In a recent concert, Li Zongsheng sang a few popular songs that were very popular at the time. He thinks that these are all "counseling songs", written under market pressure, not songs that he really likes. He really likes them. Yes, it's "Hill", it's "Song for Myself". Li Zongsheng is also getting old, and finally he is no longer afraid, and can write a song for himself.
In many cases, artists have to struggle with the market, between pursuing art and catering to the market. Some people struggled and stopped playing, such as Cobain, such as Bennington. But there are also those who struggle, and they are free. They can be more willful and create what they want, regardless of whether the market likes it or not. Compared with musicians, filmmakers are self-willed and cost much more.
Nolan's "Dunkirk" was released, and the evaluation was polarized. Some people think this is God's work, and some people think this is Nolan's Waterloo. Also encountering controversy is the composer Hans Zimmer, the German musician’s soundtrack, just like the guns of his compatriots in the movie, is everywhere, making it impossible to escape. Some people say that the scene in this movie is not big enough, and some people say that they have not been moved. All in all, this film will not work.
It is said that Nolan had the idea of putting this history on the screen many years ago. But he hasn't done it for a long time. On the one hand, he feels that his skills are not enough. On the other hand, I think that for him, who was not well-known at the time, making such a movie may not be able to attract investment. So Nolan worked hard, and finally achieved his status as a commercial movie god through a series of movies.
Then Nolan was free. He intends to make a movie he wants, an experimental movie. For this reason, he brought in his old partner Hans Zimmer. Since the film is experimental, how can the music be traditional?
People who watch movies will have an estimate of what movies they want to watch, and what movies they will see. For example, if Hou Xiaoxian wants to make a martial arts movie, and Kubrick wants to make a science fiction movie, we will estimate in advance that the movie must be difficult to understand, and we will have such psychological expectations.
And when Nolan launched "Dunkirk", I think in many people's estimates, they will see "Saving Private Ryan" or "Blood War Hacksaw Ridge", which may be more complicated in structure. . They will also hear the soundtrack of "Brave Death Island" or "Pirates of the Caribbean", which may be more bleak in melody. As a result, many people were caught off guard by what the film showed. What about the big scene? What about the tear-gas plot? What about the exhilarating music?
Who said it to you?
This is not a Hollywood movie, this is a British movie. This time Nolan is not going to tell a story, he just wants to leave you on the cruel Dunkirk beach.
Nolan said, this is not a war film, but a suspense film. Put the audience in the situation at the time and ask yourself can we leave alive? For this period of history, we only know a huge number. 400,000 people were evacuated and 330,000 people were evacuated. But when it comes to a soldier, will he be one of 330,000? History has been written, but the fate of the individual is full of suspense.
In Dunkirk, survival depends not on hard work, but on luck. Like the French soldier, he has tried his best, but it fell short. And the boy named George, he died so meaninglessly. Nolan presents this scene truly, and in this scene, it is impossible to breed any grand narrative or move, that is the trick of politicians. There is no poetry after Auschwitz. We want to be moved by the war. We are spoiled by Hollywood, right?
Some people say that the movie is too tired to watch, the music is tired, and the plot is also tired. It’s right to be tired. This is the feeling of the soldiers at the scene, and we are just bystanders, just tired.
Spielberg also truthfully described the beach landing in "Saving Private Ryan", casting the audience in Normandy and feeling the cruelty of the war. But this is only the beginning of the movie, then Lincoln's letter, and then the soldiers' trimming. This is a rhythm of relaxation, but this rhythm is taking care of the audience. On the battlefield, there was no one to relax, either struggling to survive, or dying in despair.
Speaking of the soundtrack, what impressed me most was the two soldiers carrying a stretcher and running wildly on the beach. The background sound was only the sound of banging strings. The feeling of the strings seems to be broken at any time, I think this is the true feeling of the soldiers, racing against time to survive. The two soldiers were driven off the ship, the ship was blown up, they boarded the new ship, and were sunk by torpedoes at night. They wanted to get on the lifeboat but were refused. Finally, exhausted back to the beach, back to the origin. Fate is so absurd. For some soldiers, the strings broke and plunged into the wave. Hans Zimmer’s music just wants you to feel the kind of struggle, despair and absurdity. On the battlefield, there is no melody, let alone the main melody.
Some people say that Nolan hasn't been able to be cool, the end of the movie finally returned to hope and moving. When the Queen's "Bath Fleet" appeared on the horizon, when the eagles over London swept over Dunkirk, tears were in our eyes. But don’t forget, this scene really happened back then. Nearly a thousand fishing boats arrived in Dunkirk, and there were real British royal pilots fighting the Luftwaffe. The soldiers of the year must have tears in their eyes. . Nolan did not fabricate any emotions, this group of people really did not hesitate to turn back.
If there is no three parallel timeline arrangement, this is simply a documentary. As for the three timelines, let alone brainstorming, the timeline exists not to create obstacles for the audience to watch the movie, but to further enhance the atmosphere, so that we can see the same thing from different sights. The people in the play don't know the truth from other perspectives, only our audience knows everything. The stunned soldier didn't know that George was dead. The teacher Tang in the sky didn't know that the comrades who made the emergency landing were trapped in the cabin, and thought he was saying hello to him. No one knew that there was a group of soldiers hidden in the merchant ship that was sunk by the Germans at sea. Everyone has only the wars he sees, and only the wars he understands.
In the book "The Unspoken Rules of British Words and Actions", the writer Kate Fox once talked about the British character. They are serious, introverted, and self-deprecating. They are particularly unacceptable to the exaggeration and sensationalism of the Americans. As a typical Englishman, Nolan photographed Dunkirk in his mind, or Dunkirk in British mind. Although I am proud of this retreat, I am not embarrassed to twist a failure into positive energy. As for whether the fans who can touch the new world, Nolan doesn't care. After so many years of dedication to the fans of the world, it is time to be self-willed.
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