Martin was a movie kid in the New Hollywood Movement in the 1960s and 1970s.
Synopsis:
The good guy has a span of more than 30 years, mainly about the ups and downs of three gangsters. The film is developed from Henry’s perspective. He is a teenager of ordinary Italian descent who lives in an Italian neighborhood. He has seen the activities of gangsters since he was a child, full of envy, and finally he dropped out of school to work for the gang leader Paul. Paul is a very powerful man. people. Henry was arrested for the first time for selling cigarettes thrown from the truck, but he graduated in the eyes of the gangsters, and congratulated him. At the same time, Henry’s guide, Jamie, granted him the principle of the gang: never betray friends and keep his mouth shut. This became Henry’s principle of dealing with things, so he became a good guy in the gang. In addition, he and a teenager Tommy served Jamie together. Tommy met Jiayun and became his wife.
Due to his bad temper, Tommy killed Billy, a gang member who had just been released from prison, and the three of them had to destroy their bodies. Without permission from the above, the three of them were always anxious. At the same time Henry had an affair, and his relationship with his wife deteriorated, and was soon arrested and imprisoned.
Henry started selling drugs after he was released from prison, which violated Paul's regulations. Soon they settled a big case and stole $600w, but the problem of looting led to an internal massacre. Finally, Tommy's killing of Billy was revealed, and Tommy was assassinated on the grounds of joining a gang. Later Henry was arrested by the police for drug trafficking, and Paul Jamie and other gangsters were afraid of implicating themselves in preparing to kill. In this case, Henry chose to cooperate with the police and testified against Paul and Jamie. Since then, he has been protected by the police and lived an ordinary life in Canada.
1. Artistic characteristics
1 Ways to deal with the gang life with ease
Although it is a gangster movie, there are not many fires and fierce gun battles. The film is very calm and makes the audience feel cruel. In contrast, the cruelty in the godfather is strongly dramatic, more intense and lacking in authenticity, but it weakens the cruelty of the gang. The film’s treatment is just the opposite. The cruelty of the gang is an understatement. It even uses a narration to tell the audience what is the difference between real gang murder and the movie: the real gang never talks nonsense, and always hits the target directly. .
In the film, Tommy's killing of the male hostess is a sudden, emotional behavior, killing has become a natural part of life, without any exaggeration. It was this attitude that made him more brutal, and his death was a sudden shot, karma. The handling of this kind of murder is very calm, even to the point of deliberately downplaying it. This kind of handling separates it from other gangster movies, making the brutality particularly credible. It also shows that this is not a film that delights the audience with intense scenes and thrilling actions. It is a profound thing that the audience sees in the gang theme. This kind of processing diverts the audience's attention from the professional life of the gangster, so that people are concerned about their psychological history.
2 Fusion of documentary and subjectivity
The main purpose of the film to downplay the lively scenes is to enhance the authenticity of the film. For the sake of authenticity, a lot of documentary performance techniques are used, such as the use of long shots. In the second half of the film, the presentation of Henry's life in a day is to use subtitles to prompt, which is almost a documentary way of expression, which provides objectivity. But at the same time, the film appears from Henry's perspective, disassembling the reality of the action, showing the influence of actions and events on the character's psychology, and expressing a kind of psychological reality of the character. This reality is not objective reality, but a subjective reality. The combination of subjectivity and documentary is a great feature of the movie.
2. Character analysis
·Henry
The essence of Henry's dream is the American dream. It is a deteriorating American dream. The movie first sees the life of the gang through his eyes, and then expresses the life of the gang through his life. He believes that the essence of dreams is money and power, and the way is either to be a president or a gang. Here the meaning of the gang has expanded, not only the gang, but also the epitome of American society. The gang members killing each other for money and power are in fact a reflection of the same nature of the means of people in society. The positive American dream may also often be the source of leading people to make mistakes.
·Henry's growth history-from loyalty to betrayal
When Henry entered the gang, he learned the principle of dealing with things: not betraying his friends and being tight-lipped. This film reflects Henry's growth history, and it is a story from loyalty to betrayal. Henry's ending violates the previous principles, and the result is another form of punishment: living the life of an ordinary person. For Henry, who has longed for gang life since he was a child, this kind of punishment is the punishment for his dream.
The beginning of the film is a flashback, the scene of three people killing in the trunk of the car, freeze-frame flashback. This scene has a turning point for Henry. It can almost be said that this scene changed his destiny, changed his view of the gang principle, and created doubts. Tommy's execution deepened his fear, reflecting that when he saw the helicopter surveillance, he did not think it was a police tracking, but felt that it was an assassination by a gangster. Therefore, when the police arrested him for talking about routine routines, he was relieved, because if he were a gang, he would die without hearing this.
·The significance of Henry's three arrests-the in-depth process of understanding the gang.
During the period when the teenager was arrested and yearning for the life of the gang, he obeyed the rules and did not leak secrets, and since then he has officially become a good guy.
