The story told in this film is based on a real event, as stated in the opening caption. The title "Falgo" itself has no special meaning. It is just the name of a city located in the southeastern part of North Dakota in the United States, indicating the location of the story, but the Hong Kong and Taiwan translation of the name "Ice Blood Storm" is more intuitive: it takes place in the snow and ice. A violent incident in China. In fact, the real location of the story is Blanes, a small town in Minnesota with only 12,000 inhabitants, located between Fargo and St. Paul-Minnipeg. The film is named " "Falgo", because the pronunciation of the name is more catchy than Brenade. Minnesota is also the place where the director of the film, the Coen brothers, were born and spent their childhood. They are more familiar with the local customs. When they heard a friend talk about the murder in their hometown, they decided to put it on the screen. .
The film directed by the Coen brothers is anti-Hollywood from content to form, which may be one of the important reasons why this film won the European Film Festival. The Coen brothers won the Palme d'Or at the 1991 Cannes Film Festival for the director of "Baden Fink", and the film made director Joel Cohen won the Best Director Award at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival. American-directed films are frequently favored by Europeans. No wonder some critics say that the Coen brothers’ films are American films made specifically for Europeans.
As we all know, Hollywood has always been known as the "Dream Factory", and Hollywood's "famous name" is by no means out of nothing. British film critic James Farrell pointed out the emptiness of Hollywood films in his article "Hollywood Film Language": "Almost all Hollywood films are characterized by inner emptiness. This is often compensated by the external touching plot. This touching plot usually takes the form of exceptionally magnificent realism. The setting, costumes and all superficial details must be realistic and never let go. These efforts help to cover up the emptiness of the character’s personality and the absurdity and the absurdity of the plot. Trivial. The house looks like a house, the street looks like a street, and the characters’ speech and behavior look alike, but all of this lacks humanity, credibility and motivation. Needless to say, shameless censorship regulations predetermine these films The content of censorship is an important factor. However, censorship regulations cannot hinder the profit of the film, nor the entertainment value of the film, but only help prevent the plot from being unreliable. For the film industry, this will not be overburdened. It is too heavy to be burdensome. In addition to the touching scenes in the background, there is also the use of the camera, sometimes like the camera is doing magic. However, when the stories representing life are empty, boring, mediocre, and naive, to produce these What can be said about the importance of all the skills, effort and energy devoted to the effect to the character?"
French film critic Michel Theodore, in his "Dictionary of Classic American Films", succinctly summarized the origin of "Dream Factory" and its profound historical origin: "At first it was a dream... Desire cannot be realized in reality. Hollywood can make this desire come true on film through its creations in the form of eternal dreams to do whatever it wants.... At first, it was also aimed at spreading the Puritan ethics of Calvinism, that is, by ' The doctrines brought by the Puritan priests of the Mayflower in 1620. They have the power to dream, and because God chose them, they cannot fail. The protagonists of Hollywood movies inherit this ability and believe that dreams must be accomplish."
Therefore, Hollywood has long advocated the creation of characters according to almost utopian optimism ideals, and these characters have never failed. Even if the protagonist is sometimes in a severe test, there will be a famous salvation-like "second chance" waiting for him, which ensures that the audience can see a satisfactory "happy ending". Therefore, those who do not want (or no longer) share the "American dream", those who deviate from or are excluded from this system, that is, those "losers" have no right to appear on the Hollywood screen.
However, since the 1960s, as American hegemonism has run into trouble, especially after the famous value crisis in the West, films describing "losers" have appeared on the fringe of American film studios, and the number of such films Shows a rising trend. In the 1990s, this trend developed rapidly, driven by young filmmakers such as Haile Hartley, Elisson Anders, or the Coen brothers.
