Louis suddenly returned to his hometown to reunite with his family after leaving home for 12 years, bringing the news that he was about to pass away. The suspicion and censure of his family made him breathless, however, this was just a family dinner.
"It's Only the End of the World" is a very emotional film, and
Dolan fills in all the blanks with a lot of dialogue and a lot of close-ups to fill the entire screen: it feels very oppressive.
Because this is the end of the world.
The so-called "end of the world" may be a near death for Louis, but more accurately, a family gathering after 12 years away from home.
The shady scene before the film started has actually come to a conclusion for the play: suffocation.
The voices of people talking are squeaking, filling almost all the gaps that can make people breathe. The whole film is 99 minutes long, and there is an unusually large amount of dialogue. Only when the music is played, there is a short gap.
The fast and noisy way of speaking of the actors, coupled with a lot of dialogue, make the rhythm of the film extremely fast, and therefore it is easy for the audience to get confused and come to the end: because, Louis is the same, Or in fact, the whole family is just like us, all in the same confusion.
Louis has not been home for 12 years, and everything in the house is familiar but unfamiliar: the family treats him like a guest, neatly dressed, specially groomed, and special meals.
The family knew almost nothing about Louis' current situation. In the face of Louis' sudden visit, everything in the family was presented like a play. Before leaving, the mother's curtain call line was: "Next time we will prepare better. ."
This time, the nervous family dinner was like a drama, a drama that was not prepared. The family members played their own roles, but there was almost no interaction.
Although there are many, many conversations, almost all of them are meaningless quarrels: they all talk but forget to listen.
And the reason why Louis left home may be that he can only become a trash can for his family's emotions, like playing the role of a father: he can only listen and never speak.
I remember a scene, in a room, the mother hugged her son tenderly, but she was talking about the script of the role that Louis should play in this play.
Perhaps Louis' existence or non-existence does not mean much to these family members: so you may be able to find that during this visit, Louis' eyes were actually helpless, and he accidentally participated like a wandering spirit. for this family dinner.
The pictures of clocks and watches appeared many times, and Louis was waiting: waiting for the gap, waiting for the right time to tell his family that he would die soon; also waiting for the time to come, he can say goodbye to this family forever.
In fact, in real life, the situation of Louis may be frequently played out by someone.
At this family reunion, Louis's lines are pitiful, he just keeps listening; but as a viewer, I know he has a very important message: he is about to say goodbye to the world.
However, from the moment he got home, Louis was listening to insignificant conversations, arguing about trivial matters, and receiving overflowing emotions, which were so insignificant compared to the news of his impending death.
Louis has no outlet, and neither does the viewer.
During these 99 minutes, it was difficult for me, because I had never experienced such a life; but how many people, "home" is not a safe haven for them, but a pressure, they have already lived countless 99 minutes .
The most impressive scene is that
Louis took his brother Antoine's car on his way to buy cigarettes. After experiencing the bombardment, Dolan used a slow motion to light a cigarette from Louis, take a deep breath, slowly exhale, and finally A shot of a cigarette butt falling on the grass.
I like this shot very much, it's like an outlet, Louis wants to tell his family about his impending death, but he doesn't mention it until he walks out of the house. I felt very impatient and helpless, and the slow motion seemed to help Louis to find a short exit for me. Watching him take a deep breath, I also took a deep, deep breath, As soon as the breath came out, the mood seemed to be really relaxed.
In fact, from the beginning to almost the end, I always felt that Antoine, played by Vincent Cassel, was just messing around. He was very hysterical and always said things that were very irrelevant but would destroy the atmosphere. To be honest, such people are in Probably a troublesome figure in the family.
But until the last moment, his explosive performance surprised me: it turned out that he was the one who knew the most. Although Louis didn't say anything, he knew that something must happen, and it was a serious thing; In order to protect his family, he did not want his mother and sister to be stimulated, so he desperately asked Louis to leave as soon as possible.
It was really at the last moment that I started to admire Antoine. Although the whole family reunion, he seemed to be in a mess, but maybe he just knew that something was wrong, and he wanted to stop Louis from saying some amazing things.
