Author: Fang Hanjun
What is a real utopian society like?
If we really live in that kind of society, what will the result be?
Born in 1972, the new generation of British director Ben Whitley's "Skyscrapers" (2016) presents us with a Utopian society Ukiyo-e.
The most important feature of the film is that the footage usually does not exceed 3 seconds. Its montage and fast fragmented narrative can be called a kind of reverse narrative poem, just like living in the rush and restless heart of people in this building. The raw, fat-bearded director has directed the horror film "The Killing List" (2011), as well as the horror short film collection "26 Ways to Die".
This "Skyscraper" is based on the novel of the same name by author J.G. Ballard, which is obviously different from his "Empire of the Sun" and "Desire Express". This novel with deep dystopian and magical temperament was published in 1975. . The film is also restored to that era, and the unique flavor of the 1970s can be seen from all kinds of people and things. A 40-storey building with more than 2,000 apartments of different levels, isolated from the world, such as supermarkets, swimming pools and elementary schools, everything, everyone can enjoy everything without going out.
Like the novel adaptations of the British films "Nineteen Eighty-Four" and "Double Personality," this utopian society is doomed to fail. Because it is closed to the outside world. The manager of this independent kingdom divides the occupants into three levels. Those who live on the ground floor below the 12th floor belong to the general civilian class. Those above the 25th floor are of course wealthy wealthy people who own luxury apartments, and those below the 25th floor are belong to the middle class.
We often meet together, and of course this kind of party has a class attribute. Usually they seem to be in peace, but once there is trouble, the true colors of all classes are revealed, and the original murderous nature is fully exposed. This is of course a life-and-death fight.
Although the film is a fragmented narrative, its boldness still shows the director's ambition and the urge to jump out of the fence of the thriller. The fast-cut linkage of the film makes people dazzled and difficult to taste, which hinders the understanding of the ideas conveyed by the film. But this does not prevent the core and extraordinary texture contained in the film. I believe that after soaking in time, it has great potential to become a classic light and shadow. The cast is very good, with new talents and old actors.
The film uses flashbacks to get a glimpse of the various people in the building through the perspective of Robert Lane (Tom Hiddleston), a doctor who just moved into the 25th floor three months ago. The 15th floor is a supermarket, which is a central meeting point, and everyone of all classes must patronize here.
Count these weirdos in Lane's eyes: Charlotte Mayville (Sienna Miller), a coquettish woman who lives alone with her son Toby, the belly Helen, who is about to give birth, and her documentary filmmaker. Husband Richard Wilder, fetishist and naughty dentist Steele, single actress Jane Sharidan who asks everyone for an autograph, self-proclaimed news anchor Cosgrove , Mueller, who was originally very beautiful but later jumped off the building due to illness.
Of course, there is also Roo (Jeremy Irons), the designer of the building's biggest coffee, and his wife who he calls an unruly wife from the countryside, as well as the mysterious middleman Simmons and lawyers and other high-level people.
The wily Roo, who has never been downstairs since the car accident, spends all day in the house mastering the design, and his wife and daughter live a luxurious life, empty and hysterical. The civilians at the bottom are often ridiculed, and of course they want to go to the next level, but the people at the top will stamp on them so hard that they will never turn over.
This is a class struggle in the shape of water and fire. This kind of contest that is like a lot of eggs can never be reconciled. Even the competition for the interests of the same class is inevitable. The rubbish piled up, and the stench was unstoppable.
Ryan, who seems to be romantic and unrestrained, can't stay out of it. He flirts with Charlotte, which attracts the dissatisfaction of the always rebellious Wilder, just as he always attracts the rap from the dentist Steele when he throws garbage. Ryan's appearance as a special character naturally attracted the attention of the top leaders. Under the leadership of the middleman Simmons, Ryan was summoned by Roo. The mysterious thing was that Charlotte also had an affair with Roo. They were quite speculative and played squash together. Roo talked to him about the design ideals of the building.
Roo, who lives on the top floor, naturally has the best scenery. At the same time, it has a garden and raises horses and black goats. Its extravagant life can be said to dominate the world. The wealthy class had lavish 19th-century court-style parties, and Ryan, who was unsophisticated in a suit, was mocked by Roo's wife as a "half-hearted". The most ridiculous thing is that Roo slapped the crazy wife later, but she laughed and said it was the first time you touched me in six months.
The swimming pool became a battleground for the rich, the middle class and the common man. Ryan, who is in the middle class, never goes into the water, although his muscular body is the most attractive to women.
Charlotte's son, Toby, is an autistic child. He is very gifted and his language is amazing. He is called a little professor, and Ryan can talk to him very well. Toby asked "Why don't you find a wife", Ryan asked "Why don't you find a father", this kind of communication brought them closer.
Of course, Ryan and Helen, a woman with a big belly, are not bad, and in the end, there is an incredible love. The battle for the building began with a power outage, a tragic slaughter between the civilian representative Wilder and the rich dog-legged Simmons, who was thrown out of the building by them. Wilder went to Charlotte to settle accounts, but in vain.
Ryan's attempt to save the civilians was in vain, only when Roo and the others at the top wanted to use Ryan's scalpel to open Wilder's skull, Ryan's refusal almost lost his life, and Roo's sentence "He still owes me a squash" , was lucky enough to leave him alive. Wilder, who was not decapitated, began to fight back hard, killing Roo with a gun.
This bloody strangulation all heralds the complete end of a small utopian society like skyscrapers. The flickering candlelight, unable to guide their light, led to blind alleys.
The isolated skyscraper itself is a dead lump that cannot be virtuous. Collective management, individual will, and small calculus by small groups are all equivalent to fascism that destroys humanity. After a wave of calm, there will always be a huge wave due to the struggle for survival and interests, and class struggle is inevitable. .
At the end of the film, the funny thing is Toby, a little boy who has always lived a surreal life. Between the antennas leading to the outside world, he opened the sky eye connection. The wisest person who came to the whole building was such a "foreign visitor" little Toby. Isn't this a wonderful satire of self-righteous humans?
2017, 5, 1
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