A netizen said:
Wes Anderson is a first-rate designer, second-rate director, and third-rate screenwriter.
The author thinks:
Personal style is an important discourse in the art world, and it's not right to devalue other abilities because of its distinctiveness.
Wes Anderson continued his distinctly personal style in "Isle of Dogs",
【Symmetrical Aesthetics】
【Perfect Color Matching】
【Political metaphor】
However, my first instinct after watching the film is about something about the 19th century.
【Flashback】
Katsushika Hokusai's landscape painting "The Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji" has been widely circulated in the last century. Now, when we look at the history of Japanese art, the following pictures must appear.
Compared with Western paintings, Ukiyo-e in this era is highly decorative, with simple lines and non-integrated colors, and is based on folk materials. While mainstream Western painting still follows standard perspective and academic rules, with the advent of photography, the rules of painting have been re-examined. The reunion of Western aesthetics and Eastern art is also the beginning of a "revolution".
In 1853, when the U.S. Navy forced Japan to open its trade to the West, Japanese art also entered the Western world, gradually occupying the popular market because of its low price and different formulas from the Western tradition.
In the 1860s, Zacharie Astruc published an article "The Empire of the Sun", which played a dual role in explaining and promoting the popularity of Japanese art. Japanese paintings appeared at the Universal Exposition in Paris in 1872 and at the Universal Exposition in Vienna in 1873. From the 1980s to the 1990s, many articles on the influence of Japanese art appeared in art journals. In 1890, "Art Japan" was published, which was quite influential.
The post-impressionist Van Gogh also had extensive exposure to Japanese art, and he also copied many Japanese paintings. It is said that next to Van Gogh's residence, there is a shop called Bing Gallery to buy Japanese prints. Van Gogh often visited the store and was deeply influenced by prints.
【Flashback ends】
When watching "The Grand Budapest Hotel", we were amazed at the color, acting skills, and the way the script was told, and the author was also amazed at the European feeling throughout.
Similarly, this "Isle of Dogs", behind the drum beat that could not stop in my mind for a long time, is a strong Japanese temperament. The author can't help but think that Anderson's ability to smash and reorganize Japanese culture in this way and present it to the level of naturalness and a strong sense of drama is indeed a genius. Let's "flash back" to the Japanese feeling in the film.
authenticity]
The interweaving and overlapping of modernity and tradition is a typical feature of modern Japan, such as architectural style. We can see the mix of modern steel buildings and traditional stone, tile and wood everywhere. It is said that the striking red building in the picture below is still silent with the one in Hiroshima. Together (the deep stalk of World War II, everyone experiences it when watching the movie)
If you zoom in to any scene, you will immediately feel the sight of walking on the streets of Japan. The soft residential kimono and the youthful baseball coexist harmoniously.
Of course, there is also a sense of religion in Japan, presumably the shrine is an indispensable element. The film also presents the charm of Shintoism and Buddhism with the full temperament of the music and lines, as well as the literary sense of haiku.
confrontation]
The intense tension in Japanese culture is a perfect reflection of the film's theme, and the stage presentation of political metaphors is also very Japanese.
This part also benefits from the perfect production of music. From the selection of sound quality to the selection of musical instruments, just like the Japanese drums in the opening scene, it gives the viewer a strong sense of substitution from beginning to end. It is indeed important to match the temperament.
It is worth mentioning that the music this time is mainly brought by Alexandre Desplat, the nine-time Oscar nominee and two-time winner, who was the music director of "The Shape of Water" and "Harry Potter". Of course, The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band's "I won't hurt you" in the film is also very suitable for a single loop.
It is not difficult to present Japanese cultural elements, but the difficulty is how to combine the elements without being deliberate. The recombination of elements can make the viewer feel the natural reality and experience a certain characteristic deep in the culture, which is only available in the best works.
【Flashback】
Japanese art has convinced Western artists that a painting can make a strong impression if three-dimensional modeling and detailing are sacrificed for bold simplification.
Van Gogh wanted his paintings to have the strong effect of Japanese prints, and he began to express his passion with colors that were broken into pieces. He once wrote in a letter:
Feelings are sometimes so strong that one doesn't even know one is working...the strokes come one after the other...
In his paintings we can feel that he abandoned the goal of "imitation of nature" to make his paintings express his feelings, for this purpose the shape can be changed.
Influenced by folk art and Japanese prints, Gauguin developed divisionist paintings.
Cloisonnism is one of the post-impressionist painting styles of the late 19th century, using sharply outlined, flat compositions with black lines.
This movement, which began with color and light and shadow, constantly questioned and explored the purpose and standards of painting, further opened the prelude to "modern art". Van Gogh longed for the intensity and passion of art, while Gauguin longed for pure, straightforward content. Later expressionism and primitivism were developed due to this type of exploration.
【Flashback ends】
Perhaps just like the movement after the Japanese cultural boom, Anderson is now announcing his new thinking about the form of film or artistic expression for such a film full of Japanese culture. In other words, perhaps due to the collision between different cultures, Anderson's understanding of cinema is a movement of Neo-Impressionism.
Impressionists proposed that colors need to be more realistic, so trees are not necessarily only green, and the sky is not necessarily blue; Van Gogh Post-Impressionists declared that color is a projection of subjective passion, and in order to express strong emotions, colors, strong or restrained, are loyal to this. Purpose.
The intensity of Anderson's interweaving of color and emotion is particularly outstanding compared to other directors' films.
Movies can also be an art category, which requires the director himself to pour more of his own ideas. We don’t just watch a story, or experience a feast of sound and picture (of course, this is also very important), we can also experience his influence on Anderson’s works from his works. The world knows and asks questions.
"Isle of Dogs" talks about politics and power, and the relationship between dogs and people is set in reverse irony. This double contradiction is complex and intriguing, but it is precisely such a topic that brings our thinking about politics into a deeper level. This is the reason why I understand the director's work, and also the reason why I respect the director's lack of clarity. Asking in-depth questions is the possibility of social progress.
Ask questions, and you cause more questions, solve them, and bring about developmental change, and that's what happened at the end of the 19th century.
Expressing subjective cognition, going deep into the core of the problem, reflecting personal style, and having full emotions are Anderson's success, and it may be the direction that more filmmakers can pursue and strive for. This will be a movement that will bring us a better feeling. The charm of movies.
Of course, I think there are many similarities with the original movement of Impressionism, such as the use of flat lenses, the displacement and advancement of simple techniques, which will not be described in this article, and you can watch the movie by yourself.
【Replenish】
Of course, the film still has a lot to discuss, such as the textuality of the lines, the setting of the characters, etc., but unfortunately for me, the foreshadowing of the turning point at the end is not enough, which makes many metaphors in the ending not very good. It is understood that this still needs to be strengthened. However, if you like the possibility of more white space, you might also like this treatment. But for me, it will affect the consistency of the rhythm of the plot development.
By the way, it is not recommended for children to watch it.
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