"Frozen River": ice cool slightly warm
(text: Vulcan discipline)
unemployment, negative equity, extreme freezing cold, there is no way out ......
As a single mother, she finally found a gut-wrenching path to the land of the Holy Spirit.
It may not be honorable; but it is beyond reproach.
- Vulcan Ji. Inscription.
Melissa Leo won Best Breakthrough Actor at the Gotham Independent Film Awards for the film, which also managed to top the list The film (Best Feature); the acclaim received in the independent film industry makes it natural for it to be nominated for the Oscar for Best Actress (Actress) and Best Original Screenplay (Original Screenplay). It's just, it's called a dark horse; it's obviously very difficult to get to the top from the hottest, and it's no longer surprising to be unable to reach the top. After all, in the lineup nominated by the same class, the opponent's tough Make it look weak.
This movie always reminds me of the 2007 American documentary "Arctic Tale," directed by Sarah Robertson; of course, I know that these two are completely incompatible movie of. However, in my opinion, the backgrounds of the two films are actually quite similar, so I will compare the two films side by side.
"Arctic Stories" is about the life of a polar bear. After the female polar bear and the male polar bear mate, they become pregnant with a cub, the male bear leaves to find the next female bear in heat, while the pregnant female bear digs a burrow alone to give birth to the cub, and then nurses the cub alone until the cub can survive the worst. survive independently in the Arctic Circle. Single mothers raise their offspring alone. This seems to be the law in the bear world. No male bear or female bear will doubt this law that has been passed down for thousands of years and flows in their blood.
However, when we see the unfortunate death of a bear cub, after the mother bear guards it for two days, and reluctantly takes its remaining children to the background, we are somewhat sentimental. When we see that the natural environment is getting worse every year because of global warming; when we see the mother bear with her baby still unknown to the generation that her mother taught her. Hunting grounds, going to the now-disappeared ice to catch seals that no longer exist and will never be caught, we can't help crying - even if this is in the world of polar bears, even in their In the world, all this is reasonable; but it still cannot stop our surging sympathy and compassion.
In my opinion, everything in such a seemingly tragic story, except "the death of the youngest son", seems to be reborn in the human world of this movie. Melissa Leo plays Ray, a single mother who has been out of work for two years, with a broken house, two and a half small children and a pile of debt left by her gambling husband. In addition to having to pay off all the debts, the 20-year-old Ray also has to find a way to support the two children.
The cold wind whistled, and the snow drifted. The annual Christmas is coming soon again. Giving his ignorant young son his favorite gift seems like an overnight arduous and impossible task as a mother's simplest wish. Of course, this is secondary; the bigger question is - how will they live.
Relatively speaking, Ray's life seems to be easier than that of the other single mother in this movie. Misty Upham plays Lila, a Native American woman. Ray can at least live with his two sons, while Lila has a hard time even seeing her sons.
Severe myopia made her lose her job; in order to give her son a good living environment, she entered Canada to transport some smuggled Chinese and Pakistanis into the United States. She could only wait at night, watching her son who was taken away by her mother secretly through the window; she could only run into her son in a public place and listen to his cry and leave alone - because She is a human trafficker because she is a castaway from her own race, because she is an alien who will be deported by the US government.
By chance, two single mothers meet unexpectedly. In order to live, in order to live a better life, they worked together to transport smugglers. The god of luck also seems to favor these two unfortunate people. Time and time again, they all go well.
Paid off the mortgage, had a great meal with my sons, paid off the cable owed and even bought a new house. Save enough money to let the son who is not by his side live a happy life. Both Ray and Lila were already content to wash their hands.
However, when Ray found out that his house was burned down by an unexpected small fire; when Lila found out that the money he had saved was sent and returned. They had to do it again.
The great thing about this movie is that it exploits our sympathy for the heroine to its advantage. Living at the bottom of the society, working hard for the sake of firewood, rice, oil and salt, and risking desperately for the sake of our own children - just as Mencius said in "Gao Zi Shang": Compassion is shared by everyone; it is precisely because we have it that everyone has it It is not so unacceptable that they choose a behavior that may not be commendable to support their family in such a difficult environment.
When watching this movie, we can only blindly sympathize with these two poor single mothers, without thinking about the constraints that the law should have on them. In other words, morally we will come to this story with a bit of condemnation; but on the other hand, sympathy for the weak and awareness of hard life, and desire for a better future ... all of this It will completely bury the so-called morality.
So only at the end of the movie, we see Ray surrendering to save Lila from being deported. Before being caught by the police, we may think that their behavior is prohibited by law, but we will not blame them in the slightest. desire.
That's the success of the script -- because it's so finely tuned into the audience's psyche. But such a script would be impossible for "Milk," "Wall-E," "Happy-Go-Lucky," and "In Bruges." , the non-mainstream value orientation can be compensated by other things. Although moral condemnation can persuade the audience with compassionate sympathy, it will never persuade Oscar. Because as the biggest international award for a film, the award of an award will have a guiding effect on the entire film industry and even the whole world; if it is just sympathy, then there is no problem, but if it is involved in a film because of a film, it will lead to smuggling. It can be light or heavy.
Oscar's choice shows its prudence in its value orientation. It is possible to affirm the rise of homosexuals, but not to sympathize with smuggling practitioners. This is not just a moral orientation, what the law allows can be legal. Advocating illegal smuggling, or extending a well-meaning hand to the gay people who are not bound by the law, there is not much doubt about such a choice.
The sudden emergence of two single mothers was nothing more than a white lie; at least, for Oscar. So Melissa Leo's fall for Best Actress is not too surprising.
Of course, you might be able to say that the film still shines with humanity. Especially when the two Pakistani children were left in the snow, Ray and Lila, despite getting all their pay, went back to find the child and finally get him back to his parents safely; When the smuggling business finally broke out, the light of friendship shown when two women were willing to sacrifice for each other.
Perhaps, this is why this movie can make us feel completely cold, and behind the cold it can make us feel a little warm. The final ending of the movie gives us a false happiness that is not very realistic, a beautiful illusion about the future; but this is not the only warmth this movie brings us, the light of humanity and friendship mentioned earlier. Light is also the soft bedding of this warmth.
The footage in this movie was uncomfortable, at least not for me. A lot of close-up shots and unreasonable push and pull, obviously, Courtney Hunt (Courtney Hunt) as a director, she still lacks the ability to control the lens. However, as a screenwriter Courteney is very good.
As far as this movie is concerned, it's not a very warm story, it's even a depressing story, but it's very accurate to the audience's psychology, so even though its shots give me a kind of It's not a comfortable feeling, but it takes care of my emotions very comfortably. The ups and downs, the light after repression, the slight warmth under the cold - we really need this. The involvement of Sony Pictures Classics brought the film to theaters, and the Gotham Awards and the Oscars also brought the film further into the international market, all of which are inaccurate proofs—from independent The movie went commercial, and this low-budget indie R-rated movie is off to a good start.
2009-03-04; Ji Chou Ox Year Bing Yin February Wushen eighth; Fang Spring Festival; Flower Arrangement Festival. 4:11 am.
-------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------
P.S.: Movie information extension link.
■Title: "Frozen River"
■Translation: "Frozen River"
■Director: Courtney Hunt
■Starring: Melissa Leo, Misty Aham (Misty Upham)
■ type: crime, Drama
■ Running time: 97 min
■ Location: United States
■ languages: English, French
■ color: color
■ mix: Dolby digital surround sound
■ format: 35 mm masking wide-screen system
■ Production Cost: $1,000,000
Distributor: A-Film Distribution
Premiere Date: January 18, 2008 (US)
View more about Frozen River reviews
