This part tells the stories of Won-seo, Dong-soo, San-tae, and Rong-he in childhood. The film is narrated by Shan Tai throughout the entire plot. As a person who recalls the past, Shantai said in the opening remarks: "Memories, in my mind are like scattered islands, now let me relive them one by one. This film is dedicated to my close friends and their families." The director of the film used the help of Shan Taizhikou, the character in the play, revealed his original intention of filming the film, and led the audience to relive the lost past together. From this, we can feel the director's subjective feelings, nostalgia for friendship, and feelings for the past. The film is always filled with a strong sadness.
1. Visual elements
Visual elements include environments, props, etc.
The natural environment in this period includes: smoke and sea; the social environment includes: courtyards, deep alleys, bridges, etc. The main props are: knives. Almost every element has been carefully designed and given some kind of symbolism. Among them, the social environment mainly shows the audience the living environment of the protagonist. Let's talk about the natural environment and the role of props in detail.
(1) Smoke: At the beginning of the film, through high-speed photography (slow motion), a group of children are excitedly chasing a truck. The truck drove through the streets, spewing steam-like smoke. The happy figures of the children are looming in the white smoke. Here, a symbolic artistic treatment is used: the slow mirror gives people a soothing and gradually improving aesthetic feeling, and the steam-like white smoke passing by has a meaning of uncovering the history and reappearing the dusty past, which is very good. In line with the film's translation of "the past is like smoke". Following the truck in the deep alley, the audience saw a small town full of life - ordinary working men, women and children, carefree children... Showing the living environment of the four protagonists in the film when they were teenagers.
(2) The sea: As the most symbolic visual element of the film, it appeared for the first time. Four children were playing in the sea, and they were discussing a question around a lifebuoy: "Gold medal swimmer Cai Aolun competes with sea turtles, who will win?" This question was mentioned many times in the future. The grievances and entanglements between Rui and Dong-soo: Joining different underworld gangs formed two indescribable forces. In this scene, the children did not discuss the answer, because they could not predict their future, they were just laying the groundwork for the future. We will discuss this issue in detail later.
(3) Knife: An important prop that runs through the entire film. The knife has two meanings in the film. 1. Yuan Rui and Dong Zhu joined the underworld and lived a life of "licking blood with a knife". The knife became a natural murder weapon and tool, which the film could not avoid. In the tragedy of disability, the director intends to point out that fate is like a ruthless and sharp knife, cutting
the tenderness between friends. In this passage, the appearance of the knife has a special meaning: Dong-soo saw a knife in a grocery store and couldn't put it down, so he secretly hid it in his trousers pocket; Won-seo saw the knife that Dong-soo brought, and he also couldn't put it down and played with it repeatedly; Shan Tai next to him just looked at it enviously, showing no more interest in this kind of thing. This passage alludes to the fate of the three later: Won-seo and Dong-soo join the gang, Shan-tae goes abroad to study and stay away from disputes. And Rong He, who didn't appear in this scene at all, lived a more ordinary and more comfortable life in the future, and almost completely faded out of their lives.
2. Color
The overall tone of "Friends" is dark and solemn, which is in line with the heavy narrative and tragic ending. However, in this scene of childhood, the director deliberately used some brighter and warmer tones on the basis of maintaining a cold tone, intending to highlight the only beautiful time, such as: the evening after sunset, Sunlit streets and beaches, and more. In the play on the beach, unnatural and objective light was boldly used, and the sky in the distance was rendered a dreamy rose color by means of artistic rendering. This magnificent color, because of the "distortion", further reflects the director's subjective nostalgia and reluctance, that is, "what is lost is always too beautiful". Secondly, red can be regarded as an uncomfortable and threatening color to some extent, and the large reddish sky conveys a vague atmosphere of restlessness.
3. Music
The role of music in a film is to provide the audience with an element that helps them understand the meaning and depth of the passage. In this film, in order to express the beauty of childhood, the overall melody of the music is beautiful and light.
As the memories unfold, the long, soothing and moving violin theme brings people into a warm and wonderful environment. When the four children are playing in the water, the soundtrack is relaxed, cheerful and full of childlike innocence. All these renderings of happiness further reflect the sadness of the fate of the characters after that.
4. When the characters in the camera are set to appear in the
movie, the camera needs to accurately and clearly indicate the direction of their character.
As the narrator, Shantae appears first, but his method is to "hear his voice first and see his face again". Strictly speaking, Shan Tai is not the protagonist of the story, but he is a thread that runs through the whole film, connecting the other three, especially the relationship between Yuan Rui and Dong Su.
Yuan Rui, Dong Zhu, and Rong He's appearances are all medium and close shots, and in an instant freeze-frame way, accompanied by Shan Tai's narration introduction, to deepen the audience's impression of them. Focus on the appearance of the two main characters.
When Yuan Rui came out, he was having dinner with his father, and his partner outside the yard called him to play. He hesitated to get up, and his father said, "Let's go after eating." He sat down obediently and continued to eat. The light on his face was half-light and half-dark, and there was a certain poise and silence befitting his age. Shan Tai's narration: "Yuan Rui is the best person I have ever met. He once defeated a man three years older than us." Two messages are conveyed to us: 1. Yuan Rui is the child king among the four (adult). Second, Yuan Rui succumbed to the authority of his father who was the leader of the underworld (the fate of inheriting his father's business when he grew up).
Dong-soo steals a knife from a grocery store when he comes on stage, with quick and skilled movements, quick and quick eyes. Obviously, unlike Yuan Rui's obedience, he is a teenager with a rebellious spirit. Shantae's narration: "Dong-soo and we became good friends in the third grade, and two years later, we learned that his father was an undertaker." A father with a "disgraceful" job. Won-seo is restrained, domineering, and silent, while Dong-soo is sensitive, self-respecting, and aloof. The disparity in family background caused the disparity in personalities, and also destined their life choices, setting footnotes for the tragic fate of the two.
