Historical subjects with strong experimental colors

Marcellus 2022-01-23 08:05:28

The Argentine female director, who has been away for nearly 10 years, still sticks to the same author style as before, and delivers a treacherous work. I want to use experimental historical themes as a work that summarizes this multi-theme discussion. We watch a lot of conventional Western historical dramas, either it is a court drama with a life-and-death fight, or a war poem full of blood and iron horses, and then it is material desire. The love-hate feelings that are erotically provocative. However, under the lens of Martel, it is difficult to see these same routines. The director adapted a literary work for the first time, describing a Spanish sheriff who was born in the colonial period of South America. He had always hoped to be transferred from this colonial situation, but in the end he involuntarily moved towards an absurd ending. The magnificent historical narrative disappears in the oil painting-like images. History is no longer a rushing torrent, but a pile of fragmented events, leaving only the male protagonist to deal with the daily details that trouble the mind. The extremely critical factor in the historical subject of "time" appears to be slow or even stagnant in the strong author style. This seems to be closely related to the protagonist's career, family, and destiny. He has repeatedly faced setbacks, and it is difficult for him to escape from the heavy bureaucracy and self-esteem privileges. He looks a lot like the K in Kafka’s famous work "Castle". He is convinced that he can be transferred out of the colony, with indescribable arrogance and frivolity (verifiable from his treatment of subordinates and ladies) , I gradually realized that I was just the sand that was eliminated by history. Moreover, his deep-rooted colonial thinking is also constantly pushing him towards a situation where he will eventually become irreversible. In addition to the fragmented view of history, the director puts more emphasis on sound processing, breaking the traditional vocal style of historical themes with experimental and bright means. In conventional historical films, audiences often hear Italian operas that provoke emotions, or orchestras that set off a magnificent atmosphere, but in this experimental historical story of Martel, the soundtrack used is the same as that of Wong Kar-wai's "A Fei". The sound of the ukulele is exactly the same, constantly creating the mysterious and dreamy atmosphere of the South American continent. In addition, the audience can more clearly hear the calls of insects, birds and horses, countless sounds from the forests of South America, and more strange sounds of unknown origin. Some of these voices are used to outline the special colonial environment, and more are used to portray the psychological changes of the protagonist. For example, in several scenes, the protagonist suddenly has auditory hallucinations, the words of the characters around him are obviously hidden, but a gloomy and strange voice emerges. This example is more prominent when the protagonist is constantly in trouble in the second half of the film. This processing method of giving narrative meaning to the sound of the external environment can be said to be a horse

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Extended Reading

Zama quotes

  • Gobernador II: What are you writing?

    Fernández: A book, Governor.

    Zama: We need to draft a letter to be sealed and...

    Gobernador II: A book? A book? Make children, not books. Learn a lesson from our Magistrate, Manuel.

    Fernández: I can't know how my children will be. But I do know how this book will be.

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