At the beginning of the movie, Ivan finished a day's work on the construction site, put on clean shoes, got into the BMW RV, and was about to drive home. This is the first time the audience knows Ivan, and it clearly marks his identity: a successful middle class. In future plots, we can also learn that he has a wife and two sons, and the four people form a sweet and happy family. However, his peaceful life completely changed overnight. After Ivan deviated from the left turn signal and chose to turn right onto the highway, his life began to gradually lose control. However, in about 80 minutes, Ivan not only lost his job, but also lost his wife and family. He also had to face the birth of an illegitimate child, which was almost out of control, which tested Ivan's wisdom in life.
In terms of content and form, "Out of Control", which reflects life on the road, is a road movie, but I think the director focuses not only on Ivan’s life, but on the symbolic meaning behind him. Ivan’s BMW pointed out that he has a certain economic foundation, and he was appointed to be responsible for one of the best major projects to represent his successful career. The "Hero Rescue Charity Organization" sticker on the car window can be seen as a proof of his enthusiasm for charity and concern for the society. Various details The piled up is like a triumphant group of life patterns that spring breeze is proud of. As for the family he organized, although it is not detailed in the film, it can be speculated that his wife Katrina is good at managing the family, and that the two sons Eddie and Sean have a very close relationship with their father. In the evening when Ivan did not return home, Katrina went shopping, preparing to buy beer and snacks for the night's broadcast of the ball game. Eddie and Sean could not wait to wait for Ivan to come back to enjoy them. The Yifan family performs their duties and strictly adheres to the division of gender roles. They are undoubtedly a typical middle-class nuclear family. But is this happy family portrait really as indestructible as it seems? Or is it collapsed at all?
When Ivan decides not to go home, he first broadcasts the call to Bethe, who is about to give birth to the one-night stand, then calls his company colleague Garys, and finally contacts his family. From this point of view, the family is not in the first place in Ivan’s heart. At least after work, it’s no wonder Katrina complained: "Anyway, you only love your building. Just move to the top floor of one of them. Live, so that you can look out from there and live a life of your own ambition.” It’s obvious that Ivan values personal achievement more than family. This is also evident in his attitude towards Besser. Ivan chose to go to Besser not because he loved her deeply; in fact, he thought he had never known her at all, and the two had met just by the water. What Ivan did was actually to compensate-to compensate for his only one mistake, and to compensate for his past as an illegitimate child. In other words, Ivan's ultimate goal is still himself, and everything else exists for him.
Under the direction of the director, Ivan is a complacent person. He always thinks that he can "control everything with one hand". Therefore, he constantly tries to remote control his colleagues through the phone to ensure that the project can proceed smoothly. In addition, he also calms Bether's anxiety from time to time. , I also want to discuss with my wife how to deal with the consequences of the derailment, hoping that "I can go back home after dawn." In a word, Ivan is the reflection of capitalist modernity that emphasizes rationality, and the director's letting Ivan's life go out of control is to destroy the patriarchal ideology of middle-class family values built by capitalism and its deduction. In the film, Ivan often talks with his father through the rear mirror. On the one hand, he blames his father for his failure as a "father," and on the other hand, he wants to prove that he can fulfill his father's unfulfilled responsibilities: to allow children to see him and inherit his surname. In terms of the "Mirror Stage" (Mirror Stage) of Jacques-Marie-Émile Lacan (1901-1981), Ivan's compensation is in his complete self, and of course he is also rebuilding the "patriarchy" that his father failed to construct.
However, the patriarchy that Ivan deliberately constructed is really vulnerable. Even if he keeps stepping into/invading the kitchen that is regarded as a feminine space with mud-stained footprints, Katrina can still be scraped off one by one, not to mention that he has now suffered. Completely expelled, there is no way to invade as patriarchal. What's more cruel is that the seemingly warm "family" is just an illusion. It was the son's "pretend" argument that broke it: "We will pretend that we don't know the score, we will pretend that we haven't watched the game, and we will watch it together when you come back. Although it is a childish language, it is ruthless and hit the nail on the head. Not only is the family no longer an inclusive haven. In the final analysis, even the good things once possessed may be the appearance of "pretend".
At the end of the movie, Ivan still drives forward, and Besser has already given birth to a healthy child. Although the new life symbolizes hope, it seems sad in the context of "Out of Control", as if seeing Ivan's past belief in the value gradually disintegrating, still desperately grasping the last glimmer of hope, hoping to become salvation. The open ending leaves a lasting rhyme for the movie. After destroying Ivan’s life, the director did not attempt to rebuild, nor did he explain how he would go next. After all, life can only move forward, just like being guided by GPS. Like a car, the only direction and destination is always in the unknown ahead.
View more about Locke reviews