2. Student times (1981)
Student times are of crucial significance in this film. It was during their student days that the life trajectories of the four began to change, and at the same time, a rift began to appear between Won-seo and Dong-soo.
1. Chastity's appearance in a
gangster film is a man's play, but there is always a woman in a gangster film, and a woman usually becomes the fuse of the conflict between men. With the help of this woman, we can get a glimpse of the subtlety between men. But complex relationship entanglement. In "Friends", this woman is called Zhenshu. In order to clarify the important role she plays among men, the director's arrangement for her appearance can be said to be painstaking.
At the music scene of the high school anniversary party, the four of them met Jung Sook, the lead singer of the Seven Fairies Rainbow Band, for the first time. In clothing design, in order to highlight the centrality of Zhenshu, she wears the most dazzling yellow among the seven colors, and at the same time, in order to emphasize her difference from other girls, she wears a red beret. In makeup, try to create a fashionable, romantic image of a girl. There is no doubt that such girls are attractive to teenagers who are in their puberty, and Won Seo, Dong Soo, and San Tae were indeed attracted.
In the performance of this scene, the camera used a series of parallel edits to properly emphasize the psychological reactions of the characters, not only expressing the three people's "love at first sight" for Zhenshu, but also subtly revealing the personality characteristics of several people. Through high-speed photography, that is, slow motion, the singing voice of Zhenshu and the beauty of the people in the hearts of the three people are strengthened. At the same time, through the different emotional expressions of the three people, their different personalities are revealed: Shan Tai's simplicity and bookishness, Yuan Rui's deep and restrained chengfu, Dongzhu's rebellious and unruly.
The next shot is Shantai doing homework in front of the writing desk, but the voiceover of Zhenshu singing did not disappear, it was transformed in space and time, but the voice cut directly into the camera, resulting in psychological coherence. Obviously, Shan Tai still misses Zhenshu when he is doing his homework. The audience can understand that the singing is from the tape recorder next to him, or it can be understood as the external manifestation of the singing echoing in his heart.
In this scene, only Rong He did not fall in love with Zhenshu, he fell in love with another quiet girl who played the piano. From this time on, Rong He, who was willing to be ordinary and do nothing, no longer participated in the conflict between the other three and became a supporting role.
2. Being taught by the teacher
This scene mainly shows the different performances of the four people in school. Won-seo and Dong-soo are in one middle school, and San-tae and Yong-ha are in another middle school. First of all, in the design of the occasion, the distance between the two pairs of friends was widened.
In schools, the contradiction between students and teachers is the main contradiction. Through the attitude of the four students to the teacher's corporal punishment, the audience can almost predict what path they will take in the future.
Shan Tai was a good student who studied hard. When most of the class didn't listen, he still held his book. Although Rong He didn't study well and often deserted in class, he still endured the teacher's corporal punishment. Obviously, they represent that part of the general group that is motivated and compromised to society.
When Yuan Rui and Dong Zhu faced corporal punishment, it was not so easy.
The teacher made pressed Dongzhu "Your father is doing," Dong Zhu was silent for a long time before reluctantly say "undertakers", although he did not do the actual resistance, but do not hide their anger, resentment eyes;
teacher pressed Yuan Rui asked, "What does your father do?" Yuan Rui said "underworld" reluctantly after being silent for a long time. Facing the teacher's surprise, he asked loudly, "What's so good about the underworld!" Then he led Dongzhu to rush out of the classroom. gone.
Combined with the language and behavior of the teacher and others, this scene conveys the following messages to us:
1. Won-seo and Dong-soo both hate their family backgrounds and are ashamed to be humane;
2. Won-seo and Dong-soo are both Problem student;
3. Won-seo already has his own power on campus, and Dong-soo is his right-hand man, that is, the "second boss";
4. Won-seo and Dong-soo are ready to break with the school. Although he then begged the teacher to continue school, the end of the break was inevitable.
3. The people who compete for chastity
officially met chastity at Yuan Rui's house.
As mentioned earlier, Jung Sook was the first fuse that triggered the conflict between Won Seo and Dong Soo. Since it is the fuse, it means that the source of the conflict is not here, but just a lack of a lead. In other words, women are not the center of their lives.
The only person who truly loves Zhenshu is Shan Tai, which is evident from the importance he attaches to this party: wearing a clean shirt, wearing a neat and scented handkerchief, and trying to make himself a good gentleman.
However, Yuan Rui's house is a different scene: messy house, confusing music, unbridled jokes, men and women smoking cigarettes bored, including Zhenshu.
Shantai seemed so out of place with all this. Later, Shan Tai played the guitar and sang for Zhenshu in the room, but was mocked by Zhenshu for being innocent. At the same time, Zhenshu told him that she dropped out of school because of illness and went back to study. From her tone and expression, the audience could tell that she dropped out of school. It's true, but there must be other hidden reasons. All in all, Zhenshu and Shantai are not the same kind of people, which means that their fate is nothing more than that.
Later, Zhenshu married Yuan Rui, which had been foreshadowed before. At the party, Yuan Rui was the first to get Zhenshu. It can be seen from Zhenshu sitting next to him. At the same time, we learned that she and Yuan Rui are both problem students and have very similar life trajectories.
However, when he learned that Shan Tai liked Zhen Shu, Yuan Rui immediately sent Zhen Shu to accompany Shan Tai without hesitation. This move showed Yuan Rui's loyalty and his closeness and consideration to Shan Tai. , At the same time, it also hurt Dong-soo, who is also a friend.
Analyze this scene in detail:
Tiantai Yuanrui: I thought you came to see me, not the girls.
Shantai: I'm sorry.
Yuan Rui: There is no need to apologize between friends. It would
be great if we went to the same middle school, if we were together, I would be a good student.