The essence of the "American Dream" in Hollywood movies is the pursuit of success in material wealth. This is exactly the doctrine brought by the Puritans of the "Mayflower" when they arrived in North America. It is also the subconscious that accumulated in the psychological deep layers of early American immigrants, until it has developed into the deep psychological needs of Americans today. The so-called "Mayflower" refers to the name of the ship that the British Puritans took when they went to North America in 1620. From the 16th century to the beginning of the 17th century, in the context of the European Reformation Movement, the British Calvinists were dissatisfied with the remnants of Catholicism in the state religion at that time, and launched the "Puritan Movement" aimed at "cleaning the church." It reached its peak during the Cromwell era. Subsequently, the restored Stuart dynasty required the priests to swear allegiance to the National Church, which led to the final split between the Puritans and the National Church, forming the "British Non-State Church Movement". Due to the unsuccessful development of this movement, some Puritans had no choice but to "float in the sea" to break new ground in the New World. They were the first European immigrants to reach North America. The ethics of the Puritans believed that only material success was the only way to redeem sins and salvation. To a large extent, this ethical view is the essence of the "American Dream", which is to maximize the pursuit of material success. Therefore, the Puritans could not bear to lose their place in the social space, otherwise they would be abandoned by society.
In a sense, the "American Dream" is the dream of the American middle class. As a middle class, there is neither the hardships of big bourgeoisie due to the pursuit of huge wealth, the worries about protecting the company and family honor, and the entangled grievances that arise from this, nor the proletarians’ all-day hard work for food, clothing, housing and transportation. , But can enjoy life freely. In order to maintain social stability and reduce polarization, one of the measures taken by the US government over the years is to expand the ranks of the middle class. The middle class in the United States has always been a very stable class, and there are very few unsatisfactory things. Today, since this class also has problems, it shows that the "American Dream" is also beginning to face a crisis.
On the surface, the protagonist Jerry is not a loser. As the head of the family, he has married a wife and had children and is still a car salesman. In a sense, he holds the key to the "American Dream", because in the United States, the car is a symbol of wealth and masculinity, but also represents personal freedom of behavior (although this is a very illusory thing). But, in fact Jerry was a loser, even though he didn't realize it. He is mediocre and greedy. As a humble car salesman, he has never been on the top of the power of the company he works for. Instead, he has always lived in the shadow of his father-in-law. Coupled with debts, he has achieved nothing in his career. He can't talk about success in family life, not only because he has nothing to say with his wife, but also because he has no influence in front of his son. He has almost become a despised person. He is no longer determined by his social utility. At the beginning of the film, Jerry's social utility was already in a dangerous situation. To a large extent, the character’s sense of belonging to the system (the company they work for is a symbol of this system) is exactly what the protagonist needs in his heart. Jerry knows that if he is excluded from the social system, What is waiting for himself is undoubtedly death, because he will lose his sense of identity in society.
In fact, the significance of Americans as a society is determined by the sum of the individual's sense of belonging to various societies. Individuals join clubs for natural reasons (for example, they participate in church activities because they are a believer, or join the student-parent federation because they are parents of students), or because of some kind of like-minded hobby, such as sports clubs. Kind of fan club and so on. Once an individual loses the identity of the community, he will feel that he has lost the value of existence in society. Since the United States is originally a country of immigrants and lacks political awareness and family concepts, Americans have tried every means to create a sense of belonging by establishing various and diverse organizations. Americans are people who create and participate in all kinds of clubs, and three or five people can start a club, club or other organization.
In his book "America: Injured Dreams", François Bill Gas said that there are various societies in the United States, such as churches in local communities and picnics organized by it, parents of students and teachers. Federations, Boy Scouts, Rotary Clubs, Baseball Association...In short, associations refer to all organizations formed voluntarily because of a common hobby. These organizations are responsible for important civic functions, that is, to give Americans who are so obsessed with individualism " The meaning of "common interest". In a country where political life is almost impossible to talk about, various organizations have replaced their participation in politics. Americans are deeply ingrained "people who like to participate in various organizations." If an individual reluctantly leaves the social game due to misfortune (such as being fired, suffering from a serious illness, losing his car, house, etc.), he will become a "social suspicious member" and he will be automatically removed from the system of community members Log off in. As Bodri said, "The more driving licenses you have, the more identity you have." In fact, the deep anxiety that Americans are deeply trapped in is that they often aim to realize this sense of identity. Their lives are debauched and out of normalcy, and the social system instinctively pushes these people to the margins of society.
Jerry felt that he might eventually be expelled from society and become a "reluctant" loser. If he himself cannot establish the social identity of his existence, he will soon no longer have the original value of existence, because his previous reference mark of survival value will collapse in his living space. As Anne Goldman said: "Without this external mark, his meaning as a human being no longer exists; leaving his position in his own world, he is nothing. Because, positive It is his attachment to the value of the group that makes him aware of his own existence, thus constructing his self, constructing the basis for the respect brought by others, and also the basis for him to gain self-esteem. His existence is based on the views of others It was decided that only the opinions of others gave him his existence, even though the opinions of others are very stylized and follow the convention."
