In May 1935, Ford's long-planned and carefully filmed work "The Whistleblower" was released. Unexpectedly, the box office was bleak and it was quickly offline. However, critics raved about the film's artistic achievements... With the active push of people from all walks of life, the film was re-released six months later, and the box office soared, eventually earning $891,000 for RKO. Critics' praise for The Whistleblower is not a lie. The film poured into Ford's deep concern for the fate of Ireland. The concise dialogue and excellent soundtrack showed Ford's excellent exploration of the sound of the film over the past few years. The public psychology in the quagmire of the Great Depression, and the integration of German expressionist film, finally achieved the artistic quality of this film.
The Whistleblower tells the story of the turbulent republic of Ireland in the early 20th century. The Dublin Police has offered a 20-pound reward for the arrest of revolutionary Frank. As a result, Kipo, a friend and comrade-in-arms, denounced Frank, which resulted in Frank being killed. Kipo was deeply terrified by this, and his betrayal was interrogated and punished by the revolutionaries. Ultimately, Kipo, who was seriously injured, fled to the church, confessed his crimes to Frank's mother, and died after being forgiven.
It can be said that the whole film is quite the essence of Murnau's works in style. For example, the streets of Dublin at night are filled with fog, overcast winds, and darkness and terror—this is not only the objective environment in which the film’s story unfolds, but also the externalization of the protagonist’s confusion and loneliness… Obviously, the excellent use of “light and shadow” is undoubtedly the most important part of the film. Features of German Expressionism. First of all, "The Whistleblower" completely abandons the "full bright" lighting method in Ford's earlier films, and attaches great importance to the use of light and shadow to enhance the sense of space and the texture of objects.
Secondly, Ford also used light and shadow to suggest the plot and portray the characters. For example: the wanted Frank meets Kipo in a restaurant. Kipo's face is light and dark, suggesting the split of his personality and the struggle of his soul, while Frank is completely illuminated, showing his uprightness. At the same time, the knife in Kipo's hand is overexposed, and the flickering cold light seems to foreshadow his evil heart.
It is also worth mentioning that the complexity of the characters and the ambiguity of the theme in "The Whistleblower" also have an indissoluble bond with German expressionist films. First of all, compared to most Hollywood films of the time, Kipo seems to have a hard time fitting into a "good or bad" character model. He is so weak that he doesn't have the guts to execute captives, but also cruel enough to betray his comrades; although he loves his wife deeply , but they squandered the 20 pounds they planned to immigrate to the United States. Kipo doesn't seem to be a total villain, but his cowardly personality and greed mentality eventually led him to hell.
Secondly, as a descendant of Irish immigrants, Ireland has always been one of the motifs of Ford's works. Films such as "The Executioner's Home" and "Green Hills and Green Valley" all use Ireland as the space environment. "Informer" is a film that directly reflects Ireland's struggle for independence. Film. However, Ford's attitude towards the Irish Revolution in the film is very contradictory: the revolutionaries represented by Frank are full of enthusiasm, but lack courage; as the liberated people, the bottom people are quite numb, and they are on the same path as the revolutionaries. In this emotional work, Ford reveals his pessimism and confusion about the future of the Irish Revolution...
Of course, works of art are not manifestos of political struggles. The achievement of their charm lies in the artistic presentation of the individual thinking, observation and presentation of things by the director. In the end, this film with the perfect combination of techniques and themes made Ford win the "Best Director Award" for the first time at the 8th Academy Awards, and the film also won a total of four "Best Actor/Screenplay/Soundtrack" at the same time. awards...
The above is excerpted from the paper - (On the origin of John Ford and German expressionist films) Author: You Xiaoguang Shi Bogong
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