Shantai: Then why don't you start working hard now?
Yuan Rui: (smoking, silent for a while) Who do you want?
Shantai: What?
Yuan Rui: Those girls. Choose one of the three.
Shantai: The one sitting next to you...is it yours?
Yuan Rui: (pretending to laugh indifferently) Zhenshu? no.
Yuan Rui's voiceover in the living room: Zhenshu, come here. (Won-seo orders Jung-sook, who is obviously his woman)
A close-up of Jung-sook's face in the foreground is drawn.
Dong-soo in the background coldly watches Jung-sook walk away. (The difference between the front and the back, implying that Dong-soo won't get Chun-sook) In the
room San-tae and Jung-sook sit down, and San-tae picks up the guitar.
Jung Sook: Can you play the guitar? Well, play around and see.
Shantai: (shyly) I can only play...
Zhenshu watched Shantai play the guitar with interest.
Yuan Rui relieves his hands in the bathroom (foreground). Dong-soo comes in and faces the mirror (background). The two did not look at each other.
Dong-soo: Why did you do that?
Yuan Rui: Do what?
Dong-soo: Why did you do that for San-tae?
Yuan Rui: He is my friend.
Dong-soo: (turning his head and looking directly at Won-seo) What about me?
Won-seo: (avoiding Dong-soo's gaze) I didn't call her here for you.
Won-seo walks towards the door after releasing his hands, and Dong-soo grabs his shoulders.
Dong-soo: Then what am I?
San-tae turns back and stares at Dong-soo. (Close-up)
Dong-soo stares at San-tae. (Close-up, emphasizing anger)
Dong-soo: I'm just your slave?
Yuan Rui: Do you want to die?
Dong-soo clenched his fist, but put it down. Yuan Rui left.
Dong-soo: (faces himself in the mirror) Do you want to die?
Although Yuan Rui is the leader of the "campus gangster", he has a deep sense of inferiority about his identity. He envies Shan Tai, who is a model student, and even gives Shan Tai the girl he likes to show his affection. . And his "second boss" Dong-soo also likes Jung-sook, but he doesn't get special treatment from Won-seo.
Of course, it was Shantae who asked Won-seo for chastity, but Dong-soo didn't make this request. In Dong-soo's heart, he thought that Won-seo could know his heart, and it was not the woman he cared about, but Won-seo's attitude towards him. In his opinion, Yuan Rui was supposed to be a friend who could share weal and woe, drink and suffer knives together, but Yuan Rui favored Shan Tai from "another world", and he felt inferior to his own life, and the sensitive nature of Dong Zhu's Self-esteem is hurt.
This scene paved the way for the incompatibility between Won-seo and Dong-soo in the future.
4. The roller skating rink fights
Although several people have grudges in the event of competing for women, they are still inseparable friends in peacetime.
Shantae took Zhenshu to roller skating, but was provoked by the rogue students. Yuanrui and Dongzhu appeared in time, like a pair of protective umbrellas that would be opened for Shantai at any time. "Friends, is to stand out for each other", this is obviously their way. This scene continues to reveal the relationship between several people. Let’s analyze this long shot using depth of field.
In the middle shot and in the depths, several rogue students tamely kneeled on the ground, and Shan Tai was beating them to vent his anger (becoming a hero afterward).
Rong He sat and watched (timidly).
Move to the left, in the depths, Dong-soo stepped forward to make up for a sharp punch (with agile skills, acting as a thug) and
continued to move to the left, the foreground Jung-sook was smoking, and turned back to look meaningfully at the off-screen Won-seo (admiration).
Moving on to the left, Yuan Rui, the prospect, is sitting on the stairs, smoking a cigarette thoughtfully (dilemma).
This long shot subtly conveys several messages:
1. Shantae's weak and bookishness almost made Zhenshu be bullied by hooligans. Obviously, he didn't win her heart;
2. Dongzhu was Yuanrui's effective partner, and his friendship with Shantai was not because of "Zhenshu" Incidents" decreased, still "shoot when it's time to shoot".
3. Zhenshu admires Yuan Rui as the eldest brother, and Yuan Rui also thinks that Zhenshu is the right person for him.
In this way, it makes sense for Zhenshu to marry Yuanrui later.
After the fight, it was followed by a scene of four people laughing at the lighthouse. Obviously, because of this fight, the four people's feelings became closer, and they also forgot the unhappiness caused by the previous fight for chastity. Women, have since faded out of their world.
5. Running
In order to repay Won-seo and Dong-soo, Shan-tae persuades them to go back to school. After getting the teacher's permission, the four of them planned to run to the movies to celebrate, and ran to buy tickets at the end. This is a very important running scene in the whole play.
Close-up Rong He: Shall we go to a movie to celebrate?
Yuan Rui: Watching a movie?
Rong He: Yes, the last person has to buy a ticket.
Dong-soo: What is the end?
Rong He: (throws the schoolbag to Dong-soo and runs away) Let's race!
Before Won-seo and Dong-soo could react, San-tae ran away.
Won-seo and Dong-soo looked at each other with contempt.
Suddenly, Yuan Rui ran away quickly.
Dong-soo was stunned for a moment, then flew after him.
The music starts (bad case of loving you), accompanied by uplifting singing, and a series of consecutive clips of four people running appear on the screen. They run out of the school gate and into the market, railway bridge, and alley. The sequence of shots is as follows:
First, a set of coherent montage by photographing the subject and the depth of the front and rear left and right roll to the scheduler from the camera panning movements combine to form a very strong sense of movement;
two, music melody more intense, high-pitched, Powerful, combining sound and painting, it vividly portrays the passion and excitement of everyone running;
3. In the process of running, the upgraded camera is used to enhance the beauty of the movement.
During the run, Yuan Rui and Dong Zhu, who were originally behind, gradually surpassed the leading Shan Tai and Rong He, and opened a considerable gap before and after.
