Because of Neil Jordan's movies and Alan Parker's "Angela's Ashes", Ireland is in my impression of endless rain, damp streets, and melancholy faces. What's more, I knew in advance that Christy Brown, the protagonist of this biographical film, was a handicapped painter. What's more, he grew up in a heavy post-war era. What's more, he was born in a poor family at the bottom of the society. His father was a construction worker, plus him, the whole family. There are six children waiting to be fed. So, before watching "My Left Foot", I was ready for another dark and gloomy night.
The movie proved me wrong. When the final shot was fixed on the smiling faces of Christie and Mary and the sunny, blue sky, my heart was as happy and joyful as the sky, and I was touched by human nature for a long time. Those beautiful and kind qualities in the middle.
Two things touched my heart most.
One is the love and mutual support between the Brown family, which made me understand why Christie became an excellent painter and writer.
Christie was born with congenital cerebral palsy, and only his left foot can move. What a blow to the whole family struggling on the poverty line! But the mother did not give up. She always believed that her son could stand up and have the same life as a normal person. She took care of her son carefully, Christie was like her shadow, staying with her for a moment, and she was pregnant again, she also carried him up and down at home. Her husband lost patience and used wine to dispel his sorrows, but she was hopeful every time her son used her left foot to pick up the chalk with difficulty. She secretly saved money to buy a wheelchair for her son. Even if her husband was unemployed, the family’s daily meals could only be gruel, and she did not move a penny. Seven-year-old Christie used his entire body and mind to write a handwriting on the floor with his left foot for the first time in his life. It was "mother". The whole family couldn't believe it. Watching the miracle happen quietly, the mother whispered and tears filled her eyes. I believe this is the happiest moment in this strong mother's life.
After Christie's courtship of the female doctor was refused, she locked herself in the hut and drank all day long. The heartbroken mother did not shed tears. She came to her son's bedside and told him: If you give up, I have not yet. Then this respectable fat woman moved bricks and cement and built a studio for her son alone in the small patio. Christie started painting again and wrote his story into a book. Without this great maternal love, we would certainly only see a drunkard who sits in a wheelchair and complains about himself.
The most touching part of maternal love is manifested in the mother's careful insight and the wonderful heart-to-heart communication. When Christie fell in love with the female doctor who treated him, the mother downstairs sensitively caught the enthusiasm in his conversation, but it was not what I imagined. She was not happy for her son, but said to her dull husband, that voice Something in it bothered her, and there was too much hope in it. She doesn’t want her son to fall in love, because it will inevitably cause him to suffer "both physical disability and spiritual harm"; but she also hopes that her son will have the happiness of ordinary people, so she can only be silent, watching her son nervously in silence, and praying for him. .
The love and support between brothers and siblings are also so simple and touching in the movie. And father, this rude worker may not have enough patience, but there is no lack of love, he has his own way. He worked hard to support everyone, Christie can write, and he carried his son to the bar to proudly announce to the people that this is "we are from the Brown family." Father is dead. In the movie, there is a scene of the whole family hitting a bar. It is a painful vent, for the dignity of the father, and the honor that the Browns are proud of. I think that it is this kind of power that supports Christie step by step to become a great genius in the eyes of ordinary people.
Another thing that touched me was Christie's love. It showed me the torment of an ordinary soul for love, rather than the so-called genius's love adventures.
The little child played house-like games, that youthful night, Christie watched his sister and her lover kissing under the street lamp without a single move. In the darkness, his face was distorted and deformed by intense desire and depression. The deep sadness pierced my heart, it would make everyone moved and intolerable. What kind of eyes does Lewis have, and even the boundless night is weeping for him. When Christie, who was immersed in love, proposed to the female doctor, his love was crushed to pieces by the harsh reality, and he could no longer control himself: "All I have in my life is platonic love, fuck Plato! That's it! Love is not 100% promised!" Is love and knowledge fortunate or unfortunate for a person whose body has lost the ability to love? I had never doubted before, but now I feel their cruelty.
