Last year there was a documentary commemorating the tenth anniversary of the Wimbledon final between Federer and Nadal, called "Strike of Genius." The film provides a comprehensive review of the so-called greatest tennis match in history through interviews with many professionals and re-editing of game videos. As a tennis fan, I liked it so much after watching it, so much so that I immediately found the nearly five-hour video of the game and watched it in full. I found a cruel fact that no matter how wonderful a documentary is, it cannot be compared to the feeling of relived the game broadcast. I think that is probably the charm of competitive sports itself.
To say so much is just to give an example. I want to discuss the relationship between the "charm of documentary" and "the charm of the material itself". This is a question I have been thinking about after watching "Free Rock Climbing". You can say that the charm of a documentary certainly includes the charm of the material it shoots, but there are two questions involved: one is that the documentary can show the charm of the material to the greatest extent? The other is whether through the efforts of film creators, can the documentary be more attractive on the basis of the material itself? It's a bit dizzy to say that, let's discuss it slowly.
I don’t know if you guys have thought about "Freehand Rock Climbing", what impressed you the most about this movie? The hard work of the whole team climbing and shooting? The relationship between Alex and his girlfriend? Communication and encouragement with family and friends and seniors? These factors may give everyone an emotional pavement, but at least from my perception, what really touches me is the process of Alex using his talent and hard work to overcome difficulties and finally climb the Emirates Rock. Yes, it is a sentence like a sentence made by a primary school student in the end. Then the main creative team made this process as gorgeous as possible through very professional shooting, and finally made us in front of the big screen awe-inspiring (the IMAX filming effect is especially great). So here comes the problem. Let's make an extreme assumption. If the film introduces the content of the challenge, simple interviews with the main characters and the difficulties that Alex has encountered (the first climb failed), it will directly show the last twenty minutes. The process of unarmed rock climbing, can this movie still impress you?
I think the answer is yes, it will still impress me, because the charm of free-hand rock climbing is enough. Not only that, we can clearly see that taking into account the relationship between the front and back of the documentary, the main creator intentionally compressed the final rock climbing process, and many challenges and difficulties that need to be breathless have been simply overcome. It is conceivable that if the main creator is not limited by the time limit, and re-editing the process of Alex climbing the Emirates Rock with his bare hands from a professional point of view, this shock will be even higher. When the supernatural craftsmanship of the natural world is in sharp contrast with the insignificance of human beings, and the insignificant figure does not use any external force to conquer nature in the extreme way of "gold medal or death", no one will care about what the predecessors of rock climbing have given. No one cares why Alex increased the number of injuries because of his girlfriend, and no one pays attention to what changes the filming team has undergone (Of course I did not say that these factors are not important, and I will discuss how these factors amplify the documentary later. charm).
In fact, there was a short documentary titled "Alone on the Wall" (2010) before, which also introduced the challenge of Alex's free-hand rock climbing. The film is only 24 minutes long, and it captures the process of Alex climbing the Moonlight Arch in Zion National Park and the Half Dome of Yosemite National Park with his bare hands in Utah. If you are interested, you can find it as a prequel to "Freehand Rock Climbing". Because I’m not a professional rock climber, I don’t know how the later Emirates Rock is harder than these two rock climbing (this is also the lack of introduction to the main creator of "Free Rock Climbing", that is, we know that the Emirates Rock is difficult to climb, but compared to other places. What's more difficult? I think the documentary requires a certain degree of professionalism), so in my opinion these two rock climbing are also very dangerous, especially in the process of climbing in the half-dome, Alex has a very obvious mental ups and downs, and only after calming down Continue rock climbing. In other words, 24 minutes of body volume is enough for me to experience the charm of this sport, and "Free Rock Climbing" is nothing more than a proper extension of the whole process, and a better display with more professional equipment and shooting team. Is there a feeling of deja vu? Yes, this is simply the relationship between "Roadside Picnic" and "The Last Night on Earth". The latter is simply an upgrade of technology and equipment, but this upgrade is very distinguishable in terms of documentary dimensions. This is also the last move of "Free Rock Climbing" to win the best record of Oscar. The important reason for the film award.
