Director Zhao Ting's "No Man's Land" won three awards at the 2021 Oscar for Best Director, Best Actress and Best Picture.
In the turbulent times, the throne of the 93rd Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Director is a particularly tenacious existence, and in such a windy and rainy environment, it has always been like being guarded by a cloud wall, and it is difficult to shake. Zhao Ting's "No Man's Land" started from the Venice Film Festival early in the leading posture, across the North American Awards season, and even hammered the hammer of the Finale at the American Producers Guild Awards (PGA), and finally the dust settled, steadily closing the little golden man, ending this round, more surprisingly, is That Frances Meadowman in this year's almost most unpredictable heroine group, after breaking out of the siege and sealing three times.
Stills from "The Land of NoBody"
Adapted from Jessica Brudd's reporting literature, the Film In NoWhere shines softly into the darkness of the U.S. economy at a distance that is both intimate and restrained. The choreographer sends small souls in the vast world, man and the world, two are the Lord and the guest, skillfully serving as containers for each other, carrying the story. In the face of "No One Land", I know it is good, but is it really that good? Makes me think constantly.
The winning fate of the work is connected with the general environment, spiritual growth, self-pursuit, these warm and mellow chicken soup base, in this year more successful than before to conquer the spleen and stomach of North American audiences, perhaps with the epidemic under the thirst for healing, and then many high-standard strong films have been delayed, creating a unique situation in this parallel time and space. In the face of an unstable future, "We'll see you on the road." (I'll see you down the road.) Became an inspiration to each other more than a thousand words under the storm.
Looking back two years ago, the 91st Academy Awards awarded best picture, supporting actor and original screenplay to "Green Book", the director of this film Peter Ferrari has always been known for comedy, in the 1990s with his brother Babi Ferrari teamed up "Dumb and Agua", "Ace Bowling", etc., can still bring me the pleasure of sin.
Stills from "Green Book"
"Green Book" is a road movie with a typical "wrongdoer" physique, in the 1960s, the well-known black pianist Tang Xueli went on a tour of the conservative South, for personal safety, hired the rude "big mouth" Tony as a driver and bodyguard, two people with very different backgrounds, forced to coexist in a cramped car for a long time, starting from the Midwest, stopping all the way, each with a cute personality being juxtaposed and interesting.
The advantage of elegant and popular appreciation reflects the relatively invisible author's hand marks to some extent, and the director's image characteristics are not obvious. Overall, "Green Book" is built in a disturbing era, and the civil rights act will take two years to come out, but the director deliberately downplays the dark and sharp elements, so that the dramatic tension does not become exploitative, so that the characters have an outlet to reconcile with each other and themselves, and achieve healing with a heavy weight.
The whole road trip began with Don Sherry sitting on the throne, passing through Pennsylvania, Indiana, and Iowa, staying in different hostels for the first time in Kentucky because of race; facing the humiliation of toilet isolation in North Carolina; and then passing through Georgia, Tennessee, and Mississippi, Alabama, which was supposed to be the final stop, forfeited the ultimate goal of the journey - to complete all performances and get full payment, but instead played for black people for the first time in unexpected small bars and playing pianos of non-designated brands.
At the end of the trip, head back to New York to catch the Christmas dinner. It turns out that the real end point is the dinner table after a series of crises, "big mouth" Tony took the initiative to break through his own high heart wall, let Tang Xueli share the intimate moment of family, not innovation, but still warm heart, all the dark tide of abuse surging and smoothing and listening, it is a good situation. It was clear that "Green Book" was not only a road movie, but also a Christmas movie.
Stills from Survival in the Wild
In other words, "Survival in the Wilderness", which is famous on the "self-pursuit" film list for many years, should also be the favorite of those who seem to be at a loss. Directed by the film emperor Sean Penn, the film is adapted from the book of the same name, depicting Chris, who was born into a wealthy family, after graduating from college in 1990, resolutely gave up all his possessions, walked into the wilderness of Alaska, embraced life wholeheartedly, abandoned the confinement of capitalism, and survived alone. He died a few months later and never returned.
Movies are like stylistic books, sometimes like poetry refined blanks, sometimes sandwiched between narratives, interweaving abstract spiritual understanding and concrete encounters. The original author, Qiang Krakul, was difficult to let go of the death of the youth, so he tried to "investigate" the mystery through the clues left by Chris, such as letters, diaries, books, etc., supplemented by in-depth investigation and interviews.
Because there is no complete first-person record remaining, "Survival in the Wild" not only gives the audience the perspective of God through imagination, but also provides the whiteness of Chris's sister from afar, adding futile thoughts, coming and going, enriching the viewer's intervention with two narratives.
The whole film is divided into chapters based on the general growth path of human beings, and "birth", "adolescence", "adulthood", "family" and "gaining wisdom" refer to the various stages of the journey, implying that each journey of self-pursuit is a short life. The most wonderful thing in the film is the process of soul fighting, the final encounter between the self and the self. Unlike Finn, who was marginalized by the economy in "The Land of No One", Chris in "Survival in the Wild" actively "chose" to get rid of the economy, but also faced a huge and boundless loneliness.
Stills from "Cheek"
Although most of these "partner" road movies unfold involuntarily, they rarely tell the audience as bluntly as Albertoponte's "Bye bye Stupid" that this is a road journey based on threats and exploitation, and this premise has been carefully deduced, so that the subsequent warmth has not diminished in the slightest.
The plot tells that the hair designer Susie is terminally ill, at the end of her life, she decides to find the biological flesh and bones that she was forced to give up when she was young, she accidentally becomes the only witness to the "crime" of the frustrated middle-aged science and technology otaku, and then threatens the other party to use IT technology to help her find relatives. It is particularly noteworthy that in the indoor scenes, even when the conspiracy is intertwined or the progress is stagnant, it is often based on a large black like a theater curtain, accompanied by a warm yellow light, as if it is a black tragicomedy that exudes the warmth of human nature.
In the "building blackout" scene, the male protagonist manipulates the computer from a distance, blackout, sprinkling water, elevator lifting, as if the "hand of God" dominates the lives of the trapped people at the far end, but the film ultimately tells the fate of the future that cannot be controlled. In fact, there are no fools in "Bye bye Stupid", only the tireless pursuit of faith, when you appreciate this, then facing the muzzle of the gun, the "silly" ending that stops abruptly will not make people feel heartbroken, but can be guan'er God.
Stills from "Bye Bye Stupid"
It is said that the soul has grown, the final station of road movies has never been the biggest focus, and its development curve is often predictable, and the process of tasting chicken soup is the warm current that people who need this tranquilizer are eager to get. And such works, whether it is a stewed atonement, a sour and spicy healing system, or a limited and always cruel season limit, may save the body and mind and make people continue to move forward on the road. Text/Sun Yawei