In the film, the development of two different structures, internal and external, connects the whole film. Events are the nodes of the series. The external structure is determined by the number of people. The internal structure is composed of gold (material) and conscience (emotion). As a function of the abscissa and ordinate, the two structures complement each other to form a complete whole.
At the beginning of the film, the external structure is just a person, as an individual structure; and the internal structure of the opposition between money and conscience is not yet clear, in a state of chaos, but they have been informed of their existence.
The first incident is the story of the worker being finally deceived. The occurrence of this incident developed the external structure from Bogart to two; because the interests of the two are the same, the internal emotions also tend to be the same. This incident also provided a primer for the development of the structure. When a third person was encountered, Kaneko also appeared for the first time.
The second incident was the occasional encounter with a black-hearted boss and then the salary was returned. This incident completed the construction of the coordinate system of the internal structure. The two poles are the two people who have no money but the principle of "getting only what you get" and the black boss who has money but no conscience. After the incident, the external structure was completed, and a stable group of three people was formed. The subsequent train disasters and difficult journeys are all the hardships that must be passed for the stability of the alliance, and finally a perfect triangle is formed.
The third event is the gold rush. At this moment, the external structure has been stabilized in the previous events, and the narrative center of gravity has shifted to the internal structure. The ordinate representing material money has been continuously increased by balance measurement, and the value has also increased from 5,000 to 25,000 to 40,000 through the action of dividing money. Divide the function into three; the abscissa representing conscience/emotion is developed in close-up shots, and countless details (eyes when dividing money, hesitation before saving people, actions to check out again and again) pile up the emotions of the three Slowly push from trust to mutual suspicion. The externally maintaining a stable and harmonious relationship between the three people has turned into a suspicion duel relationship, which seems stable but easily collapses.
The fourth event is the arrival and death of Cody. The appearance of Cody allowed the three-person structure on the edge of collapse to find the cohesive adhesive again, and before the external structure was re-stabilized, the appearance of the gangster made the short-lived four-person structure of the three-person structure, and finally returned to the structure of the three-person alliance. Once again stabilized after the ordeal. The appearance of Cody was not only to save the alliance on the verge of collapse. Through that letter, the seeds of the next split were planted. When reading the letter, the lens also clearly saw the 1:2 opposition, and the function of the internal structure was also Because of the changes in this letter, the fold line of Bob and Howard was significantly different from Bogart’s fold line because of the 1/4 surrender.
The fifth incident came to the Indian incident. The occurrence of this incident completely broke up the structure. The broken line of Old Howard in the internal structure was completely redeemed during the process of saving the child (the central radial sacred composition in the lens and the subsequent movement of completely surrendering gold can be reflected), comprehensive The bias is on the conscience/emotional side. The external structure of the campaign has become a 2:1 model, the stability is broken, but also foreshadowed the next event.
The sixth incident was that Bogar shot and killed Bob. The external structure was split in the previous event. After losing stability, the structure of 2 was immediately broken and turned into a duel between the two. After Bob escaped and survived, the structure changed from 2:1 to 1:2. The flame plays a vital role in dividing the moment, symbolizing the change of Bogart's internal structure fold line. From the very beginning, the flame at the corner slowly occupies the bottom, and finally covers the screen, and Bogart’s internal structure fold line is also complete. Leaning towards the material/gold side, when he has all the gold, he is also occupied by all his thoughts; on the other hand, Bob has also been redeemed in the miracle of coming back to life, and is moving towards a better future with Old Howard.
In the last incident, Bogar, who has lost his conscience/emotion, is undoubtedly waiting for him to die with the gold/material, while the other two have no longer cared about the gold/material. In the laughter of the two, the gold/material follows the wind. And passing away, leaving only conscience/emotion. The external structure also returned to the individual at the end. Bogar ended up with his death. Old Howard returned to the Indian village to spend his old age, while Bob looked for Cody's wife hopefully.
With the blessing of John Houston, the film is organized in such a complicated structure, which is really not easy. The scheduling, composition, and editing rhythm in the shot make the changes in the relationship between the characters in the film extremely silky, and the emotions are slowly advancing in the language of the shot, without any abruptness. Except for the protagonist, other details are also taken into consideration. There are clues to follow, careful calculations, not to waste any part.
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