Exquisite structure layout
As a small-scale suspense film, the exquisite structure layout is the magic weapon for its unexpected success. The film breaks the linear narrative in the traditional sense, and rearranges and combines the plot paragraphs in the film. Because the straightforward narrative cannot achieve the suspenseful effect the director wants to create, a flashback narrative mode is chosen to make the development of the plot appear confusing, in order to arouse the audience's curiosity, mobilize the audience's enthusiasm for watching the movie, and follow the director's intention to enter the plot. At the same time, the plot is incompletely processed in the first half, and stitched in the second half. The connection between the two finally brings the truth of the film to the surface, and the subtlety of the concept is amazing.
Here I divide the film into three plot paragraphs, so that we have a clear understanding of the development of the plot. 1: The emotional development process of Adrian and Fabiana's acquaintance and love; 2: The review of his ex-girlfriend Beren's relationship and the process of how Beren was trapped in the secret room; 3: The truth reveals the process of the reversal of the plot. At the beginning of the first paragraph, Adrian was watching a video left to him by his ex-girlfriend Beren. Beren's inexplicable departure made the actor feel incredible and confused, and the suspenseful atmosphere was immediately created. After that, the lost and depressed Adrian drove to the small bar to get drunk, where he met Fabiana, the waiter. They fell, and the two walked together. All this seems logical, but there are deep-seated factors behind it. From the conversation between Fabiana and the old acquaintances of the police, it can be found that Fabiana is a woman who is greedy for profit and vanity. Adrian is handsome, well-off, and is in the upper class, which is exactly what Fabiana yearns for. , so she took the initiative to give her a hug; and from the incident of Adrian flirting with the violinist Veronica, it can be seen that Adrian is personable on the surface, but in fact is a promiscuous person, and his attitude towards love is not loyal enough. Such two people walking together is more about getting what they need than true love. As the story continues, it seems to be bland, a commonplace emotional story, but as the plot develops, through a mirror, the audience is taken into another narrative dimension. The movie tells us through flashback clips that Adrian and Belém, who originally lived in Spain, were an enviable couple who had been in love for many years, but with Adrian being selected as the conductor of the Bogota Symphony Orchestra , The peaceful life began to be broken. Due to the needs of work, he had to move to Bogota. In order to love Belen, he put down his existing work and followed her boyfriend to a strange environment. Such plot changes increase the uncertainty of the plot, thereby providing a place for conflicts and conflicts, and also building up the characters' reasonable behavioral motives. Because Beren made a sacrifice for love, the balance of love began to become unbalanced, so she longed for more love to be comforted, to eliminate inner anxiety and anxiety, sensitivity and vulnerability. However, it backfired. The ambiguous relationship between Adrian and the violinist Veronica was accidentally discovered by Beren, the mutual trust appeared cracks, and the carefully maintained emotional barriers began to become precarious. This leads to Beren's original motivation to test whether Adrian is loyal to love, and it is also a prerequisite for the dramatic change in the plot. She locks herself in an enclosure hidden in the villa In the secret room, I tried to wake up my boyfriend's attention to this relationship through his disappearance, but unexpectedly left the key outside in a panic, causing the story to deviate from the original setting and evolve in an irreversible direction. . After a brief loss, Adrian found another new love. Fabiana's appearance was undoubtedly a bolt from the blue for Beren, who had fallen into despair and fear. She watched this painstaking love gradually destroyed. There was nothing in her hands. With the development of the plot, the careful Fabiana discovered the secret hidden in the villa, but after some hesitation, Fabiana gave up saving Beren, because once the door was opened, it meant that she Everything you have now will be lost, the evil of humanity has overcome the good of humanity, and the film has reached an unprecedented climax here. It was also at this moment that Beren's pain, despair, anger, and helplessness surged up like a tidal wave, shaking the hearts of every viewer deeply. There is a big reversal at the end of the film. Fabiana, who is deeply guilty and disturbed, enters the secret room to see if Beren is dead, but is knocked unconscious by Beren who is pretending to be asleep, and Beren is able to escape. And Fabiana was locked in the secret room, and Adrian took the key to the secret room and fell into contemplation. Such an open ending can be described as a genius, not conventional, so that the film is full of infinite possibilities.
Throughout the three plot paragraphs of the film, they are interlocking and progressive, the sense of rhythm is just right, and the use of music complements each other, so that the storytelling appears to be watertight, meticulous and meticulous, forming an excellent dramatic tension. , which is amazing.
There are many movies that express human nature by examining the good and evil of
human nature, such as the classic black thriller "Seven Deadly Sins" by the famous American director David Fincher. The "gluttony", "greed", "laziness", "jealousy", "pride", "lust" and "anger" mentioned in the film are the seven deadly sins of human nature as defined by Catholicism, which shows the ugliness of human nature. There is something looming in ancient religious ideas. In Baiz's "Dark Side", the exploration of the dark side of human nature is the core of its theme, which also makes the film have a rare philosophical speculation and psychological depth.
