To evaluate whether a thing is old or not, it is often by the time it represents. For example, the stone spears and seeds in the collapsed crypts were the tools of the primitive people for hunting and farming; the jade cong unearthed in Liangzhu was the utensils used by the ancients for sacrifice and burial. Their meaning is lost after leaving that point in time, and it becomes a one-way time passage for present people to look back at the past, because those lifestyles and customs are no longer practiced by most people. But there are some things, the qualities that it contains, although leaving the time node of its creation, do not change with time.
Released in 1991, "Earth Nights" consists of five unrelated short stories that take place at the same time in Los Angeles, New York, Paris, Rome and Helsinki. Every story takes place between a taxi driver and his/her passengers.
The tomboy driver in Los Angeles drives a broken car, but she has her own firm, long-term plans in mind. She is full of vision and hope for her future, and she is full of confidence. She decisively rejected the scout's invitation and insisted on doing what she thought was right at the moment. This stubbornness may be naive, but it must be valuable. If there is no consistent belief in the dreams of youth, how can we face this tempting world? The most important thing in Los Angeles is all kinds of colorful dreams. The bright and bright life may not be suitable for everyone's way of life. The world is changing so fast that we, who live in it, cannot adjust our course and horsepower at a high speed. But if you can see the lighthouse in the distance as soon as possible, this voyage should be less troublesome, right?
Helmut of New York is an old man who has just been uprooted from his homeland in Europe. He has no family and no stable income. He didn't even know how to drive, but he started a taxi in the busy New York City. Although the cold-hearted black young man Youyou was already in trouble, he still gave Helmut kindness and help. The streets of New York in the dark, running through the ferocious sea breeze of the Atlantic Ocean, are no longer dark and cold because of the friendliness they have never experienced before. Many of the scenes in this story are very classic, especially the triangular composition presented by the three of you after Youyou's sister-in-law got into the car, which is like a talk show stage, and the dialogue is often hilarious.
A black youth from Côte d'Ivoire works as a driver in Paris. In the middle of the night, he was insulted and discriminated against by two passengers, so he drove them out of the car. Immediately afterwards, he encountered a blind female passenger who seemed to be worse than him. However, the blind woman is self-reliant and graceful, and she is familiar with and disdainful of the hidden malice of others. The driver thought he was covering it up well, but unconsciously revealed his curiosity and sense of superiority towards the blind, all of which were easily seen by the blind girl. Her independence and dignity are not inferior to others because she is invisible, but her decisive counterattack has caused the driver to fall behind again and again. Self-confidence, self-esteem, self-love, this is probably the only smooth way to walk in the world. This can't help but remind me of the French who were once famous for their philosophy. In this era of consumerism and political correctness, they gradually lost their sober and independent spirit.
Roma chauffeur is played by Roberto Benigni, who is still presenting his signature neurotic comedy this time around. Personally, I don't like this actor. It feels too much, too absurd and unreal. The driver drove at night with his sunglasses on and rammed through the narrow neighborhood streets, ignoring neither pedestrians nor one-way streets. When he found out that the passenger was a priest, he immediately confessed to him, but in the middle of the conversation, the priest died unexpectedly and tragically in his back seat. So he dragged the dead priest to a bench by the side of the road and drove away in a hurry. For his barbarity and selfishness, perhaps even God is unwilling to accept his repentance. Thinking that this matter was arranged in Rome, it seems quite ironic, like a Chinese dress full of lice.
In Helsinki after university, three drunk men get into a taxi. One of the drunkards was fired today, and when he returned home, he found that his teenage daughter was unexpectedly pregnant. His wife even took out a knife and wanted to chop him, so he asked two of his friends to accompany him to drink alcohol to relieve his worries. The driver didn't take it seriously. It turned out that he had just lost his premature daughter. When he knew that it was premature, he knew that he could not face the death of his beloved daughter, so he planned not to love her; however, when he regained a glimmer of hope and planned to love her daughter in every possible way, her daughter eventually left the world. Compared with life and death, what are the other disappointments? There is still room for improvement in work, marriage, and even the unintended pregnancy of a daughter. Only life and death, once written, can no longer be modified. No matter how strong the will of those who are left behind, in the end, they can only dissolve the bleak memories after that. In Helsinki, the capital of Finland, the footprints of pedestrians could not be seen on the pale snow, only the unlucky ones shivered in the light of dawn.
Events revolving around life's dreams, kindness, self-esteem, faith, and life take place in five different locations across the two-hour film. It's just that everyone knows that these things are not limited to the city where they happened, nor to the time when they happened. It is the empathy of people and the similarities in life that make us feel so sympathetic to the anecdotes in the late-night taxi. Through the windshield of the taxi, Jarmusch's lens leads the audience to keep a short distance and observe the world. The shots and music are not blindly sensational, and the same melody tone forms a specific style for each different theme. The only song "Good Old World" echoes the beginning and the end, when you look away, you can't see the way forward, and when you look back, you can't see the way back. Losing the Tower of Babel, the world composed of people is full of misfortune and estrangement. But all your thoughts that can or cannot be resolved are actually quietly staged in other corners of the world. Thinking of this, I seem to get a little relief and encouragement in my heart.
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