Ridley Scott, an old man in his eighties. Directed "Gladiator" (2001 Oscar for Best Picture), "American Gangster", "The End of the Dead" (1992 Best Director Oscar nomination), "Kingdom of Kingdom", "Alien", "Black Hawk Down" (2002 Oscar nomination for best director), "The Martian" (2016 Oscar nomination for best film), military, history, science fiction, crime, everything. Every movie is a first-class masterpiece. It can be said that he is the director with the most abundant types of commercial films and the strongest control ability in Hollywood. In 2018, the old man released another masterpiece [Money World], which is refreshing.
[Money World] Adapted from a real kidnapping incident of a wealthy family that once caused a sensation in the world. In 1973, the grandson of Paul Getty, the world's richest man at the time, was kidnapped by gangsters in Italy. The kidnappers demanded a ransom of $17 million (the $17 million at the time might be worth $300 million today). The redemption action launched to this end has turned the grievances and grievances of the capitalist society's emotional and financial entanglements upside down. The film did not simply reason and solve the case, but chose to go back to the source more deeply, focusing on the theme of the impact of money on human nature. It is a philosophical suspenseful crime film.
The film is developed by two main lines, one is the character development line from the old Getty, and the other is the story line of the kidnapping of his grandson Getty III. The two lines interact with each other, pushing the plot forward nervously. We focus on the old Getty storyline. The representation of this line is very unique, that is, the old Getty's art collection with the theme of oil painting.
The first appearance of the old Getty is a flashback of the story. Son Paul, with his daughter-in-law and 4 children and grandchildren, met his grandfather for the first time. This meeting has been carefully designed, and the four grandchildren and daughter-in-law have not seen their elders for ten years. It shows that the grandfather (father-in-law) puts money first, is indifferent to blood, and neglects family affection. And the grandchildren were amazing when they saw their grandfather for the first time. An ultra-luxury hotel, magnificent, with huge art paintings on the walls, and many precious oil paintings on the ground. Although the grandchildren come from the United States, but in the palace-like living room, it is like Grandma Liu entering the Grand View Garden, dizzying and overwhelmed. The strangest thing was that the old man came out of the bathroom with wet hands to greet them. It turned out that he was washing his underwear himself at the moment in order to save the hotel's $10 laundry fee. He took a tauren-faced statue and gave it to his eldest grandson (who was later kidnapped) as a gift, and swore to tell the whole family that it took a lot of work to get the statue, and it took an hour to cut it from $19 to $11. Although it was cheap, the market value was $1.2 million. There is a foreshadowing here. When the old Getty refused to pay the ransom, the daughter-in-law had to take the statue, which is said to be worth $1.2 million, to exchange money at the antique dealer. It turned out that antique dealers were full of shops selling the statue for only $15. The daughter-in-law was immediately dumbfounded, her legs were weak, and she slumped on the steps with tears streaming down her face. Even his own family are fooling around, this old man is probably unprecedented. The beauty of a good movie is that every shot, every line, every object creates a character. Foreshadowing, leaving suspense, echoing before and after. So as soon as the old Getty appeared on the stage, he had an accurate portrait: rich enough to rival the country, shrewd and cunning, stingy and stingy, both ignoring and using family affection. As the plot progresses, these character traits unfold one by one until the end of the story.
When his grandson, Getty III Jr. (he was the heir apparent to the old Getty), was kidnapped, a swarm of reporters surrounded the old Getty's mansion. Everyone is looking forward to how the world's richest man will deal with this difficult problem. The old Getty said surprisingly calmly: he would not pay any ransom to the kidnappers, not even a penny. Because I have 14 grandchildren. If I pay the ransom, each of these 14 grandchildren will be kidnapped. When Little Getty's mother rushed to the old Getty's mansion in England on her own initiative, she was confronted with the precious oil paintings on the wall, and she blurted out resentment. The 17 million ransom was just a month's interest on the old man's $1 billion wealth. He would rather buy a Matisse (a famous Fauvist) oil painting every day than pay a penny for his grandson. Yes, the old man is the richest man in the world. The best way to preserve value without tax deduction is to set up an art foundation to invest in art collections. Therefore, through the topic of oil painting, the old man's shrewd, cunning and ignorant of family psychology was once again exposed. There is also an interesting plot here, a huge old castle looks like a mansion, and guests including the old Getty's daughter-in-law actually have to pay by coin to make calls. The master's stinginess and stinginess is really speechless, and this is a real thing.
When the oil painting appears for the third time, it is a parallel montage transformation. Little Getty's mother bargained with the kidnappers over the ransom, and the kidnappers also reduced the ransom from $17 million to $7 million. At this juncture, the old Getty appeared mysteriously in a mansion with a box. The owner of the mansion said, have you brought the money? This is the last time and the last day, I can no longer go back on my word and keep my word. At this time, the old Getty opened the box, a box full of cash, a full 1.5 million US dollars. The audience thought that the old Getty found out in his conscience and brought the ransom, but when the camera turned, the old Getty opened a mask of a template. It turned out that this was a beautiful world famous painting sent through the black market channel. Ironically, this painting is of a kind mother holding an innocent and well-behaved baby (like a painting of the Virgin and Child). Here, the daughter-in-law is doing everything she can to save her grandson, running around and screaming. Over there, old Getty sat firmly on the Diaoyutai, not digging a single penny. But he spent a lot of money to buy world famous paintings, and he was very happy. Especially looking at the expression of the baby in the painting, I am ecstatic and loving. I love a fake baby in a painting more than my own grandson whose blood is thicker than water. Because the old Getty never believed in his own sons and grandsons. He even suspects that the grandson is directing and acting in the kidnapping case to defraud his wealth. So he has a famous saying: These famous paintings are much more reliable than family members, because these unworthy descendants always want to get my money for nothing. Only these famous paintings are the same on the outside, and they will never change and will not disappoint. The director portrayed the old Getty's three views in a superb and penetrating manner.
The last appearance of the oil painting theme was at the end of the film. In the dilemma of blood and money, after more than half a year of bargaining, the old Getty finally cut the ransom from $17 million to $3.2 million. The most crucial turning point was that the kidnappers cut off one of the ears of Little Getty III and sent it to the newspaper, which made the world's public opinion talk about the position of the richest man in the world who did not care about his grandson's life. The old Getty had to pay $3.2 million like a piece of meat, and his heart was like a knife. Caused a heart attack in the old castle mansion late at night and was on the verge of death. Here the director uses another parallel montage. Here is the mother crying with joy while holding the little Getty, who is covered in bruises and has lost one ear, and there is the old Getty with his last strength to take down the $1.5 million world famous painting. In the piercing alarm bell (not taking pictures according to the normal procedure), the innocent and well-behaved baby stroking on the canvas muttered to himself: What a lovely child acridine... He finally passed away and took his last breath. In fact, the old Getty is like this famous painting. Although he is expensive and rich, his lifelike and delicate appearance is just a layer of paint. The director's profound skills are admired.
In the real society where material desires are rampant and market competition is omnipresent, this movie has given us profound inspiration: when people sigh and worship the omnipotence of money, don't forget that this omnipotence corrupts people's hearts everywhere. The final shrill bell of the film is the director's hint and warning to the world.
The old Getty is played by 89-year-old Christopher Plummer. He was nominated for the 2018 Golden Globe and Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor for his superb acting skills. His peers like me will remember him as the handsome Colonel Trapp in The Sound of Music. The love story of the Colonel and his 6 children and the governess is wonderful. In particular, the scene of Colonel Trapp humming "Edelweiss" with a guitar in his arms is still unforgettable...
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