the result of careful consideration. An exquisite 10-minute long lens is impossible. Finished in an arbitrary way, the editing disappears between the long shots, and his editing principles follow the psychological rhythm, not the story rhythm. In addition, "Whale Circus" also features surreal characters that don't appear in ordinary realist films. This refers to the prince who only uses shadows in the film. The birth of the prince is very modern, because at first it was the circus boss who gave this foreign language thing for business reasons (calling him something because I really can’t be sure if this is a person) "Prince" As a result, the prince was out of the control of the boss. Whenever he went to a place, he called on people there to get up and destroy everything. From the perspective of the prince, everything in the ruins was complete, but everything in the construction was incomplete. Complete. Bella Tal used the role of the prince to criticize the commercial society here. The things created in pursuit of profit eventually betrayed him. It represents the destructive power of nothingness.
Someone complained that this film made people unable to see hope, but he himself did not think so. He said: "I think we are full of hope. You made a film, and believe that this film can exist in the next 50 years. After someone Will see this film, this is already the greatest optimism." Bella Tal cleverly led the problem to creation, thereby resolving the question of whether the world represented by the film is hopeless. He does not admit that the world in his eyes is a dark world, but in my opinion, this work is indeed a little hopeless, but the scenes that move me in the middle have become hope for me, even if I don’t believe it. Gods will also sigh the mystery of the universe and marvel at the mystery of life. Perhaps moving can also be used to escape the weight of darkness. In the last shot, the music sounded sadly. Mr. Ester walked across the square with a cane. The truck carrying the giant whale had been torn apart. The giant whale was lying alone in the middle of the square. Mr. Ester walked to the giant. In front of the whale, looking at the whale's huge eyes, those eyes are so gentle, it seems that you can catch a glimpse of its soul. He turned his back to the giant whale and walked slowly towards the camera. The thick fog filled the entire screen... I can only say, everything is silent, calm down, watch and listen, you will find this movie The charm of movies.
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