is a film about nature, a film about life. With a pure heart, be a qualified appreciator.
Feel the beauty of nature - Platonic love
all say that this film is a flowing oil painting, with the river flowing, telling the meaning of life.
The first time I watched the film, the most direct feeling was the poetic, subtle and beautiful picture of the film, which was taken from nature and presented without any modification. The so-called secondary creation of the image by the camera, as for this film, it is more about showing the truth.
The title of the film is enough to grab the viewer's attention.
The crystal clear river water, a pair of old and slightly trembling hands, slowly threading the fishing line. The technique of flashbacks is no longer novel, but the two close-ups at the beginning, accompanied by the faint music and old Norman's narration, are enough to lead you and me into the story of the river and the deep nostalgia for the past. A brownish-reddish hue, like an old still photo, the camera is advancing at just enough speed to be perceptible, the place called Montana.
Nature and beauty are actually two concepts.
We tend to think that the word beauty is an essential attribute of nature, thinking that it will be there even if we do not perceive it. actually not. Aesthetics master Zhu Guangqian once refuted the assertion that beauty is the original attribute of things. He believes that if beauty is originally an attribute of things, everyone with long eyes should be able to see it, and everyone should recognize it as beautiful. It is like a person's height, which can be measured by feet. If you are short, everyone must be short. But there is no accepted standard for the assessment of beauty.
Therefore, it is not difficult for us to understand the beauty of nature in this way. Naturally, focus more on the objective, and on the beauty, focus more on the subjective. Beauty comes not only from the outside but also from the inside. As the saying goes, what we feel depends on our heart.
The director and photographer always present the most natural and beautiful gesture of Dahe in front of the audience:
On a sunny day, Norman and Paul, whose father led the children, walked by the small river, picked up stones in the water and told stories about evolution. Spots of light flow into the distance with the river.
Norman and his younger brother Paul learned ten-two-point, 4/4-beat fly-fishing under the tutelage of their father. Norman said that if his father was competent enough, he wouldn't let someone who couldn't fish catch a fish because that would be an insult to the fish. Full of reverence for life. Man's existence relies on nature, and he cannot demand from nature indiscriminately. It needs a degree of restraint to achieve harmony between man and nature.
The two brothers ran carefree on the green grassland; they threw stones on the riverside to splash the water; they escaped in the middle of the night by rowing a boat and dashed through the rapids, and returned home to fight each other...
The slender fishing line is thrown out, drawing a beautiful arc in the sky; the sound of the line is the most beautiful music in the film. Not only because fishing is a beautiful thing, but also because fishing holds too many emotions.
Dahe has witnessed the growth of the two brothers, and Norman and Paul are also attached to Dahe. Perhaps this is the power of nature, which not only nurtures them, but also gives them the edification of beauty.
The flowing landscape painting of mountains and rivers leads the viewer to appreciate and feel that beautiful world all the time.
The word "appreciation" has obvious subjective colors. The appreciation of nature is the natural beauty that has turned nature into art. This kind of pure and loving appreciation and feeling has been highly pure, artistic, and already a platonic love. This kind of art is humanization and idealization. Ordinary love is often very possessive, but this kind of love that appreciates the beauty of nature is not possessive at all. This is a supreme state of appreciation. Anyone who achieves extremely pure love can often reach the state of a clean mind.
When watching a movie, you can see this artistic nature with your heart. This idealized effect comes partly from nature itself, partly from the movie-watching atmosphere created for us by creators, including directors, camera writers, and screenwriters. Whether it is nature itself or the film, if our appreciators can comprehend and experience with no distractions and wholehearted attention, it is the respect and praise for nature and the film itself.
This kind of silent love and sincere praise to nature can be seen everywhere in the film.
For example, when Norman and Paul were lying in the grass when they were children, they talked about their ideals for the future, and Paul said to be a professional fly angler, a profession that didn't exist; when Norman returned to Montana after six years away from home, and The younger brother has a heartfelt smile on his face as he stands in front of the river; when Norman asks Paul to go to Chicago with him and Jessie, Paul says, "I'm not leaving Montana, brother"; Paul is soaked all over When I caught that big fish and was praised by my father as a "fishing genius" and photographed for my mother, I felt a sense of satisfaction that nothing but this river could give.
Feeling the beauty of life - doing nothing to explore
the history of human beings, composed of the imprint of the pursuit of beauty.
