American author James Cann's 1934 bestseller The Postman Always Rings Twice has been screened four times. In 1939, French director Pierre Chenard made "The Last Turn" based on this novel. It was an excellent psychological thriller, and the actor who played her husband, Michelle Simon, did a great job. But the film was banned from U.S. release by the Hays Office of the U.S. Department of Cinematography. In 1942, the famous Italian director Lucino Visconti made "The Sinking" based on this novel. It focuses on uncovering weaknesses in human nature. It has been Italianized, only the story is the same as the original. Since the film was adapted without Cann's consent, it was not released in the United States until 1975.
Hollywood made The Postman Always Rings Twice twice, but the two versions were completely different. The 1946 version emphasizes karma. Even if the murderer can escape the punishment of the world, he will not escape the punishment of God. "The postman always rings the bell twice" which means that retribution will come sooner or later. This version is a black and white film. Although the director often uses bright light and a soft background in the film, the heroine's costume is mostly white, and the fast food restaurant is also arranged as a clean and bright restaurant, but the film's depressing atmosphere, pessimistic tone, characters The scene of no way out and two murders in the dark belong to the typical noir style. This version is one of the masterpieces of Hollywood film noir in the 1940s and has an important place in film noir.
When the film was released that year, audiences were taken aback by the daring erotic display of Lana Turner and John Garfield. In fact, at the time of the adaptation, the screenwriter had made a lot of redacted obscenities in the original work, and due to the restriction of the film inspection law "Hays Code", there was not only no bed scene, but also no kiss scene. The 1981 version restores the blatant erotic depictions that the 1946 version did not have, and there are as many sex scenes as the original, and the length of the scene where the two have sex on the kitchen table for the first time is also rare. In response to someone asking him why he's remaking the old story that's been filmed many times, director Bob Reverson said it's not a remake at all. He felt that the 1946 version was not faithful to the original. The version he directed always had an obscene and dirty aura, which set off the ugly side of human nature.
The story is the same, the characters are the same, but the filming period is different, and the feeling is different. The 1980s version was far more ruthless than the 1940s version. In the 1940s version, Nick Smith was a mild-mannered Englishman who tried to please his young wife, playing guitar and dancing with her in his spare time. Killing such a kind man is unforgivable. But in the 1980s version, Nick Papadakis was a Greek immigrant, obese, alcoholic, and the director often used close-up shots to show Cora's dislike of him, making the audience realize the dissatisfaction of this emotional woman with her marriage. . Therefore, when she can't stand Nick's pestering to have a baby and kill her again, the moral sense that the audience may have is greatly diminished. The most typical example of the moral vacuum in the 1981 version is: after Cora and Frank made the car "wreck", the two beat each other to make the "wreck" appear realistic, but the beating stimulated lust, and the two ended up in Nick's. Make love next to a dead body.
The 1946 version (at least at the end) shows that their lust has turned into love, albeit too late. In the 1981 version, it is not seen that the two are truly in love, and some are just animal-like needs. Frank betrayed Cora three times: the first time, Cora mustered up the courage to run away with him. As soon as he walked to the coach station, he saw a group of people gambling on the ground. Frank left Cora and squeezed over to gamble for money. For the second time, just after hearing a word from Sackett, Frank signed the accusation against Cora, and the previous oath of the alliance suddenly vanished. (In the 1946 version, Frank also colluded with the waitress at another restaurant while Cora was away, but only briefly, unlike the 1981 version which had more depictions of the lion-taming girl). So, in the end, Cora was killed in a car accident, and Frank just knelt on the ground and cried.