In fact, in the first half of the film, Fabiana and Adrian's assertion about the two sides of nature has already laid the groundwork for the subsequent plot. Later, Fabiana abandoned Beren for her own selfish desires, which shows the selfishness, vanity, black belly, and greed in human nature. But the film is profound and dialectical in its judgment of human nature, not a textbook-style propaganda or criticism. The images of the characters in the play are full and vivid, and there is no tendency to become facialized or symbolic. Although Adrian is promiscuous and even a little ruthless, he repents at the end of the film and proposes to make a clear relationship with Veronica; Fabiana initially found that Beren was trapped in the secret room but did not rescue her, and even later Beren. Lun remained indifferent even in a critical situation where there was no movement. His desire for material interests suppressed his humanitarian goodwill. At this time, Fabiana's humanity was dark and ruthless. Later, when the policeman showed her the photo of Adrian's affair, she was depressed and finally realized that she could not fully possess Adrian. She couldn't help feeling sympathy and pity for Beren, and she also began to feel guilty for her previous behavior. The lens here shows the image of Fabiana in the mirror, and the mirror image reflects the truth of her heart. Her conscience found out that she opened the secret room, but unfortunately it was too late, the tragedy had already happened and it was inevitable.
From the behavior of the characters in the play, we can find that human nature is complex, subtle and elusive, and it is difficult for us to give an accurate definition of human nature. The director reflects a kind of "ambiguous" meaning in the creative intention of this film, which has multiple references and can be understood from different levels, so that it is more meaningful.
Interpretation of Feminist Concepts
The film is developed from a female perspective in narrative, and the dual perspectives composed of Fabiana and Belém structure the whole film. In the whole narrative process, men are always absent, and they are the existence of an object, an object to be scrutinized, and do not participate in the core events, which makes this film more or less feminist color.
Regarding feminism, Beauvoir, the author of The Second Sex, holds this view: "The self and the other exist at all levels of human life. From the perspective of gender, men become the self and women become the absolute other. There is a relationship between subject and object, primary and secondary, with women, who define themselves in terms of men and not in terms of women themselves." In the film "Dark Side", because of the needs of Adrian's work transfer , his girlfriend Belen gave up his current job for him, made concessions and sacrifices, which reflected a kind of dependence and compromise. And the later game between Fabiana and Belem revolved around the center of Adrian, and the outcome of this game, no matter who wins or loses, is destined to end in tragedy. Both Belen and Fabiana are "others" with ambiguous identities. They focus on male life, and their self-construction consciousness has not been fully formed. Let's look at the shaping of the central image of Adrian, which is actually a deconstructed writing. Adrian's affair with Veronica and his frivolous and casual attitude towards relationships have caused irreparable trauma to the two female characters. In order to seek the consciousness of independent self, the spiritual appeal of feminism is manifested. Beren did not return to Adrian's side after escaping from the secret room, but chose to start a new life, which is the best testimony to the awakening of women's self-consciousness.
The brilliant details show that
the reason why "The Dark Side" can become a gripping psychological thriller is also due to the director's precise grasp of details and brilliant display in the creation. Here I pick a few representative details to do a simple analysis.
The first is the setting of a context such as a closed space. The enclosed space symbolizes captivity, which is convenient to create an atmosphere of tension and fear, which is in line with the style characteristics of the film's thriller and suspense. At the same time, such a one-way perspective mirror can very intuitively spy on the ugliness and evil of human nature. The second is the dog named Hans of the old lady in the film. It is very close to Belén and is not aggressive, but it is not very welcome to Fabiana, because the latter is more like an intruder, breaking into the wrong place. field of involvement. The dog serves as a warning here, while implying that Fabiana cannot really fit into the environment. There is also a scene in which Fabiana throws the leftover apple core into the lake, and layers of ripples appear on the lake, which reminds her of the inexplicable waves in the pool, and then discovers the existence of the secret room. The film's description of emotions is also meticulous. Among them, Fabiana asks a friend for a cigarette in a bar. From the mouth of her friend, we can know that she does not usually smoke, so this move shows her emotional state of anxiety. At the end of the film, Beren sits on the beach, holding a handful of sand, and the sand flows from her fingers, implying the love that passed away, and her determination to let go of her memories and start over.
The conclusion
"Dark Side" is a rare work of sincerity. What is invaluable is that the exquisite narrative structure does not make the film flow to superficial dazzling skills, but focuses on the deep psychological activities of the characters. , thus deepening the theme, enriching the meaning, and showing a deep thinking on human nature.
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