also watched some other countries' films, such as Denmark's "Minefield"
Today, I saw the resources of "Under the Shadow" representing the British Chong Olympics, so I couldn't wait to brush it again. At first I thought it was a British work, but after watching it for a few minutes, I was confused. Are you sure this is a British Chong. Austrian film instead of the red Olympic film of the Middle East countries? And, what about thriller/horror? How can it look like the Iranian films "I grew up in Iran" and "A Farewell" that I have seen before! (It is said that the director's new film "Salesman", the director of the Oscar's best foreign language film "A Farewell", also represents Iran, and it seems to have a good reputation.) Okay, so I continued to read it, and the dialogue at the beginning seemed to be Just telling us about the injustice and ruthlessness of Iran's policies at that time, the bomb that exploded outside the window that hinted at the turbulent situation, and the inspections by the heroine on the way home, friends who have watched a lot of movies should be able to do it right away. It can be seen that this film should be trying to portray and expose the turbulent social and political situation at that time. In fact, this is a bit of a theme first taste!
Now that the theme has basically come out, the next point is to see how the director will express this theme! The next step is still too long. Personally, I think that first of all, the conscription order can kill two birds with one stone. It not only shows the persecution of ordinary people in the war, but also supports the male protagonist very well, so that only the female protagonist is left. Of course, With her little daughter: I'll leave you alone first, and then I'll come out and scare you to death! Then the next episode is almost the same as the draft order (except for the little boy). The bomb would come at every turn, making people panic and restless. Slowly, the neighbors chose to leave and moved to the countryside for refuge. In this way, there are only two people left in the whole building. I was also taken aback by the toaster when the little girl wet the bed and added that soundtrack. . . It's getting a little creepier!
I don't know how you understand the plot of the little boy at this time. I think it is on the surface as an introduction to lead out the giant spirit behind, and it also reflects the children's understanding and fear of the unknown war in that era during the war. In peacetime, children play, eat, eat and sleep every day (and of course go to school). I guess this is just a joke between children that can only last for a day or two. But why does it keep running through the entire movie? It was nothing more than the unbearable turmoil in the external environment at that time that made them have lasting fear, so they logically attributed this fear to the joke of "giant".
After that, the little daughter's rag doll was lost and the bomb became the most important plot turning point of the whole film. The lost daughter of the rag doll must be found, so that the heroine could not escape in the end, and the cracks on the ceiling caused by the bomb and Empty is the source of fear. That is, from this time on, the movie started the horror style of the second half. Starting from the 33rd minute, the very distinctive shot of the female protagonist lying on the bed. At first, the perspective of the female protagonist was perpendicular to the horizontal plane. Later, the female protagonist got up and the camera followed the female protagonist. "Get up", and then the second female protagonist It is this angle of view lying on the bed again, but when I get up again, the camera does not follow the heroine to get up, but still maintains the angle of view perpendicular to the horizontal plane. Through this very distinctive and skillful photography, the viewers are suddenly given a feeling of unreality and reality, and slowly set the atmosphere of terror.
Then the high energy scary came from behind! Equivalent to a secret room horror film, it is indeed a shadow of the Polanski trilogy. First, the female protagonist's fitness dance video tape was lost, then the female protagonist saw her conscripted husband lying on the bed, and then the female protagonist found that her video tape was torn and thrown into the trash can, and then saw her daughter run to the Going upstairs to look for the doll and yelling, one after another weird things happened one after another, and the neighbors moved out one by one. To be honest, this kind of way of dealing with monsters and monsters eroding a family bit by bit reminds me of the British horror movie "The Witch" before.
But the main reason for the film's "everything you see is a ghost" is not because "there are ghosts in your heart", but because of this era, this era of war and turmoil without ghosts can make you feel like there are ghosts! One of the episodes with a very IQ can best reflect this theme: the heroine found that the house was haunted and the situation was wrong and ran out (there is no IQ in horror movies!), ran to the street and found the police, thinking that it should be safe now , I didn't expect that the police will arrest you just because you didn't wear a headscarf and exposed your body. This is such an era: I don't care about other ghosts or not, whether you are afraid or not, I will just resolutely protect me the so-called policy and order. What is truly terrifying is the era of terror under the shadows! In this era when there are no ghosts, you can be afraid to think that there are ghosts!
Did you notice? Who are the ghosts in the movie? Husbands, fists (I think this is the most frightening scene in the whole film), naked old men, bombs, and Iranian women's quilt-like headscarves, etc. I think these ghosts actually have symbols and metaphors! The husband and the naked old man symbolize the insecurity of being a woman, the restriction and oppression of women in that era. And the cracks and holes brought by the bombs and those bombs, as well as the X-shaped tape to prevent the bombs from breaking the glass, don't they symbolize the destruction of the peaceful life of the people by the war? And the turban ghost with the most Iranian characteristics seems to be the embodiment of the Iranian government or Iran's policy of oppressing women! The personification of the turbulent politics and disturbed ideas of the time!
As mentioned earlier, this film feels that the theme comes first, and we focus on the director's way of expressing this theme. Now we know that the director used this horror style with a horror style and many metaphors to make the film. We really feel the fear from the shadows of that country in that era!
Horror is not the ultimate goal (of course, there are also movies with horror as the goal), it is just a way to express people's fear of war and that era, and after watching the whole film, I think this way is undoubtedly very clever!
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