Home is warm to some and not to others; but in any case, we all know the role we have to play at home.
Louis selfishly abdicated his duties and ran away from the home, and all Antoine did was to maintain the broken home, he wanted to stop Louis' selfishness, he had to stop the news of Louis' death from breaking the home into pieces.
Maybe everyone has their own difficulties, just like everyone has a role to play in the family and society.
I suddenly began to think about the title of the movie "It's Only the End of the World", I don't know what kind of tone it was, and who said it from.
I think it may be reasonable to say such words from Louis' mouth. After saying these words without being responsible, he set off for his home, as if to comfort himself.
How about you?
I don't know if you have ever thought about the tone of this sentence, and who said it.
But after thinking about it, I seem to be saying things like this all the time!
He probably said this with an irresponsible attitude. It was like a group report when he was a student, and he never participated in the discussion and production with enough attention. In the end, he always said something leisurely: "Anyway, the result is the result. Well, it's neither high nor low, so why take it seriously?"
In this way, I seem to understand Louis's mood,
but what kind of mood should I use to face Louis who is about to die? Is it to pity his family that has not given him an outlet? Or hate him for running away from home for 12 years?
[Impressions on the second brush]
I really like this movie very much, and I like it to the limit.
So no matter what I write, it will probably release a message of "hurry up and watch it"; but at the same time, I also understand that the reception of this film is not so wide, which is really contradictory!
But I think I will still choose to recommend everyone to watch this movie, after all, how blue it is, it is necessary to watch it anyway.
Two years ago, I watched Duo Lan's work "Dear Mummy". At that time, I really thought it would be Duo Lan's favorite in my life, and that work was probably the peak of Duo Lan, right?
Whether it's the picture, the music selection, the movement of the camera, the performance of the actors, etc., they are all perfect, at least I still like it very much after watching it 5 times; and when the news of "It's Only the End of the World" was released, I was also full of Looking forward, I didn't expect this film to be selected as the worst film this year by the Cannes Film Festival. Of course, I was surprised, but at the same time, as a brain fan, I was very curious about how bad Duolan can make a film.
But after I reviewed this film for the second time, the question I came up with was: why? I don't understand why this movie is so bad?
Aside from being a brain fan, I was really moved by this film.
I don't have a similar family background or similar role experience, but I am very moved. Such a move was not given to me by "Dear Mummy" (and I did not get a similar move in other movies).
So anyway, I hope you can watch this movie.
In my opinion, "It's Only the End of the World" is much better than "Dear Mummy", and it is also one of the must-see movies in my opinion this year.
The most accurate statement is probably poisoning, really poisoning and addicting.
After the last movie viewing experience, I can't seem to see the family from the perspective of the protagonist Louis; to be precise, I began to see the story from the perspective of my brother Antoine.
Suddenly, I understood all Antoine's actions, and the predicament of the family: if it were me, I probably wouldn't be able to forgive Louis for suddenly leaving without saying goodbye.
In some vague memory fragments, it can be found that the relationship between Louis and his brother used to be very close, but perhaps after Louis's unannounced farewell, all this changed.
And the reason why Louis ran away from home was probably because he didn't want to be responsible.
Impressively,
in a dark room, Mom and Louis had a "conversation".
As mentioned earlier, I think this family reunion is a "playbook" where everyone has a role to play, and so does Louis.
And in that "conversation", Louis was told the role he had to play: Dad.
Mom said many, many reasons to ask Louis to take responsibility for this role. She wanted Louis to play this role well and to encourage brother Antoine and sister Suzanne, because this is what a "dad" must do.
"Everyone needs a pusher in this life."
A pusher is usually responsible. Louis didn't want to take on such a responsibility. He didn't want to have to play this role just because he inherited his father's literary talent. Responsibility.
But looking back, why does each of us need to be "allowed" when making choices?
If we already have something we want to do, why do we need a "push-hand" to "allow" us to do what we want to do?
Why does one's "power" need to be given?
If
Antoine wants to go to the city, why can't he go?
Suzanne wants to live a new life somewhere else, why can't she go?
Why does it have to be a person's permission before our rights can be practiced?
Doubt? Are you afraid?
