Fortunately, we still have movies. With the help of movies, we can go back to those old memories and times, and make radio programs reproduce the old style on the big screen. As early as 1987, American master Woody Allen launched a movie called "The Times". The story took place in World War II. A group of children were playing at the seaside and accidentally discovered a lost German submarine. A boy's sister and her boyfriend were out on a drive. While they were making out in the car, they suddenly heard the radio that aliens were attacking and ran away in fright. The thief received a quiz call on the radio while he was stealing, and he was confused and brought a windfall to the victim... Woody Allen, who likes to chatter, allows the audience to relive the glamorous and lovely past in a slightly absurd story. Years - that was the golden age of radio, World War II, rock, Christmas, it's all so nostalgic. Of course, it is not only Woody Allen who misses that era, but also our recently deceased Oscar Lifetime Achievement Award winner, the ensemble master-Robert Altman.
At the beginning of the movie, it was the wonderful music that once echoed in the ears of countless people. In that era when technology was not developed and people's usual pastime and entertainment mainly relied on sound, high-quality radio entertainment programs were the main way for people to entertain. Popular pop music, country music, jazz, and ventriloquism in the United States, radio dramas, radio shows, and advertisements interspersed with entertainment programs are all integrated into live radio performances, which is a beautiful thing for many people who have experienced that era The story unfolds in such a background. This is an adaptation of a true story, and the script is from the real creator of the show, Garrison Keller, who plays the true character in this film.
This is the last performance of the radio program "Rancho Home Good Companion". After that, the theater will be acquired and rebuilt by a wealthy businessman. Even though they are about to say goodbye to the familiar stage, the disrespectful Dusty (John Reilly) and Lefty (Woody Harrelson) are still singing the "bad joke" that makes Garrison shake his head for a lifetime. The Johnson sisters sang those nostalgic and tearful old songs for the last time, and Garrison's control and conducting, and old Chuck's passing away safely after the last show of the last show, and a group of old The hard work of the buddies and sisters, everything is business as usual, this is with the new generation, Yolanda (Meryl Streep)'s youngest daughter Lola, a little girl who loves writing and is very interested in suicide, full of vigor, Youthful and full of doubts about everything, it is in sharp contrast to the calm and calm attitude of the "old people" in the group. She asked Garrison incomprehensibly, since the last performance of the year, why didn't she show any sadness ?
" My way of life is that every performance is the last one, and it doesn't need to be emphasized." Any deliberate modification allows life to proceed in its most natural state, or to end. Pretentiousness will not add any extra bright colors to life, but it will be dazzling and contrived. Restrained feelings are sometimes more contagious than wanton catharsis, which makes the whole film flow in this calm and calm mood, contrary to the pungent irony in Altman's previous films, full of warmth and not sensational even abusive.
There are bound to be setbacks, dissatisfactions, partings, and pains of one kind or another in life, and we often feel that our feelings are extraordinary when we are in them. Because I am afraid of the unknown, I always look forward to the future, worry about the gains and losses, and at the same time regret the loss that is about to be lost. I can't imagine how I will bear it. Good and bad, what's gained and what's lost. Everything goes with the flow, no need to be deliberate, but still positive. This is what the old man conveyed to the young people, and it is also a way to express his attitude towards life.
As one of the few people in Hollywood who can say "I don't care" to Oscar, Mr. Altman, who has achieved the Golden Bear, Golden Palm, Golden Lion and Golden Globe Grand Slam, missed the most awards five times. After the opportunity to be a good director, he won the "Lifetime Achievement Award" at the beginning of the year, which is almost a coffin. When accepting the award, he said jokingly, "It's not over yet, I still want to work for a few more years." The old man has a positive and relaxed attitude.
Old Chuck, an old actor in the troupe, lost his age and his voice became hoarse. After finishing the performance, he returned to the backstage cabin and waited for his lover who had been with him for many years. But before the lover arrived, the old man passed away quietly. This made the entire troupe extremely sad. The members continued to sing and joke about him sadly, but Garrison remained indifferent, Lola was puzzled and questioned again, "Think about what would happen if you died on the day." "I will sooner or later. Dying." "Don't you want people to miss you?" "I don't want to dictate that people have to miss me."
After the troupe's farewell, Altman and Garrison once again discussed the farewell through the sudden death of the character. It is to face all kinds of unexpected changes calmly, without deliberate exaggeration. Birth, old age, sickness and death are natural laws, and the role of the angel played by Virginia Madsen in the film adds a bit to the film and this concept. Mystery and a different kind of warmth.
Who would have thought that this scene turned out to be a prophecy. Mr. Altman has worked uninterruptedly for decades, immersed in the world of movies, digs moving stories on and off the screen, and left one masterpiece after another for the history of film. One year after the completion of this film, I drove the crane to the west, but it was integrated with its posthumous work. How can we not let people sigh and marvel at such an unpredictable and unattainable drama life.
"The Ranch is a Good Companion", although the layout is not large, compared to "Army Field Hospital", which made Altman famous, it used black humor and laughter to scold the chaos of the US military in the Korean War, and satirized the US President. "Nashville" of the general election, "Silver, Sex, Men and Women", which depicts the social state of the United States in the early 1990s, and "Gosford Manor", which is a panoramic description of the life of British aristocrats, can be described as warm sketches. The perfect ending to Altman's screen career. Whether it is the way of interpreting the group play that made Altman famous, the story themes in front of and behind the scenes in the performance world, as well as a variety of usual plot elements and narrative techniques, as well as the excellent use of music that the old man is best at, all in this film. did it to the extreme. The characters are complex and the dialogue overlaps, but it is still impressive for each character, the effects of sudden death, and the surreal plot are still harmonious and moving in a warm story. Among the actors, whether it is Meryl Streep, Venetian actor Tommy Lee Jones, Woody Harrelson, Queen actress Lily Tomlin, and Garrison Keller, who performed in true colors, Even Lindsey Rohan, a new-generation youth idol, collectively gave a very high-quality performance, whether it was for the "Rancho House Good Companion" broadcast troupe in the play, or Robert Altman outside the play. The last work of the master is like the final condensation of a long-term accumulation, leaving no defects and regrets.
"Every show is the last show", master Robert Altman's more than 50 years of film career, with this near-perfect "Rancho Home Good Companion" drew a successful end, its indifferent and calm His attitude towards life, his superb level of film art, and his lingering emotions when he passed away, all make this master who has dedicated countless classics and creations to the history of film, forever remembered for his legendary life. , just like another translation of this film in Hong Kong, "closing the file on a sunny day".
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