What is violent aesthetics? Quentin Tarantino is recognized as a master of violent aesthetics, and his violent factor can be seen in "Liberated Jiang Ge" (I watched this one first, and then I watched "Shameless Bastard" later). But I always believe that violence aesthetics should not only consist of violence. This is a partial term, and the key lies in aesthetics.
What is beauty? Pure violence, I think, is absolutely not beautiful. The scalping in "Shameless Bastard", the use of a knife to carve the swastika on the head of a Nazi, and the use of a baseball bat to smash the enemy's head are all extreme violence. Well, it's scary, but where is the beauty? I did not see.
Until I saw the plot near the end of the film. The moment when Shosanna was shot and fell to the ground, I really felt the beauty of violence.
Shosanna, wearing a big red dress, is glamorous, but there is only one thought in her heart, revenge. Zoller, dressed in a white uniform, was so handsome. He received applause from his compatriots at the premiere of the movie based on him. However, the German officer only cared about one thing, the French woman he loves so badly for her. Is it interesting?
Zoller finally got tired of the movie, he left his seat and ran to the backstage studio to look for Shosanna. Zoller didn't expect that what greeted him was not the love he was looking for, but the lies and bullets of his sweetheart.
I think the subsequent plot is the essence of the whole film, and it can become a classic segment of Quentin Tarantino.
Here I want to talk about the process of being shocked in detail. Since this process is closely related to the director's montage and the choice of background music, the montage of this episode is briefly written first.
After Zoller was shot, the following pictures were as follows:
1. Shosanna scanned the auditorium of the underground theater nervously, and saw that no one heard the gunshot, so she was relieved.
2. At this time, she looked back at Zoller who was shot and fell to the ground
3. Zoller
Falling to the ground with no response 4. Shosanna turns her head and then goes to the movie screen
5. A scene of Zoller fighting with the enemy is being staged on the screen.
6. Shosanna looked back at Zoller again, her eyes seemed to tell something. (The background music
plays at this time) 7. Shosanna turns to watch the movie screen again.
8. Zoller's close-up shots in the movie. Kopp, who is fighting alone, is firm, handsome and lonely, so he is slightly sad. He closes his eyes vigorously. , Seems to be thinking about something. (Later, when playing this section repeatedly, I guessed that Zoller in the movie should be thinking about the meaning of war and killing. Because when Shosanna asked Zoller, "This is your premiere, you should be with everyone below. "At the time, Zoller said that he killed a lot of people and gained military merit, so that his deeds can be adapted into a movie. But what he doesn't like watching is exactly the scene of his own killing in the movie.)
9. Shosanna looked at the screen and thought, but because of Zoller's groan, she suddenly turned her head to Zoller.
10. The
fallen Zoller's slightest struggle on the ground. 11. Shosanna chose to walk slowly towards the fallen Zoller. There seemed to be some pity and even love in her eyes. Shosanna stroked Zoller's leg. Long shots and panoramic views.
12. A close-up of Shosanna stroking Zoller. The background music reached a climax. Zoller suddenly turned and shot Shosanna.
13. The gorgeous slow motion of Shosanna being shot.
14. Zoller pointed the gun at Shosanna who fell to the ground, seeming to be thinking and hesitating, but he used the last bit of strength to fire the last shot, and then both of them died.
15.
My shock is divided into three levels in the overhead shot of the two falling in the playback room .
The first level was shocked by the pure plot. Because it was unexpected.
When I saw Shosanna shooting Zoller, I thought her actions were reasonable, because revenge is a top priority, and whether she likes Kopp movies hasn't been clearly explained. My understanding is that she has never been tempted by Germans. But when I saw Shosanna touch Zoller, due to the background music and the previous close-up shots (shots 8 and 9 above), I seemed to see an emotional clue. I thought that the next plot was that Shosanna and the dying Zoller complained to each other. The two regretted not grasping the relationship. Shosanna told Zoller about the history of being a Jew and being invaded by the Nazis, and then Zoller chose not to blame Shosanna. Die quietly. But Zoller's gunshot woke me up. "Sorry, there is no love here," the director seemed to say. This is also the most direct reason for being shocked, that is, the story is unexpected.
The second layer was shocked by the perfect combination of montage and background music.
The ten shots listed above lasted less than one minute, but it was this one minute that swept away the dullness and depression of the previous two hours. This short 60 seconds is a perfect combination of picture editing and beautiful music. The romantic atmosphere is ready to come out, and the sudden emotional change seems to be enlightened, which makes people suddenly refreshed.
I believe it was 60 seconds carefully designed by the director. The actor's deliberate change of eyes and the romantic tone of the violin in the background music make it hard not to remind people of love, thinking that the hero and heroine are going to stage an epic love story. However, when the atmosphere reached its climax, the cold gunfire knocked all the viewers to the ground. Want to be fresh? No way. That's not Brother's routine. Quentin seemed to play with the audience with such a playful mentality, reminding everyone that in his films, violent aesthetics is king. And what is violent beauty? The beautiful shot in slow motion (shot 13 above) told me the answer. The reason why violence becomes beauty is precisely when this beauty breaks away from pure violence. When I saw Shosanna fell to the ground with a shot, I didn't have any concept of violence in my mind, but this is the beauty of violence.
The third layer was shocked by the implied meaning of the film.
The background music for this segment is called Un Amico. This piece was first used in the French film "Revolver" in 1973, and the version at that time had lyrics. From the lyrics, you can find the director's good intentions.
The following is the complete lyrics.
Si le ciel entend ma prière, mes amis ce soir je chante pour tous ceux qui n'ont rien, rien sur la terre, pas d'amis pour les attendre, les comprendre chaque jour, leur redonner un peu d'amour.
Le bien et le mal se ressemblent et les hommes s'y laissent prendre. Je ne sais plus que faire et il me semble que l'enfer est sur la terre,
les amis qui m'entourent, des amis d'un jour.
Le bien et le mal se ressemblent mais le ciel s'y laisse prendre. Un ami reste toujours un ami quand la vie n'a plus d'amour. Depuis toujours ma prière, c'est d'avoir sur terre, au dernier soir de ma vie , la main d'un ami pour dire adieu à la vie, les yeux d'un ami.
The climax of the song, that is, the scene where Zoller shoots Shosanna, and the matching lyrics are Le bien et le mal se ressemblent et les hommes s'y laissent prendre. The main idea is: good and evil are too similar, and people are always in two. Between those. I think Quentin chose this song to tell everyone that it is difficult to judge good and evil in war. Just like Shosanna and Zoller kill each other, there is no absolute difference between good and evil in their choices. In such a life and death war, it is reasonable to kill people for the sake of national humiliation and family feud. Therefore, the hero and heroine have to give up love at the last moment, which is embarrassing.
In short, the three-level shock, shocked me all kinds of resonance, all kinds of moved all kinds of random thinking. For me, I have come to know Quentin and the beauty of violence. As the director said through Brad Pitt's mouth, I think this might be my masterpiece. Yes, for me, this section is his master classic!
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