Unmissable Balzac

"Unruly Beauty"

The film sets its sights on audiences right from the start: naked women, as well as painters and models. However, when you look at it, you will find that the naked women are not attractive enough, because they do not conform to the aesthetics of the Chinese people; and more importantly, the painter and the model are innocent from beginning to end. However, I was still fascinated.

Because the film actually interprets the process of painting by a great painter François, let us fully understand the charm of body painting.

First of all, the painting method used by the great painter François in the film is actually very Chinese, and he often uses ink to smear to achieve the shadow effect. Of course, what directly reflects his master level is that each stroke is quite decisive, and the overall effect is quite vivid. It should be said that the movie at least found a good stand-in, especially in that era, there were no computer special effects, and the person who painted was definitely a painter.

Secondly, the film shows the inner psychology of a painter, especially a painter who was once brilliant and then tried to find an opportunity to break through himself.

The foreshadowing for the painter is also sufficient (the direct and indirect expressions of literature are also used), the female model Marilyn's lover Nicola is also a painter, but Marilyn is very jealous to complain to the art dealer friend: He cared more and more for François than for me. From another point of view, when the art dealer took Marilyn and Nicolas to Francois's house, and talked with Francois about a painting called "Bad Beauty", through the dialogue, we understand that the painter spent " Five years", but the painting was still only a "concept," even though the painter believed that the painting must exist somewhere. The painter also talked about his inspiration for the painting: it was the title of a high-class prostitute in the seventeenth century - Catherine Lescault, with a legendary life. Reading her biography... I suddenly wanted to draw a picture, an intuition, it was three o'clock in the morning, I couldn't sleep... Besides, I also talked about another picture: "A Small Town in France" is also very interesting , It is said that after an old man pushed his wife off the train, he committed suicide by hanging himself at home. That's where it happened, the house was given to him by the Duke of Ducey, and I heard that his children were not doing well, all the children...all went to the agricultural school, and he had twelve children. Obviously, every painting has its story, the motivation behind it.

Of course, the painter is also in crisis of his own. It has been a long time since he worked, so that he had a conflicted mentality about his studio: being able to find peace there, but also feeling irritated by his recent works. His idea was this: every time I'm going to finish a painting, finish it... I always say to myself that I should try harder, try again, take on the challenge. (Ever ruined a painting for "working harder"?) Several times. Taking risks is necessary, but not everyone can afford it. Not everyone can innovate. I think all artists, even if they are not talented, should take risks, and those who are incompetent are not counted... I am too impatient, I have lost interest in everything, I want a masterpiece, otherwise I will not talk about it.

Once again, through Marilyn acting as Francois' new model, we have an in-depth understanding of the painter's creative process.

On the surface, Marilyn expressed her unremitting devotion to her boyfriend for saying that "painting is for the truth" and "the truth is cruel, and the canvas needs to be stained with blood", but on the other hand, she was eager to become his model. Obviously if she loves Nikolai, it is better to say that she loves painting and is obsessed with talent.

At the beginning, it should be said to be a warm-up or a running-in period. At this time, François just asked Marilyn to pose in various poses like a student sketching, and then drew on the sketchbook. From Marilyn's conversation with Francois's wife Liz (Liz: Frenho is a gentleman, you don't have to be afraid of him. Marilyn: I'm not afraid of him, never, I just don't know what to do), we The importance of this run-in can also be understood. François must gradually grasp Marilyn's inner body from the outer body, François said: I seem to be a novice in painting you, so... I want to be like a student, starting from the back, looking at you your skeleton, your balance, how you stand and turn. And Marilyn also needs time to reveal herself. So, they started chatting.

Francois and Marilyn chat about their former models, and about their wife Liz (one of them, what's her name? I kept her for a long time, she has a kind of... kind of Cold, provocative, almost aggressive. She looks clothed when naked and naked when clothed, just the opposite of Liz). Then from Liz, he talked about the understanding of painting, the key to his own success: at first I was the one who wanted her, not the one who wanted to paint her. I felt scared for the first time, and that fear became my driving force. A change of speed, like a whirlwind, I'm blind, a tactile painting. As if my fingers could see...they were painting themselves. That's what I'm after, it's what I want. Yes, it is! Later, I may be...became a real painter. And in the dialogue, we also know why the painting "Bad Beauty" with Liz as the model did not continue. François said: Why didn't I continue to paint? I'm bored, or rather, she's bored. And Liz's statement corresponds to it: at first he painted me because he loved me, and later he didn't want to paint me because he loved me. Either I choose one or the other, he said.

