I tell you the truth, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains a single grain; if it dies, it produces many grains." New Testament The Four Journeys of the Soul, Chapter 12 of the Gospel of John
, is a 2010 Italian film and the second feature-length feature film by Italian director Michelangelo Farmartino. However, the term "dramatic feature film" seems a little inaccurate, because from a certain point of view, "Four Journeys of the Soul" has no plot and no dialogue, and is simply composed of four groups of seemingly independent observation films. , more like a short film or a documentary.
On the other hand, however, the film is rich in plot, rich in dialogue, and tells a story of a life full of life -- a result of this paradoxical understanding that is actually what makes this film great. Some people call "The Four Journeys of the Soul" the Italian version of "The Tree of Life", but I personally think that "The Four Journeys of the Soul" presents a simpler and more open life in a simpler way View, whether in artistic conception or technique, is more outstanding than "The Tree of Life", which won the Golden Palm Award at the Cannes Film Festival.
■Content and perspective The content of
"Four Journeys of the Soul" is very simple. First, an old gentleman living in the countryside made a living by herding sheep and selling goat milk every day. After the old gentleman died, a little white sheep fell to the ground and came to the human room. This little white sheep got lost from the flock during a grazing and started wandering alone in the forest. Between spring and winter, the little white sheep perches under a big tree and ends its life there. The tree was later cut down by the villagers and transported to the village for ceremonial activities. After the festival, the big tree is cut into wood and transported to the wood yard. The wood was later smoked and burned into charcoal, which was then distributed to each household in the village.
If you watch this film from a human point of view and from the point of view of a general drama film, you may not see the complete plot, nor the story that you can touch or think about. But if you cut in from the perspective of "life", you can immediately generate very specific insights. Some people say that "The Four Journeys of the Soul" is based on the theory of the soul of the ancient Greek philosopher Pythagoras. The Pythagoreans maintain that people have a soul, and that the soul will be reincarnated and reborn in the four life forms of people, animals, plants, and minerals. But I think that although "The Four Journeys of the Soul" is based on this theory of soul and looks at all things in terms of the four forms of life, its understanding and interpretation are not limited to the simple reincarnation of the soul. The content involved The four stages of the journey can be regarded as their own independent life courses, and they can feel the ebb and flow of all life from the perspective of heaven and earth.
■Camera language and narrative method
Although it is said that "Four Journeys of the Soul" observes the rise and fall of life from such a macro perspective as "all things in the universe", this film does not fall into the religious lofty but narrow spirit at all Inspiration and cry. This work does not rely on language dialogue to express the creator's ideas and opinions. It completely relies on the switching of macro and micro lenses, and through the subtle interlacing of the narrative main line and branch lines, so that life itself can touch life.
The film screen is mainly composed of two types of medium and long-distance shots and close-up shots. Among them, the long shots mainly present a distant and emotionless observation perspective, but such a perspective is moved and rotated through subtle lenses. Show a curious and caring attitude, as if the sky and the earth are quietly watching the changes of the old gentleman, the little white sheep, the big tree, and the charcoal in the long river of time. The growth and change of these four lives and four life forms constitute the main narrative line of the film.
Along this narrative main line, because the four life subjects are exposed to simple and repetitive scenes and routines, they give a vaguely boring, humble and involuntary state of life. For example, the old man is old and frail, living a simple or even poor life alone. The old man would go to herd sheep every morning when he got up. When he came back, he would go to the village to deliver goat milk, and stop by the nearby people to pick up a kind of herbal powder. After returning home again, he will put the berries he picked up in a pot. At night, he took off his layers of coat, drank herbal powder and went to bed. The film presents the day-to-day monotonous life of the old gentleman through fixed scenes, fixed camera positions and angles.
Until one day, the old man went to defecate in the grass while herding sheep, and accidentally dropped the herbal powder. When he went to bed at night, the old man couldn't find this herbal powder everywhere, so he had to go out in a hurry to ask for new powder, but because everyone was asleep and no one answered the door, the old man could only go home in despair. As a result, the next morning, the old man failed to get up on time, and soon died in bed. Similar to this, the sudden disappearance of the little white sheep, the sight of the big tree in the dense forest and felling, and the wood being sent to the charcoal by people, all give people a sadness that the world is ruthless and life is impermanent. This is just like what Lao Tzu said in the "Tao Te Ching": Heaven and earth are not benevolent, and all things are dogs.
However, between the main narrative lines are those close-up shots that are constantly forked. When these shots are swept out of the four narrative subjects and look into the unknown world, they suddenly give people a sense of life. Just like the old gentleman left in a hurry after defecation in the grass, the camera suddenly moved to the grass, and the paper bag of herbal powder dropped by the old gentleman appeared in the picture, but in addition to the paper bag, there was a large group of busy people who came to carry the paper bags ants. And when the old man was sick in bed overnight and could not get up, the shepherd dog ran to the road and barked at the crowd in the village, which made them forget to pull on the handbrake of the truck in a hurry, and the truck crashed into the sheep. The fence, the sheep ran around, some of them ran to the old gentleman's house, and his pot with berries, which was carefully tied to prevent insects and ants from eating, hit the table.
