Text/Heniao
"Her only sin. The only difference between her and others is that she just expects to see more of the light in the sunset, the beautiful colors before the sun hits the horizon."
The film "Female Addict" tells the story of Joe, a woman suffering from sex addiction, was taken in by the elderly Seligman after she was in trouble. On this snowy night, Joe began to tell his story to the stranger he had just met, and Seligman interrupted every moment. Narrative, trying to use her knowledge to give her life a footnote. In the conversation between the two people who met by the water, there was no lack of temptation and alienation at first, but because the two people did not have an intersection of life trajectories and did not want each other, they gradually became better and relatively frank. And this kind of reminiscence narrative that spreads out slowly with sparring gives montage room to play its punches and kicks.
In my opinion, "Female Addict" is not a film about sex and addiction, but a film about beauty. This peculiar and oblique aesthetic may be deformed, pathological, and immoral. , But there are mysterious powers that seem to be irresistible. The female protagonist often reveals a tendency to self-destruct in her narration—as if she is gradually accepting that "sex addiction" is happening to her, even if it is a secular view of original sin, but at the same time, she repeatedly seeks an outlet for her vigorous lust. From the confusion and ignorance of childhood, to the uninhibited taboos of youth, to the pain and struggle of being swallowed by him in middle age, Joe spent her life in her own physical struggle, but was defeated again and again. After being bruised and bruised, she began to think about why she started from the beginning. Just so subconsciously put away the posture of struggle.
I think the most valuable thing about this film is that it creates a bubble-like sense of disillusionment and lightness in a story that was originally "heavy". It is this lightness that allows the whole story to penetrate the sensuality and arrive slowly. The discussion of the human dilemma and other more far-reaching propositions also gives the film a more advanced quality.
It is not difficult to spread lust, but to trim lust. What the director wants to express is not censure, sympathy, or satisfying some people's nasty voyeuristic desires-even if this kind of curiosity is so unavoidable, even if a nerd like Seligman claims to have no sexual desire, he still has to pull out a crumpled one in the end. The dildo and Joe came for a shot. In the end, Joe fired the shocking shot at Seligman. It may be the biggest irony of director Lars von Trier to most people in front of the screen: what kind of state of mind do we have? , Looking at the life of a woman?
Lars von Trier trims Joe's noisy eroticism through the use of lens language. The main methods are: partition between stories and selection of images, natural light, extensive use of split screens and overlapping paintings, and the weakening of the erotic meaning of the characters.
In the following, I will elaborate on it in sections.
[Partition-an orderly chapter body]
(The cover of the eight chapters: "The Complete Angler", "Jerome", "Mrs. H", "Delirium", "Small Organ School", "From Eastern Church to Western Church (Silent Duck)", "Mirror" and "Gun")
The story of Joe's life at all stages and her complicated inner journey, if purely using linear structure, this four-hour film is doomed to make people drowsy. The setting of the character Seligman cleverly solved this problem. Because Joe’s memory is often blocked, at this time, under Seligman’s guidance, she will tell from the same tiny object in the room or a seemingly similar person and thing that seems to be unrelated to these objects. Time and characters travel through the river, rather than being confined to a certain period or a certain relationship. The narrative style of this stream of consciousness has the charm of "Reminiscence of the Years Like Water".
The four hours are divided into eight chapters, "The Complete Angler", "Jerome", "Mrs. H", "Delirium", "Small Pipe Organ School", "From the Eastern Church to the Western Church (Silent Duck)", "Mirror" and "Gun". The separation between chapters is orderly and decisive. Generally, text will be directly typed on the screen to signal a fresh start. The content between chapters is relatively independent, and each chapter can be self-contained.
While other stories are pursuing smooth and efficient expression, Lars von Trier boldly reduced the density of the plot, pulling this uncomplicated story to more than four hours. These partitions are like a metronome, and they are like the breath that Joe raises every time he wants to start again-the audience often raises this breath along with the white words slowly emerging on the black screen.
[Image-a thousand mirrors/all reflect your face]
The insertion of various interesting images not only greatly changed the rhythm of the narrative and weakened the erotic meaning, but also made the audience more able to feel: This is a real and respectful dialogue: although the theme is sex and sex addiction, Never rushing straight to the organs and body fluids, the content that strays from the side is just as fascinating, and the enthusiasm for sex does not mean the abandonment of life.
These images not only play a role in connecting the plot, but also like an imprecise personal encyclopedia (extreme category Zhang Daizhi's "Night Sailing" in the late Ming Dynasty). Through this conversation, we learned what fly fishing is, the reason why the ash tree is called the tree of the universe, the basic viewpoint of Epicurus on death, and the Fibonacci sequence and Bach's outstanding contribution to polyphonic music.