People always compare the river to the passage of time, the accumulation of history. Its span is so long that it cannot be traced back to its source and its end cannot be predicted. In the long river of history, people are like a drop in the ocean, small and insignificant. However, it is because of the existence of such individuals, seemingly insignificant things, that history approaches perfection.
The innocence and beauty of childhood are memories of a lifetime. Swinging a fishing rod with the metronome; running frantically to the river to throw stones after finishing his father’s English homework; standing where the river submerged his knees and rhythmically throwing out the fishing line; secretly riding a horse-drawn carriage in town and picking up a worker’s pants , Learn how adults fight and try to be boxers...
As the brothers grow up, conflicts and inconsistencies become increasingly prominent. The only constant is the father's strict and earnest teaching and the mother's kind and gentle love. The brothers, who grew up in almost the same environment in childhood, have very different life trajectories. Different life journeys show a real and almost perfect artistic life.
Paul, at the age of eight, showed his rebelliousness on full display. He resisted his father with silence, and refused to eat cereal; when faced with a rapid waterfall, when his companions flinched, he could risk death to try, even if the boat. Overturned by the river and crushed by stones, he did not forget to play with his friends, full of joy after conquering the river; he went to the pub and dared to write a manuscript for the newspaper; he took his Indian girlfriend into the pub where Indians were not allowed to enter, arrogant Drinking alcohol, exaggerated dancing, attracting contempt, jealousy or contempt from around him; he covets the atmosphere of the casino, and even if he loses everything, he still proudly says to his brother, "That's my debt, I don't care about you"; He still uses his own fishing method to break the inherent rhythm to catch super big fish, and his excited face is full of youthful vigor and the brilliance of life; it is just like this, but he was killed by an enemy one night and his body was thrown away In the alley, the right hand bone was broken. It was a pair of talented and spiritual hands capable of catching big fish.
Paul ended himself in such a decisive way, paying the debt with his life. This life is too short to bloom, but it is bright and dazzling.
There are many opinions about Paul's life. Some people say that he is decadent and contempt for life, but such a smart person ends himself hastily. A certain angle of perfection, but ultimately a regret. And I really admire this kind of life that lives out my own personality. Life is an art in a broader sense. Each person's life history is his own work. As an individual, he has the right to control the trajectory of this process, whether it is curved or straight, where to turn, and how to turn. This kind of control itself is a kind of beauty, a kind of lofty respect for life. The life that dares to write according to one's own will must not be questioned and denied by others.
The West is deeply influenced by religion. God is omnipotent, and his activities are absolutely free and unrestricted, while man is limited by the needs of the flesh and cannot be absolutely free. The more man can move freely from the constraints of the flesh, the closer he is to God. "Playing without doing anything" is the only free activity and the highest ideal.
Norman said: "My brother is standing in front of us, not standing on the bank of the Big Blackfoot River, he is floating on the earth, free from any restraint, like a work of art"; "I also know very well, Life is not perfect. This moment cannot last forever". This was the last time Norman, Paul and their father went fishing together in front of the big river, and it was also the most beautiful and unforgettable one.
Norman and his father sang a poem together: "The good times in the past cannot be recovered. We will not sigh. We will find strength in the remaining time and use the deepest pity."
A person who knows life is an artist, and his life is a work of art. And the life of art is the life of the true character.
I think Paul found the true meaning of life and practiced the beauty of life in a "playing" state of mind.
This film teaches us simple truths. People can be divided into two kinds. One is rich in taste, who finds interest in many things, and seeks to enjoy this interest everywhere. One is dry in taste, and does not feel interesting in many things, and does not seek interest, but only strives for food and clothing all day long. The latter are lay people, the former are artists. The richer the taste, the happier the life.
In this way, "feeling interesting" is appreciation and the beginning of discovering beauty. Whether you know life depends on whether you can appreciate many things. Appreciation is also "playing without doing anything". If we can appreciate it by "playing without doing anything", the life of "playing without doing anything" is the most free and ideal state of life.
Yearning for it.
This is a movie that is far from being described in words, and the emotions in it cannot be easily understood and experienced. The life carried by the river of years is up to us to grasp. How to live a true life, how to practice true beauty in a life that cannot be as long as art. Maybe it's the answer we've been searching for all our lives.
Father Norman preached at church for the last time: "Sometimes we don't know the other person needs help, sometimes we don't try to help, sometimes we don't get it right, sometimes we don't do what the other person needs. But we can still love him with all our heart and soul Love those we don't know." It's worth taking a closer look at.
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