Where have they gone, the green sandals?
When I was about to watch Stealing Beauty, I, like Lucy, thought I could find the answer here. Before that, one night in the north, I wrote a few sentences that began with "There is no love here." When I got back to the South, I watched this movie, in which the old man Rajim said something like "Il n'y a pas d'amour, il y'a que des preuves d'amour." (Niccolò translates as : no love, only proof of love), I didn't notice it at first, then I noticed and connected the two. I like this wishful connection, it's wonderful isn't it?
The film starts with a DV picture of lucy candidly filmed, and the actions of "peeping" and "seeing" are also the actions of the main characters in the film. This action also runs through the entire film, from textual content to camera language. The best part is that it finally connects to the audience, so that the audience also completes the action together. Since this action is embodied in male characters, let's start with these characters.
When Lucy arrived at the Siena (Siena) train station, this DV picture ended, there was no face of the candid photographer, only the camera emphasized the candid photographer's bracelet, this emphasis appeared again later, so we know that the candid photographer is Carlo. To be honest, this makes me very puzzled. The appearance of the two bracelets used the camera to move and fix the frame. Director Bertolucci emphasized so hard that if he just wanted to explain that the candid shooter was Carlo, Lucy would feel familiar. Seems like a bit of a fanfare? If you want to suggest that Carlo may be Lucy's biological father, but there is no further development. What does Lucy's lucky bracelet have to do with Carlo's bracelet? The film starts with Carlo's candid shooting. When Lucy and Carlo face each other for the first time, the camera shoots Carlo upside down, and the film ends with a view of Lucy and the land. Is the character Carlo the author's incarnation and perspective in the film? no no no, if you think too much, you will inevitably over-interpret it. This is far-fetched wishful thinking. But the experience of falling into the author's suspense trap and jumping out like a detective to tear up the scam is great.
The second eye-catching male character is Ian. As soon as Ian appears, he shows a complicated expression, hesitating and hiding quickly. At this time, he and Lucy are both wearing red shirts. At the same time, the position of Diana in this scene is very good. In fact, this is the scene where Lucy and Ian are chatting. There is no need to put Diana on the left side of the screen, but such a composition is actually part of the narrative. Anna's relationship to film the triangular relationship between Lucy and Ian was implied by images - Diana, who was watching, must have known about Ian's "infidelity". So much so that when Diana dressed Lucy in her mother's dress, she showed Lucy that most people didn't believe she and Ian were loyal to each other. One night, Diana repeated to Ian about Lucy's 19-year-old sitting alone in the yard and so on, and Lucy's mother came here when she was 19 years old.
Ian took Lucy to her room, and Ian said "let me look at you", such words, before the purpose of Lucy's visit was revealed, people were imagining. Another suspense trap of the author. The author keeps misleading us and then reveals the truth, as if waiting to see our jokes. For example, when Ian painted Lucy for the first time, Diana said that Ian had not been working at night for a long time, and Noemi said that there was a virgin in this house. Immediately afterwards, I cut to the picture of Ian from between the legs of the sculpture. The restless painting sound, scattered drawings, and oblique lens shot Ian opening the door and pushing Lucy to the door, adding instability and tension to the space. Next, sorry, it's not what you imagined. Back in Lucy's room, after Ian left, Lucy took out the photo with Nicolo and put it on his chest. You think the author wants to tell you that the purpose of lucy's trip is love. Sorry, no love here.
Next comes the writer Alex. His appearance is very simple, with his back, spit killing ants, fighter jets, and hanging bottles. With such a small amount of writing and ink, he is full of power that makes people curious. Alex and Lucy's first conversation started with cigarettes and ended with cigarettes (perhaps good grass). Before Alex was lifted into the ambulance, he saw Lucy in the corner, and said a seemingly endless sentence "if you could see yourselves", which was not only for Lucy. Before that, when lucy asked "have you ever been in love?", he answered "lots of times.no.just once", at this moment he realized and saw himself. I think the hidden part of this endless "if you could see yourselves" is for him. Seeing yourself and looking directly at yourself is very precious, and Alex used his last remaining vitality to see himself and die.
