cut
I really like the abrupt ending of Tom's farm trip. When I first entered the film, I saw a large close-up shot of handwriting. The soft moans of writing and dictation were magnified, allowing the audience to feel the feeling of speaking on the opposite side. After writing the last word "replace you", all the sounds stopped abruptly, the screen jumped, and it was neat and tidy, grabbing the audience's heart all at once, allowing the audience to enter the world created by Dolan.
This editing technique is reflected in many places throughout the film. After Tom shouted whether there was anyone on the farm, the camera switched to the outside in a blink of an eye. Tom put his hands down on the table. But at this moment, the picture stopped abruptly, and the title "Tom on the Farm" appeared. This method seems to be incoherent, but in fact, it uses a documentary method to narrate the story, bringing the emotions of the characters and the events that happened to the audience.
light and shadow
This film once again reflects Dolan's aesthetics. This is Dolan's first suspense-thriller type film, so he also uses his superb grasp of light and shadow to create the film's atmosphere. The night when Tom first met his brother, he slept alone in the room, and a light shone on Tom's bed no more and no less. At this moment, Tom had been placed at the very edge of the camera, and the audience clearly felt a sense of anxiety. Spread, different from the general director who will directly choose high ISO to shoot this scene, Dolan skillfully used light and shadow to hit Tom on the body, not only creating an atmosphere of anxiety but also showing the background of the thriller movie that hit the Cannes Film Festival .
Different from Dolan's previous films, Dolan is trying his best to conceal his light and shadow and the edge of color. He no longer wants to show off his amazing talent in this area, but strives to make these serve the film and plot. This also shows that Dolan has the potential to make commercial films, but people just disdain to do lol.
ambiguous
This film is like Dolan's previous films. Gay is just an element of the film. It is integrated into life, not the selling point or the main discussion factor. Here I strongly question the claim that the United States has always claimed that "Love, Simon" is the first film that can bring gays into life.
In the film, the relationship between Tom and his brother goes far and near. The two have been testing each other in danger, and they both want to find a balance.
The first dangerous and ambiguous direct shot took place in the toilet (covering his face), Dolan didn't keep the audience waiting for a long time, the brother didn't try to cover up his behavior after the first night conflict, and went directly to the church again threatened Tom. In the face of the threat, Tom showed a strong sense of resistance. In such a small toilet space, it was difficult for the audience not to think about it. At this moment, the violence of his brother and Tom's resistance added to the ambiguous atmosphere. The dangerous atmosphere makes the audience excited and nervous, which Dolan also seems to want to convey throughout the film.
The danger of the second ambiguous shot escalates further, while the distance gets closer. The elder brother directly pushed Tom to the field. Tom was beaten with blood all over his mouth, and his body was covered with bloodstains like a knife cutting a bellflower during the harvest season. In addition, the application of large close-ups made violence and blood fill the whole picture. This danger is directly transmitted to the eyes of the audience.
On the other hand, this scene is extremely ambiguous and sexy. My brother is pressing on Tom's body. Although he is roaring, the distance between my brother and Tom is just one centimeter. Recently, this scene is the most directly violent and ambiguous scene in the whole film, but at this moment neither of them know that they want to find peace in this danger, Tom wants to escape and faces oppression, and brother wants to surrender In the face of resistance, the distance between them was narrowed.
In the third ambiguous shot, my brother takes Tom to experience the life on the farm. Dolan hints at every ambiguous moment and makes it clear at every moment that my brother is not gay, and their relationship is not based on eroticism and mutual attraction. When Tom's hands were full of blood, his brother said if he wanted to help you, but he wouldn't take his hand to help him wash it. Helping you is ambiguous, and distance is your position.
In front of Tom, the elder brother took off his shirt and put on a vest, revealing his hard-covered body. This was ambiguity and temptation, but he took out his red clothes and told Tom the girl's story. This was distance. The elder brother needs someone to share with this extremely boring and lonely farm life, and Tom wants to find someone to replace his dead lover (this is mentioned at the beginning of the film).
With the cut of a big scene, the color tone changed from daytime to an ambiguous goose yellow. Tom and his brother provoked a Gordon dance on the farm. The distance between the two people was infinitely close but they kept a polite distance. Keep shouting and kissing up, jumping down, but this is not going to happen, what Dolan wants to discuss is not a deep cabinet because Xiao Xianrou bravely faces the superficial reality of reality.
We can see that Tom's mentality has obviously changed at this time. Tom began to help him from his brother's position and wanted to stay by his side. Surprised to see the boring jokes Tom told his brother when his mother was standing at the door, he smiled and rounded up the scene. From this moment it is implied that Tom has found such a person to replace his dead lover. When the friend he invited later came to find Tom and wanted to take Tom away, it is not difficult to understand why he became so crazy, and instead threatened his friend not to leave, otherwise he would take her to the farmland, and now the wheat is like a knife It is generally cut, because he is already his brother's person, and he regards his brother as his sustenance and his company.
Summarize
Dolan is really a series that starts with appearance and ends with talent. I can't figure out why God gave appearance, talent, and luck to a small number of humans so generously.
The narrative method of this film is almost the same as Dolan's previous method, step by step, open-ended method throughout, but in this film, Dolan is obviously more able to control his talent and talent, and can remove the flashy things and leave behind. It is the essence of video service.
Tom and his brother can be said to have what they need. The brother can't stand the life on the farm. Tom's appearance gives him a glimmer of hope in his boring life. He wants to catch him, but he will express it rudely. Tom felt a part of himself was missing after his lover died, but his brother made him feel like he could make up for it. The story of the last rift still scared Tom away. At the moment when Tom fled at the end, the film vaguely appeared the scene of the boy in the rift, suggesting the reason why Tom left.
The author thinks that the ending is still a little bit of a cliché. We see how deep Tom is in this relationship. He is even willing to threaten friends who have come from afar for his brother, so why is such a story enough to make him retreat? A little bit can't stand scrutiny. The film is developed and discussed around this dangerous mutual sustenance, but ends in a thrilling film, which makes the audience slightly unsatisfied with the relationship and emotion discussed in the film.
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