I don't know the director Paul Van Perwen very well, and I have only seen "Instinct" and "Black Book" in his works. The director prefers to use dark humor, sex, and violence to express the theme through the outlet of desire. Of course, the so-called stunning of a good movie is not only a grasp of the plot, but also a freehand for the inner desires of contemporary people and the indescribable gray area. I saw a lot of people in the comments say that this is a movie that calls for "feminism", and I don't agree with it that much. Let's first look at what is "feminism"? Feminism refers to social theories and political movements created and initiated to end sexism, sexual exploitation, discrimination and oppression, and to promote equality of the sex class. In addition to criticism, it also focuses on the analysis of gender inequality and the promotion of gender equality. Rights, interests and issues. Feminism is based on the belief that today's society is built on a male-centred patriarchal system. Feminist theory aims to understand the nature of inequality and focuses on sexual politics, power relations and sexual consciousness. And the title of this film is "Elle She". Of course, she not only refers to Michelle, but also includes girlfriends, mothers, yoga teachers, next-door neighbors and son's girlfriends, and these people tell us through the various characteristics of the characters themselves" In my opinion, the movie is not about calling or promoting "feminism" but telling us about the possibilities of life.
Michelle, middle-aged, the owner of a game company, divorced, has a son who is not a big one, has a partner who is the best friend of his son's nurse, a mother who likes to spend money to raise a little white face and always injects hyaluronic acid, a The father of the serial murderer who has spent his life in prison, a cowardly and unknown ex-husband of a writer, and a morbid neighbor who is gentle on the surface but loves violent rape. In addition to the original family that people have no choice, many other interpersonal relationships have more or less elements of our active choice. The various people and things that appear around the protagonist can reflect the protagonist's inner heart to a certain extent, just as the information of the whole tree can be read through the leaves, and the heroine's tenacity can be seen through interpersonal relationships. 's heart.
She, Michelle, had a bleak childhood. At that time, her father used a shotgun, two butcher sticks, and two kitchen knives to end 27 lives in a street, oh, and 6 puppies, a few cats, but only bypassed a hamster (I am very I like the setting of sparing hamsters, making a demon who can only kill people into a story. I will think about what happened to him that night and why he made such a choice) The only thing left from that catastrophe is Blood Debt, and a photo of a 10-year-old girl, half-naked, covered in gray, with empty eyes, just because of this photo, the media, reporters, and police all took this child for granted as her father's accomplice, and they didn't consider her She is just a ten-year-old child. She has just experienced a catastrophe in her family. She is also a victim. No, what public opinion gives her is speculation, disgust, attack, and even abuse. This is the first feeling that the adult world brings to this child. , therefore, she does not trust the police, therefore, she hates reporters and the media.
The cruelty of public opinion lies in the fact that everyone is self-righteous and occupies the commanding heights of morality. Many times, especially in this Internet age, when the media or netizens express their wishes, they usually use the protagonist to speak, and sometimes they pay more attention to it. Yes, what I want to say is not the matter itself. The reason why many events are speculated by the media and the public must be because most of them are originally against the current value orientation, but when this matter is placed in a public environment, individuals can freely express their wishes. When criticizing events and people or companies, few people understand that we are not the parties, we do not know the whole story and the whole story. What this society advocates should be freedom of speech, not violence of speech. When we are no longer discussing events itself, but simply insulting, attacking and guessing a certain person, perhaps losing the little bit of goodwill that this society should have, but what about a child who has already remembered but has no independent judgment?
Clearly, her childhood experiences made her desperate to escape and rebuild her life, so she needed to be self-sufficient and completely strong to support herself. It is hard for us to imagine what a life is like when it is constantly being eroded by the outside world. Imagine that something that changes the structure of your family and even everything around you is shunned by you. It is constantly mentioned and attacked in the process of your growth. Being insulted, what kind of purgatory on earth is that? If it was you, how would you deal with it?
Michelle's utter acceptance tells us that what doesn't break us is what makes us stronger. But absolute freedom means absolute self-responsibility. Freedom and cost always complement each other. When a choice requires full freedom, it naturally requires full responsibility. In her life, the weak ex-husband and the incompetent son , a weak lover, a mother who likes to sleep with men who are a few decades younger, no one can help her bear it, compared to the person next door Rebecca pinning her hopes on religion, she has only herself, can't rely on blood, can't rely on intimacy Relationships, she can't rely on religion, and she can't rely on the social order that has been "adding fists and feet" to her. She only has herself, oh, and there is a British shorthair who only looks at her and doesn't dare to scratch anyone. cat.
But this is not a tragic story about a marginal person who is a tragic woman who is abandoned by society. This is a serious and absurd "comedy" movie. Human beings are multifaceted, rapists will become saviors, fathers who kill, mothers who save lives, girlfriends are not pure girlfriends, there is possessive domineering jealousy with their ex-husbands, girlfriends boyfriends are lovers, all people are not superficial. It looks like that, vague, confusing, indistinguishable, you can't justify saying it's wrong, and of course you can't honestly say it's right. When serious words turn into jokes, to whom should we complain and in what tone? What can we do for a culture that is exhausted from laughing too much?
Her heart is soft, she is reluctant to scold her useless shorthair cat, she will seek help for a sparrow, and finally put her in the box carefully and compare her heart, she thinks of the 27 lives that will always be remembered , and the forgotten six dogs and several cats are also equal lives. Compared with human life, animals are often overlooked. Even if it is said that dogs are man's best friend, and animal protectionists are often heard running for animals, what is the truth? What about reality? This is a kind of blatant hypocrisy in a society of human supremacy.