If running means moving forward in life, then Shan Tai and Rong He have fallen behind to a certain extent, or in other words, they have opened a gap in their lives with the other two. And Yuan Rui and Dong Zhu, two powerful people, are undoubtedly moving towards the goal of being "strong" in life. This was the last time the four friends ran together for the same destination before they went their separate ways, so they gave each of them a stop-motion shot in the process, which was regarded as the last portrayal of their student days.
The last shot is very meaningful: Dong-soo tries his best to catch up, but he always falls short of the leading Won-seo. This is exactly the portrayal of the two of them a few years later: After Dongzhu joined the underworld, he tried his best to get ahead, but when he was about to reach the peak, he was killed by his subordinates at the behest of Yuanrui. It also corresponds to the fable of "Cai Aulun and the Turtle Race", although they are friends, they always maintain a sad competition relationship due to the trick of fate.
5. The group
fight in the cinema was in the toilet of the cinema. Shan Tai was retaliated and beaten by rogue students. Yuan Rui and Dong Zhu rushed to rescue Shan Tai after hearing the news, which resulted in a large-scale student group fight. People stand against ten with one, and the more they
fight, the more brave they are , until their heads are broken... The purpose of this group fight is not to show the loyalty of friends, nor to show the bravery of the two, but to emphasize that Yuan Rui and Dong Zhuo The conflicts and contradictions with the students and the environment such as the school have reached an irreconcilable level. Their bravery can be seen as venting and fighting back against their dissatisfaction with the environment, and it is a kind of shattered resistance.
This incident caused Dong-soo to smash the school, Won-seo was suspended, and Rong-he transferred. Out of guilt, Shan Tai ran away from home and decided to join Yuan Rui in the underworld. It was still on the rooftop. Yuan Rui stopped Shan Tai's thoughts. He didn't want his friends to go astray as he did.
"From now on, we will go our separate ways." When Yuan Rui said this sentence with a wry smile, the camera slowly rose to the panorama of the dark night sky above his head.
6. Dong-soo smashes the school
Among the four people, Dong-soo is always a relatively lonely individual in spirit, so when expressing him, he always pulls him away from other people in the camera and on occasions.
Dong-soo helped his father clean the corpse. He was completely tired of this life (sluggish movements, reluctant eyes), facing his father's questioning, he took off the cleaning mask and threw it on the ground. This action symbolized him. Completely broke with his father in life.
When the camera turns, it is a close-up of the iron rod in Dongzhu's hand rubbing against the wall. The harsh voice suggests Dongzhu's fierce inner struggle at this time. With the shaky footage, Dongzhu smashes the windows of the school corridor one by one. The loud sound of shattering and the panicked questioning of the people behind highlighted Dong-soo's anger and his sense of threat.
Faced with being surrounded by teachers and students, Dong-soo took off his school uniform and fell to the ground. He no longer needed his student's identity and said, "Don't run into me on the street." At this time, the camera gave Dong-soo a panorama shot from above. The students and teachers were squeezed into a low corner of the picture. The irregular composition with an oblique angle enhanced Dong-soo's strong and dangerous aura. , Dongsu completely embarked on the road of "destroying social stability".
3. In their youth (1984)
, Shan Tai and Rong He, who went home to visit relatives after a college vacation, went to visit Yuan Rui. Because of the blow of his mother's death, Yuan Rui became addicted to drugs and is detoxifying at home. His wife, Zhenshu, endured Yuanrui's irritable temper and abuse.
On the steps, Zhenshu smoked a cigarette and said to Shantai, "Please let me have a drink and let me see what a college student's life is like." Maybe, she didn't regret not choosing Shantai, but obviously, she Now this life is full of disgust. What happened to Zhenshu is in stark contrast to her former beauty, which not only intensifies the audience's sympathy for her, but also ironies her and Yuanrui's once cynical attitude towards life.
Dong-soo is serving his sentence in prison on the grounds that "you have to go to jail before you can rise to the top of the gang". Yuan Rui's father gradually loses power, and his former subordinate Yamaoka betrays him. After being released from prison, Dong-soo joins Yamaoka's gang because he desperately needs money.
Yuan Rui succeeded his father after his death. On the night of the funeral, Won-seo said to Dong-soo, "I have no father or mother now." Dong-soo answered meaningfully, "But, you are already an adult." In spirit, Dong-soo became independent earlier than Won-seo.
Another explanation for adulthood is that the two will no longer maintain the intimate partnership they had in their youth, and will consider things more from the standpoint of interests. Therefore, Won-seo and Dong-soo had a dignified conversation, After this conversation, the two really parted ways.
Focus on the design of this scene:
Shot 1:
Panorama of Won-seo and Dong-soo sitting under the wall talking.
Dong-soo: (heartbroken) In fifth grade, Moo-gil laughed at me with rosy lips because my father gave me the liver of a dead man. Even though he was older than us, you beat him for me, and since then I have followed you.
Yuan Rui: (still immersed in grief, said casually) Really?
In the composition, the left side of the picture is a wreath, and the two are on the right side of the picture, which maintains the beauty and coordination of the composition. At the same time, since the funeral was handled by Dongzhu's father, the wreath represents Dongzhu's kindness to Yuanrui. The conversation before the breakup added a touch of sadness; in terms of clothing, Won-seo was wearing a white filial piety suit and Dong-soo was wearing a black suit, forming a strong black and white contrast, and the meaning of "strength against each other" was obvious. In contrast, the street lamps cast bright light on Yuan Rui's body, while Dong Zhu's body is shrouded in darkness except for his bright face; in terms of sound, the low sound of cars passing by in the distance is faintly heard. It alludes to Dong-soo's complex and contradictory inner world.
