After "Sacred Rule" in 1997, the Japanese fear began to break out completely, "The Grudge", "Midnight Bell", "Ghost Call"... These mainstream works that can represent the highest level of horror movies in Asia emerge in an endless stream, and the themes also begin to focus on urbanites In these horror works, we can all find a common viewing experience - the atmosphere of depression to the end, the confused and lonely characters, the life-like scenes with a strong sense of substitution... "Sacred Rule" is not in the traditional sense , but it has all the pioneering elements of Asian horror films, the most important being the camera cues.
The movie opens with a large panoramic lens. There is only one heroine character in the picture, but if you analyze this composition carefully, you can feel that the focus of the composition does not seem to be on the character, but the chaotic woods outside the window and the empty room. Chairs with asymmetrical distances...all of which are imposing a psychological cue of "twisted unease" on the audience.
Similarly, many similar panoramic shots are used in "Sacred Rule", all of which are deliberately creating a sense of alienation, alienation between people, alienation between people and society, and alienation between characters' hearts. It is the living state that Japanese cities have been suffering from; although there is no hunger and cold, everyone is like a walking corpse, people are alive, but their hearts are dead; in the second half of the film, Mamiya once said to Gaobe: a group of rabble, they do nothing. I understand, I don't understand, I don't understand you. And Mamiya's most commonly used line is: Who are you? —— Confused in the world, unable to find his own status, even unable to remember his name, his mental state seems to collapse at any moment, just like the teacher's family that was intact yesterday, overnight, the husband put his wife on the ground. Killed cruelly, calmly without any warning.
Throughout the film, the use of close-up is almost extremely limited. Every time a close-up is cut, it implies a psychological change of the characters in the play, and there are only a handful of close-up shots. For example, Mamiya used close-ups for the first cigarette lighting. , I never used it again every time I smoked after that, and clicked it so far, implying important information to the audience.
The second is the life-like "long shot" with a strong sense of documentary that has always been used throughout the film. This is the signature style of Kiyoshi Kurosawa, and it is also a scheduling style commonly used in other mainstream Japanese horror films. No close-up scenes are used to disrupt the performance, and no music is required. To render the atmosphere, simply point the camera at all the characters in the venue, and let the audience observe everyone's physical movements and psychological changes by themselves. The picture is calm as water, but the heart is flustered.
After Gaobe went to Mamiya's residence for the first time to search, sitting in the car, the flashbacks of these scenes were like magic. On the surface, it disrupted the long-shot connection that had been used in previous movies, but its visual effect It is even more amazing than the horror movie, indicating that the story is developing towards an irreversible crisis. From this point on, the director sets a psychological crisis for the audience, that is, you don't know when a few frames will suddenly be inserted after this is creepy. The horror scene of the movie, every time the lens gets stuck on the protagonist's face, you will be afraid that he suddenly recalls some terrible scene, and the audience's psychology has been completely controlled by Kurosawa Kiyoshi.
At the end of the movie, it is still the iconic panorama, the center of composition is still not on the waiter, the restaurant is full, and the environment is even a bit messy, but at this time, you can't help but put your eyes on the waiter and watch her pick it up. A knife - she was hypnotized, are you hypnotized too.
View more about Cure reviews
