An 84-year-old director:
Woody Allen.
Three young post-90s starring:
"Sweet Tea" Timothy Chalamet ("Call Me By Your Name"), Elle Fanning ("Maleficent"), and Justin Bieber's ex-girlfriend Selena Gomez ("Thirteen Reasons Why", "The Young Troll").
Beneath this much-watched lineup, it was a film that was boycotted, terminated, and frozen after the filming was completed——
"A Rainy Day in New York"
This film, which was filmed at the end of 2017 with a well-known director + high-profile and popular starring actors, can be said to have gone through a storm.
When it comes to director Woody Allen, there is too much controversy behind the name.
Some say he is "the only intellectual in the American film industry".
His films are full of petty bourgeois sentiments and jokes that can make young people look at each other and smile. Since he entered the industry, he has basically maintained a high production rate of one new film a year, and has directed nearly 50 films.
The awards he has won at major film festivals are even more numerous. Just 23 Oscar nominations, 4 Academy Awards, 13 Golden Globe nominations, and 3 awards.
But as weird as him, he has only been to the awards scene once.
Not to accept the award, but to thank Hollywood for its support of New York after 9/11 as an ambassador to the city of New York.
Regarding the question about his absence from the awards ceremony, he replied with contempt:
"The idea of giving awards to movies is stupid. I can't accept the judgement made by others. If they give you an award and you accept it, then they say you don't deserve it and you have to accept it."
It was such an arrogant director who broke the biggest negative news. The adopted daughter accused him of sexual assault and betrayal.
Although the police did not investigate relevant evidence, Woody Allen also explained to the media that his ex-wife instructed his adopted daughter to say so in order to retaliate against him, but he could not get rid of the serious impact of this incident on him.
Many movie stars who have worked with him have drawn a line with him, saying that they will not work together again in the future.
The new work "A Rainy Day in New York" was terminated by the original publisher, and it was not released in France and Italy until it was re-bought the distribution rights in May 19, after which it had been frozen for 2 years.
Despite all the controversy and turmoil, "A Rainy Day in New York" is indeed one of Woody Allen's most romantic films in recent years.
The lines in the movie alone are enough to make people move:
"I like the piano in the lounge, the drizzle, the fog, New York City in the mist, and a couple meeting at six o'clock."
Such literary and artistic lines can only be said by the male protagonist in Woody Allen's films so naturally and romantically.
The male protagonists in Woody Allen's films are all portrayed according to his appearance, smart and humorous, sensitive and suspicious, and most importantly, have their own talkative attributes.
The same is true for the male protagonist played by Tiancha. From the beginning of the movie, he has never stopped thinking about things. He will complain about the strict school and the mother's being too strong, and the topic will never stop.
Perhaps it is to pay tribute to "The Great Gatsby", the male protagonist in the film is also called Gatsby, and he also grew up in an environment of drunkenness.
But this rich second-generation looks a bit eccentric. He is cynical and tired of the hypocrisy of the upper class. He thinks that the literary salon held by his mother is nothing more than "a hodgepodge of upper class chaebols", just a group of boring ladies trying to understand esoteric culture.
Although he is paranoid, he is also very charming.
Full of poetry and songs, he knows all about literature, movies, dramas, etc. He loves reading but is not a nerd. He often gets involved in various gambling games and thinks he is a genius gambler.
What attracted this eccentric teenager was a school newspaper reporter. Ashley, the heroine played by Elle Fanning, was innocent and self-motivated, full of expectations for her future.
Because the heroine was given an opportunity to interview a well-known director while working for the school newspaper, the couple came to Manhattan together to spend the weekend here.
It was originally expected to be a simple one-hour interview, but during the interview, I encountered a director who had fallen into self-doubt about his creation, a screenwriter who witnessed his wife and friends stealing, and a big star who cheated on his girlfriend.
These men are mature and attractive, but they all showed their sincerity to the heroine, which made her frequently shake her feelings for the hero, and put her boyfriend's pigeons several times in a day.
And the male protagonist, who was hesitant and anxious, also encountered his own accident in the long rain in New York, making their trip to Manhattan difficult.
The film uses a two-line narrative, with the two protagonists only meeting briefly at the beginning and end of the film, and acting separately for the rest of the time.
The heroine played by Elle Fanning looks innocent and lovely, but she also has a cunning and vain side.
When the well-known director offered to watch a movie with her, she was so excited that she immediately turned down the lunch with her boyfriend.
And when the glamorous star tentatively asked her if she had a boyfriend, she made a disdain for her boyfriend and said:
"There is such a boy, but he is just a boy, a young man, and we have dated a few times."
Here I would like to name and praise Elle Fanning. The acting skills shown by the silly white sweet in Disney movies in the past are surprising.