Shot 2:
Turn to the close-up of the two, and further show the inner world through the subtle expressions of the characters.
Dong-soo: (speaking with difficulty) I will play for the Yamaoka gang from tomorrow.
Yuan Rui: (shocked) He's not a gangster, he's a rogue, don't you know? He sells drugs to children.
Dong-soo: (lowering his head, avoiding) I don't care.
Won-seo: (discouraging) Dong-soo, if you serve him...
Dong-soo: (raises his head, looks directly at Won-seo, interrupts) Better than being an undertaker!
This only positive, shows Dong-soo's firm, unshakable determination.
Yuan Rui was at a loss for words, and the two smoked in pain.
In this shot, the light on the faces of the two is treated as a large area of shadow, only the side profile remains bright, and the visual externalization of the painful inner feelings, but in comparison, Yuan Rui has been treated brighter, reflecting the contrast. The dimly lit Dong-soo hints at the fate of Dong-soo afterward.
Shot 3: Turning back to the panorama, Dong-soo put out the cigarette butts, stood up, patted the dust, and reached out to Won-seo.
Shot 4: Close-up, Won-seo looks painfully at Dong-soo's hand.
Shot 5: Large close-up, Dong-soo's profile. The reluctant eyes, the helpless smile that forced out, the
pain, reluctance, and bitterness in Dongzhu's heart are fully revealed and have a strong shock.
Shot 6: Close-up, Won-seo holds Dong-soo's hand.
Shot 7: Close-up, Dong-soo's sad face is drawn.
Shot 8: Panorama, Won-seo sits alone by the wall, calling to stop Dong-soo.
Shot 9: Panoramic, deep alley, Dong-soo turned around at the entrance of the dark alley.
Shot 10: Close-up, Yuan Rui shouts "Thank you dad for your help".
Shot 11: Panorama, Hutong, Dong-soo said "I'll tell him" and waved to Won-seo. Then, Dong-soo walks towards
the depths of the alley, until the thick darkness completely drowns his figure. Such a "no redemption"
intention symbolizes that Dong-soo has entered a place without light, that is, he has entered death.
Shot 12: Close-up, Won-seo looks at Dong-soo sadly away.
This set of shots is smooth, clear, and expressive. Shantai's narration plays the role of narrative as always: my two friends in the underworld, return to their respective worlds, and what happened to them a few years later is the beginning of their journey. Unexpected. (Following the narrative, the camera cuts to 1990)
Fourth, in the gangster era (1990)
Rong He got married, and Shan Tai was about to go abroad to study for a doctorate. Won-seo became the leader of the party, and Dong-soo also became Yamaoka's right-hand man.
Because of the entanglement of interests between the two gangs, Yuan Rui's assistant Doro proposed to "deal with Dong Zhu", but this proposal was rejected by Yuan Rui. Yuan Rui said, "He once helped out at my parents' funeral, and he didn't even think about it." When he said this, the camera gave Yuan Rui a close-up of the front. Usually, the front represents firmness, while the side has avoidance and resistance. It means, so, from this lens, we can see that although he belongs to a different faction from Dong-soo, Won-seo still abides by his friend's creed.
After Yuan Rui left, Doro showed a disapproving look, paving the way for Doro to assassinate Dong Soo without authorization in the future.
1. The conversation in the clothing store
. Sooner or later, there will be a conflict between the gangsters. Yuan Rui is very aware of this fact. As if to save the friendship in jeopardy, he invites Dong-soo to a party with San-tae and Jung-ha.
Won-seo walks into the clothing store, and Dong-soo is trying on clothes in front of the mirror. After several years of gangster experience, the faces of both of them were cold. In the composition, Dong-soo's upper body occupies the entire right half of the picture, while Won-seo standing behind him is visually short, creating a sense of alienation and imbalance through the position of the two; The light is processed into a large area of shadow, the visual externalization of the psychological complexity, suggesting the unpleasantness of the conversation. Throughout the conversation, Dong-soo always responds to Won-seo's greetings through the mirror instead of turning around to face the other party, which in a way has an air of hostility and avoidance. At the same time, it also corresponds to the scene of "Competing for Chastity", in which Dong-soo asked himself in the mirror, "Do you want to die?"
Yuan Rui: Come to Moma tomorrow.
Dong-soo: (looking at Won-seo in the mirror) I always have to obey you?
Yuan Rui: (Forcing a smile) Shan Tai and Rong He are coming, you should come too.
Dong-soo: (Hearing San-tae's name, pretending to be disdainful) San-tae, how is he doing? Let's see if I'm free.
Yuan Rui: ...Okay.
Dong-soo watched Won-seo leave unhappily, then slowly raised his chin and put on a cynical expression again, with a sneer at the corner of his mouth. Dong-soo's mentality of being indifferent on the surface and still caring about Won-seo's attitude in his heart is vividly portrayed.
2. Singing
At the party, Rong He and Shan Tai talked about the current situation of the two parties with great interest. Their bright life prospects reflected Yuan Rui's disappointment. Yuan Rui drank bitterly. Because of Dong Zhu's absence, his expression more hazy.
Won-seo decided to sing a song for his friends. He said that he wanted to dedicate the song to his friends Shan-tae and Rong-he, but the scene changed to the scene of Dong-soo quarreling with his father at home. The switching of the screen shows Won Seo's heart for Dong Soo.
Father refuses to accept the money Dong-soo has earned for his life and slaps Dong-soo in the face. The humiliated Dong-soo slammed out the door, took out the money from his arms, and was about to tear it off. The camera shook violently, from Dong-soo's face to a close-up of his hand that was about to tear the money, and then moved up to his face, Expressing intense inner pain and struggle; Dong-soo's face is bright on one side and dark on the other, his character is swaying between good and evil, and a line of tears slides down his cheeks. This is the only time Dong-soo can't restrain his true emotions. Anger, despair, forbearance, these tears have many meanings. Dong-soo turns around, opens the door, and throws the money back into the room.
