"Flesh and Spirit" is not a well-defined work. What I'm talking about here is not the definition of the genre (it's easy to say that the genre is a literary film), but the content. For this, look at the other hits of this festival - "The Other Side of Hope," "Ordinary Woman," and even "Fantastic" - to know that, compared with them, Hungarian "mother" director Ilti The story told by Ke Inyetti cannot be summed up in one or two words. love? Relationships? Lonely? Or, lust? None of them seem to be quite to the point, so there's nothing wrong with describing the film as "alternative".
This is indeed a rather different story. The film begins in a snowy forest, where there is no one inhabited, the snow is white, and the picture is quite clean. In the silent scene, any disturbance stirs our auditory nerves. After wandering around aimlessly for a while, the camera cuts to the actual "real world" of the movie - a "meat joint factory" in Budapest. The factory floor is white with light, the machines are shining with a cool metallic luster, the burly man with the stubble slams the hinge, and the sturdy bull is sent to the "guillotine"... Here, our lovely hero and heroine are about to meet. They, in the end, fall in love. And the two hours in between are about how the two fell in love.
After watching the movie, I subconsciously think of Sofia Coppola's "Lost in Translation." The way Inyetti presents the story is very similar to the impression I got from "Lost in Translation" - a river, the texture of rippling water, full of "knowable" and "unknown". The "knowable" lies in the fate of the characters. The two people who meet, get closer and closer at the end, nothing more than love or separation. At the beginning of the film, when the sensitive audience followed the male protagonist's gaze and noticed the female protagonist's bare legs for the first time, (the language of the scene couldn't be more obvious), they knew what story would come next. However, the film does not simply stick to the encounter between two people. The director's manipulation of the rhythm gradually weakens the audience's expectations for the "result" itself, just like the blur created by Coppola in "Lost in Translation" and repeatedly. At the end, if the hero and heroine break through the cage and come together, that's fine, bless them. If it is the other way, the two will say goodbye, and we will still say that this is a beautiful story. Near the end of the film, Maria cuts her wrists heartbreakingly. At this time, I believe that there must be audiences who are as ready to accept the second outcome as I am... And the final twist is not too exciting.
In my opinion, this is where the idea and narrative of the film is novel and successful. While the director is talking about love in a serious manner, he has somewhat removed the "plot" in the traditional sense. I think the film "Flesh and Spirit" is less about "drama" and more "emotional", and "play" and "heart". On the premise of not losing the plot, we try to magnify the subtle part of the character's heart without losing it. Something nice to describe. Compared with the old-fashioned proposition of whether two people have come together in the end, "Flesh and Spirit" is obviously more concerned with something else: can two lonely hearts touch each other? Is there an absolute communication between soul and soul? Can people overcome their own flaws and obstacles? etc. Behind this love story is actually a journey to explore the soul, and the tension presented in the film naturally does not come from the "plot". During this journey, Inyetti gave both characters enough love, without imposing will and never being aggressive with judgment. If we say that traditional drama films discuss right and wrong, reveal beauty and ugliness, and even uphold justice, then this "modern" work is to put aside the possibility of tracing beauty from good and evil, discovering beauty, and praising beauty. To use a cheesy analogy, it can be said that love itself can be right or wrong, but it is beautiful in the end.
Back at the beginning of the film, Lin Haixueyuan, the two confused deer, and the confused us in front of the screen. This scene was repeated many times later, and it took more than half an hour to know that it was the dream of the hero and heroine, and it was a dream shared by each other... It's really weird, and I still don't believe that there is such a world in the world. coincidence. The script was written by the director herself. While she dug a "big hole" for herself, the film also began to enter a certain "surreal" state from this time-a bit less reasonable and logical than reality, but still It's closer to reality in a way.
This also leads to the second ingenious aspect of the film's conception, strange and absurd. The Lobster by Yorgos Lanthimos two years ago is a good example. Unlike black humor, the focus of this expression is not on irony or criticism, but on "squeezing" out the "invisible" part of human nature in the process of distorting personality and the original appearance of things, and Deeper desire. In a "post-modern" style, the society is highly civilized, people pursue extreme rationality, and in the end, the only remaining weakness is loneliness. Paradoxically, loneliness is the product of increasing material wealth and people's pursuit of spiritual independence. How to "handle" loneliness, how to face it, may be the only "perceptual" element left in this society in which everything can be "rationalized" and "idealized". (male protagonist) Although Andre has physical defects, he has a sincere and mature attitude towards women and feelings. He said, "I once had it, but it's all gone." He lived a prosperous and seemingly "defective" life. ;(The heroine) Maria, whose mind is different from ordinary people, is used to living in a closed state, and she never realized that she was so afraid of loneliness itself before opening her heart to the outside world. The film does not brutally show us how the human shell and disguise can fall apart in the face of loneliness and desire (because this does not happen easily with "postmodern civilized people"), but on the contrary, patiently and soothingly The individual's attachment to and resistance to loneliness is a binary opposition, and it shows us with sincerity what loneliness is, where loneliness goes, and what loneliness can bring us. If she has to talk about the director's selfishness and inclinations, then here, she really hopes that the seeds of loneliness can blossom into the flowers of love.
How ideal! And here is not a "rational" ideal, but a "sensual" ideal.
After watching it, I didn't consciously think of Tetsuya Nakajima's "Confession", and the indescribable tension and mystery in it. In the ice and snow, the tip of the wild deer's nose spreads infinite possibilities - you are a deer in your dream, but you cannot be controlled by the rational you in the daytime. The director's description of the environment, the rendering of the atmosphere, the construction of the "metaphysical" space, especially the repeated presentation of the "dream" in the snowy sea, through the seemingly unrelated images, try to connect the reality and the dream, the senses and the spirit The connection between them is what makes this movie feel very aftertaste. The film uses a very oppressive framed composition in many places, and cuts the main body of the characters, focusing on the details and subtle movements of the objects, all of which tease the nerves of the audience. Maria's home is minimalist, Andre's eyes are hollow in front of the TV, and these images in the movie are shrouded in a kind of "doomsday"-like alienation. Several times when I watched it live, I mistakenly thought I was watching a Japanese movie. And that video store, too, felt unreal, and Maria sat at the counter expressionlessly listening to a stack of CDs, saying it was "looking for love."
This is actually one of the most inspirational and romantic moments of the film in my eyes. Generally a good movie takes you into the play and shows you what a story is and what love is. And a particularly good movie goes around in a circle and only tells you, which is actually not very easy to tell with a story. Those who know how to perceive will close their headphones, you will listen and listen, and love will echo in your ears.
above.
Q: What is so good about Flesh and Spirit? Why did it win the Golden Bear?
A: I'm not the jury, and I don't know why it won the award. All I know is that if you happen to like the fluidity of "Lost in Translation", the absurdity in "The Lobster", or the fit of psychology and ambient atmosphere in "Confession", then in "The Other Side of Hope", "Ordinary Woman" or even "Okay" In front of "Extremely Good", you will give it the award.
Postscript: It's a very subjective feeling, don't overspray. A bottle of Bordeaux gave me the courage to say it, and I would like to thank her.
Postscript again: Nature follows the law and is ruthless. Compared with animals, reason and emotion are the most rare. Loud and restless, mayflies are in the world, we should cherish them.
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