After hearing about it for a long time, I watched this well-produced mini-series by the BBC many years ago, but I only watched it at the time. I was amazed at the well-thought-out logical deception and delicate, subtle, quiet and flowing feelings, but I didn't think about the details. Fortunately, I recently spared some free time to read the original book "fingersmith", and I was completely immersed in the ascetic, debauched, tolerant but passionate Victorian era created by Teacher Hua. The structure and pacing of the film is already good, but due to space constraints, many of the plots in the book are not shown.
Like the film, the original book is also divided into three parts. The first chapter is narrated from Su's perspective, the second chapter is from Maud's perspective, and the third chapter is the climax and epilogue, which is also a mystery of the whole event.
The film begins with the wet and crowded Rand Street. The monologue of one of the heroines, Susan Cheng De, can be very detailed in the book to understand Su's experience growing up.
When Su was a child, his hair was very light and lovable. He was pulled by a girl on the street to the theater to beg for dinner, and happened to see Oliver Twist, a historical masterpiece that had a profound impact on this work. Sue cried with fright at the chaos in the theater, and when she got home, Aunt Saxby slapped the girl who took her there.
Every day, Aunt Saxby hugged Su to sleep, washed her hair shiny with vinegar, drove away the little boys who came to tease Su, and took good care of Su. It can be seen that although Rand Street is poor, chaotic, and squalid, Sue grew up without any harm, so she is pure enthusiasm and full of vitality. It is precisely because of Aunt Saxby's position in her heart that she would rather hurt her lover and insist on cooperating with this cruel conspiracy, obsessed with winning the favor of Aunt, so that her family can get rid of poverty.
In the movie, the description of Su's growth process in the book is removed, and the part that best reflects Su's character is directly shown: since she was a child, she has bravely watched the prisoner being hanged by the window, without blinking an eye. Aunt Saxby only received money for seven months but raised her, with her uncle Ibsen and friend Dante who love her. Even though she was born in a den of thieves, she was not thief, she was cheerful, optimistic and sincere.
The place where the movie is well arranged is that the monologue of Maud's childhood is connected here, and it does not use Su's first-person whole narrative in the original book to be taken into a lunatic asylum, and then switch to Maud's way. The film directly transfers from Su's childhood to Maud's childhood, and through comparison, it more intuitively shows the reasons why the two heroines form such different characters under different circumstances.
Half of Maud's childhood memories were in the lunatic asylum, and the rebellious personality she had when she was young was consumed by the dark Thorn Mountain Villa.
In the book, there are a lot of self-reports about Maud's childhood. Uncle Mr. Li was a bibliophile with a eccentric and wretched personality. Little Maud didn't want to wear gloves, so his uncle beat her knuckles with a bead bracelet and cried on the ground. She cried until her throat bleeds, in exchange for the punishment of being put in the freezer; because of what she said out of curiosity, the maid put soap in her mouth and her tongue bleeds; she was faced with daily copying day after day Her uncle's erotic books, until she read so many words full of pleasure and desire, made her feel calm.
It is impossible for people who grow up to be unaffected. In order to retaliate and stimulate the maid, Maud named the kitten after the maid's dead daughter, because the new maid Agnes was "pure as butter" and let her Thinking of himself back then, Maud hated her and made excuses to beat her harder and harder.
Growing up in an environment full of maliciousness has also planted an evil factor in Maud's heart, which keeps her in a cycle of self-loathing. Uncle believes that his books are feeding Maud's poison bit by bit. , Maud also realized that "his lips are poisonous" after years of mental torture, and is no longer the pure and rebellious little girl in the lunatic asylum. But Maud was not defeated by the fate that was forced on him, and still yearned for freedom, until the gentleman came to Blair with a conspiracy that had been planned for more than ten years.
There is a difference between the original book and the movie. Maud and Su are 17 years old when they grow up in the book, and 21 years old in the film.
The gentleman came to Blair to sell the freedom of evil to Maud, and Maud also agreed to cooperate with him. Things were developing according to the original trajectory, until Maud's cold heart was melted by Su.
One night, when Maud fell into a nightmare again, Su gently wrapped Maud in her arms and said to her "good boy".
Maud, who had already built a wall for himself with indifference, thought with emotion: "Blair no longer believes in my cuteness, how long has it been? But she does." In Maud's eyes, Su already has a different meaning, "She is too blunt, too loose, too free. She yawns, she leans, she scratches her skin, she scratches."
As the time spent together became longer and longer, Mo Deming knew that Su was here to lie to him, but he still fell in love with Su uncontrollably. For a person who lives in Blair's routine and boring world every day, Su is like a beam of light that dispels the haze in the cloudy rainy weather, giving new meaning to each day of the machine's operation.
In the book, Maud "is getting used to her, getting used to her vitality, her warmth, her frown and smile, she is no longer the ignorant substitute Xiao Su in the vicious trap, but a person with a past, love and hate. Girl...I'm afraid of the future itself, of all the strange, uncontrollable emotions that come with it."
From many details, it can be seen that in fact, Maud fell in love with each other earlier than Su. It can also be said that Su was a little slow in terms of feelings, and even the gentleman discovered that Maud's feelings were earlier than Su.
When Maud was out to paint, Su fell asleep beside the upturned wooden boat. Maud was stunned with the paintbrush, and the paint dripped down the tip of the pen onto the skirt. The desire for Su in her eyes was seen by the gentleman, and the gentleman who had mastered her inner secret said slyly, "I don't think you love me. Your love is someone else."
