Brian Slade, his precocious puberty was catalyzed by the dark memories of his childhood, but the sensitive and open Slade showed his amazing artistic talent early, which was also doomed to always be an outlier - always, he loved to wear bright colors clothes, heavy make-up, and singing music that only he can understand. He has his own dream and the belief of ruling the world with music. It is not difficult to see that his prototype is David Bowie, the most coquettish man in England in the last century, with the same background, the same madness, and the same beautiful appearance. Although Jonathan Rhys Meyers is still young, unable to act out the hysterical pathological desire, but in a sense, the charming laziness between Slade's eyebrows, outlines another parallel universe Bowie.
Curt Wilde, originally a low-level wandering singer, played heavy metal rock, looking for fleeting pleasure under the influence of drugs and hallucinogens. He is arrogant and reckless. Unlike Slade's feminine beauty, Wilde is more like A violent male lion, he took off his clothes in front of the public, and he was as ignorant as a newborn baby, but he was roaring frantic Chep-punk rock in a hoarse voice, and even smashed the stage on fire. In the scorn of everyone, Slade saw a Wilde that he couldn't reach through the ridicule, abuse, and insults of everyone. That's why Slade is so angry at his girlfriend when Mandy laughs at Wild: "Curt Wilde, he does what I can't!"
At that moment, Slade is completely attracted to Wilde, which can be attributed to the resonance of the two, but Todd The director told us that it was not so simple. It is true that Slade was surprised by Wilde's shocking performance, but more, he saw Wilde's inescapable loneliness.
Loneliness is a broad term. Marquez's century-old loneliness stems from the estrangement of the Buendía family from generation to generation, arising from the curse of the long-tailed child and disappearing into the last descendant who was swallowed up; Oscar Wilde's loneliness is a resentful and moving Salome, a soul-destroying Dorian Gray. Slade's loneliness is not as broad and heavy as the former, nor as narrow and empty as the latter. He is also a freak, but his loneliness comes from the confusion of the coming of a new era and the instinctual rejection of the disintegration of the old era. It is hidden behind a bright mask. Some people don't understand his loneliness, but they laugh at him as a child who only knows fantasy. The tragic color of Slade's struggle against the mundane is rendered more and more heavy by reality. His depression at the beginning also hinted that he was a self-pity Adonis, living in an age where the old and the new alternated, he seemed at a loss for everything, full of resentment, but was sung by the streets and alleys. "Love and Peace" Pitou are confined to a small space. He came to the stage with longing, and the cheers from the audience made him question his own value orientation. So lonely Slade, full of scars, saw his own light in the world, chasing Aphrodite--Curt Wilde, a loner who was equally weird and could not be tolerated by the world, his appearance awakened Slade Young and restless soul, Slade's senses were first infused with music called Glam Rock, which was his emotional outlet. Since then, Wilde has become the most important part of Slade's life, and the one who fights the world with him.
Slade's music has regained life, and amazingly has the same androgynous temperament shared by Slade himself, gorgeous and blurred, igniting the enthusiasm of a generation of "lost youth", all corners of London are full of people named "Brian Slade" ” is a fashion symbol, and the classic Thames is dyed with a crazy different color. Slade has transformed from a rock singer at the bottom to a household name. Countless people are amazed at his success, but fame is not Slade's purpose, he just wants to slap in the face of worldly hypocrisy and doesn't care what others think of what he does for. At that time he gained wealth and love, and every move was enough to cause the world to go crazy, but he seemed to be triumphantly singing the song "Ballad of Maxwell Demon": "I'm six-feet down at age 25, Maxwell led the demon "rock hand live" so proudly looking down at all beings and mocking the world with contempt, still can't make up for the huge void in his heart. He is the Victorian child who solemnly swore in front of the altar: "I want to be a rock star!" With the living beings still in chaos, facing the empty silver mirror with only one's own reflection.
Slade picked up his dream, but it also had a dark day. He is tired of the increasingly commercialized Slade symbols, anxious about the increasingly depleted creative inspiration, and more importantly, he is no longer the rebellious and fearless Brian Slade, who fears worldly harmonics day after day. In his drunken life, he thought of Wilde who woke him up again, a manic man, a clamorous life, and a strange singer from the American nation. Slade couldn't stop missing this man day by day. He wanted to touch Wilde's flesh and bones, Even the soul, how much power is hidden in such a body, able to compete with the entire world?
