As far as audiovisual language is concerned:
first, editing.
Light, soft, seamless and original.
There are no clues in the transition. For example, Leo wrote a comment about Amanda on the typewriter. The next second cuts to Angel getting the comment on the fax machine, using a piece of paper to achieve seamless connection.
The most memorable clip is when Leo crawling out of the bathtub is connected to the screams that follow, a clear nod to Hitchcock's "The Psycho," but the parody here has its own genius creative play. The next shot of Leo crawling out of the bathtub was followed by a screaming competition, which was almost exactly the same as in "Psycho", expressing the pain of Leo's inner tear. The scream of "Essence" is in front of the scene where the bathtub is dying, and the scream in this film is adjusted to the scene behind the scene where the bathtub is dying, implying more prolonged pain. Interesting intertext.
The excessive use of environmental shots in the film is also a very obvious feature, and it has almost become a rule. Every new scene, you must always give a panoramic depth shot first, such as Leo and his girlfriend Betty eating in a restaurant, Leo going to the newspaper to meet Angel, Leo and Angel meet in front of the theater, etc. Of course, this principle will not be followed in the cramped room, but the panning of the camera will be used to complete another more delicate display. Such examples appear in the introduction of Leo's home at the beginning of the film and the introduction of mother and sister in the middle of the film. s home.
Second, the composition.
First of all, there are two unbalanced compositions brought to us by husband Paco. In these two pictures, Paco is in the clear and strong foreground, occupying most of the picture, while Leo is in the blurred and weak background. The first is Paco taking a bath. Leo came to the bathroom curtain, Paco turned around instinctively, showing an embarrassed expression, and then hit Leo, which is also a similar composition, but the expression is completely different , Leo showed a loving expression. The contrast between the expressions of the two is already hinting and paving the way. Layers of hints like this are extremely solid in the entire scene where the two meet. The second is when Paco left the house in a hurry and was stopped by Leo on the stairs. When answering her question, Leo directly blurred into a red shadow, and the composition itself brought the power of heartbreak.
The composition of the front and back scenes is really useful in expressing the relationship between the characters. There is another place. In the middle of the film, Leo goes to Betty's house. Leo receives a call from Paco. Leo sits in the foreground, Betty sits in the background and dresses up, followed by a In the back fight, Betty was brushing her face in the foreground, and Leo was in the background. When Betty heard that Paco was coming back for 24 hours, her hand brushing her face paused. Will this counter-fight scene be useless? Attentive viewers have already vaguely guessed the inside story.
The second is the ubiquitous and well-designed mirror composition in the film. The first is at the beginning of the film. Leo calls the servant, but the phone ringing is drowned out by the tap dance. A mirror is specially placed behind the tap dancer, forming a lively composition with many people, which contrasts with Leo's loneliness. ; The second is when Leo went to see Angel for the first time, hurrying to hide in the toilet to do makeup and drink. She in the multiple mirrors in the toilet reflects the fragility and fragility of the character's heart; the third is Leo and Paco kissing, several times. The composition made of a small mirror is very unique and can almost reflect the hearts of two people at the same time, Leo's excitement and madness, Paco's contradiction and coldness; the fourth place is that after Paco takes a shower, Leo's face reflects. In the small mirror, Paco's half-length body occupies the large mirror next to it, and it conveys two messages at the same time: the dominance of men and the breakdown of the relationship between the two; in the fifth place, Paco finished dressing up and left the dressing mirror, revealing in the mirror An empty scene came out, and Leo didn't know that his husband had left, and still sat alone by the bed and vomited his heart, digging out the beauty of the empty mirror composition; the sixth place is at the end, Leo and Angel are in front of the door, The two of them are reflected in a small round mirror, which is a very, very warm composition.
Almodóvar is really painstaking in composing pictures with small objects. There is another example. When Leo went to the publishing house, the repressive composition composed of a large number of books and book frames implied the burden that these best-selling books brought to Leo. The praise of European works is a subtle irony.
Third, color.
The colors are a little more explicit, but still interesting.
Light and shadow is Almodóvar's usual high-profile style, the rhythm of light comedy, the sadness is never heavy, and it seems to fit the character of the Spanish nation.
