Speaking of multiple personalities, or an actor playing several people with different personalities,
You may be a little tired of it, whether it's "Split" adapted from "24 Billy".
It is still the domestic drama "Chasing the Murderer in the White Night" with the most American drama temperament——
From obedience to insipidity, it seems that this kind of acting can no longer make our jaw drop.
But this new American drama may make you change your opinion——
relative universe
Counterpart
What kind of show is this?
My positioning is: suspense and brain-burning science fiction .
"Relative Universe" uses relatively simple sci-fi thinking to build another layer of universe in a universe that is built on top of the physical world.
Make people discover the existence of other universes and connect with them.
Compared with hard science fiction like "The Martian", "Relative Universe" is obviously weaker in terms of science, but the intensification of suspenseful scenes can even make you immersed in it, and you can't stop.
Before watching the play, it is necessary to introduce the protagonist of the play -- J. K. Simmons .
He was a late bloomer, and even among American audiences, he almost finished his life in obscurity.
Around the age of 60, JK's career can only be described in three words - soy sauce .
"Jobs", "Terminator: Genesis", "La La Land" and "Justice League", he has participated in as many as 109 works that have been released, but most of them play some little-known small roles.
Like Commissioner Gordon,
He even dubbed "Kung Fu Panda 3" and "Zootopia". You may still remember the mayor of the lion who showed his face.
Before the age of 60, perhaps the most familiar character to Chinese audiences was the newspaper boss in "Spider-Man 3", and the emoji that swept the world was himself.
Outbreak, in 2014. With the polishing of his acting skills, he, like Wu Mengda, slowly entered the field of vision of ordinary audiences.
Just at the age of 60, JK won the Oscar, the Golden Globe Award, and the New York Film Critics Association Award with Fletcher in "The Burst Drummer ".
If you think that the manic old man in "Booming Drummer" still can't explain his acting skills,
So today's "Relative Universe", in my opinion, is enough!
Come see the drama.
The first episode begins with a thrilling murder case.
A killer named Baldwin disappeared after killing everyone in an entire house, leaving only a shivering prostitute at the murder scene.
As a result, men who are killers in habitual thinking are actually not. The killer pretended to be a prostitute and escaped, and the detective paid the price for his negligence with his life.
After that, the protagonist Howard (JK Simmons) appeared, this is a kind-hearted, amiable, harmless good man.
My usual hobby is just playing chess.
But it's always a result - always losing.
His work is even more boring.
Every day, after passing through layers of security checks, enter a special room that is tightly sealed, and recite specific words with the staff from the other side.
They were in closed cubicles, reading inexplicable words they didn't understand, and it wasn't hard to see that the job didn't pay well.
- I have a long way to go to work today
-Too hot today for riding
In the end, he used to buy a bunch of flowers every day after get off work to see his wife who was in a car accident six weeks ago and was bedridden and unconscious.
Uncle Huo's life was a failure, at least it seemed.
For decades, he has been doing this job of "reading characters" for 30 years. He has also worked in the interface department (equivalent to a front-line worker) until there is a vacancy in the strategy department, and he proposes to increase his value, but he is slapped by his boss. A taunt--
If I could get a promotion, I would have been promoted already.
Business is not going well, what about life?
His wife suffered a disaster, and his brother-in-law had a trouble with him, hoping to bring his wife back to her parents' home for retirement, which was equivalent to taking away his only concern.
A real loser in reality is as miserable as Uncle Huo.
Don't want to, just a few days later, it will usher in a change.
The next day, Uncle Huo went to work and found that his card was no longer available, so he was taken to a small dark room by the security guard.
Witnessed by Aldridge, the head of the Interior Department, and his young boss, Quill, who rejected him, he was stunned by what he saw. A man in a black hood sat opposite him, uncovered his hood,
He saw himself.
Moreover, compared with the submissive self, the other self seems to have the air of a king. His words are sonorous, his words are powerful, and his actions are decisive, and he seems to be a big man.
In the end what happened?
The plot after that is left to everyone to see for themselves. However, the core concept of "Relative Universe" finally appears here, and it is also one of the most successful highlights of the drama structure- Relative Universe .
Multiverse is a very broad concept. Scientists refer to the sub-universes under the multiverse as " parallel universes ".
When this concept prevailed, it was about the same age as JK, and under the rendering of various science fiction and comics, the concept of parallel universes became more and more blurred.
