the Cross Road is no less depressing than the last film "Singing from the Second Floor" I watched at the International Film Festival. , Really slow movie. On the day of watching the movie, I was sleepy to death because of hard work all night, but I really couldn't bear it. I didn't sleep at all, and I watched it completely.
The film tells the story of Maria, a 14-year-old German girl born in a religious family who sacrificed herself to save her younger brother who couldn't speak. Because of her piety and adherence to the teachings, the 14-year-old keeps away from everything that can degrade people into sin, including popular culture (even listening to background pop music in gym class in the film is a sin for her), dressing, sex, etc. Her family is also a typical traditional religious family, and her mother is a centralized and controlling believer. All of this has resulted in her extreme belief and fanaticism of dogmatism. The girl endured the strict discipline of her mother's centralized power and the cynicism of her classmates in the school. She only obeyed the call of the Lord and determined that only by sacrifice and martyrdom could her brother be rescued.
The 14 scenes of the film just echoed the short story about the death of Jesus, which is also the whole process of the girl's death. What impressed me most was when she started chatting with her male classmates and made an appointment to go to the choir, the corresponding title was actually the Fall of Jesus. The choir that her classmate invited her to sing Bach and spiritual songs made her mother furious, and the girl also felt uneasy because she lied to her mother, so she immediately confessed that she needed to have nothing to hide from God.
The conflict creation in the first half of the film feels too bland, mainly focusing on the conflict between the life of a normal person and the life of a traditional believer, the conflict between a young girl and a strong mother, and each conflict finally reached its climax at the end, the death of the young girl, the death of the mother, and the death of the mother. The girl's devout belief was realized at this moment, and it really satirized how extreme religious beliefs made people martyr, and they took the initiative to sacrifice and sacrifice without flinching or fear, and even unaware of their actions, it made people shudder.
I really liked the final cemetery scene, the sound of excavators contrasting with the tranquility of the cemetery, the boy's bouquet and the girl Maria who disappeared forever. . .
Compared with "Singing from the Second Floor", the director's skill is still inferior. The long shots of the film lack depth and width, unlike the previous one, scene by scene, like a stage play, where all kinds of people can be seen by the audience. The content I feel is also richer. The long shots of this film are not deep enough, and all the things I want to express are concentrated in the dialogue between the actors, and the real performance is not enough.
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