The United States is a very adventurous nation, a nation unwilling to fail. So, when Jerry believed that the possibility of restoring his sense of social identity came (although it was just a dream), he did not hesitate to take action. Of course it was the lure of interest that drove him to kidnap his wife, but it was also a symbolic act. It enabled Jerry to see that his soul was always entangled by the typical American-style adventurous spirit, that is, Michelle. What Sioda calls "natural opportunism" is entangled. Moreover, the tragic ending of "Falgo" is precisely the fall of the adventurer's spirit. The husband personally planned to kidnap his own wife. Moreover, Jerry set this trap to trap others, but he did not expect to trap himself in it. . By telling such a story, the Coen brothers seem to be telling us that when the world is becoming increasingly complex and unprecedented turbulent situations emerge, the individuals living in it have fallen to the point of playing with the spirit of adventure in an illegal situation.
In the United States, the more club memberships a person has, the more he demonstrates his social success, and all this requires material wealth as a guarantee. In a society where money rules everything, chasing money has become the primary goal of people's lives and the driving force of their behavior. An important theme of the film "Falgo" is money. Jerry first borrowed money from his father-in-law for his career and in order to get rid of the predicament in the sense of his social existence, and then kidnapped and extorted him. Gail and Karl acted as kidnappers for money, and they killed each other for money. In order to save money, Vader refused to borrow money to his incompetent son-in-law, and even tried to bargain with the culprits when redeeming his daughter for the money.
"Falgo" also tells people that Jerry's behavior is also affected by the social environment in which he lives. Because, judging from the characters depicted in the film, the author of the film first analyzes the insensitive and pathological state that affects mainstream American society. The so-called mainstream American society refers to the middle-class America. Outside this class, there has never been anything unsatisfactory, but the Coen brothers told us through this film that this class has also begun to have trouble. We have seen how clinically accurate the film director portrays the extremely empty life of the middle class. Like many other similar films, the various spaces (airports, hotels, parking lots) in this film are So deserted.
Most American films that show crimes have their story backgrounds in prosperous metropolises, and most of these films can be classified as "film noir" genres. The so-called "film noir" was used by the French critic Nino Frank to refer to films shot in Hollywood with dark places in the night city as the background to show crimes. Later, they were used to refer to violent crime films in general. The story told in this film by the Coen brothers has almost all the elements of "film noir", but they broke the convention of "film noir" by allowing the story to take place in a remote small town, and the truth of the incident was revealed from the very beginning. It is revealed to the audience, and the story is told in a straightforward manner. This is even more obvious to the director's skill. Watching this film carefully, its interlocking plot, impeccable structure, documentary narrative method, and delicate psychological portrayal of the characters make people feel that it deserves the Best Director Award at the Cannes Film Festival.
In addition, the female police officer Maggie created by the Coen brothers has a very personal character. In a materialistic society, Maggie is not enslaved by money, but conscientious and contented. When she received the case, she was already pregnant, but she had no complaints, regardless of her physical condition, and did her best to solve the case with due diligence. Although it is not the first time that Maggie saw the fate of a money-seeking person, she was still puzzled by Gail's behavior as she escorted Gail to the police station: "What is all this for? Just because of that. Child money!?" At this time, after the snowfall, the sky was clear, Gail looked depressed, and sat in the police car in handcuffs. Maggie sighed: "This is where you are now! And the weather is so good!"
Maggie's husband is an unknown painter who understands and supports her work very much. They are a pair of people who are contented and willing to live a normal life. The Coen brothers actually affirmed their values. This is anti-Hollywood values. The last scene of the film is: In the bedroom, the husband leaning on the back of the bed puts his hand on Maggie’s abdomen, feeling very happy. The wife is about to give birth in two months, and the two say "I love you" to each other. , And then entered a sweet dreamland.
Some critics think that the ending of the film is somewhat imitating the "happy ending" of classical Hollywood movies. The Cohen brothers explained: "The end of the film does mean a return to order, but we did not expect to imitate the end of others!" In an article published in the "New York Times", the author said, "What made him wonder is why Minnesota The residents of the state do not like this ending, since all problems have been satisfactorily resolved as they expected!"
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