(Any attempt to decipher this work with one or a few key words seems ridiculous, because what it says is far deeper and farther than we think, whenever I try to say it , to understand it, I always feel that the deceased master is smiling at us in the clouds. But even so, I still don’t know the depth, and I dare to share my understanding of this work with you, what is the offense, hope Forgive!)
"Days on the Clouds" is the last work of the French director Antonioni before his death. On the one hand, this film is his "spirit diary", and the large monologues that strung the film are his deep thinking about himself as a director. , tells his own story, on the other hand, in the film's several beautiful and illusory stories like a dream, there are hidden "people" he sees, telling everyone's stories.
These stories, when told by Antonioni in his 80s, seemed to have an oriental sense of Zen, which was very clearly expressed in the last story, with a sense of "color is emptiness". An old man who spent his whole life searching for the truth of the soul, at the end of his life, he watched all the drama, and finally ended the film with "emptiness". But this is not the end, it is just the trajectory of continuous reincarnation, and the lust and lust will continue to play out in one person's life. Just like the inner monologue of the director at the beginning of the film, the times are constantly moving forward, and we think that we are advancing with the times, but generations of people have experienced the same trajectory, which is constantly cyclical. In this sense, We have been "walking where we are".
The film can be roughly divided into four stories. It is the director's search, digging and feelings that connect these four seemingly independent but constitute a whole story. The language in the play is very poetic, and every sentence is intriguing. The dream-like scenes and poetic language all seem so unrealistic, but these surrealities are often closer to the reality of the soul than reality.
At the beginning of the film, the "director" sits on the plane, looks at the passing clouds outside the window, and gives a monologue.
"Whenever I finish a film, I start to think about the next one, and that's the only thing I can do, and the only thing I can do. I'm thinking about the next one right now, and I find the hardest part is Focus on the idea of new works, don't read other books, don't let your heart be disturbed, and fall into silence and darkness. Only in darkness can reality be illuminated; only in silence can the voices of the outside world be heard clearly. I believe that there is a force in nature that drives me forward. It is the source of the past, present and future of life, but we often stay in the present, and then deceive ourselves, thinking that we are changing in synchrony with the world. I am afraid that we are stubborn, Keep going.”
Then, the director drove the car through the fog-filled street—a fog that Antonioni had specifically asked for, creating a feeling that the fog-filled street seemed to be shaped by voices, etc. All superficial obstacles blinded the real world, and he and each of us walked through this world. The fog blinded our eyes, but people still tried hard to explore the truth behind the fog.
Then start telling the first story. This story takes place in the small town of Ferrara, Italy, where the hero and heroine had to settle because of the fog. The male protagonist drove the car and asked the female protagonist on the side of the road where there was a hotel nearby, and she immediately pointed to the one where she lived. Later, the two met at the hotel restaurant, ate together, and took a walk together. At this time, the sun is setting:
M: Did you notice that no one is watching the sunset now? Maybe city people are like that, my job brought me to the country, and I've always been fascinated by sunsets.
Woman: Human speech is not as tiresome as other voices. For example, it is like the sea, whose voice becomes inaudible after listening for a long time. Lovely words, you can't help but listen.
Man: Strange, we always want to live in someone else's imagination.
Woman: Maybe this is the secret of love.
Man: I like your eyes, they are not only sweet, but also full of aura.
He kissed her.
...
In the evening, the two of them returned to the hotel. The two of them faced each other in their rooms, said good night to each other, and went back to their rooms to rest. Both were waiting for the other to knock on their door, but neither did. The next morning, when he woke up, he knocked on her door, but no one answered. He hurriedly ran downstairs to ask, and the people at the hotel said she had left.
From that moment on, the two have loved each other deeply, but have not continued to develop. After that, the two went their separate ways, and two or three years later, in a theater, the two met again by chance. He said he thought about it for two years, why she left without saying goodbye the next morning, the girl said, she waited for him all night. Afterwards, the two had a conversation:
Female: Recently, I have been thinking about why I am so eager to listen to other people's speech, and no one wants to talk more.
Man: Eyes mean everything. The truth is hidden behind.
Woman: Tell me something, okay?
Man: When we're under a spell, we yearn to be slaves. For example, I am now bound by your silence.
...
The girl took him to his place, and the boy asked the girl if she had a boyfriend. She said that she didn't have a boyfriend, and she broke up with her friend who lived with her for a year. She talked about a letter from her boyfriend to her, and she remembered the content of the letter in her heart. Words are always beautiful, especially when they are written, and women look forward to reading them, she said.
The boy went to kiss her, she avoided her, and the boy pushed the door and left. Went downstairs, remembered something, and came back.
