Florida Land was not prominent in the 90th Oscar nominations, and only Dafoe was nominated for Best Supporting Actor. This literary and artistic film from the perspective of children is enough to arouse people's endless emotions and reflections.
On one side of the wall is the dreamy Disneyland, and on the other side is the dilapidated motel Dreamland. Such a wonderful contrast constitutes an innate social contradiction, which makes the film reveal a helpless irony and sadness in its humor.
This film is cut from the perspective of children, and in the eyes of children such as Moni and Scuti, the purple house is undoubtedly a paradise-like existence, just like Joshua's concentration camp in "Life is Beautiful". They can play freely in it, share a delicious ice cream, or use the hard work of cleaning the car as a way to make friends, even if they are hard enough to eat leftover food from a fast food restaurant on an open-air table, they can still accompany them. happy dance in the sunset with music. The long shouting at the beginning of the film, the children playing with their friends, I wonder if it reminded you and me of the innocence of childhood at that moment. However, these children are contradictory. If the girl Deborah in "Once Upon a Time in America" is a pure and unstained image, the children in "Florida Paradise" are somewhat similar to the decadent and confused America in "Trainspotting" A scaled-down version of the younger generation. The outstanding performances of these child stars often make me feel that this is not a movie, but a real scene that is happening in a run-down motel on the side of the road in the United States. They grow savagely in adult society without shelter, so Mooney will curse recklessly, Scuti will secretly hide a lighter with a naked woman printed on it, and the three will eventually lead to an unknown but burnt one. The catastrophe of the house. These are not their fault, but a vicious circle from below. Recalling the beginning of the film, a few children were lying on the fence, spitting down to compete. It's not hard to recall the classic scene in "Titanic", Jack teaches Rose to spit on the deck, the seemingly disgusting act is full of romanticism and the radiance of human liberation, but watching the children renew Interpreting this bridge, I read out disillusionment and helplessness. But the director's brilliant point is that he didn't lose all the way. He told us through Janice's mouth that there is a golden elf at the end of the rainbow. Although it won't stay for too long, it is more worthy of our full pursuit. Money's other sentence was even more moving. She and Janice were sitting on the trunk of a crooked-neck tree eating sweet jam, and she said to Janice: "You know, this is me My favorite tree, because she fell down, but grew up." Just like the children who grew up in this motel had a rough childhood, it didn't prevent them from growing up and getting better in the end.
They are fallen trees, and it is this cruel adult society that brought them down, and the power for their final growth also comes from this. Because the film is cut from the perspective of children, the adult world has always been described in dark lines, and the cruelty and resistance behind the tip of the iceberg are slowly shown in the second half of the film. The film begins by focusing on the slightly morbid friendship between Mooney's mother, Halle, and Scooty's mother, Ashley. The relationship between the two can be said to be close at the beginning, but because there are too many entanglements of interests, they are not friends. As Mr. Lin Yutang said: If you want to end a friendship, just let him borrow money. "The fragile friendship between adults is also mostly based on mutual use. Ashley needs to work, so she has to submit her son Scu to the care of Harley, who has no stable financial resources, so she has to Living on the expired food that Ashley secretly delivered from the back door of the fast food restaurant. The only thing that makes people feel like a fly in the ointment is that Harley's slender figure does not match the living environment of the motel. Because most people at the bottom of the United States have money and can't buy it. Since he eats fresh fruits and vegetables, he mostly eats junk food to get by, and his body will naturally not be slim. The actor of Harley is an internet celebrity selected by director Hai, but in fact Harley is mostly those who look Some overweight women are right. When the conflict is not intensified, Halle and Ashley are good sisters who can talk about everything. However, when the colorful houses burn up in the raging fire, Scuti is panicked Ashley did not reflect on her lack of education in her son's education, but blamed all the faults on Harley and her daughter. After Harley came to the door to explain to no avail, she angrily went to the fast food restaurant and splurged, just to humiliate Ashley in person. But on the way home, Harley couldn't help but pack the food in her hand. Angrily fell to the ground, then hugged her head and cried. In her eyes, the only friend who could laugh and scold was gone, but she didn't know that in Ashley's eyes, she might just be as simple as the mother of Scout's playmate That's all. Because of that extravagant consumption and the lack of a source of food, Harley and Money's life has become more and more difficult, but she is still sticking to her bottom line, even if she sold the iPad, she did not deviate from herself. What he said in the job introduction at the beginning: "All I want is a normal job, not doing some messy things in the bathroom like other girls. "But when the security at the hotel easily stole her perfume in a golf cart, and when Money asked her inexplicably, "Mom, why don't we eat spicy sausage, you know I like it," she succumbed to life As the mother said to her daughter Yin Xia in "Mysterious Superstar": "You can make demands on me, but not for life. "Life is always the sword of Damocles hanging high in the adult world. It is crumbling, it is in danger. The director artistically handles or avoids the ugliness of life. We may know that the curtain goes out. Unbearable, but still more willing to believe in the innocence and childlikeness in front of him. Knowing the evil in the world makes you cherish the good in front of you. This is the only way to grow.
Living in the cruelty of the adult world and the innocence of the children's world, hotel manager Bobby seems to be a messenger between the two worlds, and to some extent the father in the motel. He said of the character: "I'm very happy to see this character in this film living a simple life like a hero, dealing with complex jobs like all of us wish we could do in our own work. It's the same." He would not allow the children to eat ice cream in the house, and would rage to drive away perverts who were trying to do bad things to the children. He wouldn't allow Harley's "stranger visitors", but still offered a helping hand when mother and son were down and out. It's not hard to see from his words with the porter that he also has his own story and a life he doesn't want to face, but it always warms my heart that the children were playing gun games in the hall, and he uncharacteristically didn't expel them, Instead, his right hand compared the gun and made an aiming action. The sun shone on his face, very warm.
"Florida Paradise" doesn't make an effect, or emphasize what it shows. As a viewer, I was not forced to accept any particular feeling. Everything is light, like the mist in the air in summer, but once it evaporates, it is also a cool breeze in the sweltering heat.
View more about The Florida Project reviews