To make a brief summary of this part, I think the charm of the material itself is a very important prerequisite for a good-looking documentary, and even for competitive sports themes, the material may exceed the presentation of the documentary. This is why so many people all over the world are obsessed with competitive sports and live broadcast of matches. Imagine what kind of mentality we would have if we had the opportunity to watch the live broadcast of Alex's free-hand rock climbing. I guess I would be even more excited than the photographer in the documentary who didn't dare to look directly at the screen.
Then let's discuss how to amplify the charm of documentary based on the material. In my opinion, there are two main methods, one is the arrangement and editing of the material , and the other is the excavation of the material . Frankly speaking, the two main creations of "Free Rock Climbing" have been taken into consideration, but they have not been done well, or that they have not achieved the ultimate. Let's talk about it.
In the arrangement and editing of the material, the main creator presented Alex’s entire challenge in chronological order, and even the process of love was introduced in this chronological order. Most of the materials used were real-time shooting materials, occasionally interspersed. Sexual narratives are some of Alex’s childhood memories and interviews with family and friends. If you have seen director Jin Guowei’s previous work "Climbing Meilu Peak" (telling the experience of three people including the director himself successfully climbing a snowy mountain that no one can match), you will find that he also adopted chronological order in that work Material layout. However, because that work has three protagonists, and each of them has their own unique experience, the whole work will be organized very well, which is why I think the content arrangement is better in "Climbing Meilu Peak". Speaking of "Freehand Rock Climbing", I think the director can do some attempts to re-arrange these materials. For example, can Alex think of his girlfriend at a certain point in time, and then introduce his love experience from here, and how this experience affects Alex at that moment. This is the simplest example. I think a layout like this can make the film more compact, instead of the current vlog-like life flow presentation. There are even more bold attempts. Can you add some non-real scene (re-shooting later) material, such as restoring the scene of Alex's training injury, such as rebuilding Alex's mental journey from the first abandonment to the second challenge . This attempt based on the authenticity of the documentary can add some typological elements to the film (for example, if you are injured, you can add suspense elements), and finally make the film more exciting. An example of such an arrangement of material is "The Tightrope Walker" (you may have seen the corresponding feature film, "Walking in the Clouds" starring Jessoff), which uses the suspenseful and thrilling elements very well.
Then there is the excavation of the material, which is also the place I am most disappointed with "Free Rock Climbing". The main creator did try to dig deeper into Alex and the challenges he was engaged in, but the final presentation was relatively limited. In my opinion, there are two main contradictions in Alex climbing. The first is his relationship with his girlfriend (ie love) . From the film, we can also see that Alex is very rational and cautious in his treatment of family, friendship and even past love, and this love and his girlfriend have obviously different meanings to him. Through the film, we know that Alex was injured twice within a month after meeting his girlfriend (almost never before). During the first challenge, he asked his girlfriend to wait for him in the RV and asked her to drive away the second time. These are things directly given by the director, and what I want to know is his girlfriend's attitude and thoughts about the injury (not just an apology), and how Alex solemnly examines the relationship and the relationship between his girlfriend and his career ( The interview in the movie mentioned it, but it was obviously not enough.) It was a process of changing the attitude of the girlfriend and communicating between the two challenges between the two challenges, but none of these directors did a good job. The second contradiction is what I look forward to most about this film, and that is the impact of the filming team on Alex, or the impact of the documentary itself on Alex's challenge. We can all see that the first time Alex gave up the challenge must have something to do with making a documentary, and when Alex returned to the ground to communicate with a senior, the senior also told him "it is good to give up now" and "you." There is almost a circus around" such words. Before the first challenge, it was the same senior who had a discussion with Alex about the true purpose of the challenge (for himself or for others to see). If these things can be dig deeper, the entire documentary can definitely be upgraded to a higher level. The director is aware of this, but may be considering the priority of the documentary (maybe he still has no confidence in putting this issue into the documentary reasonably), and in the end he can only introduce the shooting methods and equipment before the second challenge. The way is taken in one stroke.
