Before watching "Young Time", I was going to treat this movie as a literary essay for entertainment. After reading it, I found out that I was wrong. This is a sincere, profound and serious film, what it really explores is desire.
The starring Ben Stiller is a comedian I like very much, but the few movies he starred in recently made me unable to laugh. On the contrary, I was deeply affected by the sincerity in his works.
"Day Dreamer" tells the story of a middle-aged man bravely being himself and pursuing his dreams, while this "Young Time" tells the story of a middle-aged man who was so traumatized by reality. The film is positioned as a comedy, but I feel cold all over when I see it.
Both movies tell the story of middle-aged men. In the film, documentary director Josh (played by Ben Stiller) quoted Jean Luc Godard's famous saying in a speech, "The documentary is made by others, and the drama is about himself." Those who have experience in screenwriting and film and television production can understand how profound and in one sentence this sentence is.
Watching movies seems to be watching other people’s stories and feeling other people’s feelings. In fact, what we see and feel in movies is always ourselves.
(This film review involves spoilers, mind if you go around.)
At the beginning of the film, Josh and his wife Cornelia (played by Naomi Watts) were taking care of a newly born baby, which made us mistakenly think it was their child. In fact , They have no children. People are nearly middle-aged, and most of their friends have children. Coax the baby to sleep, feed the baby, change the baby's diapers, take the baby to play, and accompany the baby to early education classes... Babies are almost all of their lives. Once the baby arrives, the focus of married life will inevitably be tilted to the child, whether you like it or not.
On the surface, parents with children seem extremely happy and happy. They are intoxicated in a new life, and their faces are full of sweetness and satisfaction. But is this really the case? Or is this all the truth? Josh’s best friend, a father who is breastfeeding his child opened his heart to him, "I love my child, but I am still the most important person in my life. The child brings me happiness, but not as expected. hapiness."
One of the secrets of this movie touching people's hearts is honesty and bravery. "When I was Young" revealed the truth hidden behind ordinary life. Maybe we still don’t understand the truth, or maybe we just don’t want to face it.
The film focuses on three groups of characters, one is Josh and his wife Cornelia, they represent middle-aged people, the other is Jamie and Darby, they represent young people, and the other is Josh’s father-in-law and a Formed by old professors, they represent the elderly. People of different ages have different understandings of life, and their views on desire, success, and value. It is these different perspectives that broaden the thickness of this movie's theme.
Josh is 44 years old, his family is fairly happy, but his career has not improved. As middle-aged people, Josh and his wife Cornelia conveyed unwillingness. Yes, not reconciled. They are unwilling to gain recognition and success, unwilling to gradually age, unwilling to be abandoned by the times.
Therefore, when the doctor told Josh that he had arthritis, he was so shocked. This kind of disease is only for the elderly. He knew that he would get this disease sooner or later, but he didn't expect it to happen so quickly. It’s the same with Josh’s best buddies. He suffered from lumbar disc herniation early... .
Josh is a documentary film director. He wants to make a documentary that shocks the world. He has spent nearly ten years on this, but he has made no progress. One dilemma is that the financial owners who funded his filming have all withdrawn, and he didn't even have the money to pay the editor. Another dilemma is that almost everyone thinks this 7-hour film is boring and boring. The ideal is full, but the reality is starkly sad.
Josh wants to be a man like his father-in-law, an accomplished filmmaker. He desperately wants to get everyone's approval and recognition. Out of poor self-esteem and pride, in the past years, Josh has never accepted any help from his father-in-law, he hopes to hit a sky with his own strength.
After experiencing setbacks again and again, Josh finally put down his figure. He screened his own documentary for his father-in-law and asked for their opinions. After persisting for 7 hours, his father-in-law finally finished watching the film. He said that many of the clips in this documentary were pale and boring and should be cut without hesitation. However, Josh believed that these clips that had cost so much effort were documentary. core. For this reason, the two had a big fight, and Josh thought that he shouldn't come to ask his father-in-law for advice. This was a mistake in itself and he was insulting himself.
It is anger and even sadness that a person has given all of oneself but cannot be recognized. "I tirelessly climbed over every hill, over the hills, although I have turned my head; chattering endlessly, I do not sorrow from time to time; I lose myself before I see immortality as I wish; I cross the hills and find that there is no one waiting. ......" Li Zongsheng's song really sings the taste of life, how are you resistant to life?
