——Han Xi,
following "The History of Violence", the director brought us another violent film "The Promise of the East" with a low and breathless style. The story was transplanted to the rainy and foggy London, and the characters involved were also Replaced by the Russians of the East. This change actually makes the film and "Violence History" have a very different effect. Sunshine to rain and fog, west to east, adds a depressive and mysterious color to the film, but the violence is not covered up by this mysterious and indescribable darkness. Instead, it appears cruel and even realistic.
There are not many violent scenes in the film, there are only three, but each of them can make the audience directly feel the nakedness of the violence, which is suffocating. Especially the scene in the barber shop at the beginning, its impact was almost disastrous for the audience who just sat in front of the screen. The barber shop's ordinary, the child's cowardice, and the murder method are not surprising, but everything happened so suddenly, so quickly, and what is even more creepy is the open wound, without too much blood rendering, But every audience member can feel the pain in the throat. To a large extent, the truth comes from the fantasies of the audience. What the director does is to show the prelude to violence and provide a fantasy premise.
And the second violent killing seems to be faster and more unexpected, like the horror of being assassinated, sudden but accurate, and the absolute key point of the bullet passing through. What is even more terrifying is that this is just a feeling, and the murder method shown in the film is not too different from the first time, it is just sophisticated and short-lived! In the background, Chelsea and Arsenal fans are happily rushing to the stadium. This kind of killing from the East has a more realistic meaning. No matter whether the director made such a plot arrangement intentionally or not, we can easily feel it. contrast to the environment. And will this violence come into the police's sight as fans make trouble? The truth does seem unimaginable, and the extension of violence is even more unimaginable! We see the real world where the screen is, a real story unfolding in London!
The third violence is fully exaggerated by the film. In terms of impact, the quality of this violence has dropped a lot. Due to the previous foreshadowing, the violence was expected by the audience, so the director should add more attention when arranging the scene. The big detail, that's the actual fight, and the only fight in the movie. What we see at this time is not the suddenness of violence, nor the reality of violence, but the regular attributes inherent in violence, that is, tragic and cruel. The director set the scene in the bathroom, and when the protagonist Nikolai was naked, the two killers had already regarded him as a lamb to be slaughtered. Although this scene is not as shocking as the previous two violences, it is clearly the director's perception of violence. If the audience saw human behavior in the previous two violences, then this fight would be a different story. It's downgrading people to animals, hunting and anti-hunting, naked killing, without any words, not even any human dignity. In the background of the fight, the director set up two bystanders, who were both bathing people, but only these two people appeared as human beings, and they witnessed this brutal process of violence. As a result, one person ran away, and the other person was always huddled in a corner of the bathroom, unable to move at all. This is a reference system. Human beings are actually so cowardly and insignificant in the face of violence, but it is the human beings themselves who carry out the violence. The terrible contrast strongly expresses the director's interpretation, or a kind of confusion.
Although the three episodes of violence are powerful, the overall style of the film shows a non-violent element, especially for a gangster film. The undercurrent of violence in this non-violence is even more thrilling. The most outstanding character in the film is Samuyan, who is the London godfather of the Russian gang "Righteous Thieves". Like many gangster films with taste, Samuyan looks kind and unassuming. A true reflection, but when the diary was read, when he betrayed Nikolai to save his son, this sinister personality was fully revealed. There are not many plots where Samuyan really deals with gang affairs in the film, and not even one plot is impressive. All his sins are shown indirectly, through other means, and other people, so that the audience can't take this The characters are equated with the old man on the screen.
Realistic violence tests the audience's ability to accept, but this kind of forbearance violence is frightening. The film tells the story through a variety of contrasting methods, ranging from the entire story line, the process of the hostess's survival for the child, and the incident in which Samuyan killed the child's mother, to every plot, such as the violence mentioned above. Even a line, a comparison of 60 yuan a bottle and 10 yuan a box.
This kind of comparison is funny but believable, and the gap generated by the comparison makes anything possible, and it is a strong challenge to people's psychology. Therefore, the reality becomes as cruel and dark as the film!
Han Xi
2008-1-29 in Tongzhou
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