Everything in this world is becoming ambiguous, whether it is people's emotions, attitudes to life, or even government orders and current situation. Events and information change too quickly, and our attitudes become more susceptible to swaying, not just to the outside world, but also when there is no one around and facing ourselves.
We live in an era of abundance of materials and no storms, but we always feel crisis-ridden, everything is precarious, and we often fall into endless doubts-including self-doubt.
The 84-year-old Polanski’s new work "Adapted from the Truth" also attempts to present such an ambiguity and uncertainty, as well as the horror behind this ambiguity.
The film is adapted from the novel of the same name and tells a story about the writer. The best-selling author Delphine (Emmanuel Seigner) faced an inspiration crisis and was unable to write. At the same time, she was threatened by letters from anonymous readers. At her best-selling bookmark sale, she met a mysterious fan Elle (Eva Green), for the first time When we met, Delphine was deeply impressed by her. However, she did not expect at that time. In addition to understanding her like a mind-reader and the countless mysteries on her body, Elle would also bring her to her life. A huge crisis.
The film has a good beginning. Close-up shots of book fans expressing their admiration and gratitude to Delphine at the signing event one after another, the accumulated anxiety slowly climbed up, just when the writer was about to explode, Elle appeared, breaking the touch of anxiety Feeling, the music also sounded at the right time, reminding the audience to focus.
When the two French goddesses Emmanuel and Eva face each other in the camera, I have to say that this is an exciting moment. These two non-traditional actors, their previous roles were not "normal". According to ordinary people's standards, they were either perverted (Mimi played by Emmanuel in "Bitter Moon") or unruly cold ("Crack") Miss G, the female teacher played by Eva Green), the female nerve hits the female nerve, and it takes a special spark to make sense.
It is a pity that although Eva is still charming, the ghostly and mysterious atmosphere revealed in the performance did not break through her previous role. Although the writer played by Emmanuel is different from the past: uncut, frustrated, weak The characters lost their light together, so that the later reversal also seemed insufficient (of course the bugs in the plot have to carry a bigger pot). As for the two people wrestling with each other and even the climax of the front, it can't attract too much effect to make the audience sweat.
In an interview, Polanski mentioned that the two actresses got along very well during the filming. It seems that the relationship between the actors and the quality of the work is not directly related. Maybe the relationship is worse and sometimes more useful, such as "Langui Jingbian." "Betty Davis and Joan Crawford are torn apart in and out of the play."
However, compared to the actor's charm and acting skills, it is the plot that feels more plain or even disappointing. Polanski, who has always been good at slow cooking to create a thrilling atmosphere, has lost his hand in storytelling this time. Before, whether it was in "Rosemary's Baby", "Cold-Blooded Horror" or "Strange Tenants", the psychological changes of the characters can be traced, and clues can be found in the environment and personality, so the thrilling atmosphere is concentrated step by step, Climbing to the highest point is a matter of course, but in the "Adaptation of Truth", the considerate female book fan blackened into a parasite that wanted to swallow the host, but there were many bugs. For example, Delphine did not hesitate to post his social account. Taking care of Elle. The plot of Elle dyeing her hair and changing clothes to speak for her is also completely unconvincing. The two men have no similarities from their faces to their body shapes. It is too difficult for the audience to believe that they can deceive normal people. . And later in the third part, Jump Scare, which is not advanced at all, appeared, too unlike Polanski. Where did the upside-down and anamorphic shots that gave people a sense of pressure and anxiety in "Cold Blood"?
"Adapted from the Truth" in Polanski's sequence of works, I am afraid that it will be placed far behind. Although it can still be seen, there is no breakthrough at all. Counting from the short film studies he shot at the Lodz Film Academy in Poland, he has been a director for more than 60 years. At this age, he has tried various types and styles, and is as curious as Polanski. Should he start? Slow down and change the focus of life?
However, looking at these flaws aside, the story of "Adapted from the Truth" is not completely plain, it is still a bit interesting. Although the role played by Eva Green is also a gunner writer who is looking for a knife, it is in a different direction from Polanski's "Shadow Writer" before. As a political thriller, the story tension of "Shadow Writer" is generated between the individual and the environment, and comes from the outside ; while the foothold and the source of the sense of horror of "Adapted from the Truth" comes from within the individual -a writer Interactions with her works and creative behaviors, resulting in various associations and entanglements, which are also the internal driving force that promotes the development of the plot.
It is also different from "Ten Days in Dangerous Situation", although the main plot contains the meaning of "book fans trying to control the writer", "Ten Days in Dangerous Situation" is still a thriller about external threats.
"Truth Story Adaptation" is actually a process of wrestling between the inner selves of a writer, like a split personality, but with differences. The emergence of other "personality" of the writer stems from creative anxiety .
The reason for this anxiety is that, compared with ordinary people, writers squeeze their creativity and imagination more frequently, so they are more likely to fall into bottlenecks and self-doubt. On the other hand, the authors of fictional works often have to enter the characters like actors, or even "become" the characters themselves, in order to create convincing and infectious characters and works. They are both creators and works and characters. Itself . In addition, the relationship between writers and works is also extremely delicate. They devote all their energy to their creations. Often writers describe their creative process like this, "I often feel that it is not that I am writing novels, but that the characters themselves express and express Push the plot", the so-called "hand of God". Generally speaking, one's own work is like one's own children, but once the work is delivered for publication, it no longer has such a deep connection with oneself, and is another existence independent of one's own.
In terms of creative significance, a writer’s work is both his own painstaking effort and even himself, the creation completed by God through his own hands, and it is completely another person, an other .
In "Truth Story", the name Elle is just a pronoun in French, meaning "she". In fact, it is not a real name. It is just a sign and symbol. The relationship between this "she" and the author Delphine, From the perspective of the creator-the work, the above-mentioned mapping relationships will be produced. Of course, this is just a way of interpretation, not necessarily the original intention of this story.
The fuzzy boundaries between writers, works and characters are a very good source of dramatic conflict and horror, pointing to a series of ancient and long-lasting questions: Who am I? How to establish the position of self in this world, and who can prove my existence?
For me, Polanski has always been good at horror themes. Whether it’s the feature film debut "The Knife in the Water" or the early filming for a living, the script was written while sitting at home and clapping his head, but then "accidentally" Becoming a classic "Cold Blood Horror", or his most famous "The Pianist", later sadomasochism film "Bitter Moon" and "Venus in Fur" five years ago are all depictions of the dark side of human nature , Like the audience opening the entrance of a black hole, showing the process of every beam of light being swallowed.
Polanski's story has always been curious, bold and unexpected to the audience. The unpredictable dark places in the story are without any moral judgment. Their mystery and uncertainty are fascinating enough. For Polanski's past works, "Adapted from the Truth" is obviously not good enough, but I will still look forward to his next one, if there is any.
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