Sex is a common thing, addiction is also a common thing, like fishing, like ash, like Epicurus, like Bach, but also like love, like sickness, like death, it exists in this world as usual. These images also run through the heroine's narrative of the past, the main display methods are overlapping paintings and split screens, which outline the tortuous mental path.
This is not to avoid the expression of the subject, but to adopt a more aesthetic, rich and imaginative method. My favorite is the last chapter. The heroine corresponds the three parts of the polyphonic music to her three lovers one by one. The obedient and caring fat gentleman is her constant bass zone at night. The lion-like violent and moody guy who makes her anxious and waits early is the second melody played by his left hand. The gentleman who is not so good in every aspect, because of her love from the heart, victory becomes the main theme. The triple images are paralleled on the screen, and the scenes of the animals and organs that are symbolic of love, each lover, and the organ are switched repeatedly, amazed by the director's bizarre imagination.
(Two interesting images inserted in the movie: Bach's polyphony and the golden section)
Under the main line of the narrative picture, the jaguar's arched back, the leaping fish in the turbulent river, and the sounding pipe organ are both hidden under the narrative and truly under the picture. And when Joe fell into lust most deeply, the picture was divided into three from time to time, and the other two parts showed some other things on this planet. These three parts are often able to co-ordinate the melody and merge into one.
(The split-screen presentation directly reduces the proportion of erotic images and weakens the meaning of pornography)
This structure of flashback introduced from imagery reminds me of Emran Sarrod’s verse in "The Thousand and One Mirrors":
I am an island,
In the water of lovesickness, in all directions,
Cut me off to lead you.
A thousand and one mirrors,
Show your face,
I start with you,
I'm at the end of you.
The ambiguous image and the subject themselves form a vague connection. You can choose to ignore it, but they are there. This is far more worthy of praise than plain narrative or simile metaphor.
[Light and shadow-morning, twilight, and falling snow are the color of life]
The director Lars von Trier himself and his alumni of the Danish National Film School Thomas Winterberg, Christine Levine and Soren Jacobs initiated a show called Doug in 1995. Mar 95's film movement and the formation of the "Dougma 95 Community", the purpose of this community is to instill a sense of simplicity in filmmaking, and freedom of post-production modification and other aspects. "Emphasize the purity of the film composition and focus on the true story and the performance of the actors themselves." In order to achieve the goal of no excessive artificial traces, they made ten oaths, one of which is: no special lighting effects can be made. Although many oaths were broken in "Female Addicts" (such as the use of silent music and the addition of the superficial scene of "murder"), Lars von Trier wrote in this work The use and loyalty to natural light in China are obvious. The beginning of the film is a long black scene, the street lights are on, dandruff-like snow falls, and the camera slides down, reflecting the heroine's old, tired, scarred face. This harsh mirror movement and light dispatch maintain the greatest respect for this discipline, creating a commendable reality. In this era of MV-style commercial movies, it is very commendable to face the camera directly without taking away the depth and thinking of the film itself without the gorgeous picture.
It is worth mentioning that each chapter has its corresponding light effect, showing a different tone. For example, the director's use of light in Joe's memory of Girls' Generation. The white sunlight poured down from among the birch trees. The young Joe held the heart-shaped leaves of the birch trees and listened infinitely to his father’s "childish stories, made up for the children to remember knowledge", so that his father could Keep repeating, she always chooses to pretend to have forgotten some of the plots. This may be the brightest part of the whole film. For example, when Joe discovered that "only love is the only secret of sex" and was completely knocked down by love, the light gradually turned softer, giving a nearly holy halo to the snow-white bed sheet and the falling body of Joe and his lover on it. And when Joe’s life stepped toward a rout, the scenes of the story also turned to dusk and midnight. After Joe was insulted by his little girlfriend and his first love, Jerome, he was completely turned into the darkest and coldest. Snowy night.
(Snowy night, Joe under the street light)
Light changes with the environment, and the environment arises from the heart. From beginning to end, no matter how the light and dark changes, the color of the film has always been deserted. Even in summer, there is an urge to chill. This is completely different from the sticky and warm colors of traditional pornography. Movie viewing experience.
[Girl forever-Stacy Martin]
The successful casting of the film and the makeup of its characters have also greatly reduced the low-level erotic meaning of the film.
Stacy Martin (played by young Joe) has emerald-like blue eyes deep in her eye sockets. When she stares, all criticisms are voluntarily calmed down; when she sheds tears, all uncleanness is washed away; when she smiles, all lust is found Go home.
