Whether or not Michael Fassbender saw this film that led to the birth of "Macbeth" is unknown, but it is certain that Justin Kurzel was in the first feature film "Snow Town Madness". The unique aesthetic tendency and narrative techniques have been shown in "The Devil" , which have become the fixed label style of his future works. It can be seen that the Cannes filmmakers have a very strong vision and are good at digging and cultivating directors with potential filmmakers.
From the perspective of subject matter, it is not uncommon for movies with serial killers as the protagonist, and the genius of this work is not to try to render the pictures of violent killings, but to focus on thinking about the origin of violence , which is believed to make some genres. Fans of the movie shy away. Different from common genre films that focus on the positive portrayal of murderous maniacs, the director finds a new way to cut into the narrative from the murderer's accomplices, and observes the motives and committing process of this murderous group from the perspective of the leopard, so that the audience can deeply understand the psychological evolution of the murderer. .
The protagonist is sixteen-year-old Jamie, who lives with his mother and two younger brothers in a poor community. Jamie lives in depression and pain all day long. The younger brothers are naughty and mischievous all the time, and the mother complains that everyone is unhappy. Jamie wants to leave the family and this place. At this moment, a man named John appears. . This man satisfied all Jamie's fantasies about his father, and the relationship between the two became more and more intimate, but gradually, John revealed an unknown side...
Judging from the plot of the first half, it has nothing to do with the murderous movie at all. The realistic description of the bottom life is more like the work of British director Ken Roach . Kurzel found a very unique entry point in this genre, making it look more like a youth growth story of a teenager , but instead of sunshine and joy, there is only a gloomy and melancholy atmosphere. The image of the mother and the absence of the father in the film are similar to the later "The True History of the Kelly Gang". The director is good at portraying this incomplete family and the morbid mother-son relationship. the absence of , and on the road to destruction, which is clearly one of the sources of violence.
In the second half, the true body of the murderer appears in a tall and humorous image, which not only satisfies the fantasy of the protagonist's lack of fatherly love, but also has a floating sense of homosexuality . History is the same. Extreme homophobia and self-gender repression are often in flux, and this gender stereotype may not be analyzed in depth here. This criminal gang not only kills homosexuals, but also the mentally handicapped and the homeless.
The source of violence is gradually pointing to educational and economic reasons. In order to vent their dissatisfaction, these idle and uneducated young people have extended their black hands to the innocent bottom and marginalized people. Several violent scenes in the second half were filmed calmly and perverted. The bathroom murder scene reminded me of Michael Haneke 's infamous "Fun Game" . Point out!
Kurzel replaces the violent scenes in the common torture and killing themes with the depiction of the realistic environment and the psychological analysis of the characters , which makes the theme more realistic and reflective. Therefore, the narrative does not focus on the carefully planned murder plot, and the overall appearance is quite loose, almost in the style of a documentary. However, the director relies on the cold and eerie electronic music to create the character's depressed mood and the terrifying atmosphere that the mountains and rains are about to come, which is most vividly shown in the last scene when the protagonist lures the victim to the scene of the crime.
In addition, I was also impressed by the performance of non-professional actors. The characters who looked like ordinary people turned out to be serial killers. This strong contrast can make the audience think about the distorted psychology of murderers, and the causes of these The deep reasons for the appalling tragedy.
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