Francois apparently found another "inspiration" from Marilyn, who finally released her true self. The two merged into one, completing the painting. Francois said: I want to see inside your body. You are not free and neither am I. I liked to shred my toys as a kid and wondered...how many models I tortured...until they fell apart. I dislocated Liz's shoulder once. The whole body, not a part...whether it's breasts, legs, lips...I want more, I want everything. Blood, fire, ice... I want everything in your body, I want to take it out of your body and put it on the canvas. I want to know...what's under your surface...I want that invisible thing. I want lines, strokes. No one knows what the brushstroke is, but I'm chasing, run, run... Where is the end? Sky? Why not? Why can't it be amazing? No chest, no belly, no thighs, no buttocks. Whirlwinds, stars, tides and torrents... black holes! The original cry, didn't you hear it? This is what I want from you. I'm going to kill you and you're going to collapse. Let's see what's left of you...when you forget everything, don't worry, you'll be back...if you want.

Obviously, this expression comes from the mouth of a Western painter, but it tells about the Eastern artistic concept: abstraction to essence, complacent. Marilyn also realized it, she said: It's not me that you want to paint, it's you who said it, it's you and it's not you. Francois said: Not just you, far beyond your imagination. .If this painting is real enough...that's you. Marilyn also helped François discover herself: I said to myself, I'm a fart. That's how you think about me. Look at my face, that's the only part you forget. How you draw is your business...let me be myself. Let me find my bearings, my movements, my jet lag. If you don't like it, just do it. When I first came here, I was reminded of the chapel at my boarding school. School life has a bad side...and a good side at the same time. A lot of things not allowed, I've been depressed, every morning... I curl up in bed with a frenzy burning inside... like this. Finally they had enough and kicked me out, why am I continuing now? Not the same thing, no... but the frenzy... is back. All night, like back to before I met Nikolai. That's why the title of the film is "The Uninhibited Beauty". It also happens that Marilyn finds the inner frenzy, the essence of the "bad face" that François wants to capture. So, soon François finished the painting. When she saw her husband collapsed on the sofa in the studio when she was done, Liz said: Do you know what I thought this morning when I saw you... sleeping in the studio? I thought you were dead. Francois said: Me too, I am dead. It was a strange kind of love... lying in the grave for the first time. I want to know what to do when I die from exhaustion. After François was finished, he hid the painting and built it in the wall with cement (to achieve an attractive and not disappointing effect, the audience never saw the front of the painting). Then, another painting was made, and it sold for a good price (Finally, the conversation with the painting dealer about money was interesting. François: There is nothing to say, the language in the painting is useless. The painting dealer: You are right, let's talk numbers).

Finally, we also saw the mystery of love.

Although Nicolas admired François, as a painter, he understood that Marilyn's role as François' model meant that the two had to have a collision of souls. So when Marilyn left herself to be a model, he was in pain. Likewise, Liz, a former model for François, knows better what it means for her husband to use Marilyn as a model for the painting. There was even a pent-up anger when the husband painted out his previous portraits (the half-painted "Beautiful Woman" and even painted Marilyn's butt) (of course, François had a valid reason: I There is no other way, if I remember and regret all the way, my work cannot continue). Although Francois and Marilyn did not cheat on each other. But we see that Nicolas and Marilyn can no longer be together, and we also know that it is very likely that François and Liz, who are growing old, will eventually be separated because of this painting.

It is more convenient to understand in Buddhist language and thinking. Whether it's love or something else, it's always "destined to exist", and "Bad Beauty" is the fate. François's love for Liz at the time led to his paintings and fame. But when the desire to create the painting "Bad Beauty" appeared, Liz's personality and identity did not correspond at all, and she knew about the appearance of Marilyn. The painting is completed, the fate is exhausted, and the rest are far-fetched and fragile.

At first I thought this was a movie, a movie that allowed me to see the "understanding of painting" (although it may not be the case with real painting), a work that can be based on deep research and thinking, and can even show art In addition to the charm (the works of art can also be art for the sake of art), they also reveal in-depth thinking about love (not only art, but also ideas, pondering and enlightening human nature and human feelings). Then when I checked the information, I found out that this was actually an adaptation of Balzac's novella "Unknown Masterpiece". Think about what you have missed! Art and love are the pursuit of human detachment, and Balzac actually completed a classic so skillfully, but we only know "Human Comedy" or something.

Of course, there are still shortcomings in the film, that is, there are too many dialogues and not enough conciseness. As a novel it makes sense, but a movie shouldn't. 2018-01-03

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