Lucy always looks at the camera every time she writes a poem. It reminds me of Godard's films, which is a format I really like - interacting with the viewer, making the viewer part of the film. The characters in the film are observing lucy, and we are observing lucy. And lucy is watching them, us, and herself. The camera is also observing and capturing, the movement of the lens is with heartbeat and breathing, and the rhythm is like a real person living in the film. Through the film, we seem to have become a father, observing our child, expecting her to see herself and face herself bravely. When Lucy and Alex said goodbye, Alex said "i so enjoyed watching you. All that beauty. Aren't we lucky?", yes, we were lucky to see it all.
At first, I thought it was a movie about a girl's exploration of sexuality. When I noticed that whenever Lucy was frustrated, he would turn to the search for his biological father, only to realize that it was not only that, but this was just the tip of the iceberg.
Lucy finds her biological father according to the text left by her mother. The fear and helplessness conveyed in the text are Lucy's first impression of sex. This text reminds me of "Fang Siqi's Paradise of First Love", yes, sexual assault. I wonder if this is one of the directions that lucy fears? In the mother's writings, the green sandals, poisonous snakes, and olive leaves used by lucy as clues to find the father are not mentioned here. What interests me more is lucy's attitude towards love and sexuality and explores the relationship with her biological father, with her mother's first sexual experience, with the truth of her birth.
First of all, lucy is craving for sex. There are several scenes in the film that show this. My favorite is the scene where lucy goes to the swimming pool for the first time. The swimming pool is where Miranda and Charliede appear. They are the most indulgent couple in the film. All the scenes are romantic, and it is perfect for them to appear in the pool. When Charliede and others asked Lucy how the water was, Lucy replied that it was as quiet as a grave, and Lucy said both the water and himself. Then the moment Charliede jumped into the water, Lucy closed his eyes, raised his head and moved upwards. The girl's mind is expressed in this way, seemingly subtle but naked and powerful.
I was fascinated by how implicit and metaphorical the film is, whether it's the narrative, the way people communicate, or the audiovisual language. It even feels a little oriental. In the same scene, Lucy picked up the jewelry in the pool and gave it to Miranda. Miranda said "yes, but that's old shit" and threw the jewelry into the pool. Then she asked Charlie if she wanted to go into the water, Charlie Jump into the water. I think good lines in a movie are usually eloquent and multi-layered. Miranda's words and actions are insinuating that Charlie is an old shit, and Charlie will eventually be lost by Miranda. Therefore, I also think that one of the lines is a failure. At the end of the film, the curly-haired man in red said "it was my first time, too". In fact, it can be seen from the communication and reaction between the curly-haired man and Lucy, there is really no need to do this. Repeat instructions. Of course, on the other hand, because of the curly-haired man's words, Lucy's raised eyebrows have more room for interpretation.
The death of her mother, her unknown biological father, and the truth of her own birth are actually obstacles to Lucy's exploration of love and sex, which make her doubt and fear. When she saw her mother's words, she realized that her birth was not based on love, or she was not sure whether it was love or an accident, and her mother did not intend to keep her at the beginning. At this time, her beautiful vision of family and love was shattered, and she became unfamiliar. She began to wonder, and she had to find the answer - who is her biological father? what is love? After she found her biological father, she also found the person she liked, her first one.
Because I couldn't trust the translation of Nicolo, who didn't believe in love, I asked a friend who knew French to say "Il n'y a pas d'amour, il y'a que des preuves d'amour.". A friend said this sentence can also be understood as "there is no pure love, love needs to be proved." If you say it so bluntly, you will lose the sense of beauty. Or "There is no love, there is only proof of love." More concise and just right. Lucy found out that her biological father was Ian, precisely because she saw the proof of love - the statue of mother and child showing milk outside the window.
After reading this, you must have discovered that there is really no love here. "Love" is just a gimmick, I'm sorry, I just passed the topic of "love" throughout the article. Maybe you will have the answer after watching this movie, please tell me then - where have they gone, the green sandals?
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