Actors and directors who act well and direct like this, especially those who take the hard-guy out-of-the-way acting style, are not very good at "subtracting" as a director. Although Clint Eastwood is amazingly talented, I can't digest his provocative tactics like CCTV's Spring Festival Gala.
"Mysterious Child" is adapted from a real historical event that took place in Los Angeles, USA in 1928. A single mother, Christine (Angelina Jolie), who works on a telephone operator's desk, lives a simple and peaceful life, raising her son Walter by herself. One day Christine discovered that her son was missing. After reporting the case to the police station, the police station launched a search work and brought a little boy who was not Walter and forced it to Christine as a demonstration of the police station's work achievements and made a public report. preach. The stubborn mother, Christine, had to fight unremittingly against the corrupt and dark Los Angeles Police Department, and was even sent to a mental hospital for torture. With the help of Pastor Gustave Brigaber (John Malkovich), Christine turns a mother's struggle into a civil rights movement of Los Angeles citizens against police corruption, knowledge and law. A wonderful piece of writing in history.
To be fair, Clint Eastwood has been pretty cool in directing the film, and Angelina Jolie has been impressive. I appreciate the choice of perspective by screenwriter Michael Straczynski and director Eastwood, starting with the case story of single mother Christine, and seeing the big from the small is more attractive than the point of view of a political movement. There are many people. The cinematography of the film is the most prominent. The shot of Christine standing thoughtfully at the window makes full use of the mirror effect, which well shows the inner torment of the single mother under her calm exterior.
Despite this, Eastwood couldn't hold back his signature sensationalism at the end of the film, and finally jumped out and raised his arms to shout, which made Julie's crying face, which appeared countless times before, make people a little tired. The film is 141 minutes long and not only involves Christine's struggle for rights protection, but also intertwines the detection process of the boy's disappearance, and even the slow hanging process of the criminal. This arrangement is very similar to Eastwood's "Million Baby" in 2004 - the director seems to try to make the film as comprehensive as possible, but the organic integration between the various layers is not close enough, or because the editing The intensity is not enough, the priority of each element is not clear enough, the film as a whole is scattered but not gathered, and the aura is warm.
"Mysterious Child" premiered in Cannes, missing the Palme d'Or by only two votes; but the overall response in North America was mediocre. Although the film will undoubtedly become a major part of Los Angeles film history, and even critic Todd McCarthy declared it "on par with Chinatown and L.A. Confidential," I honestly think it's more than "broad". "Deep" is not enough, there is always a bit of long-winded and "twisted" from beginning to end, and the portrayal of the murder is not spicy and straightforward enough.
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