Both films are adaptations of literary masterpieces, telling stories that happened in England. The structure and photography of the two films have a lot in common, and they can clearly make people feel the sympathetic atmosphere unique to Polanski. , from his films, we can see the deep understanding and sympathy for the life of the bottom of the society.
The film starts directly from Oliver Twist when he was nine years old, because this is the age when the children of the orphanage enter the workhouse and start working. In the workhouse, Oliver was pumped by the hungry child laborers and asked the adults for more food. The result was that he was kicked out of the workhouse and was almost sold to a chimney sweep; Mr. Sowerberry, the owner of the charitable coffin shop, left Oliver. , where he no longer has to worry about food, but Mrs. Sowerberry and the slightly older children who work with him don't like him, and Oliver has to flee again, fleeing to London. Oliver, who first arrived in London, was brought into a thief gang. By chance, Mr. Brownlow, a gentleman who likes to read, wanted to adopt Oliver, but the gang didn't want to let him go.
Polanski is valuable not only because he tells the story of the orphan Oliver, but also because he uses Oliver as a clue to vividly describe the life of a group of low-level Londoners. Fagin, the leader of the thieves, a greedy and wretched old man who made a living by instigating a group of children to steal, delusionally spending the rest of his life on the wealth stolen by the children; Nancy, raised by Fagin, became a thief when she was young, and grew up Married to Bill, still doing wicked things, she deserves credit for Fagin's gang being able to take Oliver back from Mr. Brownlow; Dodger, a smart and charismatic underage thief, found hungry on the streets of London Oliver, who was dying, brought him into Fagin's gang; Bill, Nancy's husband, was a villain that even Fagin feared.
There are no good people here, but there are occasional flashes of humanity. Fagin has always had a kind of affection for Oliver. He provided food and shelter for Oliver, who had just arrived in London. The director also set him up as a slightly comical or even pitiful hunchbacked old man; Nancy, with the kindness of female nature, does not Willing to commit theft or other sins, wanting to save himself by saving Oliver, although he never approves of Bill's behavior, but still has tenderness for his husband at times; Dodger, who found Oliver on the street, in the confrontation with Bill The child's weakness and courage are seen; Bill, showing a little humanity when he asks if his wife's body was buried.
This is a bunch of people with no future. Whether they are outright villains or human beings, they have done evil. They are like rats in the back streets of London. The virus, with the occasional flash of humanity, is then drowned in countless evil deeds. Oliver fell into such a life. It was difficult to survive in the workhouse, and he could not survive in the coffin shop owner. When he came to London, his life was still not much bright. In such a harsh living environment, any bit of warmth is worth remembering, so at the end of the film he will visit Fagin in prison and hug him like a relative.
Oliver's luck is that he was rescued by Mr. Brownlow and finally escaped from the bottom of life, with a bright future ahead, but what about the others? They have no hope of life. The villain Bill hanged himself, the kind Nancy lost her life, and Fagin could not get a good death under any circumstances. If he hadn't been hanged in the end, he would have died at the hands of Dodger sooner or later; When he grows up, he is either a leader of thieves or a villain. But that was the same kind of Oliver's childhood, so his face was always filled with lingering sadness.
Tess of the D'Urbervilles, the poor's daughter under the noble surname, her beautiful face can only make her the mistress of the rich; hard work can only make the whole family sleep in the street after the death of her father; (Angel)'s man, his love still can't make him forgive her past, he abandoned her after marriage, and when he returned after many years, what he brought her was not rescue but disaster, yearning for hopeless happiness, making her. She finally kills and walks to the gallows. Tess is also a flower blooming in the dust, beauty, hard work and love could not save her from a tragic fate.
Polanski describes the life of the underclass in the general film language of sketches, depicting purity in the dust, looking for fragrance in the swamp, without simple depreciation and condemnation, and without traces of the absurdity and hopelessness of the life of the underclass, and their The good and evil of human nature express deep compassion for their fate.
You may see twinkling stars in the dark night sky, but the night is destined to be without the sun. If the moon also disappears, how can you see the way forward with just a little starlight. The life at the bottom is an endless swamp, exuding an unpleasant smell, hiding countless dangers, and occasionally the light of human nature will be drowned without a trace. There, the hope of escaping from life is better than the sky. The starlight will dim.
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