Maud also finally felt the longing for the body of the loved one described in his uncle's book. Those words that once seemed to be obscene words had become real perceptions, driving her to stare greedily. Su's every move, looking forward to Su's every touch.
On the night that Maud "seduced" Su, the book also clearly shows Maud's mental journey: "I felt that kind of fall, that kind of collapse, I was flowing, like water, like ink, she captured my heart Life, and that trembling heart."
Facing the urge to burst out in the dark, Su also couldn't help calling her "My Pearl!"
After releasing the long-repressed desires and emotions, the sweetness in Maud's heart continued to ferment: "She triggered my life, my eagerness, everything changed... My heart is full of light and color, full of I hope to live with her together."
Maud intends to confess everything to Su when he wakes up early in the morning, even if the price of getting Su is the loss of her most important freedom. But Su flinched. She didn't know how to lead a noble lady like Maud to live in the vicious and dirty town of Po, she didn't know how disappointed Aunt Saxby would be for her if she gave up the plan, and she didn't know how to face John's ridicule. - She fell in love with a girl.
Su's reaction deeply hurt Maud's self-esteem. At this time, Maud's heart must be full of frustration and humiliation that he thought he was cheated. of indecision and reappeared.
Maud chooses to continue to cooperate with this conspiracy. Will the next person be able to rescue her. And according to Su's reaction at the time, she didn't dare to tell Su this plan again, because if it failed, she would lose her freedom forever - and Su. So Maud's monologue in the book goes like this: "It wasn't contempt, it wasn't malice, it was love—that I ended up hurting her."
After Sue was put in a lunatic asylum, beaten, drenched in cold water, and humiliated by her caregivers for her love for Maud, as shown in the movie, she was supported by her thoughts of Aunt Saxby and her hatred of Maud. She was tortured in an insane asylum.
But in the book, when she woke up at night, she saw a patient who had the same habit as Maud, who liked to pull his hair back while sleeping, and then dreamed of Maud lying beside her, she could only Shamely hope that the dream will not be broken. Although he hated Maud's hints again and again, as the motivation to escape from the madhouse, he couldn't control his thoughts of Maud.
At the same time, Maud, who was trapped in Rand Street, learned the truth of the scam, and then thought of Su's situation, and wanted to rescue Su even more. To this end, Maud tried his best to escape Dante and ran all over half of London. After walking all night, his feet were torn and bleeding, and he finally found Mr. Huo Pei. I thought I met someone who was willing to help me, but I was almost sent to a poor women's shelter. In desperation, Maud could only return to Rand Street.
On the other hand, Su finally escaped with the help of Charles. Although there was no interaction with Su Mo in this part, I actually found the story about Charles full of laughter. Charles is a boy who likes to cry at every turn but has a good heart. The gentleman he admired worked by his side. After Su sold his coat, Charles cried and said, "What should I do, Mr. Raffles definitely doesn't like boys who don't wear coats." Charles' image instantly became a bit cute.
During the confrontation in the house, Maud was afraid that the gentleman would come back and bump into Su, and hoped that she would run away quickly. He also used a gentle tone to soothe the tense and emotional Su, and tried to touch her with his hands, but was slashed by the excited Su with a knife. hurt. At the end of this climax, in order to protect Su, Maud stabbed the gentleman to death knowing the consequences.
After everything was over, Maud chose to leave quietly in order not to let Su find out about it all. In the film, Aunt Saxby hopes that Su will never know the truth, and Maud's determined expression when she agrees is touching.
This is also the reason why people who read the original book will especially like Maud, she is willing to bear all the dark things for Su, even if Su will hate her for the rest of her life, she will not want to see Su know the truth and be hurt.
EC's performance is perfect, her face has both the softness and sweetness unique to women, and the courage and perseverance rarely seen in women. Maud's temperament is unique and complex, blending gloom and elegance, coexisting arrogance and gentleness, intertwining love and hate, and clear love and hate. The fiery affection in the eyes looking at Su is always difficult to hide, and the disdain and indifference when dealing with gentlemen, EC has performed such a distinctive Maud incisively and vividly.
In the original book, Su fell seriously ill after learning the truth, and immediately embarked on a journey to find Maud, and met her in the study when she returned to the Thorn Villa.
It was sunny in the film, the curtains were opened, and the study room, which had never seen sunlight, was lit up. The two solved all misunderstandings and expressed their mutual affection. The picture ends with Maud and Sue kissing in such a bright world.
In the original book, it was a rainy day, the room was dark, Modra sat down by the warm fireplace, and read the love written on the paper to Su word by word.
Both scenarios actually fit their own style.
The scenes of Thorns Villa in the film are not always dim, and Maud's yearning for the sunshine outside the window has been shown many times, so the end of the film ends with a bright study, which is even more warm.
The description of the Thorn Villa in the book has always been dark, depressing and eerie. At the end, the two cuddled in front of the fireplace, dissipating the haze and filth of the villa, leaving only the pure and pure love between the two. .
In fact, I personally think that the hesitant speech at the end of the original book is more charming, leaving people with infinite space for aftertaste: On a rainy night, in front of the fireplace, Morde read her words softly aloud, this time the audience only leaned on her Su, the two finally have love that they can fully feel without confirmation.
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