(I’m talking to myself, don’t waste your time) An
80-minute movie is really like a small piece of chocolate cake to me. In the afternoon, I have a cup of grapefruit tea, pile up a 50-centimeter-high cushion, and lie down without any scruples. On the floor, walk into another world of light and shadow, and easily spend the most nostalgic afternoon of the day.
How wise to choose the French film "Afternoon with Marguerite". I really don't want to imagine the regrets I would have left without knowing it if I missed a movie like this, even if the regrets were insignificant. In short, it is a 100% recommendation, because of a wonderful feeling, it is like the "Ode to Joy" played on the tip of the tongue by popping candy, which offsets all the troubles outside.
I fell in love with this film almost within the first two minutes of the film, and when it was performed for thirty minutes, I had a strong emotion to record it, and at the end of the film, it seemed that I still had unfulfilled expectations until I saw it. After Chaz and Margaret were in the shadows of the road, I remembered that I had to do something urgent, and hurriedly ran to the bathroom with my pants up.
Gerard Depardieu deserves to be a French national treasure actor. There is no role that he cannot control, not to mention that most of the French movies are inseparable from the scaffolding of life. Even if they rely on imagination, they will never deviate from the credibility of reality, which makes it easier to see the strength of the actors. In films such as "Take Out Your Handkerchief", "The Count of Monte Cristo", "Shut Up You", "Dub", etc., the characters created by Depardieu are almost not the same. Become a diamond.
In the movie "Afternoon with Margaret", he quietly brought a twelve-point surprise. He played such an extremely ordinary ordinary man. His name is Chaz, he seems to be in his fifties, he has a beautiful and kind girlfriend as a bus driver, and an old mother who "doesn't fit" with him. He has been suffering from "dyslexia" for most of his life, but it is definitely life The "strong man" of his family works three or four odd jobs, and occasionally goes to the market as the boss to sell the fruits and vegetables he grows. Very popular, willing to be the pistachio of others, and solve problems for friends for free.
In this way, it still lacks the three-dimensional effect, and it seems that only the outline of the character is mentioned. What's inside is his humorous and simple character, the timidity and inferiority wrapped in "indifferent", the hurts and defects left by his growth experience, and the indifference that seems to be confused but is actually clear at heart. Of course, the most important thing is his kind soul. By meeting an equally kind and unusually elegant and learned old woman, Margaret, the film allows Chaz's suspended life to find its way back to the spiritual palace.
It's better to imagine Depardieu's vivid face, the bulging beer belly hidden in the belly pocket of denim overalls, and the flowing mushroom head tucked in the back of his head occasionally, such a cute old urchin, I hope it's already in you stood up in the impression. Of course, this is not his stage alone. There is also a character who is also amazing - the 95-year-old Margaret, sitting on a bench in the park, her frowns, smiles, and every move are all gorgeous with sunshine. It is really a blessing to be associated with an elegant, smart, and wise old man. You can feel the difference in life. Although life cannot bypass the twilight season, the spirit is like a seed that blooms and bears fruit. Everything has only a new beginning and never ends.
Come to think of it, the bait effect at the beginning of the movie was well done. Looking back, I felt that Chaz was carrying the administrator behind his back and secretly wrote his name on the Heroes' Monument again and again. This is very exciting. Seemingly sticking to the theme, everyone is special, unique, and a hero of existence. Not only this, he counts the pigeons in the small park, gives them names, and comes every day to check the number of pigeons, to know the ones that have left, and to confirm the new arrivals. Until finally accepting the most precious gift in his life - Margaret, Chaz's actions all showed his fraternity that he cared about those things that were neglected and abandoned, and also reflected the extraordinary in the ordinary.
I have to emphasize my personal feelings, the leisurely time Margaret and Chaz were reading in the park is what made me very obsessed with this show. This movie is so good, because it made my belief in reading more firm from the image. Reading is the most beautiful, although when it leads you from ignorance into thinking, it will bring you the pain of hesitation, discouragement and disappointment, but it will eventually bring you into a world of light without darkness and make your ego humble , powerful and full of charm. Just like Chaz gave up looking up the dictionary for the first time, thinking that he couldn't read, "happiness" may be more. His giving up will turn into a natural process of transformation and progress in the second recovery.
