"I Serve the King of England" filmed by Ely Manzo once again became internationally renowned in 2007. This film, also adapted from the novel of the same name by the Czech writer Hrabal, won the 2007 Berlin Film Festival Fabici Award. Prior to this, "The Train under Close Surveillance" and "Larbar Lost Wing", which were also adapted from Hellabar's novels by Ely Manzo, also won awards at world-class film festivals such as the Berlin Film Festival. It seems that Yili Manzo and Hrabar have achieved a tacit understanding. The literary charm of Hirbar can be generous and glorious with the help of the image of Ili Manzo, and the two of them have cooperated as many as 6 books.
"I Serve the King of England" tells of the little waiter serving in major hotels in the Czech Republic and finally becoming a millionaire, and his life is interspersed with the history of Czech invasion and socialist reconstruction after World War II. Herabal wrote the legendary life of this little waiter with his unique Czech writing style-humorous and witty, ridiculed and permeated with bitterness. With the help of the magic of the image, Ely Manzo made the story of Herabal presented to the audience with a full range of visual experience, and a vivid picture in the text leaped on the paper, leading the viewers to accompany the little waiter Experience the magical world together.
Ely Manzo does not copy the original novel as it is. In the novel, Herabal writes in a reminiscence-like first-person narrative form. The novel is divided into five chapters in the order of time. In the film's narrative, Ely Manzo broke the last chapter in the novel-the little waiter's labor transformation into a mountain forest retreat after he was released from prison-as the starting point of the film's narrative, and combined the montage into the first four one by one. In the gap between the chapters, a contrast between the present and the past is formed to express the philosophy of Herabal in the novel, and this philosophy comes from the author's loyal oriental philosopher Lao Tzu.
Herabal likes Laozi’s Taoism and the natural Eastern philosophy. Many of the words in "The Tao Te Ching" have appeared in Herabal’s novels. In "I Serve the King of England", the author served as a small servant. The dramatic life, the ups and downs, contains Lao Tzu's philosophy of "worries and blessings depend on, and blessings and misfortunes". He also expressed Lao Tzu's propositions about what he did and what he didn't do with the experience of serving prominent nobles, African kings, and the ending of wild mountains and forests and animals. In the movie, although the contrast also exists, but it is very thin. The salesman of the oligarchic mountain forest reunited with the goodness of encounters, and the end of the beer drinking together has a romantic affair, which is still a bit worse than the original novel.
Probably because of the need of film narrative, Ely Manzo inserted many clues throughout the film. One is a mirror, the other is an old salesman who appears repeatedly and helps the little waiter, and the third is tossing coins. small change. The role of the mirror in the film is different from that in Fassbinder’s film. In order to express the alienation between people, it is more of the need for self-worth awareness of the little waiter. He uses the mirror to look back and seek The affirmation of self-worth, and the pen and ink of these little waiters who pay attention to self-dress in the novel contrasts well with each other. The old salesman in the movie is just the enlightenment of the millionaire ideal in the novel, and has not reappeared since then, but in the movie he repeatedly appears in various chapters after the little man, even with the little man at the end. Recluse in the mountains and forests drinking beer. Although the old salesman evoked the dream of a small millionaire and also taught him to throw away change, cover the floor with paper money, etc., it is worth noting that in the original novel, the small man always wanted What you get is only the affirmation of his identity by others, not the pursuit of money and wealth. Therefore, in the first few chapters of the novel, change, costumes, etc. are thrown away. In fact, they are no longer repeated in the later chapters, but changed. Cheng asked to become a millionaire and went to jail, wearing a medal, opening a "break hotel" and showing off in front of his peers, among other actions. However, the film has repeatedly emphasized the throwing of change, which is very simple compared to the original novel.
