(Spoiler alert) The "realistic" sex scenes are used as the focus of publicity, but they are actually misusing gods, because "The Tribe of the Deaf and Mute" (too quiet hustle and bustle; The Tribe) is positioned as a minority active in the film festival circle. " "Art" movies, the audience probably knows, even if there are sex scenes, it is very likely that it does not bring joy, but disgust. The sex scene in "The Tribe of the Deaf" is not the focus of the play at all, it is violence, and it is also provocative of "pushing the audience away."
Of course, most of the violent scenes in mainstream movies are entertaining, while some niche movies that deliberately examine violence (or other dark sides) do the opposite. The creators of these films often deal with violent and sexual scenes in a cold tone, restrain the role of the soundtrack (to avoid the audience’s emotions being affected by the soundtrack), and force the audience to focus on watching; the shots are mostly medium/long shots, placing the audience in the spectator’s The angle hinders their input or creates a sense of identity with the role. This kind of "cold and violent" movie may express the characters' encounters in a slow pace and plainly, and then when the audience feels a little relaxed and puzzled, the violent shock comes suddenly, but the onlookers cannot bear to watch it. In recent years, examples of this type of film include Mexico and France co-produced "After the School Bullying" (After Lucia's departure; After Lucia), as well as the works of Austrian director Michael Haneke, all have a gesture of "pushing the audience away." The paradox is that the audience is not completely driven away, but placed in a place that is beyond sight, creating a feeling of "seeing him suffering, but unable to intervene."
Another "selling point" of "The Tribe of the Deaf" is the setting of full sign language, no dialogue, and no subtitles. It is undoubtedly very bold to push the audience a bit further, because it clearly treats movies as entertainment The audience is driven away, attracting only those niche people who are willing to see the theater as a challenge.
The story is set in a special school in Ukraine. The main characters are all deaf-mute people and communicate in sign language. Therefore, the audience of "The Tribe of the Deaf" has more language barriers than when they watch other "cold violence" movies. Although director Miroslav Slaboshpitsky cleverly allows the audience to understand the plot through the characters' body language and encounters, the language gap prevents them from investing in the inner world of the characters. The protagonist is a transfer student, but the school is a crime syndicate, and both teachers and students have a share. The protagonist has to join this gang in order to survive, and is gradually entrusted with important tasks because of his talent. They steal, prostitution, and become prostitutes but fall in love with a female classmate who is about to be sold. The sad thing is that he can only enjoy her as a client. Although she has a good impression of him, his desire is getting stronger and stronger. If he wants to possess her, then they will not have good results-on the one hand he There is no space to learn how to love others, and the girl he loves is only the possession of his desires. On the other hand, he is jealous of love and prevents the group from doing business.
The screenwriter puts the actor in a lonely position-as a deaf-mute person, he is already a disadvantaged in society, and his feelings of guilt, intolerance, and reluctance are all exposed to the audience in the criminal group. However, when the audience expects that he will gradually decay like others, he becomes an enemy to everyone (even the girls he loves are also willing to prostitution, can make money and enjoy sex), and finally become a more evil demon than others. Committing an even greater crime and moving towards a sad ending. The group wanted to sell the girls to foreign countries, but the protagonist who had been relegated to idlers snatched the passports of the girls he loved and destroyed them, and was severely beaten by his "comrades." They may think that he is dead and go to sleep in the dormitory, but they are killed one by one by the protagonist returning to revenge in their dreams.
The director composes the whole movie with a lot of straight shots, medium or long shots, and each episode is presented in real time to give the audience a sense of presence (but not a sense of involvement). The audience's position is more horizontal than the character's eyes, and they are arranged to be on the sidelines through the camcorder. For example, a few bad students in the upper class taught the junior class in the toilet, and the audience was like one of them, watching the junior class student being beaten. In another abortion scene, a female student seeks an abortion from a black-market female doctor. The operation is performed in the bathroom. The director makes the audience stand at the door of the bathroom, watching how the ruthless "doctor" inserts pieces of tools into the girls' lower body. , The audience watched the girl in extreme pain, but couldn't intervene.
Of course it is impossible for the audience to intervene in what is happening in the movie world, but if it is a crime scene broadcast live, can the audience intervene? In fact, we look at the screens of TV and mobile phones every day, knowing that there are so many bad things happening, and how much space can we intervene? Therefore, the provocative nature of these "cold violence" movies is not only that their presentation of violence and sex does not bring pleasure (such as mainstream movies), but is disturbing, yet compelling to look directly at them. The design of full sign language, no subtitles, and no soundtrack allows the audience to concentrate on watching the actions and encounters of the characters. After they are accustomed to the lack of voice, they are shocked by the few voices that match the violent plot (such as girls who are unable to scream) Screaming with pain during the abortion; the sound of the protagonist hitting the enemy's head with metal multiple times during the final revenge). These processing techniques present a sense of reality, and it is this sense of reality that is provocative for the audience.
Sins happen every day, good people will also fall, violence cannot solve the problem but it is inevitable, the audience can only stand by and watch-is it true? The play actually didn't say that it was "adapted from a real event." So is there really such a criminal group in Ukrainian schools for the deaf? Maybe when the audience takes the initiative to understand what is happening in different worlds, we have the possibility to leave the bystander position.
(Originally published in "Times Forum" Issue 1456, July 26, 2015)
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