...
his hand touched her skin through the air, kissed her through the air, but didn't really touch her. ——This scene is very beautiful, coupled with the slow sad piano, the two smiles without words, as beautiful as poetry.
Just as the girl was waiting in her heart, he left the girl looking through the window at the figure who was leaving downstairs. He also looked back and looked at her, but he still left...
This story ends here. The boy has been in love with the girl he never had.
Such a story, such a rejection, has a very oriental connotation, delicate and euphemistic. Some emotions have no physical relationship, but they are unforgettable and will be missed for a lifetime.
In the second story, the "director" went to a harbor in search of a story, but had a story with the people in the story.
In a wet and quiet alley, he came across the girl played by Sophie Marceau, "her eyes and clothes are very attractive, with a strong sweetness", those eyes with stories attracted him, he followed She went to the clothing store where she worked. His eyes were quiet, but he had a strong desire to find it. He stared at her intently, trying to find something. She was very nervous, and looking at each other made her short of breath. He walked out of the store, but she couldn't help but follow, a little reluctant.
After she met him again, she told him a story, she said, she killed her father, stabbed a total of 12 times... She said he reminded her of someone, this person, it would be hers father?
Later, he had a skin-to-skin relationship with her, and the only time she showed a satisfied smile was not to keep him. Maybe he did something for her.
Later, he left here.
At first, he thought he had found characters or characters, but instead he got stories. The 12 knives in the girl's story sounded so unreal. If it was two or three knives, it might be more realistic. This number made him feel familiar and deja vu, and he decided to set the number of stabs by the killer in a film he wanted to be three, not 12, because that sounded more real
- but ironically, the real It is exactly 12 knives, this shocking number contains all the stories, and the truth is in it. ——"Reality is far more dramatic than drama", if it weren't for $12, this story would not be so powerful, it wouldn't be a story, but in order to get closer to reality, he had to change $12 to $3. Is it a storytelling paradox? What people think is closer to the real is instead fiction, and what seems unreal and dramatic contains all the real.
In the filming footage of the film, there is a saying about this story: "Stain is always more attractive than transparent things". The film said, "From the very beginning, she seemed to realize something in her eyes, which attracted him at first sight and made him unable to forget. With a strong tragic irony, it was like the sunset on the horizon, spreading continuously. Like Joe The language of Yith falls like snow on all living and dead."
The third story begins in the cafe.
A young and beautiful girl saw a story and wanted to share it with others, so she chatted with a customer in a cafe (this story, passed down from this film, has been told countless times). The story goes like this:
In Mexico, scientists hire locals to move things to another location. On the way, the workers suddenly stopped walking while walking, and scientists couldn't figure out why. After a few hours, they started walking again, and the foreman decided to explain to the scientists why. He said, we went too fast and left the soul behind, we have to stop and wait for the soul.
The girl who tells the story walks into the life of the man who listens to the story, and she becomes his lover. His wife was in so much pain that he asked him to leave her again and again, and the girl asked him not to touch her. Three people are suffering in the most widely circulated storyline in the world.
In the end, the man's wife left him and moved out, and the owner who rented the house to her was a woman who had left her husband and lived with her lover. Because she couldn't stand her husband's work outside all the year round, she moved out all the furniture, She lived with her lover and rented out the house with her husband. When the husband came back, he saw the empty room and met this woman who came to rent a house. How similar their stories are...
Such stories are so familiar to all listeners, past, present, and future, countless same stories, countless people suffering in such stories... Because Human beings are born with desires and emotions, and people are destined to suffer. These desires and emotions bind everyone, from generation to generation, such a whirlpool is endless.
Between the third story and the fourth story, there is a small interlude.
An old man was painting on the mountain. He painted the scenery in front of him, intentionally imitating one of Cezanne's works. Another old man came over.
Woman: I don't understand why our society needs so many replicas. Not just paintings, but replicas of everything. Even like clothes, suitcases, bags, watches.
Man: The original is too expensive.
Woman: Exactly. But in your opinion, a copy of Cezanne is better than a landscape photo.
M: I believe that those who copy master works have the opportunity to experience the artist's creative process. And, it is possible to capture his precise drawing gestures.
Woman: Copy gestures?
why not? Capturing the genius of genius is more satisfying than scribbling on a wall.
...