Why is material mining important? Because I think a very important issue in movies (not just documentaries) is to explore the nature of the things described. Simply put, a movie that tells dreams should tell the audience that it is a dream, and a movie that tells people should tell the audience that it is a person. The feeling that "Freehand Rock Climbing" gives me is that a movie about people is about a god in the end. Of course, this thing is very shocking. Superheroes who can stand at the top of the world will certainly move us, but they will not resonate with us, because they are not humans, but gods. Here is another good example. It is also a rock climbing documentary, and the protagonist is also Alex’s good friend Tommy in this movie. The film is called "The Dawn Wall" (The Dawn Wall, 2017), which describes the climbing of Tommy and his partner. The story of the world's most difficult cliff Dawn Wall. It is very interesting that Tommy is not engaged in free-hand rock climbing. His rock climbing process is protected by ropes from beginning to end, so the direct presentation of the film is not as shocking as "Free Rock Climbing". However, the director digs deeply into the character Tommy. He was a rock climbing prodigy since he was a kid. He was hijacked by terrorists during a climb and left a psychological shadow. He divorced his childhood sweetheart's wife, and was lost because of an accident. Index finger of the left hand. These things were revealed one by one in the process of Tommy's challenge (this also shows the master's effort in material arrangement). More importantly, these factors explain from the shallow to the deep why Tommy must go rock climbing and must conquer the Dawn Wall. It is precisely because this willingness is so strong that the subsequent turning point in the climbing process is more meaningful (this part is no longer spoiled). In general, this documentary gave me the deepest feeling that Tommy is a real person, and in my opinion, this is one of the most difficult things to do in filming. Back to "Freehand Rock Climbing", is Alex really just a god, a killer with no emotions? Of course not, we can see the ups and downs of Alex's central attitude during the challenge. Behind this may be the formation of family relationships, the relationship with his girlfriend, the influence of the shooting team, and the kind of loneliness in Alex himself. There are so many things that can be unearthed, and the creators don't mention it at all or just taste it, which in my opinion is a very pity.
The above are all the questions I have thought about the charm of the documentary and the charm of the material after watching "Free Rock Climbing". From when I first learned about this film before the awards season of this year, to seeing the film through various channels, and to the domestic release of the IMAX version, I have always liked this documentary. After the above thinking, I have a more rational understanding of the reasons I like. In fact, in my opinion, a film that talks about competitive sports must be awesome, and it must go beyond the sport itself. For example, Ron Howard filmed "The Speed of Speed", which seems to be looking back at the duel between James Hunter and Nicky Lauda in F1. Behind it is actually thinking about the chivalry that has passed away; another example is Bennett Miller. The filming of "Fox Hunter" seems to be a story of a rich man and a wrestler. Behind it is actually talking about class anxiety and the fragmentation of the American dream. Some people might say that the two examples I have given are feature films and not documentaries. Then I will quote a sentence I heard in Mr. Hara’s master class last year, the famous Japanese who made "The Army of the Advance" The documentary director raised a point at the time: documentaries are three times more interesting than feature films . Think about "The Simpsons: Made in America", which won the best documentary Oscar the year before. The creators dig deeper into the character of Simpson, and the whole story is as exciting as the Oscar competition that year. Those few drama films. Not only that, documentaries also have a real magic. After all, life and reality have always been the most creative and magical. Who would have thought that Mr. Yuoka would appear in Hara Kazuo's "Japan vs Sennan Asbestos Village"? Who would have thought that the protagonist in Du Haibin's "Young Zhao" would experience such a transformation? Who would have thought that the Chinese manager in "American Factory" would come up with such an initiative to invite Americans to Oriental Manhattan and Shanghai as the highest reward? The problems reflected behind these are far more complicated than what the documentary shows. From this perspective, "Free Rock Climbing" can indeed do better.
Written on September 3, 2019
A profound movie to be published on the official account
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