The screen switches, Yuan Rui is singing hard, his expression is more like a hoarse vent. In the audio-visual sense, it delays the pain that Dong Zhu did not vent out, and it is also Yuan Rui's cry of doubt and dissatisfaction with his life.
At the same time, in the process of Yuan Rui singing, Shan Tai and Rong He's surprised and blank expressions were inserted. Because of the difference in living environment, Shan Tai and Rong He have been unable to empathize with Yuan Rui's pain mentally. The reason why they cut into Dong Zhu's scene in the singing is to illustrate that at this moment, Yuan Rui and Dong Zhu's pain is so painful They are very similar, because their life trajectories have never been so close as they are today.
For Won-seo, if there is one person in the world who can feel his pain, that person is Dong-soo, not San-tae, who used to be close to each other. It is a pity that the circumstances doomed these two people to be unable to open their hearts to each other like friends. When Yuan Rui woke up, the big mistake had been made and could not be undone.
3. Choi Aulun and Turtle
Dongsoo betrayed Yamaoka and obtained higher rights. By the sea, Dong-soo repeats the prophecy of "Chae Oren and the Turtles".
The car pulled up to Dong-soo, and the camera followed the car and pushed forward quickly, focusing on Dong-soo, who was squatting on the beach smoking a cigarette, creating a visual impact of "approaching"; the sound of car wheels rolling over the road, the endless waves of the ocean The sound strengthens the psychological depression and uneasy atmosphere of the characters; through the composition of the picture with a sense of depth, the car body in the close-up occupies the entire left half of the picture, causing a strong sense of oppression, making the deep Dongzhu's The figure is much smaller, implying his inability to resist and face fate; at the same time, in the light, Dongzhu is treated as a silhouette against the light, showing an unknown state of mind.
Dong-soo seemed to be facing his subordinates, and also seemed to ask himself, "Who will win the match between Cai Aulun and the Turtles?" Since he can betray the boss, he will be betrayed by his subordinates one day. This question shows that Dong-soo is soberly aware of this sad sense of fate, feels hopeless about his future, and feels helpless about his inconsistency with Won-seo.
4. Misunderstanding
Yuanrui's subordinates decided to assassinate Dongzhu without authorization, but the assassin sent was killed by Dongzhu instead. Judging from Dong-soo's counterattack in his pajamas, he was unprepared for this action, and he was lucky to escape from his alert mentality, and he forced the assassin to ask "whether Won-seo ordered it", showing that he had doubts about Won-seo in his heart for a long time. The perception of distrust, this perception, is more due to Dong-soo's naturally sensitive, suspicious personality than to a gangster occupational disease. He always thought that he was insignificant in Yuan Rui's heart, but now Yuan Rui's subordinates wanted to assassinate him, and his last hope for Yuan Rui was gone. Dong-soo twisted the assassin's ankle, the sound of broken bones and the sharp scream of the assassin expressed Dong-soo's anger and despair.
Because of this misunderstanding, Dong-soo led the crowd to kill Won-seo's right-hand man and his brother Doro, and the conflict in the whole film reached the highest point.
5. The climax of contradiction
As mentioned earlier, knives are important props, and the appearance of knives indicates that the situation has developed to an irreversible and blood-to-blood level. At the beginning of this scene, Yuan Rui was training "interns", and at the beginning, he was throwing knives into the painting, indicating that a bloody case was about to happen. Specific analysis:
Panorama: Abandoned open space. Yuan Rui is explaining to the younger brothers how to kill with a knife.
Medium Shot: Warehouse. JALYN assistant in soup, accompanied by a sharp noise, distant door influx of public Dongzhu part of
the next. Yuan Rui's assistant threw away the pot and ran away, and everyone chased after him. Tension, intense music played.
Panorama: warehouse. All the men stabbed Yuan Dong Zhu Rui men, frozen warehouse full of dead fish, a symbol of "any
person mercy," the end. This is followed by a coherent montage of the fight.
Medium Shot: Freezer. Yuan Rui's subordinates were cornered and beaten. Dong-soo walks in.
Close-up: Dong-soo turns to face the camera with a murderous look on his face, and the rolling shutter falls. The music reaches an intense peak.
Close-up: A close-up of Yuan Rui demonstrating a killing knife.
Medium Shot: The shutters are pulled, and Dong-soo leads the crowd away, leaving behind the bodies of Won-seo's subordinates.
Close-up: Yuan Rui talks about killing techniques.
Close-up: Dong-soo kills Do-rok and presses Won-seo's whereabouts.
Close-up: Yuan Rui continues to talk. Also with a murderous look.
Close-up: Dong-soo and others leave. The music turns heavy.
Close-up: Doro's corpse. The music ends.
In this scene, there is no direct confrontation between Won-seo and Dong-soo, but the parallel editing between Won-seo's explanation of killing techniques and Dong-soo's murderous behavior switches back and forth, showing the sharp confrontation between the two.
6. Doro's funeral
Doro's funeral was held on a rainy day. The crematorium in the rain, the muffled thunder on the horizon, and the cries of the crowd, rendered the atmosphere desolate. In a close-up view, Yuan Rui is leaning against the wall and watching all this, accompanied by a burst of percussion sounds in the distance, as if hitting Yuan Rui's heart, causing auditory and psychological resonance; the camera slowly advances Yuan Rui, as if approaching. something decisive in him.
7. Yuan Rui's monologue
cuts to the scene where Yuan Rui is packing things at home, and is accompanied by a long monologue:
"Shan Tai, I want to go to the airport to see you and Rong He, but I'm sorry, I can't go. Shan Tai, When you came to me when you ran away from home, you didn't know how proud I was when I told you to come home. Honestly, I wish I was you in the first place, isn't that funny?"