Fortunately, at the end of the film, Christie found a home, a woman who can stay with her for life. He asked his mother to give him a red rose, and he held it with his left foot, facing his lover, with a sly and smug smile on his face. He knew that he gave up dating someone else and came in from the door. The heart already belongs to him.
I don't know much about director Jim Sheridan. Although two or three of his works I have seen are documentary and have a clear political and social background, any grand narrative does not conceal the emotions of the characters. I feel that his original intention of making this film is definitely not to show the extraordinary story and outstanding performance of a genius, but like me, was moved by the maternal love and affection that promoted Christie to become an excellent painter, and yearned for him. The desire and struggle of normal people's love life were moved. And this kind of love may also exist in our lives and hearts.
This reminds me of another biopic, "Beautiful Mind", which just won this year's Oscar for Best Picture. I don’t think "Beautiful Mind" was made badly. It is a very successful film. For most of his life, mathematician Nash fought alone with his own illusion. His courage is also respectable and moving. It is not only an American. What is needed is also indispensable for all people at all times. But it's strange that this movie that also talks about feelings and courage always feels far away from me, and it doesn't enter my heart as deeply as Christie. Later I thought that this might be a problem with the director or the play.
I haven’t watched other films by Ron Howard, the director of "Beautiful Mind" before. I know he is a mainstream Hollywood director. From this film, you can see that the photography is quite regular, the colors are full, and he knows how to use the lens very well. Create an atmosphere-whether it is romantic love or a nervous psychological illusion, under his control, the film has the most successful commercial elements of Hollywood films, touching spiritual power, warm family affection, romantic love, and the most prominent is The good structure creates the rhythm and excitement of the suspense thriller. The focus of the film is clearly in the first half of the film, in Nash’s illusion world. After the mystery is revealed, his courage only shows great strength against this background, and why this is so, and how much this has caused a normal person’s life. The film’s performance is too dramatic. The use of suspense films to express Nash’s illusionary world is very appealing to the audience, but it also creates the effect of alienation. Entertainment elements and weird branches build a wall between the audience and the protagonist, and we are stimulated by the senses. And the tense plot attracts. When the rhythm finally flattens out and the excitement disappears, Nash’s war alone is nearing an end. We seem to be watching a one-act play of an extraordinary genius. There is no part of us in the play, and we respect and Gratified stand up, applaud, and then walk out of the theater, mixing ordinary life into one.
In terms of technology and business, Ron Howard is undoubtedly successful, but I believe that this approach is not suitable for biopics. Watching a movie is to see another life, or just for entertainment. But for biopics, people obviously expect more. They want to see a person’s success or failure, joy or pain, struggle or glory. The purpose is to refer to their own life and be helpful to themselves, then Reality is very important. "Beautiful Mind" did not focus on the combination of Nash and ordinary people, but focused on rendering his illusion world to highlight his extraordinary personality power. In my opinion, it is indeed a myth, even as Jonathan said. It is a myth with obvious entertainment elements, the audience's attention is distracted, and Nash's influence on us is not great. In fact, the motivation for making the film may be to create such a god, so it is said that many real shortcomings and details in Nash's life were not originally written in the script. However, it is precisely because of the boring life and the complexity of human nature that we can feel credible, and we can see valuable things from even the slightest flash of movie characters, and walk deeper into our lives and hearts. This kind of flash, I saw in Kriti, who was suffering for not being able to love, proud of having love, and struggling between weakness, giving up and shame, and cheering up.
From what angle or standpoint a director chooses to shoot biopics, is he looking up to create a god, adding a halo to his head, placing the genius in an unattainable and unreachable shrine, or approaching and going head-up? , Trying to make people understand his life and get close to his heart, so that our hearts also get a great support, and our minds experience a great adventure. This is certainly the freedom of the director, and the viewers also have the freedom of choice. But for me, the realm of these two biographical films is instant.
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