Many wonderful chapters in the novel are reproduced one by one in the movie, hosting generals, princes of Africa, German pure ethnic bases and so on. However, it is a pity that the two scenes of escorting the "Golden Boy" and entertaining the Prime Minister in the tranquil hotel were deleted from the movie. And the more than 300 sets of gold tableware needed to entertain the Prince of Africa in the Paris Hotel did not mention it. These are actually very important in the novel. The "Golden Boy" incident was the reason why the little man left the Quiet Hotel, and the golden tableware almost caused him to leave the Paris Hotel. The purpose of these plots in the novel is to show that although the small man tries to converge with the upper class people, he cannot be affirmed by it. Even if he shows off his wealth and changes his attire, etc., he fantasizes about being equal to other people, but he still cannot be them. A member of. These are also in response to the plots of the Germans not clinking glasses with them and not being recognized in prison during the second half of their marriage, and the protagonist is portrayed as a small man, largely because of this identity and value recognition. These are not portrayed in the movie.
The second half of the chapter in the novel is very exciting, but it is the place where the film is weakened. The glorious scene when the little man used his life savings to open the "fault hotel" in the film together with the plot in the Millionaire Transformation House, perhaps this It is because of political constraints, which is really a pity. The paragraph of the love story between the little man and his German wife is actually a part of the conflict between the little man and the Czech nationalism. He did not hesitate to marry a German woman in order to be recognized by the upper class in the Czech Republic. It may be a bit far-fetched to say that, but Germany During the occupation of the Czech Republic, the plot of the couple returning to the Paris hotel to show off their wealth in fact partly hinted at the impure purpose of the little man's marriage. And the repeated occurrence of "Czechs were massacred while I was undergoing genital examination by a German doctor, in order to obtain proof of marriage with the Germans" is also a manifestation of the inner conflict of the little man. However, these parts are not emphasized in the film, they are just passed by in a rush, and even the mentally handicapped son who can only knock the nails is not born in the film.
Despite the above differences between the film and the original novel, from the point of view of the film alone, "I Serve the King of England" is also a very brilliant masterpiece. The most beautiful part may be the use of montage in the film. The use of editing is obvious in the aforementioned intersecting passages of the present and memories. Often after a scene in the past, it will be smoothly edited to the present tense, forming a contrast. In the genital examination part, in order to show the scene in the little man's mind, a set of montage shots were also used to realize the parallel intersection of space and time on the screen. Moreover, in the wooden house, the little man erected three mirrors, and each mirror showed an image from the previous chapter, completing the process of introspection in the little man’s spiritual world. The montage here is also a stunning feature in the film.
In addition, the feature of the film lies in the variety of expressions. The sausage-selling scene at the train station at first seemed to be a tribute to Lumiere’s "Leaving Jerusalem by Car", in the form of a silent film and the scene of chasing the train. The elephant is teasing "The Train Robbery." In the latter part of the story of the German invasion of the Czech Republic, the director used black and white film materials and other materials, which is very characteristic of the new wave. Moreover, the footage of the film is very smooth, smooth and beautiful, which makes the rhythm of the whole film very compact, condensing the important scenes and paragraphs in the original novel of 140,000 words. It is not procrastinated and redundant, but more like feathers. The gentleness, which is in line with the characteristics of the original novel.
Herabal is not to criticize or record a history of humiliation or oppression. The text of the novel is very relaxed and humorous, with ridicule and jokes, and the pen has penetrated the back of the paper with bitterness and desolation. The characteristics of this writing are not only here. It is reflected in the book "I Serve the King of England" and runs through many books such as "Too Much Troubled Solitude". And Yili Manzo did have such skills and skills, in reproducing Herabal's dream-horse imagination, he went one step closer to exaggerating the atmosphere of words, exaggerating the ease and humor and the bitterness and desolation afterwards. Whether in "I Serve the King of England" or "Wingless Skylark", "Pearl of the Sea" or "Train under Close Surveillance", you can experience this. The method of the director is actually very simple. On the one hand, he uses a brisk and bright tone to reproduce the relaxed and humorous chapters of Herabal’s novels as much as possible, to show Herabar’s unconstrained imagination, and then he uses silence, The thick lens creates a blank space after the entertainment, forming a sequence of opposition, giving the audience space for contemplation.
Postscript: The same spirit can be seen in most art fields in the Czech Republic, and the most obvious one is the film. It is hard to imagine that a nation with a history like the Czech Republic has suffered aggression and humiliation, and was killed by harsh politics. For decades, these artists have been able to present such innocent and brisk works. The skill is really not covered by Calvino’s lightness, but more of what the Czech nation is born with. Created by the spirit.
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