Among all media workers, the news industry is the most special group. They are on standby 24 hours a day, using cameras, language and text to satisfy the public's desire for voyeurism. The world is an active volcano to them, both in eruption and waiting for eruption at any time. In their eyes, the peace that everyone loves is the shameful and most sinful thing, and some ugly people say that the suffering of others is often their most delicious bait.
In the words of "Nightcrawler" starring Gyllenhaal, this is a group of "hungry coyotes." In order to pursue this state, he took the initiative to lose 20 pounds during the preparation period before filming. He even used a performance that barely blinked his eyes to emphasize the character's vigorous energy and pathological spirit.
Of course, in the Chinese-style journalism that still emphasizes that the first nature of news is the so-called "party spirit", a "nightwalker" like Louis is unimaginable and completely unnecessary. Everyone lives in the beautiful world of news broadcasting. How can there be so many bloody and miserable lives that need to be reported in the first place? But for more "normal" journalists, "authenticity" and "timeliness" are indeed their lives.
Today, when business is king in the world, journalism has gradually changed from a sacred profession to a business that can be measured and calculated by money. Therefore, Louis and his nightcrawlers rushed to the scene racing against time, passing through the police surrounded by layers and reaching the core area of the incident, and took the most authentic and original pictures with the camera in hand, in exchange for richness. revenge. Compared with those great predecessors, they don't care whether they can win a Pulitzer Prize one day, nor do they care about the social value and significance of the news they shoot. All they care about is how much dollars can be exchanged for this video.
The change in the role of Louis is the best part of the script. From being a petty theft to a prosperous news pioneer, he kept breaking through the bottom line in shooting incidents. From moving the corpse to create a more dramatic composition, to breaking into the victim’s home to shoot privacy, to finally using the blood and corpse of others to ambitiously accumulate one’s own wealth and establish one’s future and status in the television news industry, A news magnate who stood up from dead bones was born, and an old value and moral standard died.
This reminds us of last year’s Korean movie "Horror Live". When a terrorist incident happened, the protagonist’s first reaction in his heart was that he had the opportunity to turn around, instead of rejecting and condemning such behavior from the moral and conscience. . Perhaps all journalists have this mentality more or less.
It's like the saying that people often talk about in the TV world: ratings are the root of all evil. But this source of all evil is the most unshakable hard indicator, and it is the sharp sword of Damocles hanging over the heads of all practitioners.
Whether it's bloodthirsty news or vulgar content, who is the buyer and audience in the final analysis? It is you and me sitting in front of the TV holding the remote control and beer. We like this kind of simple and straightforward sensory stimulation. On the one hand, we can satisfy our curiosity mentality, and on the other hand, we can remind ourselves, who are not doing anything but at least safe and healthy, how happy we are compared to them.
This work is the director’s debut, and it is an excellent job in terms of rhythm control, theme expression, scene scheduling, and even the use of tones and light. But the slightest deficiency is that the craftsmanship is too heavy, and the innovation and surprise are slightly insufficient. This may be the reason why the film has gained a good reputation among movie fans, but only one nomination for Best Original Screenplay at the Oscars.
As for Jack, the film didn't even bring him a nomination as an actor, which is a bit surprising. Even if it is not comparable to Freckles and Old Birdman, it has a better performance than Juan Fu and Cooper. But judging from the momentum of Jack's rapid progress in acting in recent years and the way he has gone farther and farther in his method, the rewards for future awards should be a matter of time.
Maybe the actor's laurel crown on his head will come earlier than the little plum who is thinking about it, who knows.
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