From "The Elephant", to the Cannes 60th anniversary tribute short "First Love" to "Psychedelic Park", Garth Van Sant is still obsessed with films featuring a beautiful blonde boy who has not even changed his name, he is still Call Alex. A pure and clean face, with a calm and even indifferent expression, is suitable for appearing in a certain corner of the campus. Alex loves skateboarding, and his favorite place to visit is O'Bryant Square, a gathering place for skateboarders in the downtown Portland area. It has a vivid and vivid name in the film, which is called "Psychedelic Park".
In the first few minutes, the illusion created by "Psychedelic Park" is the tranquility of daily life, and there will be no slight disturbance. The picture is beautiful to the extreme, and Du Kefeng's photography plays a crucial role. In the past, his name was always tied to Wong Kar Wai and Chinese movies, and he had the tendency to become a brand. Therefore, when Du Kefeng participated in the filming of "The Invisible Wave" and "The Banshee in the Water", people were shocked that he had traveled far and wide to serve as a helper for directors of different nationalities. (Of course, Du Kefeng was originally a foreigner who came to China from Australia, and has no special connection with China.) There are a lot of long shots in "The Elephant" from a third perspective, standing on the sidelines, to "Psychedelic Park" ", due to the addition of Du Kefeng, the images of Garth van Sant are more light and smooth, the camera is free and smooth on the teenagers, the camera shuttles in the free and smooth sliding of the teenagers, captures their jumps, and makes a series of wonderful Take the action in the air, then land. Teenagers and skateboarding seem to be an inseparable combination.
In the first half of the story, the direction of the film is like the phrase in the ancient poem, "The clear spring stone flows upwards". For Alex, Psychedelic Park allows him to have fun, even watching it on the side. Until an accident happened, Alex became uneasy when he heard someone mention the psychedelic park. "Psychedelic Park" did not explain the imminent danger at the first time, but only informed the occurrence of a tragedy. Alex seems to have been affected by the incident, and it was only later that the audience linked him to the tragedy. At this time, Alex began a fierce battle within himself. The clear spring that runs through the first part of the story no longer exists, it becomes cloudy, and the undercurrent is surging.
In order to prove the strong impact of the tragedy on the protagonist, Garth van Sant even used a shocking image to emphasize: the body crushed in two by the train, the upper body crawling on the ground. With such a bloody and terrifying scene, one cannot help but wonder if it is a youth film or a thriller. The sudden downfall of violence disrupted the calm, already traced in The Elephant. Good people say that the performance of "The Elephant" on school shootings can be described as forward and backward, from Columbine High School to the Virginia campus, the United States has fallen into a terrible cycle. Violence seems to happen for no reason, and it is inevitable. In "Psychedelic Park", Alex escapes in a panic, throwing away his favorite skateboard and destroying his blood-stained clothes. The reason may be just an accidental miss, or it may be alcohol on the brain and overexcitement. Two faces of Alex and the fallen security guard, close-up. The moment they looked at each other, their eyes were full of fear and shock.
Alex was frightened, he was shaken, lost and helpless. But he didn't collapse, trying to hide his panic, a silent void appeared in his world. In the unforgettable part of the shower, the water from the shower head continued to wash away, and the water droplets fell in slow motion, and Alex bowed his head and was speechless. The sound of the water gradually became louder and fluctuated again and again. After that, Alex squatted down against the wall, and the background sound of birds and insects appeared, and the sound effects completely overwhelmed the charm of photography. Then Alex woke up, like a terrible nightmare that he didn't want to look back on. Such a short-lived personal experience, but it was expressed as if the empathy of ordinary people, real and delicate, no wonder foreign film critics are amazed by "visual poetry".
Speaking of which, "Psychedelic Park" is almost over, its ending can be said to be open, and in the end Alex did not choose to face it. Garth Van Sant never wanted to use a juvenile accident to reveal some deep social grief. At least most of the time in the film, the audience will only indulge in the youthful atmosphere created by the image, pondering Alex's repentance and confusion after making a mistake. Naturally, Garth van Sant does not want the audience to indulge in repressed emotions, but to gain a clear understanding. Many people think that the director has some intentions because of the Iraq war mentioned by Alex and his female classmates in the film. No one should bear the crimes committed by the country in this era, let alone a teenager. This is not the case, there is never a one-way inference of "what is what" in movies, nor does Gars van Sant export specific values. "Psychedelic Park" is just an independent film, not deliberately preaching, it just extracts a teenage life and tells the audience some unknown truth.
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