I watched "The Stray Dog" first. I am a fan of Iranian movies. I watched all Iranian movies that I could search for. What's more, this film is about the story of Afghanistan. It is set in the background of the US military's annihilation of bin Laden and the ouster of the Taliban, reflecting the lives of ordinary Afghans. To be honest, the story of the film is not too bad, a very simple story, but it is shown through the eyes of two children, and it can still move people. The two little actors in it are also very good, especially the little girl, her eyes can talk. Of course, the story in the film is a bit too deliberate, deliberately to be politically drawn, deliberately to create all kinds of coincidences, but to make the story a little unreliable. The elements you want can be involved in the story of the film. It seems that the film is based on the preferences of the international film festival, and you can shoot what you want. This is also a tendency of recent films in small countries, especially those countries that have repeatedly won at international film festivals.
However, what I dislike the most is the kind of stubbornness shown in the film, the kind of unstoppable energy that doesn't reach the goal, the kind of filming that deliberately twists the audience. In fact, the very twisty characters in the film are everywhere in Middle Eastern movies, especially Iranian movies, and it has even become a style of movies there. This kind of twisting also makes the characters in the film full of distinctive personalities, which is impressive. Many internationally award-winning West Asian or Iranian films have almost this kind of twisted characters. But after watching a lot of such movies, there will be a kind of aesthetic fatigue. The twisting of the character’s character contradicts the audience’s psychological expectations. On the one hand, the audience sympathizes with the character’s experience, but on the other hand, they wonder whether their tragic fate is more or less related to their twisted character. A little bit related?
"How I spent this summer" was actually very well shot, at least the scenery is beautiful, it is a difficult place for you and me, it is located on a small island in the North Pole. The characters described in the movie are also difficult for us to come into contact with. Two staff members who have been doing observation work on the small Arctic island for a long time only communicate with the outside world regularly through a radio station. It’s not right to say that every day is actually wrong. It’s hard to tell which day it is. This is the Arctic summer and the sun will always hover over your head. This film is very similar to Tarkovsky. The shots are slow and poetic. The long shots show the beauty of nature and portray the hearts of the characters. For such a film, you only need to be patient, indulge in the life and scenery that is different from ours, and slowly listen to the director Yoyo telling you the story.
However, I couldn't settle down, and even got up and left several times. The shots are beautiful and the story is full of tension. Although there are only two people in the movie, the texture of the story is very dense, the plot is also very tense, and full of suspense. What makes me unpleasant is not the smoothness of the movie, not the viewability of the plot, but the psychological twist of the characters. And this twist is exactly the basis of the whole story. Especially the psychology of young employees feels incomprehensible. Originally a news about a colleague's relatives, just tell the colleague directly, whether it is good or bad, when going out, the most worrying thing is the safety of the relatives. However, in the movie, the director asked the young employees to hide the news, and he was reluctant to disclose the news, which eventually led to catastrophe. Think about it, is it necessary? I don’t know what kind of psychology the young employees hide this message. Maybe the Arctic environment will distort people’s psychology? In the end, the understanding of the old employee is also very puzzling. Although it shows the tolerance and generosity of this old meteorologist, it is for a person who failed to let himself see his dying relatives for the last time, and deliberately exposed himself to nuclear radiation. How can you easily forgive with a hug? The director is immersed in his story and philosophy here, but the audience feels that the film is full of twists.
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