So after watching Elephant, I almost regretted pulling my hair out. In fact, after watching "Gerry", I have roughly experienced Gus's dullness and depression, as well as his fascination with long shots and a lot of inorganic walking.
Therefore, whether it is in "Last Days" or "Elephant", walking and long shots undoubtedly occupy a pivotal position. Of course, the long takes here aren't as grueling as in Gerry, and the plot is relatively richer (let me put up with another Gerry, and in such a short hiatus, it's just a chronic murder). Gus Van Sant, in the words of a beanie, is making movies less and less like movies; in my words, he rubs minimalism into his work like flesh and blood, as if his soul It's also minimal.
Most of Gus' films can be summed up in one sentence. "Last Days" is about the life of a man who couldn't bear his sudden success in the two days before he committed suicide. The plot is trivial. We followed the camera to watch him walk, sleep, eat, play the piano and sing. Finally, we watched him die in the greenhouse, and his soul ascended the holy ladder.
"Elephant" is even simpler, telling the story of two homosexual teenagers massacred at school. Except for the last 20 minutes of the film, which makes people feel a little interesting, the rest of the time, in the words of most people, can be summed up in two words dull.
The sky at the beginning of the film is very beautiful, the blue is crystal clear and clear, and the isolated telephone poles reveal a hint of loneliness. As always, it is locked on ordinary people. As a bean friend said, the people here are just simple people without any other colors. They're just individuals, they walk, say hello, occasionally talk, make some intimacy, and then separate. There are no protagonists, no supporting characters, just people. The film does not have a continuous story line, but each character has a branch line, and occasionally the two branch lines have nodes and overlap each other. For example, a character who is interspersed as a background character in this shot will be described as the protagonist in the next shot. It constitutes a picture scroll of ordinary high school life. Rebellious EMOs, gay and heterosexual associations, photography clubs, noisy and superficial girls, flamboyant couples, high-achieving students who are laughed at, and gays who are bullied. Everyone has their own life, bland. The long shots followed along the way, almost without thinking.
When two boys wearing CS costumes and carrying guns and ammunition of different sizes appeared and walked into the campus, I couldn't help but complain - wow, you guys are really playing CS! Well obviously my sloppy attitude is wrong, and obviously they really just treated the whole thing as a game. The director did not spend too much ink on the plot of their murder, and downplayed the passing of life like clouds drifting away. Even I resonated with the moment the carnage began. murder! No no, almost carnage - Eric and Alex, expressionless, tossing their perceptions behind them, only to feel the momentary pleasure of the passing of life and the burst of plasma, their determined leisurely footsteps even made me feel like they were just chewing gum Playing games in front of the computer.
The killing process in the last twenty minutes is obviously the perfect place to push the whole film to a climax, but the director has followed the tone of calm and suppressed before. However, it is this dark tide-like turbulence that gives us an unusual shock. The director reduces the meaning of life and expands the meaning of the massacre, as well as the real problems hidden in all the societies it contains. He didn't want to discuss the aftermath of the school shooting, but to think about why it happened.
When Alex sings [Eenie meenie ninie moe, cath a redneck by his toe, if he hollers let him go…] my hands and feet are cold. His light, even slightly joyful singing contrasts with the cursing and pleading of the two dying - both announcing the child's lack of conscience, and a reminder of the cause of tragedy in the world.
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