The film director Karatozov was an advocate of poetry films in the 1950s. He believes that "the real movie must be a poetic movie! It should be so in terms of drama, image processing, and means of expression." He said: "The thought and intention of producing a film should be expressed through the color of a broad poem." Because "the leap of poetry can give the artist a philosophical point of view from a high place, a forward-looking spirit and high spirits." ". However, Karatozov does not exclude factors other than poetry. He said: "Poetry film and rational film are not two parts separated by an insurmountable abyss...A work that combines these two factors will gain new and powerful power."
These views of Karatozov are clearly reflected in "Goose Flying to the South". The characteristics of the film's poetry are no longer simply manifested in metaphor, symbolism, and analogy. It runs through the whole idea of the film. There are a lot of "prose-style" depictions in the film, but even these passages are permeated with a poetic atmosphere. The portrayal of the hero and heroine’s love in the beginning of the film (walking along the Moskva River, tender words in Veronika’s house) is certainly full of poetry and painting, but it is the later treatment of Veronica’s miserable situation (Veronica Deeply missed Boris, the scene where Veronica ran to the bridge and prepared to commit suicide) was also poetic, not to mention the scene of seeing off at Veronica station and the phantom of the wedding that appeared in front of Boris when he died. Passionate picture. You can think of "Goose Flying to the South" as a long lyrical poem. It consists of many paragraphs, and each paragraph is a poem.
The characteristics of the poetic film of "Goose Flying to the South" are particularly expressed in photography. It embodies the theory of "emotional photography" that appeared in Soviet films in the 1950s and 1960s. This theory advocates that film photography should not be a record of objectivism, but should have a strong emotional color. Photography should "intervene" the life represented by the film, so as to more deeply impress the audience. The photographic art of "Goose Flying to the South" embodies this proposition. Take a show off at Veronica station as an example. Veronica walked through the crowd, looking for Boris. The camera closely followed Veronica and also walked through the crowd. From Veronica starting to search in the square, to the end she saw Boris in the team from a distance and tossed the biscuits away. Most of the 11 shots were close-up shots, only three middle shots and one panoramic shot. This creates an immersive feeling for the audience. The wobbly scene that walked through the crowd was like a subjective scene that represented Veronica's sight, and it also showed Veronica's nervousness and excitement. As a result, the audience also became nervous. The strong emotional color of the lens affects the audience. Another example is the scene of Boris' sacrifice, which has become a famous passage in film history. When Boris was shot in the woods, he suddenly raised his head and looked into the air. At this time, the lens was facing the sky, and the sun in the clouds suddenly shrank, as if it were far away. Then Boris leaned on a white birch tree and slowly slid down along it, and then another shot of the white birch tree. The birch tree spins in the direction Boris slid down the trunk. Then there are long subjective shots. On the background of the rotating birch trees appeared the vision of Boris: he and Veronica came down the stairs slowly after their wedding, and the white gauze on Veronica's head flicked Boris's face. Surrounded by flowers and people, the illusion gradually faded, and the birch trees were spinning faster and faster, as if to be pressed down. The camera seemed to slide suddenly from the treetops to the ground. Then in a mid-range shot, Boris fell straight into the puddle with his hands open. A total of 10 shots were used in this scene, basically close-range and mid-range, they clung to the audience, the emotional fluctuations of the moment before Boris's death (the film extended this moment for a long, long time, this is the way of poetry) The performance was so exciting that the audience was heartbroken and they had forgotten everything around them. This is the power of "emotional photography".
In short, although "Goose Flying to the South" represents the major issues of the times, it is not a philosophical film. Its power does not lie in logical reasoning. It mainly appeals to the emotions of the audience, and relies on the rich artistic image to shake the audience's soul. From this perspective, "Goose Flying to the South" is a very successful poetic film.
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