(packing things aimlessly)
"Me and Dong-soo I stay at home all day after turning against each other, thinking about the true meaning of friends, I don’t know the true meaning of friends.”
(Looking at the photo where the four of them took a photo together thoughtfully)
“Until the teacher wrote it on the blackboard, it was 'long-term intimacy' Is this a very good definition?”
(Going out with a suitcase)
“Dad always said that people should live righteously, but I am confused and can’t tell the difference between righteousness and unrighteousness.”
(Offering wine at father’s grave )
"I want to go abroad for a while like you, I will send this letter to Rong He, you have to take care outside, dear friend Yuan Rui."
(close-up of rain falling on the ground)
Yuan Rui has decided in his heart to marry Dong Zhu. After making the final call, he even prepared his escape luggage. However, out of the last trace of fantasy, he was still ready to make one last effort. When dealing with this long monologue, I edited several groups of close-up shots of looking at photos, leaving the house, offering wine sacrifices, and rain falling, and highly unified the behavior and the content of the monologue, which not only matched the character's mood at that time, but also made The monologue is not long and boring, and the sound and picture are combined. The sad soundtrack and the sound of ticking rain add to the beauty of the picture, and are also a portrayal of Yuan Rui's lost heart. The falling of the rain indicates that a tragedy is about to end.
8. Final Negotiations
Generally speaking, unless specifically required, the character positions of each scene in the film are carefully designed, not cluttered, or just for the aesthetics of the composition, and the position of the characters usually determines the relationship between them. In the body search before the negotiation, since Yuan Rui had already bought Dong Zhu's assistants Bai and Sang, he did not bring a weapon during the body search. At this time, Bai was set in the foreground of the screen, and Yuan Rui was in the background, although there was no eye contact, But being in the same picture has already implied that the two are tacit.
In the same way, since the composition of the picture corresponds to the internal relationship of the characters, in the previous episodes, whenever Yuan Rui and Dong Zhu confronted each other, they were always treated as "you are in front of me" or "I in front of you and behind" on the screen. "The unbalanced stance reflects the competitive relationship between the two as a tug-of-war, and the control and oppression they attempt to impose on each other.
In the last negotiation, the two of them could no longer avoid the problem, and finally wanted to "open the skylight and speak eloquently". Therefore, in terms of composition, the two were on the same horizontal axis for the first time, and the camera and the axis of the two were at a 90-degree angle. Shooting, there is a long table in the center of the picture, and there is a display of lights at the end. Yuan Rui and Dong Zhu sit on both sides of the farthest edge of the picture, forming the farthest distance within the effective picture, causing visual alienation. At the same time, this strict The symmetrical composition also creates an evenly matched and incompatible situation of opposition.
In the negotiation process, also use the very matching close-up scene grouping. But even in the same close-up, there is a subtle difference in treating Won-seo's position slightly lower than Dong-soo. Because Yuan Rui negotiated with humility, he imagined that Dong Soo would be able to take care of his friends, compromise and go abroad to avoid the limelight, instead of dying at his own hands. If the negotiation fails, Dong Soo's death will end. It was unavoidable, so he deliberately chose the anniversary of his father's death, and showed a pleading attitude, hoping that Dong-soo could back down again. In this negotiation scene, it can be seen from the dialogue that the hearts of the two people are turning back and forth. Let's take a look at the settings of the lines, characters' expressions and behaviors.
Yuan Rui: (to ease the atmosphere, to greet friendship) Shan Tai returned to the United States today. Are you and I going to see him off?
Dong-soo: (sneering) Send him off? Do you have the time? (avoids the other's look) I'm sorry, but I can't go to Doro's
funeral. (provocatively) I'm busy.
Won-seo: (restraining, smiling) You're in your early days, Dong-soo.
Dong-soo: (sneering) Haven't I always been taller than you? since I was your slave.
Won-seo: (Dong-soo's words hurt Won-seo) I'll keep it simple.
Dong-soo: (turns his face aside, resisting) You can take your time.
Won Seo: (looks straight at each other) Dong Soo! (Dong-soo turns his face.)
Won-seo: Remember what you said to me when my dad died?
Dong-soo: (coldly) What did I say? what did i say?
JALYN :( sincerely) By now I never hate you, if you were me, you will not, we are not instructed to
act on it?
Dong-soo: (provocatively) What, someone told you to kill me?
Yuan Rui: (takes a deep breath of cigarette and makes up his mind) Today is my father's death anniversary, I beg you as a friend to help me one last time.
Dong-soo: Say it.
Yuan Rui: (looking directly at each other) You go to Hawaii and stay there for a while, everything will return to the way it was before, I will
arrange it for you .
Dong-soo: (looking at him coldly, looking at this man who has been used to ordering himself since he was a child, then he rubs his face with his hands and puts on a
defiant look again) Go, Hawaii.
Yuan Rui: (disheartened, smiles instead) Well, I'm going to Hawaii. See you in a few years.
Won-seo got up and left, and Dong-soo looked at his back. Dong-soo's subordinate at the door blocked Won-seo with a knife.
Dong-soo: (turns his eyes away) Today is his dad's death tab.
Everyone got out of the way, and Yuan Rui left. Dong-soo is thoughtful. Outside the door, Yuan Rui smoked a cigarette in silence. For a moment, he threw the cigarette butt down. A slow motion shot from his back recorded the close-up of the falling cigarette butt. The cigarette butt fell on the rainy ground and made a loud noise through special treatment, which strengthened the character. His inner decision foreshadowed the tragedy to come. Inside the house, Dong-soo recalled Won-seo's words "I never resented you, don't we all do what we were ordered", and his eyes showed strange emotions (this look is the same as his dying look). As if he had awakened to something, this sentence brought back his warm memories, so he got up and left, preparing to go to the airport to send Shantai off.
