<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right">1.</h1>
In recent years, more and more female characters have shined in movies, but, relatively speaking, the image of female characters is still flattened and facial.
For example, in creating the image of a "strong woman", many movies similarly choose to give the character "middle-aged, beautiful, successful career, not dependent on men" and other characteristics.
However, in "Three Billboards", the image of the heroine Mildred may be refreshing to you.
Mildred is not pretty, he looks a little tough; he acts decisively, sharply, even a little fiercely, and can solve things with his fists and feet, and does not bother to talk about things; middle-aged divorced, working in a grocery store, life is not rich.
Audiences familiar with "Gintama" may also be able to see a little shadow of the ascendant mother-in-law from her, which is a woman who makes the "White Night Fork" feel frightened.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right">2.</h1>
Mildred looked so strong that I often forget that she was a poor mother, a divorced woman.
I think the townspeople felt the same way, because between the honor of the dying Commissioner Willoughby and the pain of Mildred's death, they gave the former more sympathy.
Mildred's story reminds me of Feng Xiaogang's "I Am Not Pan Jinlian", and the two are somewhat similar to some extent - because the stubbornness of the heroine has triggered a series of problems that expose society and human nature.
The difference is that "Three Billboards" is more about the complexity of human nature, although the film contains a lot of political metaphors, which is why many people like this movie, but for me, the film impressed me the most, or the portrayal of human nature.
In "Three Billboards," human nature is far more complex than I could have imagined, and no one is completely "good" or completely "evil."
Of course, the murderer does not fall into this discussion, because no matter what his grievances are, evil is evil.
The film shows "good" and "evil" from multiple angles, they do not exist independently, many times, they are co-existent, so every character in the film appears so full and three-dimensional.
This is the norm of human nature, because no one is perfect.
The whole tone of "Three Billboards" is gloomy, and it is not until the end that the depressing atmosphere of the film is dissipated and becomes relaxed and warm.
At the beginning of the story, the director sets up a dilemma: the daughter of the heroine Mildred is JS and cremated while out, and the police investigate for seven months, but the murderer cannot be found.
In desperation, Mildred rented three billboards on the abandoned highway to put pressure on the police station.
Mildred wrote these three sentences on each of the three billboards:
"Beloved daughter killed by QJ"
"The murderer is still at large"
"Sheriff Willoughby, what the hell do you want"
Local journalists quickly seized on the hot spot and trumpeted the three billboards, so that, despite their remote location, the implications were far-reaching.
After that, three billboards looked like dominoes, sparking a chain of events.
Sheriff Willoughby, who is suffering from cancer, commits suicide and ends his life prematurely;
Dixon, the sheriff's younger brother, angered by the advertiser Robbie, pushed Robbie downstairs and fell seriously;
Mildred's ex-husband burned three billboards;
Mildred thought the police had burned the billboard, so she set fire to the police station and injured Dixon by mistake.
With the exception of Sheriff Willoughby, who was named on three billboards, several of the show's main characters seem to be on the verge of "rage."
Because of "anger", at the slightest thought, they will fall into the abyss of "evil".
Fortunately, there is sheriff Willoughby's "tenderness", the three suicide notes he left behind, and these talents are on the cliff.
The first suicide note, Willoughby left to his family, he longed for more time to be with his family, but he did not want his family to watch him live in anxiety because of his illness.
He wanted them to be happy.
The second suicide note, which Willoughby left to Mildred, deeply understood her pain, and gladly accepted Mildred's harsh rebuke, and could do nothing about it, all he could do was renew Mildred's billboard rent for a month before he died.
He was more eager than she was to find the murderer.
The third suicide note, Willoughby left to the police station's younger brother Dixon, he knows that Dixon's nature is not bad, he hopes that Dixon can let go of the anger in his heart.
He wanted him to be a good cop.
Of course, there are many characters in the movie who have "gentle" qualities.
Robbie, the advertiser, at the hospital, poured a glass of orange juice for Dixon when he learned that the person who had burned him was Dixon.
The Mexican brother, a billboard painter, after learning that Mildred's billboard had been burned down, took the initiative to find Mildred and helped her repaint the billboard.
Mildred's girlfriend, despite not having many lines, has been behind Mildred's back.
James, a dwarf who admires Mildred, when everyone blames Mildred, only he thinks she is cool and has been guarding this woman who is much stronger than him with action.
It is their "gentleness" that dissolves the "hostility" in the movie, so that the characters in the play can reconcile with anger, and "gentleness" is the core of the wonderful film, not to the surface of the gray.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right">3.</h1>
Life is difficult, everyone may be carrying a heavy burden in the world, if our hearts only have anger, then the burden on our shoulders will become heavier and heavier, but if there is still tenderness in our hearts, then our walking may become much lighter.
At the end of the film, Mildred still hasn't found the murderer, however, I think her heart should be redeemed, because she has found the real murderer.
That person was herself.
Mildred's obsession with finding the killer is because, unwilling to admit it, was her own hand that pushed her daughter into the fire pit.
She needs a murderer to prove that she is not a murderer.
However, after Willoughby's suicide, the misunderstanding of the police burning billboards, the mistaken injury of Dixon, Dixon's reckless pursuit of the murderer, etc., Mildred was melted by the "gentleness" of others.
Her life is full of anger, meeting her ex-husband, arguing with her children... She was hardly happy for a moment.
However, when she put down the beer bottle she was about to smash into her ex-husband, when she told Dixon the truth, she finally forgave the others and reconciled with her anger.
Perhaps, after an open-ended ending, Mildred will not only have a tough appearance, but also a gentle heart.