But she is also strong and unyielding. In the morning after being raped, she didn't cry or feel wronged. She called to buy food for herself and the kitten. She had a conversation with her son as usual. She dressed elegantly and went to work. Change the locks, go to the hospital for necessary examinations after finishing work, if it weren't for the trance memories of a person after returning home at night, the release of Buddha is just an irrelevant part, she can go head-to-head with her subordinates, because she trusts her own judgment and the professionalism of her subordinates , she can go to bed with her good friend's boyfriend, the reason has nothing to do with morality or love, just pure physical needs, she can lie on the bed with her best friend and kiss each other, the slightly overkill is just because she can't help holding her mother's ashes After quarreling with his son, after getting angry, he disperses his mother with the wind and fulfills his mother's dying request. All he sees is his father's icy corpse. He didn't cry or tear. He lowered his head and whispered: Because I came, you died. (I always feel that the translation of this sentence is a bit problematic and not coherent) This is a kind of power, a kind of power to be yourself, but sometimes being yourself becomes an unforgivable sin in the eyes of some straight men who fall into the abyss of death. . I have always liked rational people, and I have always admired people who would prepare sober tea and stomach medicine before getting drunk.
Throughout the whole film, it can be divided into three levels to understand.
The first is the contradiction and identity with the original family. This woman, she underestimated her father's sins, and was used to her mother's unrestrained fearlessness. What is she looking for, she is looking for the conclusion of blood, she is looking for a reason, a person's original family is impossible to choose and crucial, Michelle on the one hand has a touch of hatred and helplessness towards her father and mother, On the other hand, even though she rebuilds and has her current life, she did not change her name, she avoided it, and her strong heart came from self-acceptance.
The second is the relationship with the society. I understand the tricks of my subordinates, see through the secret of my lover, see through the innocence of my ex-husband, and understand the childishness of my son. When she said to her only best friend, "Shame didn't stop me from doing anything", she was very calm about sex, it happened just because "I want it" and that's it. In this relationship, she divorced her ex-husband due to a "domestic violence" even though the husband made it clear that it was the thing he regretted the most. This shows Michelle's strong attitude and self-respect in the contractual relationship of marriage. This respect is both personal and physical. You have touched my bottom line. Even if you are the person I love, you are still There will never be a sloppy separation. This confidence comes from independence, belief and self-responsibility. After ending the "bed partner" relationship, I took the initiative to tell my best friend that I was a mistress, and explained the reason for watching with a cold eye. I don't know where this calmness and reason come from, but in my eyes, I appreciate this approach. "The choice between "good" and "goodness" comes first, and "goodness" that loses the truth is often hypocrisy. I admit my outrageous and absurd actions, and leave the choice to you. This friend, do you want it or not? How do you deal with your feelings, the right lies with you, this is my respect for you, and it is also my commitment to what I have done.
The last relationship with yourself. We have been taught since childhood that it is shameful to think that desire is bad, especially when it comes to "sex", girls are absolutely ashamed to reveal their desire and curiosity about "sex". Michelle has sexual fantasies about Patrick next door. This high-quality, handsome and mysterious man attracts her, but after the rape, disgust and liking are distorted and morbidly intertwined, a scene between adults. The tacit game was quietly happening beside the two of them, and the mental state of the perpetrator was truly seen. Injury, violence, control, and sexual distortion are blurred together, just like the sexually suggestive game developed by their company, a violent and ugly monster, a hot girl, full of attacking and beating all kinds of perverted SM , The two parallel lines of game and reality, under the supervision of her boss, formed an intersection, and it was also full of irony, mockery, and metaphor. The final ending may be a standard that many people identify with feminism. Every male character is wretched, weak and incompetent, and each bears the ending of being abandoned like sandals. As if hinting at the end of something and the coming of something.
What is an independent woman? Maybe that's it, independent, persevering, self-sufficient. She will not succumb to desire because of being raped physically, nor will she be cowardly and weak because of psychological hatred, and she will not break down and cry because she is raped by monsters in the game world because of the bad taste of her subordinates. She is frank and candid. , accept the existing reality, have no complaints about the injustice of fate, have no unrealistic fantasies, hide the weakness of the possibility of victory, in front of reason and facts, raise your head, straighten your waist and tell people, this is life The thing is, when you don't feel like you have anything, it really doesn't matter.
In the end, such an actor as Huppert deserves the praise that people praise for this film. It is said that when Verhoeven was looking for an actress in Hollywood for "Her", all first-line actresses refused to play the role, only Huppert After seeing it, he readily agreed. It can be said that Huppert made "Her". In the first second of the movie, you won't remember that this is Yu Peier, and the rest is only Michelle, a beautiful, sexy, independent and lonely middle-aged female figure, full and rich, with detailed processing, facing different People's different expressions and movements, her expression has a temperament of indifference to life and sharp coexistence, neurotic but also sober, determined and confused, that expression is a manifestation of the common inner lines of contemporary people. The traces and wrinkles left by the years on this beautiful woman have become her weapons. Her experience and her story are fascinating and irresistible. Although I didn't win in Cannes, I hope I can gain something in other film festivals. Such an actor deserves all the applause.
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