"The Last of Us" is not a good enough movie. As a directorial debut, it inevitably has many shortcomings and looks immature. In the Chinese film industry, the threshold for being a director is not high. There are many well-known writers and actors who have directed the director, but very few have achieved success in the true sense. This time, Liu Ruoying did not become the leader. When we try to put aside the gorgeous coat of audio-visual language and all commercial disputes, and explore the true core of the film, we will find that the quality of the storytelling determines the success or failure of a film as a work of art.
This film basically inherits the common problem that new cross-border directors are not very good at telling stories, and the structure is lacking. The relatively macro theme of "Ten Years", of course, needs to be shown in detail. But a running account composed of trivial fragments of life cannot make a good story. All the connotations contained outside, inside, and after trivialities are what the film really wants to express. Two people from acquaintance to understanding, from knowing that they are in love, and then gradually becoming strangers and separating, this is simply the only way in a relationship. However, not everyone knows the psychological ups and downs and the changes in their concepts during the journey between the two. They used to be happy, and in the end they parted silently. All the turning points were not due to conflict and resistance, but were often told to us by a beautiful scene, beautiful music, and the heroine's mournful tears. So sometimes we ask the protagonist: why is he like this? What was she thinking? It's because we can't find the answer clearly from the story. The lack of tension in the story eventually became a subsidiary of the beautiful scenery of China.
The ability of the film to dismantle reality and interpret it is not very clever. And also very lazy to use black and white and color to distinguish the present and the past. In a movie with a large time span, flashbacks and interludes are inevitable, but it is possible to distinguish different time periods by modeling and clothing, or the internal logic of the development of events. Perhaps, the director wanted to use the color change to echo the video game made by the hero: without you, life is only black and white. But this kind of blind obsession is meaningless in real life. Because no matter how gloomy life is, he has already reunited with others.
There are also several narrations that appear in the film that make people feel abrupt. The Later Us is not a story told by a dedicated narrator. Either it is explained by a third party standing on the sidelines like "The Great Gatsby", or it is explained by the parties like "Titanic". In these cases, the presence of the narration is justified because it is given by the narrator. "Later Us" is not a first-person narrative, but there are several first-person narrations from the hero and heroine: How is my hardship, happiness or sadness. When these narrations came up, I was looking for clues to see if they were in their own personal relationships saying these words. But no, these words are just mere narration. When the director cannot express with pictures and dialogues, he can only use these narrations that should not appear in a poor manner.
The most criticized thing is that they get along too deeply after a long absence. Could it be that the re-encounter of the lovers who broke up is not Byron's "How will I congratulate you, with tears and silence"? Isn't it Lu You's "Although the mountain alliance is there, the brocade book is difficult to support"? Now that you know you can't go back, why do you have to reveal your scars and live in the same room? Now that you know that the person you once loved has a completely different life trajectory, why do you still hold hands in the snow? As if it was just to say those provocative lines written on paper. Since you only owe one goodbye, then say goodbye well, that's fine.
Sprinkling thousands of words, recounting the various faults of the film, is not to show my own brilliance or strictness. It's just that I never planned to lose reason in a memory with a unique literary and artistic temperament. As an ordinary movie fan, I'm still willing to give this film a passing score and forgive its shortcomings. Not only because the technical departments of film photography, editing, art, and recording are all top-notch, the quality is guaranteed. More because it is related to Rene Liu. After listening to too many songs of this female singer for too many years, it is inevitable that I will bring feelings.
Because at the beginning of the movie, before I knew where the story was going, Zhou Dongyu looked at Jing Boran with tears in his eyes, but they didn't fall. Those are despot tears dedicated to the past. I love acting like that. Zhou Dongyu is very suitable for this role. It seems to be an understatement. In fact, all the ups and downs are contained in the gestures. And Jing Boran is also handy in switching between youthful frivolity and middle-aged reminiscence.
Because many people have been on a rampage for love. When you see their stories, it's like seeing how down, once sweet, and once self-righteous. At that time, I could give everything for love in exchange for a clear sky. Until all the illusions about love vanished, life was dull. When love is young, or when love is not young, it has passed. Just let it go and let the story end.
Because of Tian Zhuangzhuang, the old director's loving performance. He lives in a corner and seems to see through everything. He guards his past, and does not disturb the feelings of the younger generation too much. Just write a letter when you leave: "It's still better to cook at home, can takeout be delicious?" To remind you that no matter how vigorous you are in the world of red dust, remember to go home.
Because at the end of the film, Eason Chan's singing sounded at the right time. When I heard the movie theme song "We", I didn't think it was very pleasant except that the lyrics were very good. But after watching the movie, I feel that it is so in line with the emotions that the movie wants to express, and even its unassuming tune is just right. Every sentence of the lyrics, in turn, explains everything the movie is trying to explain.
So, if there was no encounter, this story would not exist. But with an encounter destined to dissipate in the wind, it makes one mistakenly believe that the story is not over. Therefore, an imperfect movie can even make people cry, making people believe that a fictional story is their own story, and the fantasy that the period once was replaced by another ending. Those imperfect parts are repaired by tears. In fact, the story is over, and most of the love can only be reminiscence.
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