1
"Green Book" is a road adventure film. It is about the story of a black pianist who was escorted by a white bodyguard during the apartheid period to tour the hinterland of the South and retired.
The two roles in the film, one black and one white, just complement each other in abilities.
The black pianist Shelly played the piano well, and he had an identity and status, but as the journey went deeper and deeper to the south, his skin color became his biggest weakness.
Although the white Italian Tony has no culture, he knows martial arts, and with his years of experience in nightclubs, he has mastered a lot of low-level life wisdom.
So when Shelly is in trouble, Tony's clever tongue and fist can save him from danger; when Tony beats the police on impulse and puts two people in jail, Shelly can call the attorney general's office again. , Fished the two out of the game.
This black-and-white duo is capable of literary and military skills, and can take all of black and white, so this adventure can be surprising and risk-free.
You may feel uncomfortable seeing me use the above words to summarize the plot of "Green Book".
But as long as you think about it, you will find that the "Green Book" tells such a story, and I have no intention of exaggerating or ridiculing it.
As for many people talk about how the two protagonists overcome the differences in skin color and class barriers and love each other bravely, no, they should be friends in need. To be honest, I didn't see it.
Is there any description of racial contradictions in the film?
have.
But it's all just a snap.
The most obvious plot may be the scene of "Tony throwing away the water glass used by the black man". It is said that his racial concept is quite heavy, and it should explode further in the subsequent getting along with the two.
But in fact there is not at all.
Not only did the two have no actual conflict, but the relationship was already very harmonious in the scene of eating fried chicken long ago.
And the following story is an adventurous journey of "brothers are united, and the profits are broken."
All the racial conflicts did not affect the relationship between the two people at all. On the contrary, they became a pure external crisis.
As a result, the core of the film quietly moved away from the theme of "black and white equal rights" and turned to watch how the brotherhood between the two has gradually warmed up in the crisis.
Because of this, "Green Book" has become a brotherhood movie under the banner of racial integration. Let me say that instead of calling it "Green Book", which highlights the characteristics of apartheid, it is more appropriate to call "Black and White Shuangsha Run the South."
It's no wonder that the black director Spike Lee was so angry when he learned that the "Green Book" won the award.
In America Today, where racism is resurgent, "Green Book" faces the scars of history with such a warm and conservative attitude. This may be called "political correctness" for whites, but for blacks, it is a whitewash.
Sometimes, if weightlifting is not good for fun, it becomes avoiding the weight and doing it lightly.
2
It would be interesting to watch "Green Book" only as a "brotherhood" movie.
We Chinese love to call each other brothers.
On what occasions is it mostly?
The dinner table.
The most interesting part of "Green Book" is to write "brotherhood" with "eating and drinking". This may be more convincing for the Chinese.
Why is "eating and drinking" closely related to "brotherhood"?
Behind this is actually a cultural issue.
What is a "brother"?
Those who grew up eating the milk of a mother are called brothers, as the so-called "brothers with the same milk".
Another characteristic of our Chinese culture is that it magnifies the rules of "small home" to the social and national level.
So in society, people who have eaten at the same table can call each other brothers. Even if you didn't know each other yesterday, it is natural that you became brothers after eating together today.
Specific to the "Green Book", how does "eat and drink" express "brotherhood"?
There are more than a dozen scenes of "eating and drinking" in the film.
The first few games are relatively simple, all about Tony, in order to show the character's life and establish the character's character. Including: go home from get off work to drink milk, drink Rheiningen beer in a pub, eat spaghetti made by his wife, and participate in a burger contest.
From this you can probably understand the daily life and style of this Italian man, and the image of a "stupid, straightforward man" comes to mind.
Later, Tony and Shelly met and went on the road together.
The first scene of this journey is that the two of them did not speculate in the car, and finally each shut up. Tony, who was dissatisfied, ate the sandwich his wife had originally prepared for Shelly.
The whole journey started with this "refusal to share food" action, which also indicates that the relationship between the two is still very bad at this time.
Then we saw that this "refusal to share" is two-way.
In a scene not long after, Tony saw Shelly pouring himself in the dark. He was very lonely from behind, and choosing loneliness was a more resolute refusal.
Interestingly, the film actually uses "eating" and "drinking" to impersonate two people. Tony, who is at the bottom, obviously values "food" more, while Shelly cares more about "wine".
At the same time, the attitude of the two people's refusal is different.
Shelly's attitude is: such a good wine, you can't taste it. It is an artist's aloofness.
Tony’s attitude is: How can you not like such good food?
So naturally, for the first time the relationship between the two heats up, Tony must take the first step, that is, the scene of "invite black people to eat fried chicken".
This was originally a racial stalk, but it is a very tender scene that can be used in the film.
This is also the first time the two share food, which indicates that the brotherhood has entered the next stage.
Later, when Shelly's homosexuality was exposed and the two met more candidly, Shelly finally took out the downwind whiskey, and the two had a long conversation about the wine, and their brotherhood warmed up again.
Immediately afterwards, at the Orange Bird Restaurant, the two ate and drank, and Shelly also reintegrated into the black community.
Until the end of the film, Shelly attended the Christmas dinner of Tony's family. He went with a bottle of downwind whiskey, and the words to greet him were: "Quickly make a seat for this gentleman and prepare the plate." This sentence responded directly. The film begins the plot of "Tony Throwing a Cup".
This is also the first time Shelly has taken the initiative to turn away from loneliness and join the crowd, as Tony once told him: " There are too many lonely people in the world who are afraid to take the first step. "
And the first step bravely is the achievement of Shelly's personal arc.
In fact, the plot of "Green Book" is very neat, there is not much to say, but from the perspective of "eating and drinking", it may be interesting.
3
Returning to the judgment at the beginning of the article, there is really no need to increase the value of "Green Book". It is just a smooth brotherhood movie. On the contrary, it is extremely gentle in terms of expression.
As for whether the Oscar is well deserved?
I can only say that if the best film is for "Rome" or "Black Party", this Oscar is still a bit new.
In the end, the "Green Book" is just like the plot of the "Green Book", and it is really unsurprisingly indifferent.
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