When he was arrested for the second time, Tommy vowed to take care of his family, but in fact no one took care of his wife. His living expenses depended on his drug trafficking in prison. He didn't sit still, knowing he could only rely on himself. During this period, the friends of the gang became partners who could only share benefits. His tight-lipped mouth did not bring actual benefits to him. This was an important turning point in his understanding of the gang. Therefore, after being released from prison, he no longer takes Paul's words as his motto, but actively fights on his own: drug trafficking. After robbing 6 million, Jimmy began to assassinate related people, which stimulated Henry even more, because he found that these friends could not even share the benefits. The principle of gangsters was completely empty talk. These so-called codes of conduct were just good guys. It’s not about friendship, but to protect yourself.
The principle of the third arrest was also lost. When he was desperate, Paul was indifferent and gave him only a little money, and Jamie even wanted to kill him with suspicion. At this time, in Henry's eyes, the way of the gangster had become a scam, so he cooperated with the police to end his gang life.
The three arrests are the blind reverence of the three stages of development-a certain understanding-a clear understanding.
2 Jiayun-Henry's Correspondence
Jiayun is another person in the movie who has a voice-over to express her feelings. It can be seen that her feelings represent another person's attitude towards gang life.
Jiayun and Henry’s first date was not pleasant, but they were gradually attracted. The attitude towards Henry before marriage was envy and curiosity, and he was attracted by his courage and generosity. This feeling is the same as the feeling of young Henry watching the gang, Jiayun at this time is like Henry more than ten years ago.
After marriage, Jiayun discovered that her husband was a gangster. Her attitude changed. First of all, she worried about Henry’s safety, but after getting used to it, she became proud of her husband and was moved by gang money. The temptation of the gang to her in this respect is a copy of the temptation to Henry at the beginning. Jiayun's worries are Henry's worries at the beginning, and Jiayun's pride is Henry's pride.
As Henry deepened his understanding of the gang, Jiayun also deepened his understanding of Henry. The details of the wedding show Henry’s love for Jiayun. They married according to Jewish wedding habits. The cross on Henry’s neck indicated that he was a Catholic believer, these two feuding sects, and the Italians looked at his beliefs. Very importantly, Henry's wedding shows Henry's betrayal of his own religion, which is a testament to his love for his wife.
The moment when Jiayun and Henry had a relationship disagreement was after Henry saw Tommy kill Billy, but his overall attitude towards the gang has not changed, which is very close to Jiayun's attitude towards her husband's indifference to her husband at night. But Jiayun still has to quarrel with her husband. This quarrel corresponds to Henry witnessing Tommy killing the hostess for no reason. The deterioration of Jiayun and Henry's relationship corresponds to Henry's deep understanding of the gang.
Jiayun realizes that Henry is having an affair, raises the gun but puts it down, narrating that she can't do without him. This attachment is another version of Henry's attachment to the gang.
After Henry came out of prison, the relationship between the two was still in crisis, Henry still had an affair, but Jiayun was no longer holding on to it like before, but letting herself go, because all she needed was a kind of life that this man provided her. Way, there are no other illusions about this man. This attitude is Henry's attitude towards the gang during this period.
When Henry cooperated with the police and left the gang, Jiayun also divorced Henry during this period.
Therefore, it is clear that the relationship between Henry and the gang clearly corresponds to the relationship between Jiayun and Henry. In this replica, we can be more aware of Henry's development process.
3. Audiovisual language
The film mainly narrates the life of the gang, so the attitude is calm and objective, but because of Henry's subjective narrative factors, there are many subjective treatment methods.
1 Subjective processing method: freeze-frame upgrading and discoloration
For example, in the opening scene where Tommy's knife pokes people and Jamie shoots, the picture Henry watched freezes. This kind of fixation is actually the fixation of the event in the character's psychology. Using this kind of fixation to emphasize its shock is very subjective. Freeze the picture and the protagonist expresses his thoughts, this kind of processing is strongly subjective.
2 Objective recording techniques
·long shoot
The function of the long lens is to maintain the consistency of the action, enhance the credibility of the action and shock the audience. There are many long shots in the film. For example, Henry just entered the gang and was ordered to smash glass and pour gasoline. This action is not divided, it fully expresses the enthusiasm of young Henry.
There is also the first official date between Henry and Jiayun. It takes 3.30 seconds to enter the restaurant through the small door. A series of actions seemed that Henry was very accustomed and very natural. But in the eyes of others, it is dazzling. This dazzling is not only for Jiayun, but also for the audience. Henry's actions are done in one go because of money and power. This passage shows Henry's money and power.
Another function of the long lens is to naturally draw out the characters and maintain the authenticity of life
For example, Henry just entered the gang and met many people in the bar. These people didn't emphasize it, so they took it with a long lens.
·Maintain the authenticity of life scenes
For example, after the three murders, they did not destroy the corpses, but had dinner with Tommy's mother and listened to some jokes. This kind of intervention in life scenes made the whole film appear authentic and full of objective and calm realism.
The difference between Hong Kong Jianghu Movies and American Gangster Movies
The former is to shape heroes, create the dreams of rivers and lakes, the dreams of heroes. Shaping the concept of gangsters that value affection and justice.
The latter is to smash the hero's dream and expose the hypocrisy of emphasizing love and righteousness.
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