Good horror movies don't shoot monsters anymore, they shoot the ever-changing real world.
Of all the movies, which genre needs the most freshness and excitement? I choose horror movies. The first time you watch a very scary episode, the second and third time you watch it may make you drowsy. In this era, information is redundant, and the audience has long been "nervous" to horror.
So, how do you keep horror movies fresh? The way smart directors have found is to focus on social issues on the theme core of horror films, such as "Master Key", "Hereditary Doom", "Escape from the Dead Town", etc., breaking away from the previous bloody style, turning It explores American-style social problems and the horrors of religious beliefs. Because: the ever-changing real world is the subject library that is always fresh.
The director who does this best is Jordan Peele. His debut was "Get Out", which won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay. The film opened up a new category of horror: no blood, no monsters, but it's scary enough to keep you awake for days.
The horror film I want to talk about today is also directed by Jordan Peele. Because of the highlights of his debut film "Get Out", his second film is more calm, more complete, and better-looking, and most importantly, for the social Reflection is not weakened but strengthened. This movie is "We", which not only exploded in foreign word of mouth, but also recovered 250 million at the box office at a cost of 20 million.
1. "We" is an enhanced and upgraded version of "Escape from the Deadly Town"
Some people say that director Pier Jordan is the absolute beneficiary of the "political correctness" environment of American films. He has developed different styles of horror films based on the exploration of American racism and the dark background of society. The protagonists are all black, and the characters are different. The surrounding environment is a bit out of place, no ghosts and only human nature. With these, his debut "Escape from the Dead" became an instant hit.
And this "Us" adopts the same routine as "Escape from the Dead", but further strengthens this concept: use horror films to face those phenomena that Americans are reluctant to talk about, and dig deep into the background to let people know the details. Frightened.
However, "Us" is a step closer: the director has improved the level of control over the soundtrack and rhythm. The famous Wen Ziren has become a leader in the horror film industry by relying on unique musical effects and rhythm coordination. These two basic It is the standard by which the success of horror films is judged.
And Pier Jordan does it very well. In the film, the heroine's whistle is her way of suppressing her fear, but at the same time it is the source of the audience's fear. You don't know what will happen when the whistle goes off again and suddenly stops. , which is the importance of rhythm.
In the sound effects and shots, he used a lot of contrast to highlight the horror atmosphere. In addition, at the end of the film, the contrast between the two heroines' lives on the ground and underground, the evil of the government just wants to control the people, but the consequences are the paralysis and misery of the people.
On the other hand, this film is also more commercial than Peel Jordan's debut film "Escape from the Dead", adding a lot of bloody and violent scenes to make the story more complete.
Compared with the previous work, the theme of this film is also deeper: only we can replace us, but we are the most afraid of us. Once the content of life is contrasted and reversed, resistance and struggle between classes will inevitably occur. The "we" that looks the same symbolizes the deception of freedom and equal rights in the United States to everyone, just as Yadi Leid said: We are also Americans.
In fact, the deception of freedom and equal rights in the United States can be extended to blacks, whites, and other people of color. Therefore, "Us" is deeper and broader in its thematic connotation.
2. "We" represents each of us
The story told by the film is very simple, and it still adopts the mode of facing the unknown and finally reversing.
The protagonist, Adi Leid, strayed into a mirror maze in a beach amusement park when she was a child. When she slowly entered, she unexpectedly met a little girl who looked exactly like herself!
After she ran out, she experienced aphasia for a period of time, and although her life returned to peace, the incident lingered in her mind. After more than ten years, Arti Ride was married. After summer, she, her husband, Gable, and their two children, went to the beach they went to when they were children together with their friend Taylor. However, everything on the beach was very strange. People with blood dripping from their fingers, and an old man who was inexplicably stabbed to death. In Yadi Leid's heart, the past events of his childhood began to emerge, and he had an ominous premonition.
After a sudden power outage one night, the youngest son found four people wearing red clothes standing in their driveway holding hands, no matter how much they shouted, warned, threatened, or even called the 911 line, but these four people just stood still and didn't. Attacked them step by step.
After the four entered the house, the hostess' family discovered that the four men in red looked exactly the same as their family, and the woman who took the lead informed the Artilade family that the four of them were the Artilade family's." shadow". "Shadow" is a clone created by the US government underground in order to better control the people. The mirror labyrinth is the entrance to the underground clone world.
These clones have no soul, they can only imitate, in order to survive better, the only one of them, Yadi Leid, who can speak a few words, led the underground clones out of the underground, killing the people on the ground to replace their lives. The heroine's family escaped from the town after a fight, but she only remembered it when she started to recall... (No spoilers left for everyone to see).
The English name of the movie "US" can be understood as us or as United States, the United States of America. A pun intended, a blunt satire of America's attitudes toward race and social class. The recurring 11.11 in the film echoes Jeremiah 11:11 of the Bible: "Therefore thus says the LORD: "I will bring disaster upon them, from which they cannot escape. They will cry to me, but I will not listen. "
A different kind of hegemony that extends to its own people. Think scary, because they are living in the environment described in the movie, and the government is doing exactly that.
3. The director's accusation of the American middle-class phantom
Attentive movie fans will find that in recent years, movies that describe social issues are very popular in various movie awards. For example, "The Thief Family", which won the Palme d'Or in Cannes last year, focuses on the influence of family and blood on family affection under the Japanese underprivileged. The huge difference of the Korean class and the thoughts of the characters in different living environments have been discussed a lot.
Not to mention Parasite, which won the Palme d'Or at Cannes this year, and Synonyms, which won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival. It can be said that in recent years, due to the huge changes in the international situation and the escalation of the competition between major powers, filmmakers have gradually paid more attention to the reflection and torture of reality in movies. And in America in transition, this is even more the case.
Since Trump came to power, various civil rights and racial movements in the United States have intensified. The previous black civil rights demonstrations, the subsequent US-Mexico border wall, the METOO movement, etc., and Hollywood, the source of cultural output, is bound to be affected. , The recent Oscars have been accused of losing their artistry and the number of viewers has decreased. A typical example is Marvel, which has always produced commercial entertainment movies, and used "Black Panther" to get the Oscar for the best film nomination for reviewing film aesthetics and theory.
The best film of the year, Green Book, which reflects the racial disparities of the 1970s, is the same, imagine: If there is no reference to the proposition of racism, these two films would have been treated like this?
In addition to the long-standing racial issue in the United States, there is a larger background problem that covers the entire American society that needs to be explored. That's what "Us" seeks - false and artificial prosperity.
One of the criticisms of the United States by "We" is that this country is too hegemonic and always wants to attack others to maintain its position in the world. As everyone knows, the United States is no longer the United States that brought down the Soviet Union and Japan at the end of the last century. There was a short video that showed through the debate between university professors and students that the United States is no longer so strong, and many people are only maintaining it through superficial work. They still dominate the image of the world.
For a long time, the personal representative of the American dream is the independent villa, private swimming pool, simple and relaxing work, and vacation life on the sunny beach. For this reason, it is not the middle class who will use all kinds of loans to meet these goals, and then like the male protagonist in the movie, buy a second-hand airboat to take the family on vacation, just because it is going with rich friends.
In addition to the American people, the government does not need to speak, and all kinds of open and secret struggles are used to consolidate its authority. The United States is still maintaining the American dream of the last century. If the huge but overbearing state machine wants to function well, it can only hypocritically satisfy the people's satisfaction, "either make them vain, or make them what they want" - the horror of "We" lies in the second half sentence.
And what about the environment we live in? Thankfully it's not us like in "We".
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