In Marvel's comics, there are many versions of parallel universes——
The Spider-Man parallel universe includes almost all possible versions of "Spider-Man", including Werewolf Spider-Man, Octopus Spider-Man, Shadow Spider-Man, Scarlet Spider-Man, Spider-God...
In a general sense, the parallel universes recognized by the public are the nine types divided by the famous American physicist and superstring theorist Dr. Brian Green in "Hidden Reality - What Are Parallel Universes".
"Relative Universe" happens to be a coincidence. In order to avoid the complexity and loss of control in the setting, and at the same time so that the audience will not spend too much brain cells on the story structure, it chooses the simplest way - copying .
To use the explanation of the characters in the play, during the Cold War 30 years ago, during a scientific research experiment, scientists accidentally opened a channel, which leads to another identical earth.
This earth is the relative universe.
But over time, the paths of the two worlds have become different from the moment they parted, despite the same historical events and even the same people.
The unit that Uncle Huo works for is actually equivalent to a "lid" at the junction of the two worlds, a mysterious institution that exists in both worlds.
Their daily job is to exchange information between the two worlds through disorderly everyday language (similar to Morse code),
Simultaneously detect the balance between the two worlds, organize and manage the affairs between the two worlds, and achieve relative stability and balance between the two worlds.
The advantages of this setting not only highlight the mystery of the management agency and the ambiguity of its authority, it is convenient to make a fuss in the plot,
In both worlds, it is stipulated that the world cannot communicate with each other. Unless people from one world go to the other world, unless they apply for an official visa, it is a serious crime and is not protected by any international law.
This highlights the " suspenseful temperament " of the series. After all, the story is triggered by the collision of the same characters in different worlds. They are in the gray area of legal or illegal, doing some unknown things,
This happens to be a special seasoning for audiences who like suspense and science fiction at the same time.
Because the moment the fork begins, the two universes become different, so although both universes have the same people and things, the more time passes, the less they have in common.
For example, 30 years later, the development levels of the two worlds are not at the same level.
In the second universe from Uncle Huo, the agent has already used the iPhone 12 (don't ask me how I know, I saw it from the length)——
But the first universe where Uncle Huo is located is still in the era of "big head" monitors and mechanical typewriters——
Is the setting interesting?
Don't worry, what's more interesting is the characters.
The most brain-burning and suspenseful thing in "Relative Universe" is not how grand the structure is, but the rich details, everything is not as simple as it seems.
In short, the plot you see with your eyes is only a superficial phenomenon.
If you don't use your heart and your brain, you won't be able to find any of those attractive details .
Starting from the protagonist, Uncle Huo, a good man in the first universe, and Uncle Huo, a shrewd spy in the second universe.
Although they look the same, their experiences are very different. Uncle Huo has been inactive for 30 years, but Uncle Huo is already an elite class.
Uncle Huo's wife suffered a car accident and was unconscious, but Uncle Huo's wife had died of cancer.
The series uses this method to explain the reasons for their vast differences in their lives-
- The difference between you and me may be because at a certain moment, a little thing, went the wrong way
- Or go right
In addition to experience, tastes and personalities are also different.
Uncle Huo likes listening to music, but Uncle Huo doesn't catch a cold at all.
Pushing back, you will find that Uncle Huo actually lied.
Back in the second universe, he sat down with Uncle Huo from the first universe almost at the same time and listened to the same piece of music - "The Dark End of The Street".
Listening to the music, Uncle Huo hummed along with the corner of his mouth.
At the same time, in the first universe, Uncle Huo also used the same posture, the same action, and drank a glass of whiskey.
The key is that at this moment, the two are so similar, so similar, that you can't see it without your care.
In his personality, Uncle Huo is really a good man, is he really as gentle and kind as he is on the surface?
Neither nor nor.
Uncle Huo, who lied about his wife's death, was only superficially strong.
Believe me, the one who really has a city government is the good old Uncle Huo.
From the two details, it can be seen that the screenwriter has dug a bit deep.
First, play chess .
"Relative Universe" adds the elements of Go to the plot, which can be said to add the color of integral philosophical speculation to the story. At the same time, it also makes the character of Uncle Huo unfathomable.
Go is a high-IQ zero-sum game. Between games, you can see what kind of person a chess player is.
Uncle Huo likes to play chess with a young man who is not working in his spare time, and every time he loses.
