A very poetic suspense movie with horror elements in it. The whole film is full of imagery and memorable, and its mysterious qualities are very attractive.
Montage
The beginning of the film is shocking, and it is rare that the beginning of the film is so impressive. Accompanied by a quiet and soothing piano, on a piece of heavenly and peaceful grassland, the two children are playing carefree. However, there is danger in it. The scene constantly changes between the outdoor grass and indoor scenes. The ball in the girl's hand, the reflection of the red raincoat in the water, the waves in the water, the boy's screaming in horror, the photo of bleeding in John's hand, and John's panic. , A set of shots is completely natural. This clip is really a touch of magic. It tells a huge tragedy in poetic scenes and music. The impermanence of this fate is heartbreaking. The transition after this set of shots is also amazing. Laura saw the huge screams of her dead daughter and the sound of the electric drill repairing the church in Venice a long time later, perfectly completing the transformation of space and time. . There is also an impressive sex scene, which is also a poetic editing, without any emotions. The intimate action is entangled with the action of dressing up afterwards, a very imaginative editing. This is an intimacy between the husband and wife after the loss of a daughter. It is more like a healing. There is the possibility of new life in sex, and sex has become a symbol of healing.
Venice
The film was shot in a world-famous scenic spot, which completely subverted our impression of this famous water city. When we imagined or actually went to the scenic spots, there were crowds of people, and it was very lively. But the author has portrayed Venice as a dangerous place, full of mystery and unknown, here is the scene of the murder. The winding streets, the echo of footsteps, the mouse who wants to escape. In this cold and humid city, the distance between people seems to have become very far away.
maze
The maze-like streets of Venice gradually swallow the protagonist. The film has a large number of scenes of the protagonist walking on the streets. These streets are very similar and difficult to distinguish. John was completely affected by this illusion-like maze, and lost the ability to think rationally. His subconscious was completely confused by water, maze, and red.
Red
Red is the color of blood, which means danger. The daughter was wearing a red raincoat and was subsequently submerged by water. The murderer also wore a red raincoat to commit crimes. Red is also a warning. When John saw bleeding from the photo in his hand at the beginning of the film, he had an unpredictable premonition. Red is a festive color in Chinese culture. We will see a lot of red during the Spring Festival. Forgetting this will make it easier for us to understand the film. The same goes for black. In traditional Chinese culture, the funeral dress is white, but the west is black. If we know this, when we see John see his wife in black clothes standing in a boat accompanied by psychic sisters At the beginning, we will understand what this means.
Water element
Water is also dangerous and terrifying, and the daughter just drowned in a river. Most of the film's scenes are in Venice, the city of water. Water has always been the object of human fear, and people will always lose their lives in the water for various reasons. From aquatic creatures to terrestrial creatures, humans began to fear water. Just as the heroine in "The Ring of Midnight" salvaged a corpse from a well, this movie has a scene where the murdered corpse is salvaged by the police from the water. There are many close-ups of water in Venice in the film. From John's perspective, the footage of his daughter wearing a red raincoat constantly flashes. Even when he was chasing the red dwarf.
murder
The film has always been in a disturbing atmosphere, the murder that spread in Venice has been hanging in the air, and the murderer has not been found. The murderer at large is also the most important horror element of this film.
Psychic
Psychic art is one of the most mysterious elements of the film. Both the psychic sisters and John have the ability to predict the future. John showed his ability to predict the future at the beginning of the film: seeing the blood pouring out of the photos, he felt the danger that might happen to his daughter. In response to this, Laura didn't notice anything abnormal-she couldn't see the blood in the photo. But John didn't fully understand the full meaning of this revelation. The blood poured out from the dwarf in the church, which hinted at the fate of John in the end. John didn't value his ability, or he didn't believe he had it. When he saw his wife and the psychic sister on the psychic boat, he thought it was true, thinking that his wife had not left Venice. He also failed to realize that this heralded his own death. Unlike John, the psychic sisters not only have the ability to predict the future, but also know that they have the ability to predict the future, and they also have a deep belief in their own abilities. Ironically, the psychic sister is blind. Think about it, people who can know the future are blind, while ordinary people can see clearly but know nothing about danger. This is in line with the tradition in Western literature. Starting from ancient Greek dramas, prophets or seers appeared in the image of blind people.
Demon, dwarf
When John was restoring the church, they were going to put a statue on the church. We all thought it was an icon, a little angel or a Virgin, but we didn't expect to discover that it was a demon after opening the curtain of the statue! The author teased the audience a little, this irony is really brilliant! The transition behind this shot is also a demon statue. After revealing the true face of the red dwarf at the end of the film, we found that this face is exactly the same as the demon.
Police chief, bishop
These two supporting roles are also mysterious in the film. The chief of police is completely different from our traditional cognition. He speaks very mysteriously, speaks softly and has reservations. Talking about life perception is like a philosopher, as if he has insight into all this happening. The archbishop is also very mysterious. He seems to be a power man, a hypocritical and cold person, a villain who can do all indecent and despicable things, but the director did not give obvious clues. John hadn't considered the bishop since the beginning, and never regarded him as a friend.
God
Both John and Laura are neither religious. There are many religious elements in the film, such as the accessories of the archbishop, the church, the psychic sisters, the cross, and the painting of the shepherd. When he first went to the church, John said that he didn't like this church, but in the end he was buried in this church, which is a kind of irony. From this point of view, the author seems to be affirming the value of religion.
Bereavement
One of the most important themes of the film is to show the pain of bereavement. Neither John nor Laura could get out of the shadow of their daughter's death. Since Laura knew that the psychic sisters could see her dead daughter, she became crazy, believing everything they said, and kept asking the psychic sisters about her daughter. In Laura's subconscious mind, she could not accept the fact that her daughter died, and very much hoped that her daughter would be resurrected, and the psychic sisters just met her wish. Through the psychic sisters, Laura seemed to be able to communicate with her dead daughter, and she was completely captured by mysterious power. The same is true for John. It seemed that he was very rational, and kept reminding her of the fact that her daughter was dead when his wife became crazy. But in fact, John was unwilling to accept the fact that his daughter was dead subconsciously. When he saw the dwarf in red, he mapped his daughter on her, so he would constantly look for the dwarf, chase her, and eventually lead to tragedy.
This film has very rich meaning, and there is a lot of room for interpretation, especially the depiction of the character's psychology. It is worth watching again. While full of literature, the plot is also very attractive. There are very few movies that can do both at the same time. It is a rare masterpiece in film history.
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