In recent years, a new type of film has quietly emerged: the creators no longer use conventional lenses to present the picture, but through the perspective of various electronic devices such as mobile phones, computers, cameras, etc., in a very voyeuristic way, to Tell the story between the web and reality.
Perhaps the production company is not confident in the subject matter, so most of these films are wrapped in horror and horror. However, from the once obscure "Lair" to the recently popular "Unfriending" series, it can be seen that the audience's acceptance of such topics is gradually increasing.
So Barzleaf Productions, which had created the "Unfriend" series, saw that the time was right and decided to make a brand new film to change the stereotype that they would only produce third-rate horror films in the minds of the public.
After some investigation, they found Anish Chaganti, who has extensive short film experience. Although the 27-year-old director has never directed any feature films, his work experience in Google's innovation lab gave him a keen sense of the Internet. And the finished product he finally handed over was "The Internet Mystery", which set off a movie viewing craze in the North American film market in August.
The whole film is entirely based on the perspective of electronic devices, but it is not limited to mobile phones and computers. Surveillance footage, news footage, and all other conceivable media are cleverly used in the film. The superb editing techniques make the conversion of perspective more flexible and changeable, and will not make people feel tired.
Compared with other films of the same type, "The Internet Mystery" no longer regards such a unique narrative method as a gimmick, but as a tool to advance the plot. After taking off this coat, the story inside is still relatively solid.
The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year and won the Next Generation Audience Award. Critics praised it, with Rolling Stone calling it a "scalp-tingling suspense masterpiece" and Variety saying it showed the emotional core of people in the online world. And 92% freshness on Rotten Tomatoes is enough to make it stand out in many genres.
The film tells the story of David, played by John Zhao, after his daughter Margot disappeared, through the power of the Internet, step by step, collect clues, and find the process of his beloved daughter.
And the so-called power of the network, the foothold of the film is in the various social software that has been integrated into all aspects of our lives. Whether it is WeChat, Weibo, or Facebook and Twitter that are used by Chinese people, they are actually more or less witnesses of life. Young people who grew up with these softwares actually have traces of their lives.
The director seized on this, and thus constructed most of the mysteries in the film.
Like John Cho's father, we frantically opened up all kinds of social media, browsed information we had never seen before, and couldn't wait to get to know this girl. Under the fast soundtrack, the audience's heart beats faster, and the desire in their eyes keeps burning. The director uses the picture to play with the audience's psychology, which is also one of the most attractive parts of the film.
In addition, there are many remarkable things about the visual presentation of the film. At the beginning, the update of the operating system and the gradual increase of computer photo albums are used to show the passage of time, which not only fits the theme of the Internet, but also makes people feel a touch of warmth.
In the middle section, David's classification of different clues appears on the screen in the form of a concise and clear table, which is also very in line with his character as a man of science and technology. In text-messaging conversations, the characters occasionally delete a few lines of words they just typed and reorganize the language. Everyone must have experienced such a familiar scene.
With the deepening of the story, the perspective of the film is no longer limited to the Internet, but to examine the people in front of the screen through the eyes of the Internet. We can see the classmates who once said that they were completely unfamiliar with Margot, weeping in the spotlight and telling about their past friendship; but at the same time, there are more ordinary people who have never met Margot, actively providing clues, Time and again, the disappearance case is on the top of the hot search. In this way, human nature has been infinitely magnified in the online world.
It is a pity that in the second half of the film, the problem of the script is gradually exposed. Like most suspense films, the director's setting of suspense and clues is so directional that most reversals lose their original effect. The exciting process of finding the truth, combined with the ingenious graphics, is the main reason for the film's early success. But the revelation of the truth, in the murderer's self-report, lost the shock that it should have.
However, John Zhao's superb acting skills always support the walking of the story. In the film, he basically played a one-man show in front of the computer screen, but still contributed the best performance since the movie.
From the love for her daughter Daozizuidouxin at the beginning, to the anxiety and fear after confirming her disappearance, to the desperate anger and mania, and finally to the palpable joy when she found her daughter. Even if the emotional changes experienced by the characters have such a large span, his grasp is still very accurate.
At the end of the film, the picture freezes in the smiles of the father and daughter. The audience suddenly realized at this time that the essence of the film, as mentioned above, has always been the emotional core of people in the online world.
Like most fathers in real life, David is immersed in his own world all year round. He cares for the people around him, but never tries to understand their hearts. He thought he was familiar with his daughter, but in the end, when he was desperate, he realized that he didn't know this relative who was with him day and night at all.
But Margot couldn't get her father's real concern, but found someone who really understood her in the virtual Internet. She closed herself to the people around her and opened her heart to friends on the Internet. But it also led to tragedy.
Why do people who are clearly in front of you ignore it like this?
In such a movie full of network elements, the original intention of the creator is to let us open our eyes, return to reality, and spend more time with those around us. Compared with "Ready Player One", which instills the same philosophy, the way the film is handled is really more reasonable.
As a very experimental work, the film "Mystery on the Internet", although there are some mistakes in the play, it can be regarded as the ultimate play in form.
More importantly, the director used this small screen to deconstruct the online world, and also analyzed the people in front of the screen, and then called on the public to take root in reality, return to their families, and cherish the people around them.
Author | Fincher; Official Account | Watching Movies and Seeing Death
Editor | Teenager on the Roof; Please indicate the source for reprinting
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