Whether it is Earl Stone in the film or Clint Eastwood outside the film, the reason why they can bring people an immersive experience and thinking about the story is that they have already experienced the precipitation of the years. , and will walk the seemingly long road of life. They are all like the sediment deposited in the rivers and seas showing the hardness and smoothness of pebbles under the waves of wind and waves. Is it because of this, watching this film is like using a magnifying glass on the smooth stones Looking for the lines and gravel that time and experience have left behind, perhaps it is the shallow footprints on a yellow sand road.
The film mainly tells the story of Earl Stone, a retired and liberal veteran who lives alone and is introduced to be a drug mule by others at a lonely moment when facing bankruptcy and deepening family conflicts. The whole film adopts the narrative method of continuous montage, and the storyline is simple and smooth. The three main scene storylines of drug transportation, family and police station are switched and connected to form the whole work. There are also many humorous clips and satires on American racial issues, which make the audience feel single and boring while enjoying the whole work (of course, it also stimulates a lot of heated discussions).
As a great director who is nearly 90 years old, Eastwood has always been admirable for his ability to tell stories, but equally, the integration of the filming and audio-visual language of the whole film is even more worthy of scrutiny.
The use of light and color in the whole film does not seem to have the function of deliberately advancing and metaphorical to the plot, but it still serves as the lubricating oil of this film throughout the whole film, and plays a certain icing on the cake. The overall tone of this work is a bright tone in the early stage, a dark tone in the middle, and a process of gradually moving towards a bright tone in the later stage, indicating the ups and downs of the whole story, including the deepening and reconciliation of the protagonist's family conflicts, the smooth and dangerous process of drug transportation, As well as the confusion and awakening of the characters' inner thoughts, it can be seen from this.
In addition, there are many special light and brightness in the film as a foil for portraying the characters. For example, in the later stage of the film, the main characters’ close-up and close-up shots are mostly dark side lighting or side backlighting, which is intended to reflect the transformation of the characters’ inner emotions and Complicated, such as the inner changes and emotions of the detective and the drug lord in the conversation with the protagonist, and the change in the protagonist's own character, the conflict between the determination to ease the family but the threat of the drug lord is reflected in this; or as at the end of the film Part of the conversation with the detective when Earlstone was arrested in a police car, the brighter tones and contour lights used at this time give people a sense of sanctity, and it also indicates that the protagonist has experienced drug trafficking in his heart. The threat of work and the relief and redemption of true integration with family.
In terms of color control, there is no deliberate color contrast in the film. On the whole, the bright colors of the yellow flowers planted by the protagonist and the warm colors of red and yellow form a sharp contrast with the darkness of the post-drug transport base in the story. , when the wife is in critical condition, and the protagonist leaves the threat of his life and the important drug cargo resolutely returns home, it is very obvious to use blue as the whole tone of the scene, the daughter's clothes, and the wallpaper of the room are all The cool tones also seem to highlight a melancholy and sad atmosphere and the protagonist's awakening to the family.
In addition, driven by the overall story of continuous montage, some plots also use special montage techniques to highlight the main content of the story.
Contrast montages run through the whole film, such as the contrast between the gardening and bright yellow flowers at the beginning of the film and the later drug trafficking and dark drug dealer bases, the contrast between the happy sunny days and the rainy days that metaphorize inner fear and contradiction. , the old and young of the car and the age, and then promote the contrast between the old and the new in the ideology and the society of the times, etc., all of which push the ordinary content of the story to a higher level of ideological, emotional and political stance, making the relatively simple storyline uplift into a one-of-a-kind. A multi-level and multi-dimensional film and television work.
Similarly, the yellow flower in the film seems to be defined as a metaphorical montage, and it is also the character mark of the protagonist. The yellow flower not only explains the interests of Earl Stone, but also highlights the character's initial unwillingness to be bound by the free character of the family. As a comparison and foreshadowing of the protagonist's path to drug trafficking, and at the end of the film, the story ends with a close-up of yellow flowers. At this time, it is also a metaphor for the protagonist's life to return to normal, and its gentle and bright colors also indicate the protagonist's thinking. Change, and a calm and optimistic view of life.
Of course, as far as I am concerned, the film does have a small regret. The plot at the beginning of the film about the young man recommending Earl to do drug transportation by car is not handled very well, and it is a bit abrupt.
Overall, this is a film made with such a natural emotional outpouring that perhaps only someone who has lived past this age can have such a natural outpouring of emotion. Aside from personal political stances and contradictions and conflicts outside the film, this is a successful film. Movie, a touching story. We will all walk on this road of life, and I hope that I can walk unrestrainedly and long.
The first serious film analysis, there must be a lot of mistakes in it, and there are also a lot of blasphemy... After all, I am an ignorant rookie who is still groping and learning.
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