Slade has already made a name for himself, but Wilde is still an underground singer who is addicted to drugs and alcohol. Slade doesn't care, he has already fallen in love with everything Wilde has, including his terrible past. Wilde is an idealized figure, his otherworldly soul, the one-of-a-kind Dorian Gray in Todd Hayes's lens, and the perfect alien Ziggy in David Bowie's roar, so he has a reason why Slade is so obsessed with him. For Wilde, Slade may be the only person in the world who can touch his musical bones, and the only person who can fight against the mundane with him, so when Slade said take him away, Wilde's cheetah-like eyes showed surprise and tenderness, just light A light "I do." Slade regarded it as a response to his love, a short sentence, but Slade was willing to exchange everything for a beautiful and powerful soul.
It was the endless loneliness of the long night, a signal of a desire for someone to pull you.
Slade and Wilde, who have each other, are like a duck to water, and they played the Glam Rock of the peak era in illusion, love, and madness. Slade no longer avoids his sexuality, he loves Wilde and he loves Mandy, and he can kiss Wilde in front of suit critics and turn his arms around Mandy and tell her how much he loves her. The combination of gender dress and heavy makeup have become the aesthetic standard of that era. Countless people sang the peculiar melody of "Hot One" and left the dead John Lennon behind. There is a blurred line between genders, and anyone can boldly say: "Hey Guy, Iam gay!" Some people say that the world is crazy, same-sex love can be unbridled, but I have to say that this world only really existed in that era After life, you can't even have the right to love. Isn't a human being like a corpse?
Reporter Arthur was also a member of this group of crazy believers. Like Slade, he has a young and vigorous vitality and a rebellious spirit, but Arthur is not overly cynical. He was born in the middle class, and the positive image of British society is fully presented. In front of him, so he didn't fight against the absurd thoughts of the world, but he was still attracted to Slade, and Arthur also had his own little resistance out of recognition and worship of those shocking actions. He endured the ridicule of his classmates to buy Slade's CDs with exposed shells, and he painted a colorful costume to follow Slade's fans on the street. What's more, Arthur, who has always been silent and shy, even yelled at his father: "Brian Slade is a myth, you are not qualified to insult. He!" There are thousands of Arthurs in the UK, and they have hearts that have been oppressed by the times, and the appearance of Slade makes them seek pleasure and the meaning of survival in their fantasy. Before Slade, Arthurs may have been numbly living in the world of normal people, going to school, working, getting married, and having children. They never thought about how their lives would change drastically; Clear yourself and have the courage to accept your own personality and even sexuality that are different from ordinary people. Arthurs are a mirror for people to look at Slade. It is because of the existence of such people that Slade can become a superstar step by step, because his cry has been echoed more loudly. Arthur is a very successful character design, although his existence does not revolve around the protagonist's story, but his symbolism is very strong, after all, he represents the pursuit under the banner of Glam Rock. It's not hard to explain why the director elevated a supporting role to such a level, because without him and the group behind him, the protagonists would have no future at all.
If the movie only told the history of Slade's struggle to become a superstar, then the story of Slade's peak state can be stopped abruptly, but Todd Hayes is unique in that he is not like Gus Von Sant's generation, "Velvent Goldmine" does not Not limited to Brian Slade's success story, but more prominently, it alludes to a generation. Companions such as the "lost generation" in the United States, probably the critics at the time did not think that the generation who sang "the sun also rises" took the "death knell for whom the death knell tolls" decades after the prevalence of modernism. The sadness has withdrawn from the stage of history.
Slade told Wilde that we were going to change the world and make Glam Rock popular. So their desires collided, and endless sparks forged countless fiery souls. But reality doesn't allow them to go mad forever. Plato said that the human soul consists of three parts: the good horse, the bad horse and the rider. The process of finding true love is a process of soul attraction. For Slade and Wilde, they have the same rebellious soul, so they are naturally attracted to each other; but they firmly believe that they are the masters, and the other is only their own life. Attachments, and because of this, they both want to conquer each other hard: without Wilde, Slade is just an ordinary third-rate singer; without Slade, Wilde will only continue to fall. They were like two hedgehogs eager to hug each other for warmth, but were stabbed by each other's hard thorns again and again.
