Compared with the previous works, the overall visual rhythm of "Border Killer" has been significantly accelerated. Starting from the first minute of the movie, with the heavy soul-sounding music composed by Icelandic musician Jóhann Jóhannsson with accent drum, euphonium and cello, there is a strong, slow but irresistible oppression in the movie Feeling controls every breath and heartbeat of the audience.
Roger Deakins is a master of light and shadow. This time, Dennis Villeneuve took the spotlight again. He used a large number of aerial photography that was rarely used before to reflect the anxiety and fear brought to the audience by the vast and deserted plains and dense and disorderly slums of El Paso. The track push shots used extensively in "Prisoner" have also undergone more changes this time.
The two most outstanding scenes are "border encounter" and "underground raid". When the camera follows the convoy escorting the prisoners through the crowded streets of Juarez in a serpentine shape, you dare not even blink your eyes. You are afraid that the mob armed with weapons will suddenly attack from the roof or the corner of the street, until the police and the criminals. Eventually they met at the border checkpoint, the last moment of tension.
The tunnel raid in the dark is even more depressing. The subjective angle of view under infrared thermal imaging and night vision goggles has a strong sense of substitution. The limited angle of view in the narrow tunnel and the constant shouting and firefighting constitute layers of unknown fear. Dennis Villeneuve is a master at shaping the atmosphere. His films often start from the first minute, involuntarily exerting a powerful and seemingly involuntary influence on the audience. The photography of him and Roger Dickins is a perfect combination.
Like his previous works, the story of "Border Killer" is actually not complicated, nor is it more distinctive in narrative, but its deep meaning lies in the reflection on war-or violence. The ending of "Border Killer" coincides with "The Prisoner", and is also the same as his other movies. It makes our moral values tangled: Is it just as simple as using violence to control violence?
The use of violence by mankind is always unlimited, and the boundaries of law are always movable for mankind.
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