Excellent movies always have no unnecessary nonsense, but through carefully designed concise lines to accurately express the beginnings and transitions of the characters' psychological activities. In this negotiation, the two of them did not speak much, and their expressions were very subtle, with precise and accurate performances. But it seemed to say a thousand words. When shaping the lines, it must also conform to the character's characteristics. Yuan Rui is gentle on the surface, his tone is steady, but he is hard-hearted. Throughout the whole film, Dong-soo is the only person who never talks about "friends" from beginning to end, but what he cares about most in his heart is friendship. Because of friendship, he let go of Yuan Rui who was about to kill him; because of friendship, he decided to go to the airport to send Shan Tai off, but he didn't know that the god of death was already waiting outside the door.
9. The death of Dong-soo
Dong-soo's death is the culmination of the accumulation and advancement of all the plots of the film. In the previous stories, more than once the fate of Dong-soo's death has been laid, so when Dong-soo walked out of the gate, the audience already knew what was about to happen. In order to conform to this psychological accumulation, strengthen Dong-soo's death To shock and touch the audience, the audio-visual elements have done a lot of work. In terms of music, contrary to the low-key, restrained, and calm soundtrack used in the whole film, the moment Dong-soo walked out of the door, the mournful melody began to sound, mixed with the noisy, calling, and selling of passers-by, creating a tense atmosphere ; When the killer stabbed the knife into Dong Soo's body, the music suddenly increased, and the opera-like high-pitched and sad soprano echoed in the sky, like a cry, very emotionally explosive; the sound of the knife piercing, Dong Soo's scream, through The sound is amplified and processed to form an echo, which vibrates the eardrums of the viewer; visually, through slow motion, the scene of the tragedy is elongated, creating a tragic beauty; in the image, Dong-soo vainly avoids the pursuit of the killer , the fish scattered on the road behind him are jumping, that is, "the struggle before death", which is also a portrayal of the inevitable fate of a gangster like Dong-soo.
Before dying, Dong-soo tried his best to say, "I've had enough in my life, enough." Of course, he didn't say it to the killer, but just found an opportunity to say it before he died. Then, a long shot advances slowly, and Dong-soo falls to the ground with his eyes open, and the camera moves from his face to a close-up of the rain mixed with blood flowing into the sewer. A sad soprano melody accompanies the scene from beginning to end, until the screen goes black.
Dong-soo's last words are the only real revealing of his feelings in the whole film. He knew very well that he would be betrayed sooner or later, and he had already prepared for this kind of mentality, so he had no regrets in his heart. When he said, "I have enough in this life", there is no doubt that he meant friendship, because Yuan Rui, A friend like Shan Tai really answered Yuan Rui's previous sentence "I have never resented you, if it were you, you would be the same." At this moment, Dong Zhu had no resentment towards Yuan Rui, so his dying eyes It was the same look in his eyes when he recalled Yuan Rui's words before, friendship has always been in his heart. It is because of this that Dong-soo's death is even more tragic.
V. Epilogue (1993)
Yuan Rui, who had been on the run for two years, had a nervous breakdown, and was arrested and jailed for violently abusing people and self-abusing in a nightclub. Dong-soo’s father went to visit Won-seo, and he said that he believed that Won-seo did not do all this; Rong He dredges up the judge and tells Won-seo not to plead guilty in court. During the meeting, Yuan Rui never said a word, and no one knew what kind of emotions were hidden under his silent appearance. In the courtroom, facing the judge's question, to everyone's surprise, Yuan Rui admitted that he had ordered the killing of Dong Soo, and declared that Dong Soo was his friend, causing an uproar in the audience. Shan Tai went to visit Yuan Rui, who was about to serve his sentence. In the column about the relationship between the people he met, he wrote the word "friend".
Across the iron net, the two restrained their emotions, but Shan Tai's words "no apology between friends" made Yuan Rui unable to remain calm. "No apology between friends" is the promise between Shantai and Yuanrui. The two of them greeted each other with forced smiles. When the camera turned, it was a close-up of Shan Tai, who asked Yuan Rui in tears, "Why do you want to confess?" Yuan Rui replied, "Because I feel confused, Dong Zhu and I are both gangsters, we don't. There should be confusion." Because of confusion, Dongzhu died under Yuanrui's hands; because of confusion, Yuanrui couldn't kill each other like a gangster and get away with impunity. Only atonement can he appease his conscience and comfort his friend's spirit in heaven. Their confusion stems from "friendship".
At the end of the meeting, Yuan Rui and Shan Tai high-five across the iron net. Shan Tai repeated "I will see you again" to Yuan Rui's back in tears. There is no change in the difference, such a deep feeling is amazing.
On the way back to the cell, through the long corridor, through Yuan Rui's subjective perspective of upgraded slow motion, the bright light outside the gate at the end seems to be an open entrance to heaven. The sinner who went to accept God's redemption, accompanied by a sad melody, strengthened the visual appeal.
The light gradually expands, and the blurred picture symbolizing Yuan Rui's memory switches to the scene of four people playing in the sea when they were young, carrying out the question about "Cai Aolun and the Turtle Competition", which makes the first, middle and end of the film echo. At the end, Yuan Rui said, "We're too far from the shore, let's go back", so he used an omniscient bird's-eye lens to shoot four people rowing a swimming circle and painting, leaving behind the dark green water, such a "turning back to the shore" The imagery is utterly embarrassing.
The screen was black and ended with Shan Tai's narration as usual: "At that time, Yuan Rui and Dong Zhu seemed to be together." It was not until the end that Yuan Rui discovered that his friendship with Dong Soo had been inseparable, and he was never inferior to Shan Tae. While making people lament that fate made people, he sublimated the whole theme of "friends", which was thought-provoking.
2009.9.22
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