"The Good Man in Three Gorges" gave me a long aftertaste.
Movies in this world generally have two kinds of aftertastes. One is that the filming is really good, the movie is over, and every time I remember, the more I think about it, the better, so I walk around the beam for three days, and the aftertaste is long; the other is that there are too many confusing places in the movie. In the process of watching the movie, I didn’t fully understand, so after the movie, I tried to think back and figure out what was going on. This is also a kind of aftertaste. After understanding, if these detailed explanations deepen the depth of the original theme or better explain the development and evolution of human nature, then it is likely to continue to memorize and become the first type of long-lasting nature; but if the details, doubts Although the explanation is clear, it is not very helpful to deepen the theme and portray human nature. Then the aftertaste only serves to complete the story. Once it is complete, the story is finally over, and the aftertaste also ends.
My aftertaste of "The Good Man in Three Gorges" belongs to the last situation.
Overall, this movie is pretty good. With high intentions, there are too few movies in mainland China for such sensitive and heavy realistic themes as the Three Gorges immigrants. Count the recent mainland movies, such as "The Banquet", "Golden Armor", "The Ballad of Clouds and Water", "Crazy Stone", "The Big Movie", etc. In the end, they are good or bad, but at least in terms of historical responsibility, they should all Tribute to "The Good Man in Three Gorges". In the same period, Falling Leaves Return to the Roots, although the subject matter is very close to common people's life, with a cold and humorous way of describing the suffering and suffering of the bottom of society, but in terms of the sense of weight, The Good Man from Three Gorges still wins. It can be said that Jia Zhangke is a director who has long since broken away from the "little literati style". He has his own ideas and a higher level of artistic pursuit. In terms of performance techniques, Jia Zhangke's delicacy is once again revealed. The two clues in the movie—the coal miner Han Sanming came to Fengjie to find his ex-wife and daughter, and the female nurse Shen Honglai to find her husband’s divorce in Fengjie—all moved at an extremely slow speed, and every detail and expression of the protagonist were not let go. Although this is occasionally boring in the process of watching a movie, it is quite true and necessary from the perspective of character portraying. Of course, such a slow pace has further increased the requirements for the authenticity of the performance-actors cannot rely on "acting", rather than having to melt into the role first, Han Sanming is Han Sanming, Shen Hong is Shen Hong, dialogue is also good for body movements. Well, they are living real in the lens, and they cannot be exaggerated or excited for the lens. At this point, the two clues mirrored each other and performed quite brilliantly. In addition to the delicate rhythm and performance, the film composition and color are also very commendable. The cool tone of blue, green and gray serves the theme appropriately. The beauty of the landscape of the Three Gorges is compared with the artificial mess in the demolition. The feeling of "change" is more than half revealed on the screen.
But in addition to these excellent "grand principles", many details in "The Good Man in Three Gorges" are very confusing. For example, the alien flying saucer, the Three Gorges Monument rising into the sky and the tightrope walking at the end. In the first two places, although ridiculous in a realistic film, the pulling and pulling can finally have an explanation. For example, the flying saucer just connects the two parallel stories. After the take-off of the Three Gorges Monument, the take-off of the Three Gorges Monument is not so good because of the previous foreshadowing. It's inexplicable. As for the implication, it may be a miracle, or it may be just a romantic stroke in the suppressed story. The flying away of the monument may also be a covert attack on the destructive nature of the entire Three Gorges Project; the final tightrope walk requires some background knowledge. It is said that the cocoa wheel back then He and Adili once walked a tightrope across the Three Gorges. The director probably wanted to use this detail to express the meaning of the Three Gorges stage: floating light and shadows, people gathering and people scattered. These puzzling details are exactly what I called the "last aftertaste" at the opening of the article: after the aftertaste, I have basically guessed the meaning of these details, but found that these parts did not enhance the film itself, so I remembered. termination.
Here, I would like to compare the 2006 American movie "The Prestige". The movie is about the obsession and madness of two master brothers and magicians about magic. One takes turns on stage with his brothers to enjoy the cheers and applause, and one self-sacrifice and self-destruct the replica to continue the artistic life: both human natures are annihilated in madness. The film’s rhythm is slow and fast at the end. The foreshadowing and small details in the front are well organized and well-organized. Although it is not exquisite, it is always done in detail; the rhythm is getting faster and faster in the back, and all suspenseful solutions are solved. It was carried out at "supersonic speed", and my mind was as slow as mine. Before I fully understood it, the story ended in a climax. In the same way, I also began to recollect the film—because the causes and consequences are too chaotic, I have to sort out the story—slowly straighten out the story and connect the front and back connections one by one. Only then did I discover the main point of the story. This loss of human nature in fanaticism, regardless of the way of expression of the brothers, is closely related to some of the blanks omitted in the film. The rich aftertaste of the blank highlights the theme, which makes people admire the depth of the story, although there are also regrets about the impatience of editing.
