One need not be a chamber to be haunted.
You need to visit the secluded room to experience the mental torture.
One need not be a house.
No need to go to the dark house,
The brain has corridors surpassing
Material place.
Thought can take you through it.
—Emily Dickinson
Through a poem by the famous American poetess Dickinson, let us slowly walk into the world of Grace and appreciate the style of the new Canadian drama "Alias Grace".
Canadian drama "Alias Grace"
Genre: Crime, Drama
Main cast: Sarah Gadon (as Grace), Edward Holcroft (as Simon)
Story Overview: Starting from whether the maid Grace murdered her employer, explore the cause and effect of the entire murder
Release Date: September 25, 2017 in Canada, a total of six episodes (completed)
As a high-scoring work completed last month, "Alias Grace" brings people not only a suspenseful feast, but also a spiritual cleansing. When the finale sounded, the scene after scene reappeared in my mind, lingering for a long time.
For the next time, please allow me to take you all to enjoy and analyze this fascinating series.
I, the original
Following the release of "The Handmaid's Tale" in April this year, another novel "Double Grace" by Canadian author Margaret Atwood has been pushed to the screen. The high-end works of female themes once again ushered in a burst of applause from the audience!
(Note: Margaret Atwood, an old woman who can be called the "Queen of Canadian Literature", enjoys a high reputation in the industry for her solid literary foundation, elegant context description, and profound connotation thoughts.)
II, mood
"Yi" is the unity of emotion and reason, and "jing" is the combination of form and spirit. This work has achieved the ultimate in these two aspects, which can be called perfect.
"Emotional Reason", as the name suggests, refers to the expression of emotions and the catharsis of emotions in the works. Although for a long time, Grace always spoke her past with a calm and composed look, but from the constantly interspersed memories, we can clearly see Grace's emotional changes.
Fear, sadness, worry, despair, these feelings became more pronounced after she saw Mary pass away (due to an abortion).
"Xingshen", to put it more bluntly, is to listen to the lines in the film and watch the pictures in the video.
The literary lines and dialogues perfectly portray the heroine's calm, restrained, restrained, and other characteristics, which are very classical and poetic.
On the screen, like the dialogue between Grace and Simon, it is elegant and gentle, there is no extreme coldness or the scorching heat of the scorching sun, everything is light and just right.
III, female
This is an excellent work on a female subject. Most of the film is spent in Grace's self-reporting - conversations, memories, silences, reflections... (cycle and repeat)
The director tells the story of a maid to the audience through a woman's point of view and from a woman's point of view, and then, through the story itself, shows people the living conditions of Canadian women in the mid-19th century.
Mary Harron (director) used the language of the camera lens, combined with the strong "feminist" trend of thought in the original work, to strongly accuse the injustice and indifference of women in the society at that time in her own unique way .
① Revealing that women had low social status at that time and had no right to speak.
② It shows the loss and dissatisfaction of women in a society dominated by men.
③ Criticize the wave of "female" commercialized culture.
IV, sin
What is sin?
Evil thoughts, fornication, theft, murder, adultery, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, envy, slander, pride, arrogance (Mark 7:21-22)
The list of actions listed above are "sin"!
After clarifying the basic concepts, come back to this work. In addition to the main event in the plot, "the maid Grace and the stablemate James conspired to brutally kill the employer Thomas and the mistress and housekeeper Nancy" ( homicide ), are there any hidden crimes? have!
①The greed of the nobles
Winning the trust of the maid through false pretense (gentlemanship, money offensive), and then leaving after everything is over, what Mary experienced is a good example.
② Jealousy among women
Nancy noticed that her employer, Thomas, took special care of Grace, which made her very dissatisfied. She felt that her position would one day be replaced, so her jealousy grew.
All of these are fermented in "sin", and eventually make people fall into "the snare of sin."
V, Revelation
I don't know how many viewers found out the truth of the case after watching this drama?
Is Grace the murderer? Or an accomplice? The author does not know.
In my opinion, the broken, residual information simply cannot lead to substantial conclusions! But from another point of view, the arrangement of the plot may be the highlight of this work (the director made it deliberately), which is intended to insinuate the deep connotation through the case itself (such as the "women's social status", "women's social status" mentioned above). The wrong idea that men are superior to women”, “the trend of thought on the rise of women”, etc.), used to enlighten contemporary people (“innate human rights, all people are equal”).
Finally, I also end this review with a text by Emily Dickinson.
Ourself, behind ourself concealed,
the self hidden under the surface,
Should startle most;
is the most terrifying;
Assassin, hid in our apartment,
Assassin hiding in the house,
Be horror's least.
But the least threatening.
—Emily Dickinson
Director ★★★★★ (perfect interpretation of the original, highly ornamental and ideological)
Actor ★★★★★ (Sarah Gadon has completely brought the protagonist Grace to life, her inner activities, her helplessness and depression about reality, and her longing and expectation for the future are wonderfully performed)
Plot ★★★★★ (Double lines. Main line 1: 1859, Grace and Simon's dialogue; main line 2, 1843, Grace's memory)
Visual effects ★★★★★ (beautiful, fresh, atmospheric, elegant)
Sound effects ★★★★☆ (ED is great, BGM tunes are melodious, but unfortunately the frequency is low)
Recommendation ★★★★★ (a series of female-themed dramas with a strong literary flavor, recommended to all friends who love literature, film, and art)
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