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If the old version of "Thunder in the Earth" is regarded as a story, then the Coen brothers' remake is equivalent to remembering the past. Correspondingly, the new version of "Thunder on the Ground" has undergone a significant change in perspective, transitioning from a sheriff to a little girl. Under the premise of shortening the film length, the little girl's narration was added at the beginning and the end, which added weight and vicissitudes. It turned out that she was also recalling the past. In the vertical axis of thirty years, memories have produced a fascinating sense of depth.
There are many kinds of westerns, most of them are tough and rough. This time, in addition to the necessary tough guy image, the new version of "Thunder in the Earth" incorporates a slightly sentimental lyrical remembrance. The old version is fast-paced, like an autumn outing in the western suburbs, and the happy ending is like a beautiful fairy tale that a little girl loves to read. In the new edition, these are all gone, and the Coen brothers' practice of exploiting their strengths and avoiding weaknesses is worthy of recognition. At the beginning, the new version of the tone was a bit sentimental, in the sentimental, the little girl lost her father. Until the end, she and the sheriff were on separate sides and could not see each other.
The little girl chose to avenge her father. With the help of two policemen, she succeeded. But just as the murderer paid the price for the crime, the little girl also paid the price for revenge. The old version is heroism, so it doesn't need a price. But the new version of the protagonist is a little girl, if she can retreat all over, then the Coen brothers would be too lazy. The so-called price, one after another. "Old Nowhere" also has a similar interpretation, the perverted killer kills everyone, as if above everything else. In the end, he couldn't escape the other ring, and he was hit by a car directly, which was also a price.
It should be said that the new version is more true to the era, and the atmosphere of the scene also looks gloomy. Winter, heavy snow, night, cold rain, and snowy nights appear one after another, and the weather is unpredictable, which seems to indicate that the results are unpredictable. Once it was waiting for the stalker, but it turned out to be the doctor. Once I lost my confidence and decided to give up, not wanting the little girl to run into the murderer.
In terms of character, the new version also has a lot of changes. The little girl became more resolute. Take the Texas Mounted Police as an example. In the old version, he was just an embellished supporting role, and later he died in vain. In the new version, his character is also strengthened, without the mindlessness and disappearance of the old version. He left the team twice, but it turned out to play a vital role. As for the sheriff, the old version of John Wayne has a good image, teasing cats, playing cards, and after annihilating the enemy, his clothes are not dirty and his hairstyle is not messy. The new version of Bridges will be much more complicated, and his heroism has shrunk a lot. This gentleman was unfriendly to the Indians, was too lazy to deal with the corpse, shot away the panting Xiao Hei, these all showed the complicated side of his personality. To survive in a harsh environment, he must show the evil side (the new version has a strained relationship with the Indians). From the most intuitive point of view to distinguish the differences between the two versions of the characters, it comes from the appearance. The little girl has a big model, and it is not an exaggeration to describe it as a rough one. The sheriff's blindfold changed from his left eye to his right eye, and the horse police's cleanly combed hair was simply messed up and untidy.
In the opening scene of the new version of "Thunder from the Ground", the lights are dim, from blurry to clear. The female voice narration appeared, and the camera slowly advanced, a corpse and a horse ran out on the ground, and then merged into the scene of the murderer fleeing, and faded out of the shady scene. The two shots are straightforward, typical storytelling. The last time such an impressive opening in a Western movie was "Assassination of Gunslinger", which is also a fascinating soundtrack and pictures, which is a "heard". In the third shot, the little girl appears on the train, and the glass reflects the strange scenery outside. Her expression is not easy, she can be seen thinking in the car, corresponding to the front camera. In the fifth shot, getting off the train, the train drove away, and the block of Fort Smith appeared. The Coen brothers condensed a lot of information in the lens. If it were an ordinary director, it would take several times the lens.
This omission is necessary. After all, many viewers are familiar with the old version of the story. Then she climbed a tree to recognize the corpse and learned how to survive in the wild, all of which can show her growth. During the period when she was sent to the doctor, the sheriff kept ramping up, and the little girl fell into a coma. Without the horse, hug and walk. It took five minutes to shoot the day and night and the star movement, which is really moving. The lights in the dark far away not only illuminate the little girl's life, but also give the audience an indescribable emotional impulse. But it was here that the sheriff disappeared into the vast snowy night, disappeared into the little girl's life, and became a past event. 【The Bund Pictorial】
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