An important feature of Sean Baker's films is the creation of a spatial environment full of color, which may be derived from the artificial landscape in the film (such as this "Florida Paradise"), or may be the result of artificial color grading (eg "Orange"). At the same time, in the narrative space surrounded by rich colors, it is a very realistic story about the underclass. The contrast formed by this is a unique effect created in Sean Baker's films, such as "Florida Paradise". a work.
The story of "Floren's Paradise" takes place in a community motel. The large area of purple on the wall first creates a seemingly warm narrative scene. At the same time, the film uses a lot of backlighting in photography, such as the one in the movie. Mother Halley took her daughter Moonee for a walk in the sunset, forming a very beautiful picture effect. Even in most of the story scenes, we can see the filter effect of warm colors, and with some wide-angle lenses, these colors are also distorted and enlarged, so the whole movie visually presents a gorgeous and warm effect, this warm In the context of , the motel seems to have become a "paradise on earth".
The beauty of the movie is that behind this "paradise", the stories about adults in the movie are deliberately compressed and hidden, and the real pain is hidden behind the seemingly tender pictures. The film is mainly narrated from the perspective of the little girl Moonee. Most of what we see is her playing with her companions, while the real adult stories are interspersed in the little girl's perspective in the form of fragments. For example, when the little girl Moonee was taking a bath, her mother pulled the shower curtain (indicating that her mother was prostitution and did not want her daughter to see it); the strange uncle who suddenly appeared when the children were playing was warned by Bobby and then chased away (indicating that this person might be a lover) pedophilia); and the scene of Bobby and a young guy moving the refrigerator, which seems abrupt, but is actually through their dialogue to narrate the manager Bobby's personal experience of divorce; for example, in the middle of the film, a pair is taken by the wrong driver The newlyweds in the hotel, interspersed in the movie, seem inexplicable, but if you look closely, you will find that the driver is a "reciprocal offender", and he probably has some kind of agreement with the hotel, using the excuse of "other hotels are already fully booked" to force solicitation. There are several other details like this, and if you don't pay attention, you probably won't understand the purpose properly.
From this point of view, the whole film seems to be unfolded with two parallel lines, one is the visual warmth and warmth, the "heaven" with purple as the keynote, the childhood time cut from the perspective of a little girl, and the other It is hidden, all kinds of pains and troubles in the adult world. "Florida Paradise" perfectly integrates the two into one movie, and the contrast between the two is even more heavy. The movie itself is like an adult fairy tale, and behind the warm and warm colors is an adult world full of pain.
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