Especially when he diss his boyfriend, he pretends to be innocent, and rolls his eyes upward to show that he doesn't really like him. It's too vivid.
Seeing that I really wanted to rush up to cover my face and scolded: "Hello, you white lotus!"
In fact, the difference between the male protagonist and the female protagonist has already begun to emerge in the fragmented monologue of the male protagonist at the beginning of the film.
One is a rich second-generation nobleman in New York City, and the other is the daughter of a banker from the countryside of Tucson. Although the family is equally wealthy, but the social status is just like the metropolitan aristocracy and the country nouveau riche, there is a world of difference.
At the beginning of the film, the male protagonist describes that his mother agrees with his relationship with Ashley, but asks them to marry in a low-key manner, which also proves the fact that Ashley, a rich girl in the countryside, has never been on the big stage in front of New Yorkers.
The differences in the growth environment of the two have also created their own different personalities and perspectives.
It was like the two had different expectations for the journey before they set off for Manhattan.
The heroine yearns for the glitz of the entertainment industry, and regards interviewing the director as a major event, and says excitedly:
"I'm going to interview the director of "Once Upon a Time in Winter"!"
However, the male protagonist who grew up in the upper class of New York City did not take the interview of the female protagonist to heart, and diverted the topic on his own.
Plan how to have fun when you get to Manhattan, what hotel to go to, what bar to book.
People use communication to determine whether the other party is in harmony with them, but the communication between the couple in the movie is often self-talk, and the bull's head is wrong.
The dialogue is not on the same channel, and there is no emotional resonance. The male protagonist is full of fantasies about life, full of emotions, and likes the hazy romance in the rainy weather in New York.
But the heroine is puzzled by the style, thinking that the rainy day is too disappointing, and the romance of the hero is too ridiculous.
There is a sentence in the film that describes the male protagonist very accurately:
"He was chasing a romantic dream that existed in a bygone era."
This sentence not only reflects the idealistic spirit of the male protagonist, but also expresses the female protagonist's disdain for the male protagonist's behavior.
In the first half of the movie, the male protagonist has been waiting for the female protagonist in the rainy days of New York City, passing the time alone, which seems lonely and melancholy, but the appearance of Selena in the second half brings a new turning point, so that the male protagonist is no longer so alone. .
Selena played the sister of the male protagonist's ex-girlfriend in the film. The two were first caught as actors in the filming scene of a mutual friend, gave a deep kiss in front of the camera, and then happened to get in the same car. scholar.
All kinds of accidents have shortened the distance between the two young people, and a new relationship has sprouted between them.
Selena is like the "right person" who understands the hazy romantic fantasies of the male protagonist.
They think a rainy day walk is romantic, a date at a piano bar is very special, and the two even have very similar interests in literature and movies.
The most impressive part of the film is that the male protagonist is playing the piano, expressing the anguish and melancholy of the female protagonist who cannot wait for it through the sound of the piano and singing.
While Selena wiped her wet hair aside, the corners of her mouth raised slightly as she listened to the boy's singing.
She understood the boy's melancholy and romance, and the atmosphere at this moment was self-evident.
Woody Allen used many elements to create a romantic atmosphere in "A Rainy Day in New York". The piano music in the rainy day, the jazz in the bar, and even the use of light tried to present a fresh and dreamy tone. .
Although most of the film is in the rain in New York, the picture is not dull and dull, and the outline of the protagonist in the center of the picture is often wrapped in a soft layer of warm yellow light.
The most obvious scene is that the male protagonist and Selena meet by chance under the clock tower in Central Park. The drizzle wets the two, and the light hits them.
This is a dreamy moment similar to the rain of the sun. A new love is sprouting between a tacit understanding of young men and women. The pictures and artistic conception are warm and refreshing. I have to sigh that 82-year-old Woody Allen is playing with romance. It came so beautifully.
However, the happy ending left by the movie also surprised me a little. In the previous Woody Allen movies, I was always skeptical about love, just like the hero said in the movie:
"In my version, the boy waits for his love and the music plays but the girl never comes. Or the girl waits but the boy chooses another woman."
Although it is romantic, it always ends without a hitch.
But Woody Allen gave the film another possibility in the film. He created Selena, a lover similar to a soulmate, who is optimistic, cheerful, and always speaks to the point.
For the male protagonist's negative view of love, Selena proposed another happy ending:
"Can't they meet and kiss in the rain? It's a bit of a commercial, but it sounds good."
Such "A Rainy Day in New York", despite being full of idol drama-like surprises and having a happy ending that isn't so "Woody Allen", still looks good.
Bluestone Film Editors丨Leslie
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