Ozon
Sun Meng Jin
a contemporary French film director draws countless masters, one has a unique movie geeks elements, an image in front of the experimenter and philosophical edge fashion line. François Ozon, the heir to French art cinema: his bizarre and metaphorical symbols.
Auzon is a leader in contemporary French films. He not only appears in major European film festivals, but also has been highly praised by professional film critics and fans with his very self-styled style. But for his film style, there are completely different views. Some see him as an explorer of new genre films, while others see him as a representative of French gay cinema.
In his early years, after obtaining a master's degree in film from the University of Paris, he was admitted to the director department of Femis, a famous French film school. When it comes to Ozong's experience, there are several clues that cannot be ignored. First of all, he was born into a middle-class family, and the ethical relationship of the family and the inner sense of destruction are always concerned. Secondly, he was born in a film major, and knows the history of film, including the predecessors of the French New Wave. Whether it is the subject matter or style, there are many shadows of famous artists in his films. Also, Ozon's penchant for Christie's detective novels makes his films always cast a net of suspense.
The first element of Ozon's film: the continuation of the sketch style.
Ozon's films, especially his earlier films, have a deep shadow of the French New Wave. In the French New Wave films, Rohmer's sophistication and aura are a model of sketch films, and Ozon developed Rohmer's film style to a certain extent. And Ozon's film style began to be established in his short film era. These early short films of Ao Zong are a powerful label for him. His grasp of details and the depiction of some neurotic human nature all show a good talent.
And even some of Ao Zong's later feature films are sketches, enlarged versions of short films.
From "Summer Sling Dress" to "Looking at the Sea", these early excellent works of Ao Zong have revealed several of his characteristics. His short stories are not complicated, but they often allude to the cruelty of life, the separation between people, and the confusion of character identities unique to his shots.
"5 x 2" is a movie that has attracted more attention recently. This theme rarely appears in Aozong's films: the pure love story between men and women uses flashbacks. The so-called "5 x 2" is two Five personal moments. Although Ozon himself said: "I'm going to start with Bergman and end with Le Roouche." But the simplicity of the film is more reminiscent of Rohmer, and most importantly, "5 by 2" is a short film. feature film. That's a big element of Ozon's film.
The second element of Ozon's film: female dominance.
In many Aozong films, male characters are absent, such as "Beautiful Picture", "Murder in the Pool", "Under the Sand"...etc. According to his own statement, he prefers to describe the psychology of women because women are much more complex than men in terms of emotional and even physical reflections.
The repressed side of women is always what Aozong wants to explore, first of all, to capture a certain sense of guilt. In the famous "Eight Beauties", eight women are in an environment where the hero is murdered. The intrigue between them, their dark or selfish things, are all slowly discovered by Ozong. But all this is hidden behind their cute and charming masks. No wonder, Deneuve, one of the actresses, was very dissatisfied with Ozon's view of women.
The sensation and commercial success of "Eight Beautiful Pictures" cannot be separated from the help of eight famous French actresses. Many people define this film as a combination of musical and suspenseful films. In any case, the musical and dance scenes of "Eight Beautiful Pictures" return to the post-war atmosphere of France in the 1950s. This is also Ozon's intention. I am afraid he He has no intention of making real genre films, but instead pays his own homage to past glories.
Comparing Ozon with Fassbender and Almodovar, Fassbender and Almodovar have a adoring cry to their mothers, and they even impose a certain aspect of motherhood on the role of women. Ao Zong is relatively cold in this aspect. He is not fascinated by the maternal side. For example, in "Family Lost Soul", the mother tries to use her body to awaken her son's love for the opposite sex, but the relationship between mother and son is in opposition. It looks terrifying.
"Under the Sand" is an Ozon movie that fully demonstrates the inner forbearance of women. It seems that this film describes the psychological impact of the heroine after losing her husband, and what Ozon really wants to reflect is a woman's attachment and trance to life. Pursuing the mystery of death is just a superficial suspense, the real intention is: the collision between desire and nostalgia.
The contrast between youth and aging in "Swimming Pool Love Murder" is something Ao Zong particularly wants to express. It is not difficult for us to find that Aozong deliberately wants to make way for male characters. In the film, the two women, one old and one young, have both physical and psychological confrontation, as well as a kind of care and integration. In the end, they became accomplices and witnesses to the blossoming female lives.
The third element of Ozon's film: Murder theme
Some people say that Ozon's film is - Rohmer meets Hitchcock. In many of Ozon's films, murder is an element he is accustomed to present. What is particularly concerning is that the key part of his films itself is not murder, but Ozon is more concerned with human nature and the relationship between people. So, his murder stories are very sudden. It can also be said that he borrowed Hitch Cook's shell, not Hitch Cook's kernel.
"Provocative Murder" is a black fairy tale-colored allegory of human nature. The murder is not what Ozong really cares about. He is more concerned about the helplessness of young people when cruelty is revealed. And the relationship between people is covered by a ruthless big net. Whether it is the awakening of lust or the sense of security between people, they are all torn to shreds in front of reality.
What Ozon's films do best is undoubtedly the fear behind the characters he creates. In Ozong's early film "Looking at the Sea", there is a terrifying atmosphere behind the calmness, which hides the hatred between people in the ups and downs of the sea and waves.
The fourth element of Ozon's films: the theme of love.
Stealing the forbidden fruit and the suffering of life, the burden of body beauty and desire, the strange color and cruel calm. These make Aozong's film themes emit a brilliance. Perhaps, this brilliance is not bright, but we have to say that this is the main line of Ozon's exploration of human nature.
"Firewood and Fire" is a script written by the late German director Fassbender at the age of 19, and Ozon was very loyal to the original when he remade it. Ugly and unspeakable, the undercurrent of human nature, in this early film of Ozon, we can see that Ozon is different from Fassbender's calmness.
"The Last Days" is one of the hallmarks of Ozon's shift toward mainstream film style, and it also reflects the brutal regression in Ozon. On the other hand, he greatly enhances the poetry of the film. It's just this kind of poetry that may be a disservice to this unique director. In "The Dying Time", Ozon begins to reconcile with many things. Family, love, friendship, and love are all covered with an air of relief.
Indoors and beaches are common scenes in Ozon movies. Ozon once had a nightmare and it kept revolving around him. It was when I was ten years old, and I saw a man disappear after going into the sea. Therefore, missing and lost by the sea is almost an eternal scene of Ozong.
In "The Dying Time", Ozon's urge to pry into cruel human nature gradually faded away. He changed the color of the sea for the first time. The cool blue began to change, until the hero Roman was pillowed on the golden beach. and died.
Ozon's confrontation with humanity sets his films apart from his contemporaries in French directors. But, as the warmth gradually emerges in his recent films, we ask, is this still the same Ozong? In any case, the fun and tension of Ozon's films is that he wants to discover something rather than restore the surface of the world.
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