Oscar Wilde finally let go of his Dorian Gray, knowing that the soul is the last thing to be conquered, and that tragedy just leaves the stubborn in a lost paradise after a revelry. The gap between Slade and Wilde is getting wider and wider. One is rebellious to the end, and the other is looking for a reconciliation with the world. Slade is dissatisfied with Wilde's chaotic private life, and Wilde is also dissatisfied with Slade's repeated compromises with the mainstream. After a quarrel, they broke up completely. Mandy said that she saw Slade's world collapse that night, but the stubborn Slade didn't catch up with Wilde's back. He knew that the best outcome of all this could only be parting. Although he regards Wilde as his life, he has always insisted that he is the master, and his sharp edge stings Wilde, who has a high self-esteem.
Slade and Wilde are finally strangers.
Arthur, who silently witnessed everything, started his ordinary life again without any change, no matter how turbulent his heart was under the drastic changes of the times. Arthur used to chase the light of Slade, but Slade was the sun, people could only look up, but the sun they looked up to fell in the highest sky--Slade wrote and acted the scene of being shot in the final performance, and disappeared from the people. 's vision. How devastating is all this to the Arthurs? Slade reinvented their faith, which made them see themselves, and the lives of that generation had their eternal stamp on the rings of history. Arthur was able to boldly declare his sexual orientation under the impact of public opinion, Arthur was free, and everything was because of Slade, so how should he face the sudden death of Slade? How did thousands of Arthurs face the death of their spiritual leader? Arthur's childish look, once filled with hope, was overshadowed by the desperation he had never felt before Slade's end. Arthur's world collapsed, as dazed as Slade's farewell to Wilde, a disillusionment of faith that pulled the once carefree Arthur into the abyss of loneliness. The uninspired Slade gave in easily to the world, and a farce ended the era of Glam Rock. And Arthur's world returned to the original, he once suspected that his youth was just a dream, created and torn apart by a madman named Brian Slade, countless people thought so, because not everyone accompanied Kerouac on the road .
Years later, Slade disappeared from the public eye, while Wilde has been sticking to the stage, guarding the last fireworks of Glam Rock in the secular storm, what a difficult time it was! Countless people choose to wake up from the dream of Glam Rock, the only Wilde - this man of American warrior blood, he is crazy, he screams and he is furious, but he can never recall his former glory. Wilde fell on the stage in the last madness. In front of the gorgeous background and under the endless lights, Wilde's fragility and helplessness were reflected. He is no longer the Curt Wilde who frivolously said he wanted to change the world. After seeing the vulnerable Wilde, isn't the dark audience the cruel reality that oppresses him? The ridicule and abuse were overwhelming, Wilde couldn't bear it alone, and the years had dulled his sharpness.
And Slade, who stood in the dark, watching his former friend and lover fight alone, was no longer able to stand on Wilde's equivalent. At this point Slade became Tommy Stone, a mainstream singer in kitsch costumes singing pop music. He escaped his past as Brian Slade and painfully accepted his present as Tommy Stone. Behind the worldly approval is his broken soul that has nowhere to go, dressed as Tommy Stone, singing popular songs flattering critical critics. It is a victory for the body and a downfall for the soul.
Wilde said goodbye to the stage, and as he tapped the music of the year on the bar, the memories flooded in; Absurd story. Madness is not limited to one era.
At this time, Arthur made Wilde see the mighty Slade in a trance:
"He said we wanted to change the world, but in the end we only changed ourselves."
Wilde was talking casually, the ice in the wine glass knocked the dream broken the sound of.
Arthur used his youth to record the glory of Glam Rock. His existence was Wilde's last consolation, but he was unable to continue Wilde's dream and could only watch the end of the era.
This is not a tragedy, but it is better than a tragedy. It is not a story of the protagonist's physical destruction and the tears of others. It is called a tragedy. The destruction of belief and the destruction of soul, people are like corpses, who can understand such deep sorrow?
The music of "Trumbling Down" sounded slowly, returning to silence after the hustle and bustle. On this cold winter night, in reality, the carnival people seem to have gained something, what has been taken away, what is what, I don't quite understand, but they, those people, make the world colorful in the cold silence color.
The soul is destroyed in the splendor, but also splendid again in the destruction.
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