This is the most confusing movie I have ever watched this year. After watching it a few times, there are still many doubts; after a few rounds, it is still necessary to include it in the future classics-maybe it will not be seen in the world, and it will be glorified in film history in a few years. This is because its complexity is ahead of the viewers, and it must be analyzed, argued, and evaluated by countless good people in order to reveal its true colors and release great wisdom.
Brian de Palma used such a film to enlighten Dao and become immortal, but "Ma" who is the first to look forward to the generation like me also completed the transformation of idols from worship to look forward to.
Talk less, let's throw some bricks first.
2 The complicated and confusing "fuck" story
about the film telling the plot of "Black Dahlia" will definitely be thankless. This story adapted from a best-selling novel almost omits the foreshadowing of the original work, and deliberately hides a lot of it in the film The details, spreading out several cases in a scattered way, wandering and overlapping, forced the viewers to be crazy like me. If anyone writes a film review of this film but ignores the plot, it must be laziness and misfortune. Fortunately, the most important ethics of film reviews is to stop at the point of the movie plot, so I might as well talk about my superficial cognition here. But in any case, I still hope you watch the movie first, so as not to lose the fun of "detecting" alone.
The film sets up two male protagonists: Butch and Lee; three female protagonists: Kate, Marilyn, and Elizabeth Short (the black dahlia). In addition to Short, the two men and women have ambiguous love and hatred. entanglement.
As a latecomer in the police world, Butch gained the opportunity to become Lee's partner by deliberately losing to Lee in the boxing match, and Lee's trust-of course, this was only what Butch took for granted at the beginning. Kate is Lee's girlfriend, and the relationship between the two is also confusing, and Kate obviously has a great affection for Butch.
The pair took over a serial rape and murder case, which was the first case in the film. The perpetrator is a guy named Nash, who has repeatedly slyly escaped from the police arrest. In an operation to ambush Nash, Li shot and killed a suspect who was under surveillance, on the grounds that he protected Butch, who was a little absent-minded beside him, but Butch was grateful so far. But this lanky white man is not Nash, but someone else.
The gunfight at the ambush scene had just ended, and a woman's wailing was heard not far from the street, and Short's body was found nearby. This is the second case in the film-the black dahlia case, and it is also the main case. In the process of investigating the dahlia case, Butch used clues to find Madeleine, a rich girl who is very similar to Dahlia. The two actually developed feelings in the mutual temptation, in fact, this is only Madeleine's deliberate lure to hold Butch.
At this time, Li Zheng was struggling with another case. Bobby Duwin, the principal culprit of a bank robbery case about to be released from prison, made Li and Kate panic. This is the third case in this film.
So far, all the three cases in the film have been brought out. The three have not overlapped on the facts of the case, but have overlapped two by one at a special place and time, as well as the case handler Li Shang. The confusing atmosphere became more and more intense.
The film's perspective is based on Butch from the beginning to the end. At this time, Li's actions hidden behind the camera are gradually exposed. It turns out that Li is the real protagonist of this scene. Bobby Duwin on the underworld and Lee on the White Road collude with each other. Bobby is responsible for smuggling, drug trafficking, and bank robbery, and Lee is responsible for eliminating crimes, extinguishing the mouth, and pacifying the police. The offending Bobby was threatened by Lee, so he had to give Lee a sum of money (finally discovered by Butch in the sewer of Kate's house), and took the opportunity to take possession of Bobby's woman and former prostitute, Kate. Bobby's early release from prison panicked both Lee and Kate. Li must act first. The thin white man who was shot and killed at the scene of the ambush and arrest of Nash (the first case) was the only witness who knew about the conspiracy between Li and Bobby (the third case), and what Li called at the time Saving Butch's life was only to find a good reason for shooting and killing him, but Butch did not know why he gave false evidence for Li.
The more Butch felt that Madeleine's behavior was suspicious, the more she couldn't resist her charm. In fact, Butch and Kate also had a sincere relationship, but because of the guilt towards Lee, they could not explain everything, so they had to seek relief from Marilyn. Marilyn, this feminine woman is the favored daughter of the rich in Hollywood and a standard slut. The complexity of her life experience may be the reason for her depravity. The marriage of her mother, Lamona and her nominal father, Emmett, was nothing but a ladder for Emmett’s greed for money and becoming a Hollywood nobleman. Ramona, who was deceived and empty of emotions, finally and Emmett’s partner , Director George committed adultery and gave birth to Marilyn.
It wasn't until Marilyn grew up that Emmet saw the clues from his appearance, and he wanted revenge. He first disfigured George in a car accident, and then he had an unspeakable ambiguity with Marilyn, all of which made Lamona a completely insane mad woman.
Emmet found the actress Schott, who looked like Marilyn, who was a black dahlia. He wants to stimulate and punish the mad woman and George in this way. As the director, George gradually developed lust for Schott during the auditions again and again. In the pornographic clips of lesbian themes, there was an indescribable sadness in Schott's eyes. What did she foresee? Butch conjectured again and again in the video.
