"Wing" is hailed as "the last glory of the silent film era". In my eyes, "Wing", as a war romance film, is a contradiction between childishness and maturity.
From the perspective of love, this is a very popular, misunderstanding and dramatic four-cornered love story. The children of the family and the ladies of the family are happy, but in the end they are always separated from each other; the cheerful young man becomes the third corner without knowing it. After awakening, he turns around and reaps love with the girl next door who has been in love with him for a long time. This kind of character relationship and the strong gap between identity and ending are not uncommon in literary history, such as "A Midsummer Night's Dream", but it is more common in contemporary film and television.
In addition, the relaxed string music, black and white unit and subtitles create a lively "eating melon" perspective, which is more difficult in terms of empathy (except for comedy). This is one of the reasons why the emotions in romantic dramas are not delicate enough to make people feel sudden changes. I don't think "Wings" is so amazing in the love scene, or even slightly naive.
Childishness is also shown in character performance, which is a common feature of silent films. Without lines, the emotions, anger, sorrow, and joy are expressed plainly like children, sometimes more exaggerated than stage plays, like the opening scene on the grass, and the two are as happy as three-year-old children. As the story unfolds and the plot follows up, the naivety of this perception is slightly reduced.
"Wing" also has a lot of brilliance, mainly in war scenes. The air combat scene is truly unique, especially in the era of imperfect technology, it can still achieve mature camera movement and smoother editing (some skip frames). The fighter jets, trenches, and shells are so realistic that people can't help but wonder if they are actually shots. Regardless of the answer, it is an affirmation of its technical level.
"Wings" is far better than love in war, and it lies in the exploration of the depth of war (and the breadth of love does not integrate well with the depth of war, which is one of the reasons why the element of love is slightly naive).
"Wing" fully demonstrates the cruelty of war and the humanity in war. Whether it's David's farewell to his parents before leaving, Jack's madness in Paris, or the brotherly murder caused by misunderstanding of the camp, all convey the characters' aversion to war and the desire for peace, and the cruel expression of the film's humanistic feelings. What impressed me at the end was not the perfect love between Jack and Mary, but Suvia who was waiting for her lover on the swing (the combination of love and war, I prefer David and Suvia, but unfortunately it only appeared at the beginning and the end), and getting David's parents grief after the lucky bear.
In summary, "Wing" has surprises and deficiencies, but under the circumstances at that time, it is already a landmark work in film history, and it is indeed "the last brilliance of the silent film era."
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