(Starcy Martin's blue eyes)
She has a pale face and a girlish thinness, looks thin and clean, almost transparent, and glows like a mother-of-pearl. The well-behaved coffee-colored shawl with straight hair and student-like dress made her define her pathology as original sin. We easily removed the thick shells of morality, from standing elsewhere to tolerate understanding, to being brought into her. The story of her, feeling her depression and madness, struggle and tearing, rebellion and reconciliation. Without the sensational title of "female addict", she is just a precocious and somewhat reckless little girl-even after becoming a mother, she still can't be called a woman, and there is unremoved childishness between her eyebrows, exploring the body The confusion in the unknown and the girlish stubbornness. It is conceivable that if Monica Bellucci, Scarlett Johansson or Maggie Q were to control this role, there would never be such a cold and affectionate feeling.
(Starcy Martin has a light and tender beauty in the film, thin, sensitive, and pure)
And Joe’s adolescence seemed to end overnight. She went directly from the most prosperous early summer to late autumn, which made people wonder when the oldness was accumulated in the body of youth, and the green shade could wither overnight. No piece of armor is left.
When the husband and children both left because of her sex addiction, Joe's image of himself had already overlapped with the narrator. Charlotte Gainsbourg replaced Starcy and continued to fight himself against the trapped beast. Her hair is always disheveled, her flat figure, the ordinary dress of a female employee, the sunken and sagging face due to her thinness and years, the undisguised wrinkles and spots, it is hard to think of this shriveled body. The next still contains such a flourishing desire.
(Charlotte Gainsbourg's scarred and mottled face invites people to contemplate her suffering, while possessing stubbornness and self-esteem)
The superiority and self-confidence of the teenage years burned out together, and the broken face began to make her no longer have an advantage in the love field. The cruelty that sex addicts suffered in this world was even more prominent-you are no longer a silly girl who took the initiative to send you to your door. , But an old woman who asks for others to get rid of her desires. Women's embarrassment, embarrassment, and intolerance of mainstream society are all conveyed to the camera in Charlotte's silent expression, allowing the audience to feel the sorrow of the characters in the situation.
[Summary: Sex is nothing but a crime under the name of love]
There are many different understandings of the subject, but when it comes to movies, it is still inevitable to discuss the subject like a middle school student doing reading questions. For me, the commendable thing about this film is that although it presents a linear narrative structure as a whole, it is not a traditional "growth story". Generally, films that explore sexual consciousness will always fall into such a stereotype.
As we all know, the ignorance of sexual consciousness is the only way to grow. Korean films, such as "Dream of Dreams" and "Color Is Empty", when depicting such emotions, brush strokes often focus on self-growth. The main theme of expression is: the attribute of erotic desire is contradictory, it is not only our innate, but also requires our acquired understanding and acceptance in order to achieve our individual integrity. If the human body is a set of freely assembled puzzles, and lust is a piece of our innately lost, what we need to grow up is to retrieve this piece of puzzle and find its most suitable position. However, "Female Addicts" has an "addiction" part because of it. The female protagonist had already completed self-enlightenment at a young age without knowing it, but accidentally picked up an extra piece of the puzzle. After struggling to find a place to put it, she began to doubt the meaning of her existence, until she finally abandoned it completely. , To regain a complete and self-consistent self. It is not the exploration of herself that made her grow up, but the social conditions that made her grow up, which is more absurd and bleak than traditional genre films.
It's not that the director used the language of the lens to make this topic light, fuzzy, and alienated. It is really elegant, civilized, and appropriate. Many parts of the film are suspected of being immoral, but it is undeniable that sex addicts, as a manifestation of human diversity, should not receive such criticism and criticism, nor should we talk about this group. Set a dirty or mocking background color. This is a medical condition, but it is not a disease—not a disease, let alone dirty. We have no right to crusade or correct them.
Just let the camera flash back to the daylight and incandescent afternoon, Joe's father looked at the ash tree and muttered to himself: "These winter trees are actually the souls of trees and human beings. Twisted souls, ordinary souls. , Crazy souls depend on what kind of life humans live." We didn't have the right to peek into and evaluate the lives of others. The shot Joe finally struggling to shoot at the camera may have been deeper than all the laughter and words.
(The heroine Joe expressed his cognition of her own sex addiction poetically at the end of the film: "The only difference between me and others is that I always want to ask for more from the sunset. The moment the sunset hits the horizon, I Always want to see more brilliant colors, this may be my only sin.")
View more about Nymphomaniac: Vol. I reviews