The microscopic perspective of all these switching and extending back and forth, showing the interdependence of life and blessing and misfortune between heaven and earth, the broad-mindedness of transcending individual and short-lived life, the "Fana Xumi in mustard seeds, and the great thousand in mustard seeds" the world” of the world. From the perspective of an individual life, the meaning of life lies in what has been achieved in this life and what has been obtained in this life, and all of this often cannot be determined until the coffin is closed. If when you are about to leave, your life is generally well-dressed and happy, and if you have accumulated wealth, or achieved fame, or have long descendants, then you can say that life has meaning, otherwise it is a waste of life. . However, in the vast world and in the long river of time, the meaning of life exists in every moment and every thing without distinction.
■The meaning of life
In the eyes of people, the old man's life is humble and meaningless, and it is even more unfortunate that he dropped the herbal powder, causing his life to end abruptly and die absurdly. People were able to get goat milk to nourish their bodies, and the herbal powder and berries dropped by the old man gave birth to more life. As for the later disappearance of the little white sheep, although it was not able to live in peace and produce milk, its body gave birth to a big tree and countless lives parasitic on the tree, and the tree was cut down and burned. Also achieve different fertility. This is just like what the New Testament says: Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains a single grain, but if it dies, it produces many grains.
Since ancient times, the "meaning of life" has been a topic that people have been discussing diligently and unremittingly. Countless philosophers have wanted to find out the purpose of life in this world and the purpose of life and death, and they want to sum up the correct attitude and way of life. From this a variety of theologies have been derived, proposing the concept of the afterlife and the soul to free from the fear of death and the emptiness of life. Different from Western classical philosophical thought and various theological thoughts, "The Four Stages of the Soul" adopts the old and Zhuang-style macroscopic view of life, jumping out of the "individual" or even "people"-centered way of thinking, from the perspective of heaven and earth. From the perspective of equality of all living beings, to observe and reflect the meaning of life.
The entire film "Four Journeys of the Soul" was shot in natural light, without any dialogue or soundtrack. The voices from nature echoed in my ears from time to time, the bells on the old gentleman, the barking of the shepherd dog and the little white sheep. The baa baa, the overall color and tone are natural, beautiful and peaceful. Some people use "poetic lens" to describe it, but because these words are not only vague in concept and have been abused, it is better to simply say that it is in the film. The tranquility and unpretentiousness of people and things, the openness of forests and fields, the saturated and natural bright colors in various landscapes, and the unhurried speed of advancement and switching between the lens and the picture, give people a feeling of inner clarity and relaxation , which perfectly echoes the film's magnanimous theme and detached atmosphere.
In such a work with no verbal dialogue, no soundtrack, and no lighting operation, the camera lens is the only language form for the director to communicate with the audience. In the film, in addition to the relatively easy-to-understand life forms such as the old gentleman and the little white sheep, it also involves unfamiliar life states such as big trees and charcoal. Therefore, how to form a smooth narrative rhythm and how to use tangible things To convey the invisible concept of life and death, it requires very good lens language skills to achieve. In the film, repetition and association are used to express, so that people can understand the abstract from the figurative, and understand the "incomprehensible" from the "understandable". For example, through a single close-up shot of many insects and ants actively busy on the big tree, it conveys the death of the little white sheep and the vitality of the big tree. For example, the death of the old gentleman is presented with the action of closing the coffin and the black screen afterward, and when the same technique appears when the wood is sent in for fumigation, the end of the tree's life gives an associative understanding. This way of understanding everything through similarity is not only a lens language and a narrative technique, but also an attitude of empathy, sympathy and tolerance.
In fact, "The Four Journeys of the Soul" does not give an answer to the eternal proposition of "the meaning of life", but it does give a way and attitude to look at life. Compared with the Christian-style and biased "those who believe in me, have eternal life" in "The Tree of Life", "Four Journeys of the Soul" gives people a more open-mindedness, like Lao Zhuang's thought. It is a reminder that the luck and misfortune, life and death that people see in their eyes are only part of the operation of heaven and earth. Fortunately and life have their meanings, as well as misfortune and death, but such meanings are only a short-term and relative The concept is neither eternal nor indestructible. If you want to go deeper, the life of an individual may not have absolute meaning, but isn't "the meaning of life" a meaningless question? Being open-minded and detached, and feeling life with your heart may be more meaningful than striving for the meaning of life.
View more about Le Quattro Volte reviews
