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The 90th Oscars have passed. It has the lowest ratings in history. There is almost no suspense in the major awards. Except for the political correctness, the awards ceremony has no bright spots. Such a boring Oscar, if you still pay attention to it, it only proves that you are a real fan.
Thanks to Greta Gerwig, a name that cannot be ignored at this Oscar. As a rookie director, she was nominated for best director with her directorial debut "Lady bird," competing with Spielberg, Nolan, and Paul Thomas Anderson. In addition, she is also the fifth woman in history to be nominated for best director, the previous one being Catherine Bigelow, who won the Golden Man for "The Hurt Locker". Greta Gerwig, 34, stood on the red carpet at the Dolby Theater, smiling brightly and beautifully, sweeping away the solemnity of an all-male director. Oscar used this move to show Dinggu's ambition to innovate, and with Gerwig's hand, beckoned to a new era.
Whispering Goddess
Gerwig started as an actor and entered the film industry. She graduated from Barnard College in New York, and she knew what she wanted to do since she was a child: one is to come to New York, and the other is to make movies. So far, she's done both, and it's not bad. While studying in New York, she began to join a wave of youth film movements as an actress, and gradually became a central figure in the movement, known as the "Goddess of Whispering Nucleus".
The so-called "Whispering Core" refers to the films made by a group of young filmmakers in the United States at ultra-low cost. Most of them are born in the 1980s. Since childhood, DV and cameras have been inseparable, and they have developed the ability to tell stories with pictures. They can also perform multiple functions such as director, actor, screenwriter, editing, and photography. The "Whispering Nucleus" movie focuses on creating atmosphere, ignoring plot construction, and paying attention to the little things in the life of young people. Most of the stories are clueless. The improvisation of the script is better than being bold and daring. . The term "Whispering Core" carries a derogatory connotation of ridicule and contempt, and unfortunately still does today.
The most valuable feat of the Whispering Core movement is that it brought filmmaking back to its essence. Although Hollywood's industrial production is highly efficient, the too-fine division of labor also leaves practitioners blind and blind. "Whispering Core" is anti-industrial. Its equipment only needs a DV, without any special effects, and the lighting and scenery are minimalist. It can be made into a movie mainly by performing and editing. This is why the "Whispering Nucleus" movement has continued to flourish for more than a decade, constantly bringing innovation and inspiration to the film industry.
Gerwig developed a sincere, unpretentious acting style in the "Whispering Core" film, which laid the foundation for her later entry into mainstream cinema. At the same time, she also intervenes in film creation as a screenwriter. Her lines are clean and concise, the dialogues are witty and humorous, and she is never sloppy. These accumulations can all see the shadow of her style in the future.
The New Yorker
Gerwig has a deep New York complex. She once wrote an article in the newspaper, affectionately calling New York "my city." Mother Chris Gerwig, who lived in Brooklyn for a while as a child, has the typical New York girl spirit, confident, strong, intelligent and humorous. The mother planted a seed in little Greta's heart, driving her desperately to leave the flat Sacramento with the horizon at all times, and come to New York with gray summer.
In New York, Gerwig was studying and expanding her film career, and lived a full life; but the first film that made her widely known, "Greenberg," was shot in her hometown of California. The show's director, Noah Baumbach, is a true New Yorker who lives in Hollywood. He and his wife, Jennifer Jason Leigh, co-wrote the script for "Greenberg," starring old buddy Ben Stiller. Ben plays a frustrated middle-aged carpenter who has a relationship with a young girl played by Gerwig. After the film was completed, Baumbach divorced Jason Lee, moved back to New York from California, and began living with Gerwig.
Since then, Gerwig has entered the mainstream New York film industry. She participated in Woody Allen's film "Love in Rome", played a silly big sister whose boyfriend was stolen by her best friend Ellen Page, and had a few wonderful scenes with Jesse Eisenberg Acting, overall not great. But it doesn't matter, she ushered in the brilliant "Francis Ha". This is a love letter to New York. It tells the story of a young woman in literature and art. There are many passages reminiscent of the French New Wave. The film uses black and white photography like Woody Allen's "Manhattan" to capture the charming urban texture of 21st century New York, which makes people yearn.
"Francis Ha" stars Gerwig and is directed and co-written by her partner Baumbach. Perhaps influenced by his childhood, Baumbach has always focused on the separation of white middle-class families. The film is always full of pessimism and melancholy. Sweeping away those worries, Baumbach also hit a new career high after "The Squid and the Whale."
The two struck while the iron was hot and launched "American Lover", still in the same way of cooperation, still the New York dream of young literary women, and once again won praise from film critics. Baumbach and Gerwig have become the face of a new generation of New Yorkers.
independent female director
After many movies, Greta Gerwig is finally about to act and direct. She looked away from New York to where she was born: Sacramento. Sacramento is the capital of California, but compared to New York, it can only be regarded as an ordinary American town.
The roles played by Gerwig are always somewhat similar. They are all young women in literature and art. They are silly and optimistic, never afraid to deal with trouble, and often get into some unnecessary trouble. Even if she is worried about her livelihood, she can face tomorrow with high spirits. These characters are more or less her own shadow. Generally speaking, performances derived from their own experience will make the audience feel more empathetic.
In this way, "Miss Bird" is almost her autobiography. A high school girl in Sacramento, she loves literature and art, and has a rebellious personality. She gave up the name given by her parents and called herself "Miss Bird". She wanted to go to college in New York, and she had a tense relationship with her mother. Gerwig is good at capturing small details that are overlooked in daily life, and after refining them and placing them in the film, the film immediately becomes full and real. Many film critics believe that the prototype of "Miss Bird" is Gerwig herself, even if she repeatedly denied that she was a good girl in high school, some people still do not believe it.
"Miss Bird" gives the feeling of realism, this Oscar only "Florida Paradise" directed by Sean Baker can be compared with it. Although the latter is far superior to the former in terms of ideological depth and directing techniques. Gerwig was nominated for Best Director, but he had to take advantage of the "Metoo" movement. As a coming-of-age documentary film, its performance is impeccable, and the story is a little bland, but it deeply captures the subtle throbbing psychology of adolescence, and it has a 99% freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Despite missing out with the statuette, with several labels such as Oscar nominations, independent directors, women, etc., Gerwig is enough to make Gerwig a success in the film circle. But we all know that this Sacramento girl's dream goes far beyond that.
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