Garnett and Reverson also handled the film's beginning completely differently. The 1946 version begins with Frank's narration. On death row, Frank has bleak memories of love, crime and disillusionment. He recalled how the whole thing went. It all started with a job advertisement. Unemployed Hu Frank saw a job advertisement on the side of the road and got off his ride. Hiring is the Double Oak fast food restaurant on the side of the road. He walked into the fast food restaurant, and a white lipstick fell to the ground and rolled at his feet. He bent down to pick up the lipstick, looked up, and saw a beautiful young woman in a white dress and a white hat standing beside the door of the inner room. This is the famous lipstick shot. There is no need for bed scenes, Cora's temptation can already be felt. The movies of the 1940s were always more romantic. The 1981 movie was much more realistic. In Reverson's version, the film opens with Frank following the owner of his hitchhiker into the Double Oak fast food restaurant on the side of the highway. The driver ordered two breakfasts. To save money, Frank pretended to go to the toilet. He waited for the owner to pay before coming out of the toilet. But by this time the owner had used it too early to drive away. The owner, Nick, suggests that he stay on the job, but he doesn't agree, but steals a few cigarettes while Nick is unprepared, and sneaks into the kitchen. The unkempt Cora was walking around the pot with an angry face. The kitchen was dimly lit and the entire restaurant was not clean. Several scenes, Frank's obscenity, greed and lust are all revealed. The 1981 version is clearly more lifelike than the 1946 version. Today, however, American film critics still think that the 1946 version is better than the 1981 version, because Reverson, who is known for his ability to shoot art films, tried to make this American popular story into a high-skilled and high-quality art film. The visual image of the character appears to be more educated than the original. As a result, his depth is out of tune with the vulgarity of the original, and instead loses the vulgar passion of the original.
The male and female protagonists of both versions were famous actors of their time. Lana Turner in the 1946 version was a star in the Hollywood star system, good at playing sexy, criminally inclined, and seductive women in dramas, although her important work "The Postman Always Rings Twice" " is not a drama. The Postman Always Rings Twice is classified as a thriller, sharing the highest-grossing thriller record with several of Hitchcock's films in the 1940s. In this film, Cora is always dressed in white, as if to hide her lust and cunning under pure white. Her Black Widow-esque deception ensnares Frank, a homeless man who happens to pass by. He lost the will of a man under her temptation, was trapped in a desolate place by the California highway, unable to move, and finally fell into the abyss of lust, betrayal and murder. Frank's actor John Garfield has always been known for playing anti-heroes and is a well-known tough guy on the screen. Off-screen he was one of the few progressive-minded actors in Hollywood who was persecuted by the Un-American Activities Council in the 1950s.
Compared to the 1946 version, the 1981 version is better in performance. A special mention goes to Jessica Lang, who plays Cora, whose performance underpins the play. Just as "The Postman Always Rings Twice" in the 1940s was an important work by Lana Turner, "The Postman Always Rings Twice" in the 1980s was also an important work by Jessica Lang and her acting career. turning point. Before that, she had done "King Kong" and "All That Jazz", both of which were mediocre. Reverson chose her to play Cora for her simplicity and natural unpretentious sensuality. When Reverson met her for the first time, he was impressed by how she sat. In general, actresses often sit with one leg on the other, which can make them look more sexy. But Jessica Lan just casually landed on both feet when she sat, and didn't deliberately show her sexiness because Cora is a sexy character. Because her sexiness is innate, she doesn't need to pretend. This quality of her makes her one with the character. More than once on screen, Cora pulls up her skirt and sits with her feet spread apart (this image is used in the poster). With short blond curls, a Japanese nightgown with a belt, and a lewd smile, it shows innocence and sensuality at the same time. As Cora approached the bathroom to murder her husband, her right hand, clutching a bag of bearing balls, tapped her bracelet-bearing left hand, and even the movement of her hand reflected her anxiety and resentment. Since playing "The Postman Always Rings Twice", Jessica Lang's acting skills have matured, and her major works "Mr. Douce" and "Francis" have been well received. As for Jack Nicholson, who plays Frank, he still hasn't strayed from his old-fashioned performances - repeating his sly and vicious look in "Dusk", thus making the audience suspect that he was the mastermind of the assassination.
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