【City of Philharmonic】and 【Cherbourg Umbrella Shop】
Director Chazelle paid tribute to many classic musicals in the film, but I have enough reason to think that [City of Philharmonic] was born directly from [Les parapluies de Cherbourg] (Les parapluies de Cherbourg). Without Cherbourg, there would be no Philharmonic. . The two are very similar from "shape" (color of the screen, plot structure) to "god" (the core of the story). For example, Cherbourg started in a rain and ended in a heavy snow, and the philharmonic started in a traffic jam and ended. In a traffic jam. The two endings are even more like a lotus flower, using different ways to explain the same theme that "this love can be turned into a remembrance, but it's already at a loss at the time." In fact, the director also hinted at this point in the film: he deliberately gave the heroine Mia Dolan a shot of the name of the protagonist in the one-man script: Geneviève, which is not a typical American name, but it happens to be the name of the heroine of Cherbourg. .
The director divides himself into two: he is both Mia in the film and Sebastian in the film. The combined story of the two is Damien Chazelle's pursuit of ideals. In fact, compared to the love between the two, the persistence of the two in the movie touched me more deeply. And a certain ideal of the director is probably to bring music, song and dance movies back to the public's field of vision. As expressed in the film, "If you want to make it come alive, you have to change and attract the audience."
Therefore, 【City of Philharmonic】compared to the 【Cherbourg Umbrella Shop】and other classic music and dance films 53 years ago, the intention to move closer to life is obvious: it abandoned the Cherbourg-style whole lyrics from the beginning. The form of singing and dancing is just an expression interspersed in the plot; and compared with classics such as "Song in the Rain", its singing and dancing are of a very low standard. I dare not say that this was caused by the director’s intention or the limited level of the actors, but when it is appreciated on the big screen, the level of singing and dancing is subtle and smoothly connected to the plot, avoiding "fake" and "artificial" to the greatest extent. Perception: The most typical example is a section where the hero and heroine expresses goodwill with each other. That kind of song and dance, as if you and me as the audience can sing out and jump out naturally and without difficulty in front of the good-loving boys and girls, not for the show actors in the movie. A deliberate performance of sing and dance arranged for ability (many old films, such as "Slim Lady", this problem is very serious). The film is also very cautious in the use of singing and dancing, almost focusing on the male and female protagonists, unlike the two at the beginning of the new century, even the second-line supporting roles have a lot of singing and dancing clips (Chicago's Green Hat husband's solo, Moulin Rouge's Roxan Tango clip) , To the greatest extent alleviate the dragging feeling brought by song and dance to the evolution of the plot.
Compared with the restrained and timeless ending of [Cherbourg Umbrella Shop], the almost same plot Chazelle does not hesitate to use the intense fantasy montage and the tireless close-up of facial expressions to set off. Many people are bursting into tears with sensationalism, but I think this approach is not How clever. Comparing Guy and Geneviève’s last look at each other, Geneviève is just a lonely back, Guy’s expression is blurred by the camera, and in the same situation in [City of Philharmonic], the camera repeatedly switches between Mia and Sebastian’s facial close-ups , Every micro expression can be seen clearly, and the psychology of the two is also unobstructed. But I fully understand the director's reason for doing this. After all, we live in a fast-paced era, and restrained white space is not a good choice from a commercial point of view. It is the best choice to let young men and women walk out of the theater with red eyes. In 1964, the [Cherbourg Umbrella Store], which won the Palme d’Or with groundbreaking expressions and simple plots, became popular in Europe. Today, it will inevitably not have the same success, but the [Love] stepped on the shoulders of its predecessors. City of Music], after sweeping seven Golden Globe Awards, he won 14 Oscar nominations-if bringing music and dance films back to the public is one of the director's dreams, then this dream has really come true.
Despite this, in my opinion, the script of "City of Philharmonic City" is still not well-rounded. One is that the conflict is a little deliberate, and the other is that the connection between the two time periods is abrupt. The ending of the two is not enough. bedding. But this does not affect my love for it. Just a scene of Mia and Seb dancing silently with Foucault's pendulum in the planetarium has moved me for a long time, enough to make up for all the small flaws in this film.
Jazz and musical
Director Chazelle is a jazz fan in private, and Sebastian in the film. However, he is also a fan of musicals. In the film, Sebastian pursued his dreams until he opened his own jazz bar, which contrasted with the reality of Chazelle's shooting of the film until it became a big success.
I don't understand jazz. However, like all things that are beautiful and dying, I can imagine the mood of jazz fans, because I have always liked musicals, from [Liu Meihuajiao] [Cherbourg Umbrella Shop] to [Song in the Rain] [Sound of Music] [Slimy Ladies], from [Moulin Rouge] [Chicago] to [Dream Girl] [Mamma Mia] [Hair Spray]. For me, a good song and dance film is the ultimate form of film that distinguishes it from literature and drama. It is a carrier that integrates various artistic strengths. However, in recent years, the song and dance film has declined, and the only successful one is the real MV of the fake song and dance film [Les Miserables], which makes me dumbfounded.
For people like me, it seems that [City of Philharmonic] does have a sentimental component, that is a kind of illusory beauty, and Director Chazelle is really smart on this point, this kind of illusory beauty under his lens It is magnified several times by the soft light and bright and pure colors throughout the story, and the beautiful and palpitating pictures emerge in endlessly. To the end, the plot and the false setting are "true and false, but also true". The mood of watching movies is all the way. Was led to a climax. In this film, he has a lot of cleverness, but he can commendably grasp the general pattern of the audience's emotional trend so accurately.
Therefore, I am looking forward to [City of Philharmonic] to bring a new positive experience to audiences who have little exposure to musical genres, especially in mainland China, where there is no basis for musical viewing. The imitation of [If·Love] is well known, and if the success of [City of Philharmonic] stimulates the creative enthusiasm of some filmmakers, it will be the best thing.
Mia Dolan and Emma Stone
Choosing Emma Stone to play Mia is really wonderful. Mia is not a talented actor, but a good actor who is passionate and willing to work hard, but does not have much experience. This determines that it is not suitable to choose an actor who is too talented or too experienced to act as Mia. It's like it's not suitable for beautiful women to act ugly to act as an ordinary person. Stone's aptitude and performance experience fit this setting, and watching the whole show gave me the illusion that she is the reality version of Mia.
Until the second time period, Emma Stone's performance was impeccable. This is a performance similar to Annette Bening's acting as an actor in [As Julia]. It requires a sense of hierarchy: audition except for the last time-American drama level performance / response to interruption of audition / general life-like performance / The emotional display of the song and dance segment / The final audition "give it all" enters another level of performance.
And she did very well. On the big screen, Emma Stone's expression is even more magnified. She is the kind of actor that fits the screen, and the slightest smile on it can touch people's hearts.
In the last second period of the film, in my opinion, Stone's talent and life experience are not enough to support a span of several years. Therefore, she has made a huge change in Mia, both in her career and her identity in life. Not sufficiently convincing, the effect of the performance is not significantly different from before. However, this kind of error has strengthened the sense of overlap between Mia Dolan and Emma Stone: she is the same person, not Emma Stone, who is superb acting, and played a very good acting Mia Dolan.
What a beautiful flaw.
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