The color of the clothes clearly symbolizes the mood of the characters. For most of the film, Leo only wears red at home, and only cools or neutral colors such as blue, white, and black in public. He also wears sunglasses when going out. Of course, this cannot be simply interpreted as cold outside and hot inside. In fact, in addition to symbolizing fire-like enthusiasm, red is more often a metaphor for Leo's inner painful struggle and tossing, so at the beginning of the film, when she said that "potential rage cannot be avoided", she wore a red dress and struggled in Pushing through the novel in front of the typewriter, enduring the thoughts of her husband.
The first time Leo wore red in public was when she went to the publishing house to ask for the termination of the contract. This was her first outbreak of fighting against fate, and red was given another meaning at this time.
As for blue, it is basically a symbol of indifference in the film. The more humorous part is that Leo used a large blue bath towel when he enthusiastically wiped his husband's body. Wrapped in her husband, this also hints that Leo's overzealousness and madness are a cause of marital problems.
In order to highlight the two major tones of blue and red, other characters in the film have made concessions in their clothing, wearing some variegated clothes to set off. And girlfriend Betty, as Paco's secret lover, often wears pink.
Angel also likes to wear red. Every time he sees Leo, he always wears red. There is really no need to guess what he is thinking. Unfortunately, Leo rejected his enthusiasm at the beginning, and he always wore blue or black in front of him. It was not until Leo returned from the village, when they met at the theater, that she finally put on bright red in front of Angel.
Fourth, the density of details.
It continues the tradition of high detail density in European films, and at the same time makes the details more difficult to detect before and after the echo. The echo here has nothing to do with the plot, but a metaphorical echo.
There are two classics. First, when the film uses a roll to show Leo's house, it emphasizes the photo frame of the two kissing on the bedside table. The photo frame is surrounded by marbles. Until the middle of the film, when Leo and Paco fell out, Leo broke something, and the camera showed marbles scattered everywhere, and the audience recalled that these marbles came from the kissing photo frame, tightly surrounding The beads holding the two were finally torn apart.
The second is when Leo asked Betty to help her take off her tightly bound boots, and later in the film, when Betty admitted to her that she was Paco's lover, she said something interesting: "If your whole The world is falling apart because your boots are too tight, so what should you do?" This shows that Betty is indeed Leo's good friend, she knows Leo too well, and Leo and Paco are falling apart because she is troubled by him too tightly , and Betty helping her take off her boots and Betty "helping" her take off Paco as her lover also mean exactly the same thing?
Fifth, camera movement.
The overhead shot after the camera is gradually raised is what makes the film unforgettable.
The first elevated shot was at the publishing house, and Leo broke with the publishing house. After pulling to the angle of the top shot, the old editor was in a state of being overlooked and seemed insignificant, coupled with Leo's loud voice: " The whole world may be turned upside down overnight", showing the dignity and pride of this female writer. Correspondingly, there was a shot of Leo shot from the top before.
After the second elevation, the overhead shooting skills are more complicated. Leo came out of the bar in a grief, just crashed into the parade, hugged Angel, and then the camera was greatly elevated, overlooking the vast crowd jumping back and forth. The two people who hugged tightly, and the two people who were lonely in public, had a feeling of compassion. Immediately afterwards, the camera pans straight upwards to the pale sky. The hustle and bustle of the crowd makes the audience think of the two people in the space outside the painting and look up at the sky at the same time. without departing from the overall style rhythm).
The third such overhead shot is at the end, Angel falls lovely to the ground as he dances, and we feel a god in the air smiling at the two of them.
Sixth, sound.
The sound is impressive in two ways. First, at the beginning of the film, the contrast between the cheerful rhythm of tap dancing and the lonely and struggling phone ringing has already hinted at the heroine's predicament. The second is that after Leo smashed the marble frame, the marbles fell harshly on the floor and rolled harshly, tearing the heart.
The rules of music are: First, when Leo is emotionally up and down, there will be various musical accompaniments; second, whenever Leo stubbornly challenges his fate and changes his life, there will always be a deep and powerful piece of music. There are three places: Leo went to the newspaper office to find Angel, Leo and his mother went back to the village, Leo and Angel finally got together and took a walk outside the theater.
Okay, let’s finish the analysis here, and summarize it with Leo’s words in the film: life is so unbelievable, so cruel, so contradictory, so unpredictable, and sometimes so fair.
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