On the first day of the release of director Ang Lee's new film, I went to the cinema to watch a 2D version, which is the 24-frame version that everyone is more familiar with, but the overall look and feel was very ordinary, probably because it was not a subject I was interested in. Yawn.
The script of "Gemini Man" is indeed a bit weak. The story is so simple that it doesn't involve spoilers. The strongest agent played by Will Smith meets his young self. There are conflicts, collisions, and fights between two "Is" of different ages. , the final settlement. However, several contradictions in the film are still quite Ang Lee's thinking, such as self-opposition, patriarchal relationship, cloning ethics and so on.
Many people in the circle of friends feel that this is not the level that Ang Lee should have. He has won three Oscars, including the Golden Bear, Golden Lion, Golden Palm, Golden Horse, and Film Awards. ".
In particular, Ang Lee's storytelling system is mature and complete, which can always lead people to be unconsciously brought into a certain situation, and then think and wake up. This time, "Gemini Man" did not give people this feeling, and it always felt unsatisfactory.
I have reservations about this view. "The film is a very popular film", but it can be seen that Ang Lee is using such a story to tell his thoughts on "the passing of innocence" and "how should people face old age" after the age of 65. go" this sense of change
In the movie, why did Henry want to retire?
Because he started to be afraid to look at himself in the mirror - in other words, he felt old.
Aging is a problem that no one can avoid.
Ang Lee is also getting old. He said in the promotion of the last movie that making a movie requires physical strength and concentration, and the aging of the body will affect these two aspects. And as people get older, they will always have new ideas, such as "accepting who they were when they were young", he said, " ("Gemini Man") touched me the most when facing the mirror and facing my younger self, All the regrets and melancholy in my life, when I am at my age, I will review it, and if I go through it again, I will have a different idea."
The theme of this film has something to do with the director's age and mood. There may be isolation in understanding, so some young groups have not been deeply touched by it.
But this is Ang Lee, always changing, never repeating himself.
In the early years, Ang Lee felt that filial piety was important, and he filmed "Pushing Hands" and "The Wedding Banquet". Later, he felt interested in the proposition of love, so he had "Brokeback Mountain" and "Lust and Caution". Later, he entered the age of no confusion, and he was interested in human nature. , After thinking about faith, and showing such masterpieces as "The Fantasy Drift of the Youth Pie" on the screen, what Ang Lee conveys in the film has always been what he was personally interested in at a certain period.
Ang Lee has never been a smooth-sailing director. He has made films such as "The Hulk" and the box office Waterloo. Even "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", which won the Oscar for best foreign language film, was criticized for not being a typical Chinese kung fu movie when it was first released. Chow Yun-fat and Zhang Ziyi had no martial arts skills, and the classic bamboo forest drama was even criticized. Nothing.
But Ang Lee has never given up making movies because of this. He just likes it and has always been curious about the world of movies, and is expressing his personal experience with movies.
He said in an interview, "If Li Mubai of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" is a review of my entering middle age, then this time is a new review of my life when I enter old age." Therefore, "Gemini" The perspective of human cloning in The Killer is not whether it should be cloned or whether human cloning conforms to realistic ethics.
The similarity between Henry and junior is not only in appearance, but also in character, habits, things they like, things they fear, etc. Therefore, they are mirrors of each other. One sees his younger self and wants to tell each other. One's own regrets, regrets, and disappointments, while the other sees himself in old age, and is unwilling to accept the comfort of "self", but wants to live his life at his own pace, even if it is a detour, he wants to try it again.
At the same time, Ang Lee became interested in the innovation of film technology. From "Billy Lynn's Halftime Battle", he began to use 4K, 3D, 120-frame technology to make movies, which was a very forward-looking and creative attempt, but his reputation at the time was not satisfactory.
Ang Lee hopes to use real expressions, situations, and details to express movies, but unfortunately, the projection equipment of many cinemas cannot keep up with this technological innovation.
