I'm thinking, if it wasn't for a person whose heart was still like water, it would be difficult to shoot such an explosive image, and it would be difficult to create such a chilling artistic conception in a cramped space. It is different from ordinary thrillers. It's not fancy, not cool, and not supernatural. She narrates it in a straightforward manner. It's quiet, unhurried, and slow evolution really surprised me a little.
"The Hound of Love" (2017), directed by Australian director Ben Young, is hard to imagine that this is his debut. The technique of a documentary film and the style of an art film have constructed a real situation in danger, which makes people want to stop and let us follow. In particular, the details are meticulously crafted, although there are occasional small abruptness, but the flaws do not hide the good, the overall is extremely strong, showing an extraordinary ability to palm mirror, which is completely convincing.
If it's just a generic kidnapping suspense, or the award-winning "Room," or the earlier "Silence of the Lambs," that doesn't appeal to me. The preciousness of "The Hound of Love" lies in the real value it reveals. In this era, the warning of the film or the meaning of art may feel empty. It is a crime, but if it is only a deduction of this crime, then the maximum value it plays is only the crime itself. Rarely, it binds the kidnapper to the kidnapper, and if you thought it was just her conscience finding, you were wrong too. The world is not so simple.
We often say that everything does not depend on the will of human beings. The core of this transformation lies in the incision of this transformation. Why does it transfer? The premise is that it does not depend on the will of human beings. What if the will is as strong as iron? The mystery of the film, the emotions it shows, for the accomplice Evelyn, she cannot be a one-way sympathy, but a gathering of multiple emotional factors, which is why Vicky jumps out of the window after she survives. escape. The film is based on real events, and the process is certainly shocking.
Flash back to 1987, and the title opens in slow motion, which is rare. Those cardamom fragrances flying in the wind, those carefree youthful smiling faces, those crystal pure eyes like ice flowers, are being stared at by a car not far away. For the people in this car, time is too slow. Now, it is simply a torment. They hope to hurry up, hope that the ball game of these middle school students will end soon, and their only hope is to find the prey that really belongs to them.
But as a viewer, I know that this car is not a good person, and the film's small connotation fails to let us see the face of the person in the car. Then there are the lush woods, and then the hot road. A female middle school student walked alone on the side of the road, and the car came quietly. Long shot, long shot, we can imagine the person in the car taking the initiative to strike up a conversation, the weather is very hot, let's take you for a while. The girl got into the car. Of course the girl could never go home again.
We only saw in this dark room, the girl was handcuffed to the bed with chains and bloodstained blood. The couple finally showed up, and they slept naked after having sex. The film must be concise, and the next day we only see an empty room with blood stains, but the girl is gone, and the couple is seriously cleaning. Several notices of missing girls are posted on the walls. This is just the prelude to the film, and its steady photography and precise editing are amazing. It's not over yet, the couple will not rest on their laurels. They like to drive around.
In the night, 17-year-old female student Vicky was angry with her mother, she secretly put on makeup and went through the window before going to the party of her classmates. His parents had long since separated, and Trevor, the surgeon's father, wanted to reunite with his wife, Maggie, but Maggie refused. Usually, the daughter follows her father and sees her mother once a week. As soon as she meets the mother, she asks who wrote the composition for her daughter, and insists that Jay wrote it. Jay is Vicky's boyfriend. This made Vicky unhappy, so she had the act of turning over the window and participating in the party. But unfortunately, she met the couple who sneaked like predators.
The car stopped slowly, Evelyn took the initiative to ask her if she wanted a round (marijuana), and then offered to give her a ride, and then said that there was no round in the car, so let's go home and get it, just a while. Willful Vicky, she simply followed their advice. At the door of the house, John said I'd go get it, Vicky was still waiting outside, Evelyn said why don't you go in and sit for a while and drink some fruit wine, the hesitant Vicky said okay, it'll be a while anyway.
It's more or less similar to real-life abductions and kidnappings. Once you take the first step, there is no turning back. This is a crucial step in life. Evelyn took the initiative to clink glasses with Vicky. After drinking, she saw the couple hugging each other and laughing along with the singing. She was dizzy and seemed to be unable to hold on. She wanted to leave, but was caught by the two. Press down firmly, no matter how much she screams, it will not help, because the beautiful singing drowns out her cries. She was chained to the bed just like the previous schoolgirl.
Poor girl, if you didn't feel guilty at first, if the stupid mother knew a little about communication and didn't scold her daughter like that, if she didn't believe in this seemingly innocuous couple, but in reality there is never an assumption. The girl was terrified. This John is still a clean freak, and the pervert is a clean freak, which opened our eyes. The girl is not stupid. She tried to figure out how to escape, but was found by the cold-faced Evelyn. She showed her knife and swayed in front of Vicky. If she wanted to escape, there was only one way out.
Evelyn forced Vicky to write to her mother, and the girl naively said that if you want the ransom, my dad is a surgeon and he can pay it. Evelyn says you just write that you went to the Outlet to watch the event, so they don't worry. Evelyn led the big evil dog named Lulu and delivered the letter.