Or is it just that everyone doesn't want to bear the consequences of their choices? No one wants to be responsible.
If Antoine fails in the city and goes back to his hometown, he can have an excuse: because I'm allowed, it doesn't matter if I fail.
If Suzanne's new life also ends in failure, she can also have an excuse when she returns to her hometown: because I was allowed, it's okay to fail.
At this point, the culprit of failure becomes the man who empowered them, Louis.
I suddenly understood why I liked this story and this movie so much,
probably because I and Louis are the same, we don't want to be responsible, we are both equally selfish.
We all want to live a quiet life, and we don’t want to be bothered or taken care of. What we want is that kind of life, and “home” cannot give such a life.
"Home" is a wonderful structure. Emotional relationships are not necessarily close, but everyone has certain responsibilities to every family member. Home is such an existence.
And Antoine and Suzanne both knew they had such an obligation, so even if they hated the home, they still stayed to guard the place called "home"; but Louis didn't, because he didn't want to, so he ran away.
The film has a lot of hints that Louis wants to get out of this place quickly.
Like a hug with his mother in a dark room, Louis did not enjoy the long-lost hug, but stared out the window from time to time;
there are many pictures of Louis staring at the clock or watch, he is waiting, when the time comes, then escape.
It wasn't just Louis,
the whole family wanted to escape the house.
Duolan's music selection is still superb,
accurately point out the predicament of this home: For this family, "home" is not a safe haven.
Everyone wanted to run away, but only Louis was cruel enough to fly away alone.
Antoine's final explosion made me feel very distressed. One of the shots first focused on Antoine's face and then slowly moved to his fist. The scarred fist shows how much pressure Antoine is under. He should have done it many times. Use your fists to release the stress that has built up in your heart.
I still remember that Suzanne once mentioned that everyone in their family has feelings for Louis: it is a kind of worship.
Each of them has their own way
of collecting Louis. Suzanne collects the postcards sent by Louis, and
mother collects Louis' clothes and sundries.
What about Antoine? Probably a memory.
And collecting memories is the hardest, those are the ones that happened and no longer have.
Because of this, Antoine probably doesn't have self-confidence in the face of his younger brother. For Louis' leaving home, Antoine may have already taken this responsibility on himself.
That's why Antoine thinks that Louis has no interest in his business: this reunion, as long as it talks about Antoine, will be interrupted - because he doesn't want his brother to hear about him, boring things matter.
Whether it is an "idol-like worship" emotion or "being a family member that has to love", in this family, it can only be an unsolved problem.
They both loved and hated Louis, and the longer Louis was away from home, the harder it was for them to digest it.
It was still that dark little room, and the emotion between mother and son was strong but estranged:
In order to hug Louis, the mother sprayed perfume and asked him to smell it, so that he could hug his son who had not seen him for 12 years.
"I don't know you, but I love you, and my mother loves you. No one can replace my mother's love for you." It
sounds like a particularly ironic remark. The excessive love can only be expressed through words in the end.
Just like the family, those deep-seated emotions couldn't be communicated in a way that understood each other, and in the end there were only meaningless conversations and yelling.
I still remember that at the beginning of the movie, Louis was sitting on a plane to his hometown, and a child covered Louis's eyes with his hands.
This story, this family, seems to be blinded: everyone is blinded by the excessively strong emotions, so that they can never sort out these tangled emotions.
Home again after 12 years, Louis has tasted the ups and downs, but the news of his impending death has never been revealed, the only person who knows is probably the bystander Catherine.
Before Louis left, he gestured "Shh!" to Catherine.
This kind of news is probably very out of date for this family, so treat it as a secret, keep it in time and in that whole house. In the cuckoo clock that strikes the time,
no matter what, it is the end of the world!
[Three impressions]
For the first time, I watched this film from the perspective of Louis;
the second time, I watched this film from the perspective of my brother Antoine;
the third time, I finally watched this film as an outsider movie too.
So, I cried so badly.
At the same time, I understand the reason why Louis left the house and the reason why Antoine ran away,
but I don't understand why this family has become like this.
Such a situation is unfair to anyone: they have lost their most reliable safe haven, "home", so where can they go to unarmed?
