Liao Kang
is very accidental, and there will be such a situation: when I have no mental preparation, I see a good movie that is overjoyed, as if I have discovered a new world, and I am very excited! "The Shawshank Redemption" (The Shawshank Redemption) is a wonderful film I saw on the first day of the film, and I hadn't even heard of it beforehand. But that was in 1994. Recently, I watched the movie "The Collector of Wind" (Songcatcher, 1999) on DVD and felt the same way.
At the beginning of the last century, Dr. Lily Penleric (played by Janet McTeer), an associate professor at a music school in the United States, played the accompaniment by himself at the beginning of the film, and sang a famous British folk song to the students at a slow tempo, "Time." In May". Then, she said, "What you need to learn is not only the sociological value in the song, but also the simple feelings of the song itself." This is the theme of the film. After her long-awaited promotion to a full professor failed again, she went on vacation to a remote mountain village where her sister taught, and was surprised to find that the mountain people of Appalachia kept intact the food they brought from England, Scotland and Ireland more than 200 years ago. folk song. So, she began to collect folklore, and used the new technology at that time-the Edison drum recorder, to record these precious cultural heritages, and planned to study, organize and publish a book. During the gathering, she gradually got to know the mountain people, her condescending attitude changed, she established simple feelings with them, and found something more precious.
The story is based on stumbled upon Appalachian ballads and the digging of the true history of British folk songs in America, but the focus of the film is not on telling history, but on the transformation of Panleric, the impoverished life in that mountain village, and the presentation of a Cruel fact: No matter how beautiful a place is, as long as there are people, there are all kinds of sins in the world: jealousy, greed, exclusion, hatred... The so-called paradise does not exist. Of course, there is also pure emotion and something more valuable than preserving traditional art—creating fresh art. The film deals with many social issues: poverty, homosexuality, religious bigotry, oppression of women, industrial invasion of agriculture and forestry, etc. Some critics have accused the film of being too involved and not delving into any issues. But I don't think these critics have understood the three flavors of art. Art works are not intended to provide a cure for any social problem. Of course, it is good to have educational and guiding significance, but the aesthetic and cognitive functions of art are more important and valuable.
The greatest artistic value of "Winners" lies in its performance of folk songs. Of course, I can enjoy more folk songs by listening to records and watching performances, but at least I can't feel the charm of these folk songs as deeply as when I watch movies. How can a concert of selected songs, separated from life, be as fascinating as a complete opera? Songs are not like untitled music, they must be set off in the background, in order to be more deeply appreciated. The film provides a real-life background, the same song "It's May" was sung by Shangu Di Ladis (Deladis, Emmy Rossum) in the country log cabin, and sang in the classroom with Dr. Panleric. effects are quite different. And Tiredis was taught by dictation, and her unique rhythm and the folk-song flavor formed by the rising tone at the end of each sentence have been completely lost in Panleric's notation singing, because the staff cannot record that feature. When Dr. Panlerick helps a mother give birth to a baby girl, the old lady Viney (Pat Carroll) who delivers the baby can't help but sing the folk song "Wish I Was Still a Girl": When I was
single, I wore How beautiful,
I was in rotten clothes when I got married.
My shoes clacked when I was single, and my
shoes were worn out when I was married.
Wish I was still an unmarried girl!
Oh God!
Wish I was still an unmarried girl!
The three children were so hungry that they called their mothers.
I might as well die if I don't have anything to feed.
As soon as he got home, he yelled and scolded,
knocked down the child and pulled me by the hair.
Wish I was still an unmarried girl!
Oh God!
Wish I was still an unmarried girl!
If you just read the lyrics, you will only feel sad, and it is difficult to appreciate the self-deprecation and joy in suffering. Another moving song was sung after a poor middle-aged couple out of frustration agreed to sell their land cheaply. I can't think of any other song about wandering in a foreign land and struggling to make a living that moved so deeply. my heart. And they play the piano and sing, so naturally! So believable! After singing, I gave a relatively sad smile, which was the best performance I've seen on the screen for "Happy Together". In the wake of a real tragedy, lead actor Tom Bledsoe (Aidan Quinn) sings a mournful ballad to cleanse and elevate the intensity. These scenes in the film bring out the meaning of the song, and at the same time show that the old paper pile of the academy is not the source of art, but life is the source of art. Art not only enriches the content of life, but also counteracts the suffering of life; the latter may reflect the essence of great art more - resentment and anger produce poetry; poverty and pain produce songs.
The beautiful scenery of "The Wind Collector" is obvious, as is the simplicity and credibility of the characters. Such films can easily fall into the rut of landscape films, and can easily become illustrations of literati beautifying rural life. But the director of this film, Maggie Greenwald (who has directed The Ballad of Little Jo) has a unique eye. Her wonderful film shows us that there is no paradise in the world, and it reminds me of Nicolas Poussin. ) The handed down oil painting "The Shepherds of Arcadia" displayed in the Louvre Museum. Arcadia is a Greek pastoral region, synonymous with peaceful and beautiful countryside. In the picture, three shepherds are curiously looking at a tombstone, which reads: "Et in Arcadia Ego" (I also have a figure in Arcadia), and the meaning of "I" here is generally considered to be— die.
March 26, 2005
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