Having said so much, I always feel that many French films are like a kaleidoscope, with more and more wonderful details, various metaphors, and various philosophies. "Afternoon with Margaret" is no exception. In fact, it has richer connotations. After all, it is adapted from a novel. For me, the most serious moral is to convey equality and love. If Chaz is one of us because he lacked the care of his parents in childhood and was discriminated against because of dyslexia, he is one of us, then Margaret is the book that helps us discover and accept ourselves the messenger.
In fact, I think this is a film work in which the director used images to annotate Camus' "The Outsider" and "The Plague", if the form of the original novel "Afternoon with Margaret" is not considered for the time being. "The Outsider" is the frame of the story, and the spiritual world of Dr. Rieux described in "The Plague" is the philosophical core of "first suppression and then improvement" in the film.
These two works are not only plainly understood from the texts that Margaret and Chaz read. The design of the characters is obviously also built on the cornerstone of "The Outsider". Meursault's (outsider's) indifference to his mother who died in a nursing home, and his zeal as a socially accessible person, both manifest themselves in another way of being in Chaz's relationship with his mother, of course. Part of it was transferred to Margaret. And the people around Meursault, who appeared in court as Meursault's friends, seemed to know the friends next to Chaz in the movie.
There are more references to details. "The Outsider" begins with "Today, my mother died... I asked my boss for two days off, and for such reasons, he couldn't refuse me. However, he didn't seem very happy. I even told him, "It's not my fault." He ignored me. ", the pen entered the state. Back in the movie, "Afternoon with Margaret" is just near the end, and it also uses the topic of death, the scene where Chaz's mother died alone in the attic, as a prayer before the end. Emotionally, Chaz treats his mother with less indifference than Meursault, but don't expect him to live peacefully with her before she dies.
In "The Outsider", Marie wants to marry Meursault, Meursault doesn't care, it doesn't matter whether it is married or not, she is an outsider. When Marie said that she would like to know Paris, she asked Meursault how Paris was, Meursault Disappointingly, he replied, "It's dirty, with pigeons, and a dark yard." Back in the movie, Chaz refits these. Paris, with Chaz's figure, looks warm and relaxed, with nineteen Only pigeons are famous and valuable, and the yard full of fruits and vegetables is full of life's taste. Very neat connection.
In another place, in "The Outsider", old Salamano, the caretaker of the nursing home, and the old dog he lost, the friendship between them, as Mrs. Roman said, "The more people I know, the more I like dogs." In "Afternoon with Margaret", Chaz and the cat who read with him are also used to continue a kind of communicable consensus. And Meursault sent his mother to a nursing home, and he didn't even know how old her mother was. Chaz stayed by his mother's side despite being "insensitive" to his mother, and knew clearly that the old woman, Margaret, was 95 years old. This reverse association is very interesting. Speaking of it, there is no end to it. Maybe I am pretending to be smart, but this association seems to be interpreting other people's perceptions, and it feels good.
In this regard, I would like to say a few more words about "The Outsider", in which Camus became an advocate of absurd literature and established the writing style of "absurd world". Its deep purpose is to expose the indifferent and absurd society in Camus' eyes. He shaped "these people are out of tune with society, always feel that it is an accidental mistake to live in the world, and thus regard themselves as an 'outsider' who has nothing to do with the world". Those who are dominated by this kind of thinking still exist in the twenty-first century, and Chaz told Margaret that he was not the crystallization of love, but an accidental product, and a continuation.
Of course, I'm just trying to relate to their inner spirit, I personally think "Afternoon with Margaret" is a tribute to Camus' philosophy. In order to find a new way, to go in the opposite direction, not to touch the politics of war, not to indulge in absurdity or despair, but with an attitude closer to the psychology of modern people, it gently portrays the "outsider" state of being separated from the sense of society. And the whole theme is optimistic, which also sets the film's perspective of looking up to literary masters, and there is absolutely no extravagant hope of subversion or analogy.
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