For Louis, "home" is the place he has been running away from. He is afraid of this place and the family.
"There are many motives in life that belong only to me."
This time he came home because he wanted to be the master of his life, at least once, before leaving.
Many times, a person is more courageous.
Louis resolutely went away, and the motive was his own; and when he came home and faced no longer just a person's business, he could only wait.
Everything became passive. The seemingly firm confession on the plane disappeared the moment Louis stepped into the house: those self-confidences built after leaving home were gradually shattered when they returned to "home".
No matter how much you waited for "news about to die," it was never the right time: because the family never gave each other a chance.
For Antoine, it certainly wasn't fair.
His younger brother left home suddenly, leaving him alone to carry all the responsibilities. Under the circumstances of unwillingness, his complaints against his younger brother could only deepen.
In the whole film, the most important segment is the explosion of Antoine at the end of the film: the original complicated relationship, Duo Lan also gave an answer at the end.
When Louis announces things at the dinner table, Dolan gives the actors a few hand shots. The shots of Antoine and Catherine holding each other are especially profound. When Louis gives Antoine the right to let him go and do what he wants to do, Dolan I gave each actor a close-up, that's Antoine's point of view, he's like a guy who takes full responsibility, he wants to keep this home, take care of this home, but after a few seconds, Louis says he's leaving , Antoine couldn't bear it any longer:
You gave me the right to do what I wanted, but you couldn't help me take responsibility, so how could I let go?
So Antoine went completely mad: he didn't want to act anymore, he wanted to shout out all the pressure he was under, his unfairness.
And Suzanne is probably the most innocent victim of this whole thing.
She didn't know anything except that she wanted to escape from here, from this home.
Her hobby is smoking marijuana, and in this place that doesn't feel like home at all, she can only numb herself.
And in this scene to welcome Louis home, she actually acted the best, she didn't dress up: because she and Louis had no relationship, acting was an easy thing for her.
In a scene of talking with Louis in the room,
Suzanne introduced the interaction with various members of the family. It sounds like a beautiful family, but the picture shows the unhappiness of getting along with her mother.
They are just creating an illusion, an illusion of a beautiful family, but in fact they are just trying to hide the most vulnerable part of their hearts.
From her mother Martine's pretending to be crazy and selling stupid, you can know that the temperature in this house is very cold. In order to make Louis feel a little regret, she tried hard to make the house lively and warm.
However, maintaining an "illusion" is not an easy task, because she has so many things to do that she can't focus on a good family drama.
She also knew that the show couldn't end in a perfect way, so before Louis left, she whispered in his ear, "Next time we'll be better prepared."
I couldn't stop crying when I heard that . Can't help it.
Then, the ending song plays
Sings Oh lordy
, trouble so hard.
Oh lordy, trouble so hard. Do
n't nobody know my troubles but god.
There is a way to solve it, and
in the end, their doubts can only be asked to God.
As mentioned before,
I think the only outsider Catherine knows about Louis' imminent death.
In a scene where Louis recalled the past in the room, Catherine suddenly asked, "How long?"
And at the end, before leaving, Louis gave Catherine a "shh!" gesture.
I suddenly felt that all this was very familiar.
We can always tell strangers all about ourselves, including secrets, easily;
but in the face of our family who know us best, we want to hide all the important things.
Perhaps, we are all Louis,
we remember all the important days about our family members, we know their habits, and we are most used to getting along with them,
but the us who remain in the memory of our family members are the most unreal us.
To a certain extent, "home" is probably like a cage, "responsibility" restrains each other's movements, and there is no escape.
After this movie, I heard the audience at the back discussing the complicated relationship between the family, so I decided to tell each character separately.
For me, it's a clarification.
The more I watched the movie, the more I felt that I was Louis, as if I could feel his helplessness, but just like the ending of this movie, these questions will be unsolved.
I can't understand the reason for my tears, maybe because I feel that these problems will eventually happen to me, and there will be a lot of unsolved problems in the future because of some responsibilities that I must take up.
Can I just walk away like Louis?
Or like the bird that is gradually losing its breath at the end of the film, trapped in this unsolved forever?
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