And these "strange" details and a lot of artistic blanks in "The Good Man in Three Gorges"-the omission of the plot, such as why Han Sanming suddenly came to find his ex-wife who had been separated for 16 years, and how Shen Hong and her husband began to fall apart; Emotional fault, why is Han Sanming so stubborn and persistent? Shen Hong decides to abandon the past and go to a new life because of her new love, or to clean up her broken love with an attitude of complete disappointment in life-in the promotion of the theme of the film Chinese help is limited. To put it another way, if the movie is to show a disintegrating social turmoil, then these omitted contradictory details are not enough for the "big society"; if the movie is to highlight the suffering of the people at the bottom, then these omissions will be omitted, and it is completely unnecessary. I don't think about it. To be more clear, are these blanks a part of the whole movie's grand plan, or are the directors themselves the result of exploring and exploring? Of course, there is another possibility that what the movie wants to show is life. The role of the director is to drive the eyes of the audience to see a phenomenon and an existence through his lens. As for what this phenomenon and existence actually represent, the director may have one idea, and the audience may have another idea. Therefore, the film does not say anything, and responds to changes without change. In this case, there is still a question of "degree" for the blankness of art: how much blank space is left to prevent the director's voice from dominating the movie, and can't say too little to make the audience confused and inexplicable? How to master the most perfect degree?
Although I know that it is a stupid act to analyze an art work from the intention of the creator after it is created, rather than the reflection and feelings of the viewer/receiver, but to answer the above question, I have to start with the creation. From the perspective of the artist to experience the blankness of art. If the blank is a clear part of the detailed planning at the beginning of the filming, then I must admire the director's foresight-no matter whether the final effect is ideal or not; if the blank is accidental, or the director himself is puzzled, the blank is the solution A means of this kind of doubt: let's think together! Then I think the director's artistic level is a bit short. Of course, the final result is likely to be exactly the same as the far-sighted one, but accident is accidental after all. Just like lucky, I don't have a deep grasp of the overall situation in my heart, and I might not be so lucky if I make the next movie like this. For "The Good Man in Three Gorges", I can't analyze what kind of state Jia Zhangke is in. I think he has thought deeply about some of the details and blanks. For example, Shen Hong is holding a mineral water bottle and drinking; some I think he is in "I don't know how to pretend to understand, so I play mystery", such as the last tightrope shot, I think it is very hypocritical. I can’t think of these omissions in plots and emotional faults. Are these necessary means of expression that are familiar to the heart from the beginning, or a clumsy parody of “It’s cool and it’s a good autumn”, even though the audience’s final acceptance may result in all The same-mixed reputation, love and hate.
The blank of art, how empty and white is the best?
Speaking of this, I have to mention two movies that I personally enjoyed very much in 2006: "Little Miss Sunshine" and "Pan's Labyrinth". The common feature of these two films is that they both left an extremely wonderful artistic blank. "Little Sunshine" came to an abrupt end after the central contradiction broke out. "Pan's Labyrinth" wandered through the two worlds of reality and illusion. Until the last second of the end of the film, people continued to speculate and sigh. In terms of plot, at least the parts shown in the film are intact; in terms of emotion, the two films are smoothly connected. Although segmented movies have become more popular recently and have become a common method used by directors to create suspense to drive audiences, the above two movies all proceed in a chronological order. However, these two films are both "the more you think about it, the better you feel." The more you think about it, the more admirable the director's structure, the wonderful details and the depth of the theme. Such a long aftertaste is achieved through the artistic blank of a different angle from "The Good Man in Three Gorges": the complete contrast of the story process and the blank of the ending.
There is also a film full of blanks, "Elephant" which I have reviewed before. The blank of this film lies in the "viewpoint". The director spares no effort to show the details, but never goes to the front of the scene to summarize the comments. Everything is nothing. Experienced by the audience. The reason why "Elephant" is excellent is that the audience is "involuntarily" driven to think actively. All of this is based on the director's preconceived vision, and nothing is "artistic accident." The blanks in "The Good Man in Three Gorges" are like Jia Zhangke going in and out on the screen, as a "narration" to remind the audience what he wants to say, I personally find it a little offensive. In other words, the artistic blanks in "The Good Man in Three Gorges" are some places where space is not enough, and some places are not enough. It seems that they are basically arbitrary, and there is no unified "guiding ideology" before and after.
All the discussions about artistic blanks mentioned above are from the perspective of creators. From the perspective of the audience, none of this may be important, as long as there is an aftertaste, whether it is accidental or consciously inevitable. Moreover, the aftertaste itself is too personal and varies from person to person. Those who like Jia Zhangke psychologically accept his style first, and the better the aftertaste will be; if you don’t like it, curse inexplicably or "pretend to be a big clove of garlic." It's over. As for whether being aware of the importance of artistic blankness is helpful for watching movies, I also leave a blank space for everyone to express their opinions.
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