This film based on the American writer Christopher Isherwood's 1964 novel of the same name is very small—just one person, one day, one thing; but I don’t think it is narcissistic. The squeaky and crooked, because for everyone who has ever faced the choice of life and death, every second of desperate struggle in the shadow of death is like a year. At that critical moment, every detail and every moment of hesitation, It is possible to completely change a person's life, or move towards subversion, or rebirth.
George played by Colin Firth is a very interesting character. He was successful in his career, economically prosperous, and lived in a cool house with modern decoration, prominent lines and cleanliness, and his clothes were spotlessly clean and meticulous. Even the suicide itself was arranged in an orderly, calm and orderly manner. He would go to the bank, take out all his property notes from the safe, and explain in detail the details of the handling of the incident on the sticky note. Even the thousands of tips for the sweeping aunt were put in a white envelope and sealed in a bread bag. Neat and noble. The small pistol he used to commit suicide was shiny silver and exquisite like a work of art; he was afraid that after pulling the trigger, the blood would splatter and stain the snow-white pillows and sheets, and he even had to find a sleeping bag to pad under him.
In all George's activities from morning to night on this day, the highlight is the fragment of his last supper with his old friend and lover Charlotte for more than 20 years. Julianne Moore, who plays Charlotte, is similar to her role. The glamour reveals the vicissitudes of life that can't be blocked by the thick foundation. They drank, danced, reveled, they lay on the floor smoking, quarreling, and finally they said goodbye quietly and desperately on a night intoxicated by the spring breeze.
Charlotte's despair is not the same as George's. After her marriage failed, she lived alone in a mansion halfway through the mountains in Los Angeles, and her children grew up and left. Although she has many friends, she feels that "no one needs her", and she involuntarily wants to transform George's friendship with her into a "real" "Relationship", an intimate feeling that she can grasp, support, and feel the beauty and vitality of life again. Subconsciously, she always deceived herself that the relationship between George and Jim was just a substitute for another "real relationship", and this thought made George extremely annoyed.
Compared to the despair that Charlotte could not own but refused to admit failure, George's despair lies in the loss after possession. Colin Firth's portrayal of George is very delicate. After receiving the funeral call, he sat in a chair with a sad expression. He faced Charlotte's heartfelt joy and exhaustion. He stared at Kenny, a soft and pure young student like an angel. The smile that emerged on the side was so subtle and real, so close, so intimate, and it made people involuntarily empathize. The photography of the story also emphasizes this sense of intimacy. The depiction of the characters' eyes, lips, lines, stripes, and gestures are as exquisite as advertising paintings. The soundtrack is also soothing and smooth, and full of delicate dynamics.
George told Charlotte that he was a guy who "has an answer to everything," saying that he had all thoughts about it; but his so-called ultimate answer was nothing more than saying goodbye to the world and saying goodbye to pain. In fact, regardless of whether it is George or Charlotte, they are suffering violently in their hearts, and outsiders cannot fully understand them, and they should not make value judgments by their own standards. I don't think that Charlotte's passive confrontation of doing nothing is more desirable or even less desirable than George's dashing turn with a wave of his hand and not taking away a cloud. I believe that there is a dark zone deep in everyone's heart, spreading loneliness that happiness can't cure, and loneliness that happiness can't resist. In the process of dark invasion, life and death are both extremely severe tests. The difference lies in the responsibilities and obligations to others, rather than which one is less gray and which choice is more wise. The story focuses on George, a successful person who should have achieved happiness in life long ago by general standards. He focuses his perspective on himself. Without introducing his family background, relatives, powers and responsibilities, and social relations, it is to strip away all external factors. It only depicts the inner struggle of people; it is to enlarge the dark place deep in the human heart, so that we can experience the most real and strong emotional pain at close range, let us enter his heart, and also enter the desolation in our own heart. In the realm of life, re-examine the magnified and full of holes in life, and re-understand the fragility and cruelty of life overwhelmed.
At the end of the film, George had a confession saying that at certain moments in his life, even for a few seconds, he had acquired an absolute clarity. He felt instead of thinking, and the world became clear and fresh. He tried to capture and prolong such moments of absolute clarity and peace, but they were fleeting without exception. Despite this, George still believes that the meaning of his life, his entire life, lies in those precious moments.
The world of 1962 disappointed George. Friends could not keep him. The lost love only brought him endless pain, but he supported him longer, longer, those fleeting ones that contained the full meaning, passion and secrets of life. The possibility of coming in a few seconds is greater, more likely. And such a possibility may be those gleams that penetrate the island of life, quietly and mysteriously, entangled and competed with the wasteland buried deepest in our hearts, with the change of prosperity, the change of seasons, and the reciprocating cycle.
In the end, I seemed to be as clear as George for a few seconds. Perhaps fear is not as terrible as fear itself, and despair is not as hopeless as despair claims. Courage and desire will always come out of the small gap of despair, and grow silently but faithfully in the sun.
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