*The original text was published in the Oriental Morning Post on June 23, 2014
John Carney used a simple and pure "Once" to conquer the hearts of movie fans all over the world. "Restart" continues the story concept of "Music Changes Life" in "Once", featuring music and the theme of self-recovery, telling a new inspirational story that is free and full of enthusiasm. Nice movie. As the "seventh art", film can be compatible with all other art categories, so those who switch to film directors halfway have the opportunity to use the art they are good at in the film. If used properly, they can even become a major style of the director. . John Carney is such a director. He was born as a bassist in a rock band. He ingeniously "embeds" music into the narrative (music directly forms part of the narrative, or even the main part), forming the biggest feature of the film. The successful experiment in "Once" and the re-application in "Restart" turned this feature into John Carney's unique movie style.
Unlike the simple plot of "Once" where there are only two main characters, "Restart" contains the story line of the love-lost singer-songwriter Greta meets downed record producer Dan, and the two collaborate to record an album outdoors; Greta and The sideline of emotional change between the star boyfriend Dave, who became famous overnight; the sideline of rebuilding the relationship between Dan and his rebellious daughter. Music "embeds" the narrative of every line, and a popular song strung the whole story. As far as the main line is concerned, a song that Greta played and sang rekindled Dan's passion for making music, and the two began a wonderful musical journey that inspired each other. During the outdoor recording of the album songs, the frustrated people gradually walked out of the haze of life, regained their musical dreams, and re-examined the relationship between themselves and the people around them. Greta and Dave’s emotional changes are linked by three songs: Greta hears the "betrayal" in Dave’s new song, and angrily breaks up with it; after drunk healed, she wrote a song about broken love , Unexpectedly won back Dave’s heart; in the end Dave sang Greta's song at the concert, trying to save the love between them, but because he deviated from Greta’s original creation intention (he has become famous) It was no longer the original him), and she finally decided to give up this relationship. The song also "embeds" the auxiliary line of the relationship between Dan and his daughter. After repeated communication obstacles, Dan invited her daughter to participate in the recording of a song in the album as a guitarist under Greta's suggestion. During the collaboration, Dan discovered her daughter's musical talent and re-entered her inner world. The whole movie follows the rhythm of singing and telling stories, and the effect of music "embedded" in the narrative is addictive. In addition to songs, the director has also carefully set up many small props related to music, and cleverly promoted the narrative. For example, the dual-jack wire control on Dan’s car: Dan and his wife’s love began when they used this wire control to listen to songs together; Dan and Greta’s sympathy with each other, they also used this wire control to listen to songs and visit New York together. In that group of shots, it was very smoothly expressed; finally, under Greta's hint, Dan used this wire control to win back his wife's love again.
Nice music. Like "Once", "Restart" can be said to be a cinematic interpretation of a great pop music album to some extent. It is also the main story line of the recorded album. Unlike the former documentary style of expression, the scene scheduling of "Restart" obviously has more elaborate design. Who can deny that it is such a great idea to treat New York as a recording studio! The mottled streets of Suhe District with hanging clothes racks, the subway station with roaring trains, the open-air observation platform of the Empire State Building, and the romantic boats on the lake in Central Park, the director vividly presented the richness of New York. In such a city full of possibilities, everyone has the freedom to pursue their ideals, the freedom to love and not love, and the freedom to share. Everyone has the opportunity to find their true self, which coincides with the theme of the film.
In the song recording scenes of "Once", the style of scene scheduling is fresh and natural, and the scenes of each song in "Restart" are so free and enthusiastic, and are closely related to the development of the storyline. For example, in the song Greta and Dan ran into in a bar, Dan heard Greta's slightly crude playing and singing, and imagined the performance pictures and sound effects of different musical instruments in his mind. The people around were not at all attracted by Greta's singing, only Dan, who had an eye for the hero, was immersed in her song intoxicated. In this wonderful scene, the audience fully felt that the defeated producer was moved and saved by a simple song that pointed to the hearts of the people. Another example is the scene of recording a song on the viewing platform of the Empire State Building. Greta invited Dan to replay the bass, and his daughter, who had always had communication difficulties with Dan, also joined the guitar accompaniment. The whole atmosphere was an impromptu performance of musicians, passionate. Overflowing and touching. In this film, the director used more feature film shooting techniques, endowed the music with multi-level visual effects, and injected full emotional connotation.
John Carney used his good music to make up for the early greenness of the directing tube. With a budget of only 150,000 US dollars, he shot the hard-to-copy "Once Upon A Time". "Restart" allows the audience to witness his growth on the road of directors. From all angles, this is a film full of enthusiasm and mature skills. If "Once" is a fresh and melodious little song, then "Restart" is a passionate and free concert, with a different tone, but still wonderful!
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