"Happy families are all the same, but unfortunate families have their own misfortunes." Tolstoy said this very beautifully. In real life, happiness often has something in common and ultimately brings about it. The result is always relaxed and cheerful. Almost all happy families can be summed up with the word "happiness". However, for unfortunate families, things often become different and difficult to predict. "Rachel's Wedding" focuses on the story of an ordinary family planning a wedding, which should be joyous, but when we use this famous quote in "Anna Karenina" to measure it, happiness and misfortune The boundaries began to become less clear.
The script of the film depicts the tension between family members and the handling of contradictions, which is a typical family ethics drama style. The younger sister, played by Hathaway, was once an addict. She was treated in a rehabilitation facility. Because her sister was about to get married, she returned to a family she didn’t like. The house in front of her carries too many and heavy memories. Things that shouldn't have happened have gradually settled over time. At this moment, she stayed in this place called "home", but she didn't feel the slightest "home". In her eyes, everyone was squeezing her out, and no one wanted to see her come back. She worked hard to apologize to everyone at the family gathering and win everyone’s acceptance. But her black humor always works best. The moment of joy touches the sad things that have been buried by time, and can strike a fatal blow to the atmosphere of harmony at any time.
Aside from the script, the most attractive part of this movie is undoubtedly Anne Hathaway. Although the screenwriter Gianni Lumet has a strong family background as the backstage, people are more willing to sell her. Father Sidney Lumet’s tent, not Gianni’s. No matter how many layers of relationships Sidney Lumet has cleared up for her daughter's debut, the dazzling light in the final film still shines on our lovely and beautiful Princess Anne.
The year of 2008 was an extraordinary year for Anne Hathaway. This was the first real turning point in her career. The source of this turning point was this small-cost "wedding". The film was not only shortlisted in Venice. The competition unit of the film festival also contributed an Oscar nomination for the young girl's best actress.
This nomination is of great significance to Annie. First, it can free her from the long-term confinement of "The Princess Diaries" to her well-behaved image. Second, it can prove that the excellent performance in "Fashion Devil" is not an accidental flash in the pan. She has Ability to try a variety of different types of roles, and at the same time have the ability to play the role he has taken, and then transform from the ranks of the vase actress to the powerful actress. Maybe Anne Hathaway is too young. She has encountered Meryl Streep, who has been steady and experienced, and the sexy goddess Angelina Jolie. The most regrettable thing is that she happened to meet Kate Winslet at his peak. Under the aura of these actresses who have also won the favor of Oscars, the weakness brought by Hathaway’s age is obvious. At least before "Rachel’s Wedding", her list of works except for "Fashionable Girl" Outside of "The Devil", no other role has truly gained strong recognition. "The Princess Diaries" is indeed very good, but after all, it is only a famous work, and it does not have much reference value for the title competition of the film queen; Ang Lee's "Brokeback Mountain" has further achieved two male stars, but Annie is in the play Subversive performances can only affirm their breakthrough from one aspect. As for the two new works that were also born in 2008, "Fuzzy Detective" and "Passenger" are more reminiscent of "ordinary." Finally, Gianni Lumet’s script gave her a chance to challenge her acting skills again. Winning an Oscar nomination with the subversive image of a problem girl is a big affirmation for her.
Director Jonathan Demi's situation is actually similar to that of Hathaway, and they belong to filmmakers with very few representative works. In his film career, I am afraid that only the two films "The Silent Lambs" and "Philadelphia Story" are impressive. Some people may say that as long as these two classics are enough, for those of us who are onlookers. This may be the case, but for a director who is demanding to be motivated, this is absolutely not enough. After all, people rely on movies to support their family.
In "Rachel's Wedding", Jonathan worked hard to make the film present a natural feeling, so there is this movie similar to a home video tape, but it is only similar. Facts have proved that this pseudo-documentary style does not actually improve the quality of the film itself. On the contrary, in many scenes, this style makes the rhythm of the film appear paragraph-like procrastination. Take the pre-marriage blessing dinner in the film as an example. Before Anne Hathaway interrupted, the long blessings and the revelations of the so-called embarrassing incidents just widened the distance between the audience and the characters in the play. It wasn't until Hathaway's black humorous apology cooled the audience that the drama climax of this paragraph had just detonated, but the previous lengthy period had already given people immense fatigue.
Home video tape may seem to give people a sense of intimacy and make it easier to feel the emotional changes of the characters in the play, but it also has an obvious drawback. Family videotapes are often only felt when their family members watch them, because they know the ins and outs of things and understand the joys, sorrows, sorrows and joys of it. People who watch family video tapes have often experienced the entire story. They go back to relive the past episodes recorded on the video tape on a special day. This feeling is completely different from watching the movie directly. The audience, as a third party, will irresistibly produce a generation gap in distance. Since they are not a member of the story, the audience’s perspective will always stay in the third person position, even if this videotape No matter how jubilant the wedding scene in China, the audience will not be able to blend in.
So when we watch "Rachel’s Wedding", we will feel shocked when we watch the drama of internal conflicts in the family. The content of Hathaway's quarrel with her sister and the quarrel with her family are also very brilliant. But when we arrived at the last wedding scene, when we arrived at this supposed climax, we suddenly felt a sense of distance from this story. We watched them cheering on the screen, but we couldn’t be happy at all. From the audience From the angle of view, people always pay attention to the story of the role of Hathaway, not the other guests at the wedding. Instead, the director’s elaborate singing and dancing performance has become a burden, causing serious delays in the last paragraph of the film. Fortunately, this is only a mistake made by the director when he excessively pursues the effect of the wedding. It will not affect Hathaway’s personal performance in the film. Fortunately, the film participates in the competition for the best actress, not the best film. Competition with the best director.
As the first screenwriter of Gianni Lumet, the script of the story does have something touching. She analyzed the causes of family conflicts from the perspective of a weak person, and found a reasonable solution to the crisis. A journey of soul that combines love and pain. This kind of storyline makes people involuntarily think of Sam Mondes. Under the light of "American Beauty" and "Road to Revolution", maybe he is the best candidate to direct this film.
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