The structure of "Drug Network" is very peculiar. Around the center of drugs, the three main characters lead out three main clues. These three clues are not divided into units, but are drawn around each other. Created a "drug network". The film involves all aspects of this network of characters, Mexico, Colombia and many cities in the United States, visible, and potential rules of the game.
Three clues: The
Mexican police (Benicio de Toro) and his companions seized a batch of heroin, which was taken over by the military halfway. The military asked two policemen to help catch a killer of a drug gang, torture them to get the inside story of the drug gang, and kill them in one fell swoop. No one knows that the military general is actually the leader of another drug gang. After learning the truth, the police companion wanted to poke the news to the US Bureau of Investigation, but was unfortunately silenced. Benicio and the United States captured the general and eradicated the gang. This story is presented in yellow tones, and it is also the most dangerous part of the film. The yellow of anxiety, the color of the scorching sun, assassinations, torture, gangs, and murderous intent.
In the United States, the newly appointed anti-narcotics judge (Michael Douglas) is ambitious and wants to do a big job, but her 16-year-old daughter Caroline is already addicted to drugs. On the one hand, it is a difficult career, on the other hand, the daughter's degeneration or disappearance step by step. On the way to find his daughter, the judge felt that the anti-drug road was difficult, and in the end it could only end in a speechless manner. Caroline is both excellent in character and academics. The young woman was also tempted to pollute by the ubiquitous drugs. After escaping from the rehab, she betrayed her body to obtain drugs. Her male partner clankly said: "You can make five hundred dollars by standing on the street for two hours. You can pass the rest of the time. Who will study law?" This part is presented in blue. , Is said to be the world in the eyes of drug addicts. Psychedelic, cold, and sad.
In the other part, two police officers caught a drug dealer, and the middle dealer provided the upper-level dealer. The wife of the big market trader (Catherine Zeta-Jones) knew nothing about what her husband did. The pampered woman fell into a difficult life, and the husband’s supplier threatened her to pay off millions of dollars in debt with the life of her son. In order to rescue her husband, she contacted her husband’s supplier, settled the debt for the next business, and asked the other party to send a killer to kill the mid-market merchant who was preparing to testify in court. The large-market merchant was acquitted. The police did not give up. This segment is a normal video, and the images of mid-market dealers and black policemen are portrayed in flesh and blood.
A network:
South America, Colombia, is the main origin of drugs. In Mexico where drugs are rampant, the high-level anti-drug military is the top leader of drug trafficking. Drug gangs not only fight the police, they also fight each other. The drugs here enter the U.S. market through major market players in the U.S. The big market dealers set up several short companies to launder money, bribe the customs, and use all kinds of characters and methods to import drugs. Large-cap dealers scattered the drugs to mid-market dealers, and the mid-market dealers scattered the drugs to drug dealers. The sections in the middle are all in a chain, and the circulating drugs are sold to drug addicts in the hands of the last drug dealer, and there is still three times the profit. When you stand on the street for a while, someone will come to you to sell cocaine. According to the characters in the film: "It is easier for young people to buy drugs than to buy cigarettes and alcohol." The result of the police's crackdown is often to make drugs more affordable and good-quality. From the president’s special judge to the obscure anti-drug police, from big drug lords to street vendors, they are all people in this net. This is an endless war.
A few lines:
Douglas's predecessor told a meaningful story, to the effect that when faced with unsolvable difficulties, he shifted the responsibility to his predecessor. If you meet again, you will be overwhelmed.
Douglas's wife knew that her daughter had taken drugs for six months and still kept it secret, because she thought it was a normal phenomenon in adolescence and her daughter would always come back.
Douglas asked the general: "How do you deal with drug addicts?" General: "Suck one to death is one." The
caught middleman said to the black policeman: "What you have done is meaningless, it's just a help. My opponent gets rid of me."
Benicio: "Do you like baseball? Put lights on the court so that the children can have a place to play, so that no one will take drugs."
At the end, Benicio said Watching children playing baseball outside the baseball field.
Three protagonists:
In the two-hour movie, the three aspects of the story have ensured the plot tension and the quality of the character image. Even those characters who don't have much room for excavation can capture the characteristics and shape them into a distinct personality. Of the three protagonists, Douglas and Jones both showed their strength. Douglas is very close to the role of the justice in image and temperament. There are several performances that show great merit, such as being threatened by drug dealers with guns on the way to find a girl, and the expression of fear and dignity intertwined; when he finds the daughter who has become a prostitute, his hand is light. Stroked her daughter's back; and choked with tears at the press conference, but went away sadly. Jones's role was very sympathetic at first, but as the plot developed, she turned into a member of the drug network. The change was very natural and persuasive. As for Benicio, I have seen two of his works, "21 Grams" and "Drug Network". His roles are between the protagonist and the supporting role. He later won Oscars and Golden Globe Awards for Best Supporting Actor. In this film, his performance is one of the motivations for me to watch. Privately speaking, such a dedicated and charming performance makes the Best Actor Award not excessive. Compared with the madness and publicity of "21 Grams", he in "Drug Network" is much calmer and much more real. This is not a radiant character, and in terms of image, he is not a pleasing actor. The good thing about him is that he doesn't need to take out a few shots and plots to circle around. His performance is a whole. I haven't seen such a wonderful performance in a movie full of pretentiousness and disease-free groans for a long time.
Video:
Soderberg personally shot this movie with a handheld camera. Obviously, in terms of form, the director has no ambitions. Although the dazzling technology can make the movie beautiful, but it also gradually loses the most essential things in the movie. "Drug Network" is basically a documentary style. For example, Douglas met with parliamentarians, and Benicio heard the killer screamed by torture under the scorching sun. Several patients in the drug rehabilitation center told their stories, all in a very objective and simple manner. Lens and switch. This is a panoramic story, and the complicated content can be carried out in an orderly manner, thanks to the director's grasp of the rhythm of the film. I am afraid that the full light and color will not be of any benefit to the narrative of the film. On the contrary, such a simple picture gives the film a real rough texture. At the beginning of the movie, I felt that the picture quality was very poor, but after half an hour, the wonderful story can make these details negligible.
Personal feeling:
Although it is a film a few years ago, it is the best film I have watched this year. It is powerful and weighty. I remember that when "Drug Network" hit "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", Soderberg took away Ang Lee's best director, and was once disappointed. I really watched it and found out that it was indeed a good film. Nearly perfect.
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