After trying to sort this out, I went to the CINITY brand and theater system released by Huaxia Films and watched a high-brightness 120-frame version. Because I think technology and content are inseparable, and technology is also a part of film expression. The hardware of this theater can match the playback requirements of Ang Lee's new film, and can truly reflect the advantages of 4K, 3D, and 120-frame versions, with clearer pictures, more brilliant colors, and smoother movements.
Frankly speaking, the overall feeling really needs to be improved a lot. The stories that I thought were quite satisfactory have a lot of conflict and excitement in the immersive viewing.
Because the 120-frame picture is more stable and clearer, even the moving car scene at the beginning suddenly feels different.
There are two more important scenes in my memory. One is the scene where Henry's father threw him into the water to learn to swim. The blue water was in front of him, and the air bubbles he spit out were within reach. It was like being in the water, so real. fear. The other is a car chase shootout. Henry rode his motorcycle through the narrow alley, ramming, dodging, and bullets passing by. When junior drove into Henry, he was even more shocked, as if a car was rushing towards him. The flocks of pigeons that were frightened and took off could also clearly see the traces of them flying in groups.
Ang Lee said: "In the past, when we filmed action scenes, we could only use a fast rhythm to create a sense of excitement. Now, with high frames, we can make it dramatic and detailed, so that the audience can watch it more carefully. Motivation and tactics during fights , expressions, let the audience really enter the scene, follow the characters to act and think.”
Yes, the 120-frame version allows me to see what is the richest facial expressions and the most exciting action scenes.
In addition, I also think that the literary drama in the Budapest catacombs is very exciting, and a question automatically arises in my mind - would you have the heart to kill yourself?
the answer is negative. I know he has many weaknesses and problems, but I can't help but love him and don't want him to die.
When watching the 120-frame version, this feeling is especially obvious. You can see the details of Henry's confrontation with himself when he was young. Henry's face is unbearable, restrained, and hopeful. In the innocent eyes of junior, there are more hesitations, shocks, and unbelief. . The emotions in the characters are stronger and more moving.
Why is there such a strong contrast?
Li Shuping, the chief expert of Huaxia, said that in addition to the clearer and more stable high-frame technology mentioned above, "the ultra-high brightness projected by the CINITY cinema system is an important factor."
Yes, super brightness, to give a simple example. It is a picture with a particularly strong contrast between 24 and 120. In the movie, there is a detail of the villain's high-level conversation outside with an umbrella. When watching 24, the picture is a bit blurry. I thought that holding an umbrella means that the conversation between two people needs to be concealed. But when I watch 120 frames, I can clearly see that there are raindrops falling next to them, and it can also be connected with the small pool of water on the ground in the subsequent episodes.
The realism in the film is doubled, as is the sensory presence and stimulation. This is beyond my expectations, I didn't expect such a big difference.
The main reason is that the brightness of CINITY 2D can reach 30-32FL, and most cinemas at home and abroad are 10-14FL; when CINITY shows 3D, the brightness of a single eye is 28FL under a screen width of 19 meters, and the brightness of a single eye is 20FL under a screen width of 20-24 meters. The domestic and foreign ordinary cinemas are 3-7FL, and CINITY is 4-9 times higher than that; the 3D brightness of domestic and foreign high-end brand cinemas is 10-14FL, and CINITY is more than 2 times higher. "
Therefore, the "Gemini Man" I saw in the CINITY hall has more impact and richness of details.
Technological innovation and progress can definitely improve the quality of watching movies, Ang Lee said, "We watch movies in the cinema, sharing a big black box for two hours, completely uninterrupted, like a spiritual journey. But I I also want to make the screen a little bigger to make the look and feel more immersive. I like the Dolby effect very much, the colors are very beautiful, and I also want to make the screen a little wider, so that it will be better for 3D. I think we can't just be content with talking about it now. Good story, because Netflix can tell a good story, and you can see a good story on the iPhone, but like Gemini Man, you have to go to the cinema to get that immersive look.”
Yes, go look at the 120-frame version of Gemini Man, and you may find that Ang Lee is still Ang Lee, keep exploring, keep going deeper, keep expressing yourself.
The beauty and magic of movies are endless.
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