Analysis of "The Silence of Lorna"

The works of the Darney brothers have always been known for their objective reality. Most of the characters are from the lower classes of society. In their works, they often use documentary-style pictures to express authenticity and directly attack the weakness of human nature. In "The Silence of Lorna" they also use the same expression to describe the means and results that a woman takes to obtain Belgian citizenship.

1. The inner struggles of the lower class

In the films of the Darney brothers, the influence of money on people is always discussed, showing the fragility of human nature, expressing the relationship between characters and the environment through daily trifles, and refining the theme of human nature through the capture of reality. The heroine in "Beautiful Rosetta" kept fighting to get a stable job, but in the end she still failed to commit suicide because she couldn't pay the gas bill. In "The Silence of Lorna", the heroine Lorna decides to obtain Belgian nationality through a fake marriage, but in the middle she feels guilty about the drug addict's marriage husband, and after killing the drug addict, she fantasizes that she has his child. This is the entanglement between good and evil. In the end, the characters in the Darney Brothers' works are not what they want, and reality always pushes them to the bottom.

As an Albanian heroine, life in the original country must be difficult, so she tried every means to obtain the citizenship of the Western European country Belgium. The difficult living environment forced her to flee her hometown, but she had to endure the choice between good and evil in the process of escaping. The heroine originally had a dream. She hoped to save a sum of money and open a bar with her beloved boyfriend. The joyful tone and expression when she called her boyfriend in the store room showed her desire for the future life, but the reality is always deprive her of her right to happiness. The gangster driver is the representative of evil, and he has been convincing the heroine to co-murder the addict, and the addict's death is the key to the success of the matter. But the heroine who participated in the evil still has kindness in her heart. Her relationship with the addict is full of care and love like a mother and child. It is this special way of getting along that inspires the heroine's guilt. So she wanted to make up for the fake husband by having sex, and only after the compensation was able to ride a bike on the street with laughter. The striking part of the film is the episode where the heroine feels pregnant after the addict dies. Through the design of the lines, the director made the audience first think that the heroine was really pregnant, and then overturned the truth, which then led to the scene of the heroine fleeing frantically to protect the child. The child has always been a symbol of hope. The heroine thinks that it is her own mistakes that lead to the death of the addict. In her heart, she hopes that the addict will survive, but it backfires, so the heroine has a false pregnancy reaction, eager to use her body to let the addict die. Life goes on. At the end of the film, the heroine lies on her side on a wooden board, stroking her lower abdomen and talking to a non-existent fetus. The seemingly crazy behavior shows the absurdity of life.

The character of the addict is also very interesting. His weak appearance and frequent need for drug treatment reflect his weakness, and his attitude towards the heroine shows his dependence on the heroine. When the heroine refused to buy him painkillers, he knelt down and held the heroine's thigh and begged. When the drug addiction attacked, he hid his head on Rona's chest. When Rona helped him water, he grabbed Rona's wrist like a child, although they were not The real relationship between husband and wife also lacks the normal feelings between adult men and women, and is more like the dependent relationship between children and their mothers. The drug addict's need for Rona's dependence inspired Rona's motherly love as a woman, which led to false pregnancy reactions and pregnancy fantasies. The image of the drug addict was successful, and his weakness and personality prompted the changes in Rona's psychology and actions.

2. Documentary art techniques

(1) Sports lens and natural light

Telling stories from an objective perspective is the style of the Darney brothers. In this film, the 35mm shoulder shooting method just meets their narrative needs. More medium-length shots not only ensure visual fluency, but also increase reality. It also expresses the relationship between the characters through the scheduling changes of the characters in the lens. For example, the scene of Lorna and the Russian dancing in the bar takes Lorna as the visual center. First, there is a double mid-shot of Lorna and the Russian, and then the Russian gesture makes the translator enter the painting from the right side. At this time, the picture becomes Medium shot of three people. In this scene, Lorna is alone on the left side of the screen, and the two men are on the right side of the screen together, showing their opposing relationship. With the entry of the gangster, the two men became the foreground, and Lorna was squeezed in the middle of the picture and blocked, showing a directional relationship. Another example is the scene where Lorna packs her luggage. The camera always follows Lorna, and the supporting roles are always ignored in her trajectory of action. The supporting roles appear less frequently or only have voiceovers. But halfway through this long shot, the visual center of gravity briefly changes to the gangster driver, which reduces visual fatigue. When the gangster driver came to Lorna, the focus of vision returned to Lorna. The camera also follows Lorna throughout the rest of the sequence, moving with her movements. The medium shot keeps the audience at an appropriate distance from the characters, and focuses on the characters while showing more of the surrounding environment.

Japanese director Naomi Kawase is also known for his documentary-style video style. Although he prefers handheld photography like the Dana brothers, their video styles are still quite different. Kawase Naomi focuses on expressing the relationship between man and nature, so her films show more natural landscapes, while the Dana brothers focus on expressing the relationship between man and society, so urban landscapes appear more in her films. Director Naomi Kawase's images are dominated by backlighting, and the silhouettes of figures formed by the backlight create a sense of mystery and aesthetics, which can reflect the sensory experience of human beings in nature. In the images of the Darney brothers, although the city landscape is the main focus, they rely more on natural light to satisfy the exposure. The lighting design based on the smooth light restores the reality of life.

(2) The metaphor of color

The colors that appear in the film complete the characters' images and express their psychological state. Red is the representative color of the protagonist Rorna. Rorna often wears red clothes. In this film, red represents Rorna's passion for life and desire in her heart, as well as her sense of unease. Lorna has a dream of opening a bar. Whenever she gets a sum of money, she always celebrates with her boyfriend happily. She looks forward to the future life, but in reality, she always faces one trouble after another, which causes her troubles. Uneasy, this is the conflict between ideal and reality. There is always hope between ideal and reality to guide Lorna forward, and whenever things turn around, there will always be a yellow bus in the picture. Yellow represents hope and joy, and the yellow bus moving forward represents how things are going. Lorna's working environment often appears on a pure white background. The white environment and white clothing give people a clean feeling, showing Lorna's innocence.

3. Conclusion

The Darney Brothers' films all contain the same narrative method, and similar formal techniques repeatedly present the director's values ​​and pursuits at the levels of social relations, human nature and morality. Hand-held photography and subdued colors convey a sense of earthy realism and shock. The plot is patiently laid out, showing a gripping texture.