At this time, Li had killed Nash alone. In fact, he and Nash also had the ulterior nuances. Butch, who withdrew from the Dahlia case, was furious, because Li's actions were not only suspected of being corrupt, but also It also blocked Butch’s continued investigation of the Nash case. (At this time, the first case was closed. To be honest, I didn’t figure out this
paragraph .) Finally, the mad woman could not bear the teasing of Emmet and Marilyn on George and herself, and even more could not bear George’s betrayal. When he wanted to rape Short, he raised the baseball bat in his hand, and poor Short died.
Bobby Duwin was finally released from prison. Lee followed him to a building. At the same time, Marilyn and George also followed Lee. It turned out that Li knew Marilyn’s address and identity through Butch’s matchbox, so he found Emmet and Marilyn one step ahead of time, threatened to ask for money and took possession of Marilyn. He was really a scumbag. Fortunately, Marilyn is not a good bird either. Butch also rushed to the mansion. In the end, Lee killed Bobby, Marilyn killed Lee, and Lee and George died together.
Butch found Marilyn, exposed the truth, and shot her through. Butch returned to Kate and finally found peace in the former prostitute.
3 The fascinating skills of the film
can finally ignore the plots of the rouch, let's be presumptuous in the image world of de Palma.
First of all, this practice of hiding all the details behind the image, which really tests the patience of the viewer, will make people hooked after reading the film. Butch, as the protagonist on the stage, plays a role in pulling the plot, but the development of the truth is hidden in the actions of Li that are not seen by the viewer. This deliberately set obstacle makes it more difficult and more difficult to watch the movie. Filled with fun.
Moreover, the ingenious and clever setting of the play in the film is amazing. It is not so much a play in a movie, but a movie in a movie, because a few fragments are more like images than drama, but this kind of processing provides the viewer with a better understanding of the dahlia case and provides the best choice for empathy, authenticity and credibility. .
Let's also talk about De Palma's shots. The mirror movement of this film can be described as forbearance, very calm, and sometimes even makes you think how it can be called a thriller, but the tension that runs in peace attracts the viewers strongly. Several typical symbolic shots are also in place, such as a crow pecking at a corpse, although the intention is clear but unobtrusive.
There are several uncomfortable and scary shots in the film, such as a naked body broken in two and a mouth cut with a knife. These are shots that challenge the limits of vision, but in de Palma’s concise and detailed pictures, The discomfort of the viewers will be resolved by the atmosphere created by light and shadow, color, and movement, forming a calm poetic flavor, calm but freezing into the heart. As for the long shots used when the two cases meet, they are even more skilful, free from the boringness of dazzling skills, and well show the subtle relationship between accident and necessity in the world.
The soothing and melodious soundtrack aptly interprets the intention of the film. Mark Isham's music gives the film great power if there is nothing, it is not grandiose, nor pretending to be deep, and extremely capable.
All this is a classic necessity.
4 brief views on the performance of the film
Josh Hartnett • Never offer had such a superb performance, "Pearl Harbor," "Sin City" He was just a little idol temperament feather boy "40 days of abstinence," when, But in this film, he perfectly displays Butch’s life from chaos to sober, and at the end he completes the credible redemption of the characters’ hearts.
Alan Eckhart is the soul figure hidden in the shadows of the film. Allen's performance has given Li, a person who is bold on the surface and greedy and sinister on the surface, ten percent credibility. This alone is worthy of praise.
Compared to the two big names Scarlett Johansson and Hilary Swank, the black dahlia SCHOTT played by Mia Kirshner is even more admirable. Although only appearing in a few movies in the movie, every emotional change shocks the viewer. Perhaps the expressive power of black and white texture highlights the charm of the characters.
Of course, Johnson and Swank have also completed the characterization very well, but compared to their fame and talent, they will feel that this is just a matter of course.
5 Summary (or outlook)
There is no need to repeat the love of De Palma, all his films are my favorite. In this one, I saw his transformation. In the past, whether it was playing violence or playing suspense, Parma was a master, and even formed a unique "Pa" style. However, this film adapted from a best-selling book achieves a balance of expression and performance. It integrates the story and narrative methods and methods very well, giving it a flavor and tension that is rarely seen in Pak’s films, and has It is possible to become a classic in the future.
It is true that too many people think that this is a complicated, artificial, false, or even retrogressive film, but I firmly believe that this is the initial stage of the interpretation of the classics. Everything will be clarified after the superficial entanglement. Reply to where it should have appeared, at least for the moment, I have no doubts about it.
6 Helpless and useless complaining
how to say, I have nothing to say. Although I waited a few months after the film was drawn, and waited until Chuangjia produced the 1st Jane 9 to buy it, but the outrageous Chinese translation in the disc was still beyond my expectation. Other films are nothing more. For such a film that requires dialogue and narration to understand the content, large parts of missing translations and mistranslations are nothing more than closed doors for people like me who have bad English. Poorly, I was holding an English dictionary word by word and trying to figure out the shabbyness of a few key points. One time I vowed to learn English well, another time I gritted my teeth and scolded the disc dealer for lack of pirates and moral spirit, but in the end I had to compromise. Seeing pity and waiting for a Hong Kong version of District 3, or when a new version of District 1 will be released, it is not easy for Chinese fans to see. Not to mention, good movies will not be annihilated, no matter what setbacks and slanders are, there will always be times when they will shine.
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