The camera cuts, the "director" is looking at the same copy on the wall in a hotel, and when he is bored, he imitates the poses and expressions of the figures in another figure painting-perhaps, everyone who creates the work , have imitated the master once, and after he became a master, he was imitated by later people. But in the middle, the most important thing is not the final work. Just like a painting, what matters is not how it is drawn in the end, but the thoughts hidden in the work, the master's thoughts in the process of creating the work. Therefore, imitating the master is not about imitating itself, but hoping to experience the entire creative process through imitation, or to capture the master's thought. In this sense, I personally think that the director may have a self-deprecating meaning, but another meaning is: the important thing about the film presented in front of us is not its final appearance, but the condensed content of this film. All thoughts of the director.
The fourth story is one of my favorites, but I've been unable to articulate why. Suddenly one day, Meng Meng felt its "Zen".
A boy met a girl, the boy went up to chat, the girl said she was going to church, the boy asked to accompany her on a ride.
Man: Are you always so reticent? why?
Woman: Nothing to say.
M: The life around is so colorful, how can it not arouse your interest?
Man: You must be very knowledgeable.
Female: No.
Man: Don't you even read the newspaper?
Female: I used to read it often, but now I don't read it.
Man: I once read in the newspaper "If a cherry tree could eat its own fruit..." You are like a self-sufficient tree.
Woman: I think we can be happy when we eliminate our thoughts.
M: But the elimination of thoughts is itself a thought.
Woman: Not bad. So I prefer to be at peace.
Man: But that would be worse. Silence makes our minds run wild.
Woman: I mean pointless thoughts.
Man: So how can we get out of it?
Woman: If possible, I will run away.
Man: Where did you escape to?
Female: Escape from the body.
Man: Why?
Woman: One of the shortcomings of the flesh is that there are too many desires, and he is never satisfied.
Man: Don't belittle all desires, the process of gratification will bring you joy.
Woman: Or give up those fun, you will get unparalleled tranquility.
...
Entering the church, the girl begins to pray. The boy sat down. The chant sounded, and the boy fell asleep... When he woke up, the people were gone. He ran out anxiously and saw a girl drawing something on the ground beside a fountain.
Man: Is it a flower?
Woman: Yes. beautiful.
Man: Saying it might be blasphemous - I don't like flowers. I liked it, but the flower made me sad, the flower was beautiful, but its beauty only lasted for a day or two, and then it withered and was abandoned by people.
Woman: You are afraid of death, right?
Man: Fear is not enough to describe.
Woman: I am afraid of life.
Man: A girl your age is afraid of life? It really doesn't make sense.
Woman: I am afraid of real life.
Man: That's because you despised it too much. Do you have any expectations for life?
Female: No.
...
Male: What if I fell in love with you?
Woman: That's like lighting a candle in a brightly lit room.
...
Male: Can we see you tomorrow?
Woman (smiles): Tomorrow, I'm going to the convent.
This passage is very Zen-like. I have not studied Buddhism, but at least this passage reminds me of the meaning of "put down anger and delusion, and gain great tranquility". Eliminate the mind, escape the body - isn't this the state of "no-self"?
At the end of the film, the director summed up his career:
"Film director is a very special industry, we must constantly use new image symbols to express fresh emotions. We no longer live only in movies, we become The homeless people are exposed to everyone's eyes, doubts and ridicule. Can't tell anyone what happened to them. These experiences will not appear in the script or film, but only a memory, a strange memory, The near-finished film can only verify a part of it, and the complete record will not be completed until the next journey is restarted, from place to place, constantly observing, interrogating and fantasizing. And this is another work Finally, the
director returned to the hotel, and the picture showed what he saw from the four windows. In the first room, a woman smiled and stared at the window, with a happy expression immersed in the imagination of beautiful love; the second In one room, a man and a woman are enjoying the joy of union; in the third room, a middle-aged woman in black, like a writer, is smoking a cigarette, with wine on the table, and sometimes writes something down; the last room, is The director himself, his face appeared in the dark, and then gradually disappeared... In this shot, the camera is like the eye of God, the images of all living beings are fully displayed, and all the love, resentment and hatred in the world are fully captured in "his" eyes, The director is also in this picture, the difference is that he faces the camera directly, with eyes always eager to know the truth.
It doesn't matter whether he finds the truth, the important thing is that he put almost all his life's search and search in this poetic work, leaving it to us so that when we see this work , also remembered something.
What it reminds me of is: the cycle of life, desire, emotion, deception, etc., is the vortex of life, and all lives are entangled in this vortex, feeling joy and pain, and finally going through everything and returning to peace. Everyone's life is like this. What can we do after seeing this? Or as the director said: "Doubt, redemption, remorse, the limitations of our thinking, experience, culture, inspiration, imagination, and sensibility. I feel tired, and I would rather just feel than ruminate on it." — — Instead of thinking about it, let yourself feel and experience it.
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