At this time, the stupid Maggie pushed open the door in the morning and saw that her daughter was not there. She thought she was angry and ran away. Trevor came to her house and got the letter from her daughter, but she was still worried. The two called the police together. The police said that there were too many things like this. , and sent them away. But in the dark, Vicky tried her best to escape. When she was about to jump out of the window, she found that the big wolf dog was waiting under the window. She was so scared that she had to withdraw. After they were found, she was chained to the bed again.
When Evelyn was out, John wanted to rape Vicky. During the struggle, the perverted cleanliness saw her so scared that she urinated, and he ran away in a bad mood, because he was a perverted cleanliness. Evelyn came back and asked her what happened. Vicky asks you back. She wanted to soften Evelyn. She found that Evelyn and John were in a master-servant relationship, and knew that she had two children and had been with her ex-husband, and she always missed the children. Vicky said he didn't love you, he was taking advantage of you, if he loved you, he would pick up your two children to live together, and he would rather have a big wolf dog. This touched Evelyn's tears.
Although Evelyn is jealous of John's urge to Vicky, she must stand with John. They agreed to kill Vicky next Monday. John specifically drove into the lush forest and dug a hole, just as he had done before. If you don't want money or money, you can't even talk about color. Why does John mutilate one girl after another like this? This can only be analyzed from the perspective of psychological behavior. It seems that his ordinary life is no different from that of ordinary people. Even after seduction and completion of the kidnapping, he will pretend to be nothing, so that people can't feel his abnormal state. This is him the most terrifying thing.
In essence, John is actually a person who was bullied by outsiders. The underworld often asked him for protection fees and drug debts. He never dared to resist. The target of the attack, and then the perverted kidnapping of these innocent girls, and then mutilated and buried. This kind of psychopathic crime, once it starts, there is no turning back. The viciousness and addictive inertia, a ruthless psychopathic murderer is born in this way. As an accomplice, Evelyn could only follow him into the abyss of sin.
Monday finally arrived. John prepared a plastic bag, and Evelyn forced Vicky to take the pills, and when she fainted, she was ready to put it in the bag, and then transport it to bury. At the same time, Vicky's mother saw the strangeness of the letter and saw the address left by her daughter through testing. The couple and Jay found it together, but they knocked on the wrong door. They wandered around John's neighbor. toss. At this time, John was approached by the underworld, and he stood at the door to deal with it.
In a pinch, there is no illusion, especially for a cold-hearted killer like John, Vicky knows this. She heard the conversation at the door, she wanted to seize the opportunity, resolutely refused to take medicine, and scolded Evelyn for not daring to kill me, if you want to kill me, stab me now, you still have two children. At this time, the angry John ran frantically, first kicked the wolf dog, and then pinched Vicky hard. When she was about to lose her breath, John was stabbed once and then twice. It turned out that Evelyn was in tears. Stab John.
The bloodstained Vicky took the opportunity to run out and ran past Evelyn who was holding a knife. The ending continues the routine of general drama films, but the real case is like this.
"The Hound of Love" is obviously not about the fierce and hateful wolf dog. Besides, the wolf dog guards the house for its owner, and it is its nature, which is beyond reproach. The problem is that it was finally mutilated by the cruel owner, so this is just a metaphor. John's love for the wolf dog is only based on its fierce hatred function, not the true love in his heart for it.
Love has two sides or multiples in the film. Evelyn's love for John can be described as loyal and responsible, and the two seem to be polite. But compared to her true love, John has a small calculation. He is indeed just using her to satisfy his perverted psychology as Vicky said. mean. Once Evelyn sees John's true face clearly, she wakes up and stabs him, this kind of pounce is the true reverse of "The Hound of Love".
The film creates a subtle chemical interaction between the kidnapper and the kidnapped. This complex emotion is difficult to describe in a few words. It is related to fragile human nature, and of course it is also connected to compassion and empathy. It was Evelyn who read Vicky's diary and knew the details of her relationship with her parents. From this, she thought of the difficulty between being a mother and a child. This influence is subtle.
The children's toys and dolls that appear repeatedly in the film, they can't speak, but testify to Evelyn's pale and homeless heart. This is in stark contrast to the perverted cold-faced killer John, with whom Evelyn has been lost for a long time, but has not lost the goodness of human nature. In the end, she still worked hard to save Vicky, proving that she is still a woman who empathizes with her. The young director insisted on reproducing the horrific murder of the past, not only to attract attention, but must have deep considerations, at least it has practical significance for young people.
In addition to subtly deconstructing complex human nature, the film is of course to remind those girls who are easy to trust, no matter how the other party shows people, they should not trust the other party's rhetoric. Only by refusing to get on the pirate ship will you not be harmed by the bad guys. This is suitable for any situation in reality. Only by setting up the fence will you not let the bad guys have room to drill. Furthermore, parents usually neglect their children's care, which is equivalent to mere formality and no convincing. When meeting, they are only restrained, and they scold, abuse and even stick at every turn. This is a common problem of all incompetent parents.
2017, 5, 19
View more about Hounds of Love reviews