It's hard to find a friend if you don't have the talent. So, when Jamie appeared in Josh's life, when the young man told Josh that he liked his documentary, we could understand that Josh was flattered and weeped with joy. For the current Josh, it really shines with a little sunshine, and floods with a little flood.
Josh and his wife got closer and closer to the young couple. They were shocked by the retro lifestyle of the young couple, and even more surprised by their young and free mentality. They use cassettes and vinyl records to listen to music, use video tapes to watch movies, admire DIY, hate Google, FaceBook... Their bodies and mentality are so young, they are so beautiful that they make people jealous. It's great to be young!
At this point, the story of this movie is over half. If the theme only stays on this level, then this film will undoubtedly be superficial and mediocre. Fortunately, this is not the case.
Infected by Jamie, Josh decided to open his heart to help this young man and do something truly meaningful with him. Jamie decided to make a documentary, for which Josh selflessly shared his various contacts with Jamie. Just when Josh felt that he was coming back to life, the truth quietly surfaced. Encounters, acquaintances, admiration, cooperation... It turns out that everything is set up by Jamie long ago. As a young man, Jamie also yearns for success. In order to achieve this goal, Josh was regarded by him as a pedal, a chess piece, and a bargaining chip on the road to fame. The young but old Jamie makes use of the old and pure Josh, it's that simple.
"Authenticity is the soul of a documentary!" And Jamie actually used a false way to make a documentary. After discovering the truth, Josh was furious, and he was determined to expose Jamie's true face at the commendation meeting of his father-in-law. Reluctantly, Josh encountered another slap in the face from reality.
In the face of the shocking truth that Josh kicked, everyone and even her wife had no response-no one really cared whether Jamie used a deceitful way to make this documentary. "Maybe Jamie is a bastard, but I like his movie very much, who cares?" At the
party, Josh made a fool of himself, and Jamie poured water into his heart because his sleeve was on fire. The reality is like this, you think you have fallen into a miserable trough, in fact, there is a greater abyss waiting for you. No one will really care about you, you can only care about yourself, no one will truly understand you, you can only understand yourself. If you don't understand this, you can never get out of pain.
You have to pay for what you get, and everything has a price. It just depends on whether you dare to pay. Josh’s successful father-in-law once said to his daughter, “Looking back on my film career, I reflect on how I achieved my status and achievements today? If I was honest with myself, I would say that my success was at the expense of you and you. At the price of my mother, my success is because I am a selfish and fearless bastard. But I will not say this to the outside world. I will say that the reason for my success is my talent, my hard work and luck..."
The father-in-law also showed no mercy to the son-in-law’s failure. “He is so muddled that he has done nothing, just because he hasn’t realized the price of success. He still believes in those false speeches and spiritual chicken soup...I know He wants to be a person like me, but he is not cold enough, so he will never be me.”
This reminds me of a Zhihu question, why we understand so much truth and still live after we understand so much truth. Not good in this life? In my opinion, although understanding the truth cannot change your life, when you really face them, you will feel less pain and more calm in your heart.
Chasing ideals, yearning for success, and eager to be recognized, this is everyone's demon. If you can't control it, there is no way to talk about a peaceful and happy life. Are we really what we want? Is the result really better than the process? Is the evaluation of others really more important than self-identification? What can bring real happiness to yourself?
At the end of the film, when Josh's wife read the magazine, she found that Jamie is now a rising star in the film and television industry. This young man has achieved the success that Josh has long desired. The wife said, "Look, this devil has been released." Josh smiled faintly. He said, "He is not a devil, he is just still young." In the
end, Josh managed to reconcile with others, with the world, and with Reconcile yourself. Although there are still many pains and tribulations waiting for him in the long road of life, he has already understood others, understood himself, and understood life.
Don’t be reconciled, don’t lose yourself, don’t give up your efforts, don’t change your principles, don’t break through the bottom line of your own life, just be yourself. If others do not agree with you, just identify with yourself.
We are born to be lonely, true happiness, only we can give ourselves.
This article is the author's original, the picture comes from the Internet, and was first posted from the Huaguoshan public account 2j. Welcome to leave a message and forward it. Unauthorized reprinting is declined.
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