The young man was puzzled, and Uncle Huo replied like this—
Young people ask-
You are too kind, so the ending is always the same, and sometimes I think you are deliberately letting go.
Uncle Huo showed a mysterious smile——
How can that teach you the truth?
We can at least get one piece of information about this detail - in terms of pure chess skills, Uncle Huo is like a sweeping monk, far ahead of young people.
It's just that this kind of showing weakness and reluctance to lose is completely a "set" or, to put it nicely, a "class".
Just like their conversation about choices and life after the chess game is over——
Uncle Huo: Is life just a collection of our choices, and these choices define us?
Young man: Who we are has nothing to do with choices, there is only one outcome in this game of chess.
Uncle Huo: You are too young.
A person who can do the boring work of " reading characters " for 30 years is definitely not easy.
Seeing this gave me a chill.
The second is the arresting process of the killer .
Uncle Huo's wife Emily is the target of the killer from the second universe. Uncle Huo is going to pretend to be Uncle Huo to capture the enemies of his universe.
When the two were talking, Uncle Huo obtained the most crucial piece of information: the killer would give up when he saw the slightest difference.
When he told Uncle Huo about his words and deeds when he visited the hospital, he started with the trivial and irrelevant "reading", and the most obvious "buying flowers" habit was not mentioned at all.
It wasn't until the way to the hospital that Uncle Huo " suddenly remembered ", got off the car and bought a bunch of flowers to make up for his habit.
These words and deeds seem to imply that buying flowers is just a trivial matter.
When Uncle Huo got off the car and was about to walk into the hospital, Uncle Huo temporarily told the other side the name of the nurse on duty - since he was able to mention the nurse carefully, he couldn't forget the details of inserting a flower.
Sure enough, Uncle Huo, who Second Uncle Huo pretended to be, behaved strangely——
And the killer finally escaped because of this detail.
Many people don't understand why Uncle Huo makes a difference to help the murderer who tried to kill his wife.
At least from the plot behind, this behavior has two deep meanings.
First of all, the killer will escape when he detects something strange, which is undoubtedly the safest way to save his wife's life;
Secondly, if the killer doesn't die, he still has use value, he has value, and everything he wants can be obtained through "value". For example, he immediately proposed a promotion after the incident——
Deep and old, I think this "good old man" must be a big man,
And, it doesn't have to be decent.
A hunch told me that when Uncle Huo first saw another self, he had already planned a chess game in his heart.
And this little "intentional" is just a part of the whole chess game.
After watching the protagonist, come to the supporting role, Killer Baldwin (real name Nadia).
Why would you say her? Because she is the second person to go from the second universe to the first universe and meet another person.
In the plot, Nadia of the second universe, cold-blooded and cruel, did not hesitate when she received the order to kill herself.
But they, who have similar childhood experiences, have more in common than the two Howards.
They would beat the drums that their father used to beat while thinking at the same time,
They all like to be barefoot and have a melancholy personality—
When the white-clothed Nadia of the first universe died next to the killer Nadia, the latter, who had plausible words, suddenly panicked and was captured.
Whether it is the protagonist or the supporting role, it is not difficult to see where the screenwriter's mind lies - different universes, the same personality .
From the title of the magnificent Go game metaphor, it seems that the majestic momentum of the drama can be read.
There is a game between people and people, and there is a game between the world and the world.
The butterfly effect caused by a small event exists in both worlds,
The so-called intercommunication between the universes is nothing more than a game of great powers between countries. In the third episode, this negotiation is almost exactly the same as the negotiation between countries——
A large-scale war seems impossible, but the Cold War, spies, second rounds, negotiations, small conflicts and small conflicts seem to herald some kind of big trend.
From the general scene display of the title "Inception" to the fusion of symmetrical spaces, it seems to be telling the final direction of the two worlds.
Thinking of an old Chinese saying, "A long time together will divide, and if you divide a long time, you will reunite ", plus the relative cosmic story that happened in Germany, there is reason to believe that the final outcome may be similar to the direction of East Germany and West Germany - different worlds, the same ending .
Although it is possible to infer the ending of the story, the influence of each same character on the plot,
and the ultimate way for the two worlds to come together,
It is still a complex social, philosophical, ethical, political, and human nature issue.
The episode is not over yet, the suspense left by the screenwriter seems to need more brain cells,
But when I come across such a good drama, I really can't stop.
How about you?
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