Ceylon is a director who is extremely good at portraying alienation, loneliness, and communication barriers. In his works, Ceylon always writes the rift and pain between people in a super slow stroke, from the quarrel between cousins due to different habits in "Far Away" (2002), to "Suitable for Breaking Up" The Season of Love" (2006), the husband and wife looked at each other coldly until they broke up, and finally in "Once Upon a Time in Asia Minor" (2011), the men and women who were trapped in love committed suicide. The barriers to communication led to more and more serious consequences. Therefore, it is more and more obvious in his works.
However, it is worth noting that the depth of "alienation" and the depth of the expression of "alienation" are two completely different things, because even if the two sides in the plot kill each other to death, it still cannot explain this kind of What is the significance of the phenomenon, and it is inevitable that this single-dimensional display severely limits the weight and thickness of the story, so that it can only stay in a relatively thin and almost "moaning" stage. "Three Monkeys" is definitely different from such works - its genius lies in its attempt to show loneliness, dissatisfaction and alienation in the family, and in this dissatisfaction and alienation, it highlights the mutual dependence and mutual support in the family. On the warm side, in the end, pour a basin of cold water on the audience in a slightly tragic warmth, and throw the audience who rely on tacit understanding and gentleness for a living into delusion and darkness. It can be said that the title "Three Monkeys" not only talks about how individuals protect themselves by "not listening, talking, and watching", but also how the three people as a family maintain their emotions and lives through blood; more importantly What's more, it also vaguely asks us some startling questions: How do other "monkeys" survive? When and where should this reciprocating cycle of the strong eat the weak be declared terminated?
In the end, everything returns to Ceylon's self-imposed motif of "alienation", which permeates the entire film. Politician Serveit kills his car in the run-up to the election. In order to avoid punishment, Serveit put the blame on the driver, Yubo, who was sentenced to nine months in prison. During this period, Yubo's wife Hase went to Sevit to ask for money in order to raise money for her son to buy a car. She didn't expect the two to fall in love, and her son was even more angry when he witnessed the scene between the two. After Yubo was released from prison, he was sensitively aware that there must be adultery between his wife and Savit, but suffering from no evidence, he could only treat it coldly. Unexpectedly, one night, the police knocked on Yubo's door, Yubo learned that Savit had been murdered, and the murderer was unknown. It should be seen that Ceylon has injected a lot of energy into this seemingly old-fashioned murder story. For example, long takes and montages create a wonderful balance in the film. The long shot is undoubtedly a "golden sign" in Ceylon. As far back as the beginning of the film, Ceylon began to use long lenses with different depths of field to show the details of the characters or the distant scenery, presenting either delicate or vast shocking scenes. When it came to "The Season for Breaking Up", Ceylon began to take a lot of work. With the use of long shots of facial close-ups, language is no longer important, and the inner hesitation and helplessness of the characters can be fully revealed from the slow changes in facial expressions. The "Three Monkeys" that followed shortly thereafter undoubtedly inherited this advantage, not only pushing the actor's psychological state, but also the audience's attention to a high point. The slowly changing expressions and the tears that gradually fill the eyes, on the one hand, details like this make the characters more detailed and plump, and on the other hand, the film presents an unprecedented poetic quality. On this basis, the film further hides the key content with montage, making the whole film suspenseful and full of rhythm.
In addition, the choice of perspective in "Three Monkeys" also has good skills. For example, in the second half of the film, when Haaser meets Servetus, the author keeps the camera fixed from a distance and shoots from the front; however, later, the camera suddenly hides in the bushes, creating a voyeuristic effect. Such a seemingly inconspicuous change actually implies that someone is indeed peeping from the side, and it also prepares the ground for what will happen next.
In 2009, Ceylon said in an interview, "After 'Breakup Season', I felt deeply that some changes should be made... The result of this may lead to the next change, but I don't know yet. What would it be." In fact, "Three Monkeys" can indeed be called a useful and exciting follow-up to "Season for a Breakup." It can be seen that the middle-aged man in "Distant" who is 120,000 similar to the director himself has disappeared, and he is replaced by a man who lives in a completely different city, lives a completely different life, and is in a completely different class. Yubo; on the other hand, the addition of the surreal element of "younger brother", the sharp reduction of cold humor, the appearance of accidental events and unknowable factors add a bit of coldness and weirdness to this film, making people even more at a loss. Take the younger brother, for example, from the beginning to the end of the film, there is no account of when or why he died young, only sporadic images suggest that he may have died of drowning, but both the son and the father are in their lowest mood and the most disturbed. when I saw him. The death of the younger brother is likely to mean the first division of the family, revealing the real reason for the alienation and indifference between the three people. Whether it is a son or a father, they all regard this child as their only source of dependence and happiness, and they regard this "phantom" as an important channel to relieve their distress, vent and repent. From this, the alienation in the family is evident. . However, this "phantom" has also become an important part of maintaining the family, and has become the common emotional bond between the three people. All dissatisfaction and resentment will turn into silent pain and responsibility with the appearance of this "phantom". Although it cannot disappear, Unforgettable, but also must bear, must bear; that is why my father finally chose to go to the police station to surrender, although what happened later went far beyond this scope.
I thought the story would end there when my father walked out of the house and wandered into the street, but Ceylon's ambitions seemed to go far beyond that. Some critics believe that the current ending of "Three Monkeys" is beyond the director's control, which is actually inconsistent with the theme of "Three Monkeys". "The ending requires him to make a choice - which themes should be emphasized." However, I believe that this ending reflects the author's true intentions. Because, we will discover the social problems that Ceylon really wants to reveal in this story that may be extended indefinitely, and see the cause and effect of everything that happened.
No matter how the movie changes, Ceylon remains Ceylon. His films will never leave Turkey, and it will never leave his relatives. He obviously realizes that the "alienation" as a result has its meaning only if he is familiar with, understood, and even disconnected, so even in "Once Upon a Time in Anatolia", even in a group of people due to official business Among the people who have just come together, the lingering topics are still wives, children, love, and vendetta. Ceylon expects some kind of return, so sad, expects some kind of warmth, so heart-wrenching. When the dark clouds rolled, the thunder rumbled, and the torrential rain began to fall on the earth, we were surprised to find that the story did not reach the end, but returned to the beginning; we were surprised to find that a person's heart can never be concealed or erased. It is obvious that endless loneliness and alienation are so common, and life is so difficult.
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