When it comes to cheating, the majority of test takers must be gritting their teeth in hatred, and parents will not have a good face for such behavior. But there is such a movie that shoots cheating to a new height, and every exam is like a small war, which makes people addicted.
That's the movie we're going to talk about today: The Talented Gunslinger.
This thai film, adapted from the world-famous Asian exam cheating case in 2014, tells the story of Lynn and Banks, two geniuses from ordinary families, who cheated on the rich second generation in order to earn a huge amount of money, and were caught and returned to the cold life again.
Different from the previous theme of youth, the film is based on suspense and crime themes, and although the protagonist is also a student, he brings a different experience to the audience.
As soon as the film was released, it won major honors including the 12th Asian Film Awards, and douban has a high score of 8.2 so far.
This film, which cuts from a small theme, still shoots a big pattern. When I was a student, I was still exposed to the injustice and darkness of society, and next, I would start from the narrative scenes, character images and the expression of their themes in the film, and explore the social tragedy of "money destroying fairness" shown in the film.
<h1>First, the narrative scene: play with the elements, and strengthen the social environment when the characters are substituted</h1>
All the elements of an exam are paper, pencil, watch, and the invigilator.
Through flashback narrative, cross-montage editing, and the use of a large number of close-up shots, "Genius Gunner" makes one exam after another instantly become a battlefield for students, which resonates with the audience at the same time, but also makes the sinister face of society only focusing on achievements nowhere to hide.
1. Flashback narrative
From the beginning to the end of the movie, there is no departure from the word "exam". As soon as the opening scene, it goes straight to the theme, introduces the "STIC" exam cheating case, and in the subsequent appearance of each character, a paragraph of "interrogation words" will be picked up.
While you're still lamenting that this group of teenagers is so unworthy, they're cheering and celebrating: it's just a scene they're rehearsing together, in case they get caught in an exam and can't say anything.
These interrogation fragments, cut into fragmented sentences, are mixed with the film's plot and slowly presented.
The chaos of plot time and space does not make the film obscure, but makes the rhythm of the film very compact, requiring viewers to tighten their nerves at all times, follow the movie, and see what will happen in the next second.
This is exactly the style of suspense films: using the film itself, dominating the audience's emotions and thinking.
2. Crossover montage
After the genius girl Lin found that helping the rich second generation can earn back a lot of tuition, she made the business bigger and bigger through gesture transmission.
In the examination room of the all-grade unified examination, even if two completely different sets of papers are issued, and people in the same class are scattered, they do not interfere with their cooperation at all.
Telegraph sound effects with gesture changes, multi-layer informants simultaneously carry out multi-party information transmission, and use the handover time to blind the eyes... When automatic pencils become weapons and answer cards become positions, you can't imagine how far students can go in an exam to get high scores.
I remember the invigilator who used to say a sentence: "I know what you are doing below, and I see it very clearly here." The film, through cross-montage editing, comprehensively restores the behavior of test takers at the same time and in different spaces, allowing everyone to experience a "proctor teacher perspective".
Of course, the "proctor teachers" mentioned here do not include the teachers in the movie who are always spread out on the table, their eyes are dangling everywhere, and they are always kept in the dark.
3. A lot of use of close-ups
A large number of shots in "Genius Gunner" are "face-shaking shots".
In an exam, you can see the beads of sweat on the forehead of the candidates, you can see the tears of the girls because they can't do the questions, and you can see the crazy look of the candidates racing against the clock to change the refill.
Even in each key dialogue, the film shot changes with the subject of the speech.
When a character's face occupies most of the shot, the viewer is better able to perceive their subtle emotional changes. When the distance that produces beauty is broken by the camera, all the careful thoughts of the characters are at a glance.
This makes the audience, as a bystander, more refreshing to watch the play.
<h1>Second, the character image: the cold genius who resists the crime, the son of the noble who steals secretly</h1>
The characters in the film are contrasting and full of irony: the genius is born in the cold door, and the children of the nobles are like a paste in their heads. But genius can only open the way for the latter, and even be punished, and the nobles are only spending time and drinking to express their nostalgia for the sacrifices of the former.
1. Lynn: When cheating becomes a win-win situation
As a genius and wanted to be a teacher, Lynn," "cheating" never existed in her life dictionary. At first, she would rather do her best to tutor others than exchange money for points.
But as she saw more and more dark sides: teachers making money from make-up classes, and schools charging arbitrarily, Lynn's attitude toward the school began to change.
Her view of so-called educational equity collapsed.
So she began to take the help of the rich second generation again and again, desperately taking risks on the verge of being caught cheating. It's not that she doesn't know that cheating is wrong, but that she feels that this is not hurtful, and her own behavior of making a lot of money is nothing compared to other injustices.
2. Banks: From striving to clear the highs to being mercenary
Many people say that the heartfelt clip of the film is that The Bank, who has always worked hard, was not only pulled out of the water, but also failed to be rescued, and completely blackened from a good student to a cheating machine.
Banks' changes, Lynn and the others' appearance were a big incentive, but the root cause was his shrewdness. This can be seen from the fact that he dared to blackmail at the critical moment of the exam and still wanted to make a living by cheating after being caught.
Cheating once, at least make ten million, even if caught, will not go to jail, anyway, they can not go abroad to achieve their dreams, with two hours of head can be exchanged for others for a year, or even a few years of wages, such a yield ratio, is too tempting.
Social reading is useful, can not give Banks such a cold family security, only careful calculation, rely on the head to make quick money.
3. Rich Second Generation: Winner unscathed
The rich second generation in the movie, without the rumored shelf, is arrogant, contemptuous, and despises people, on the contrary, they are eager to send money to others. Especially for those with excellent grades. Each question is a one-price deal, never a counteroffer.
Because parents don't care how their grades come from, they just need to know if the scores are enough. As long as it is enough, in terms of means, interpersonal and resource arrangements, gilding children is not a problem.
Therefore, many people laugh and say that what the rich second generation lacks is academic qualifications, because as long as the score is enough, other is not a problem.
As a result, they got high scores and became game winners.
And what winners excel at is taking away what losers are proud of: a bright future.
This ironclad fact is something that the children of rich families in the movie can never avoid. No matter how friendly and generous they are, they still nakedly rob an unknown number of people of their future.
<h1>Third, the theme of expression: the fairness of the definition of money, both separate classes and blacken personality</h1>
In "Genius Gunner", money and achievements have reached a clever unity: they are all numbers that can control people's destiny. Between them, they can be bought and sold at the same price, and exchanged at the same price.
But it is precisely this "superficial fairness" that makes the class differentiation more obvious, making human nature more depraved and unable to know itself.
The dialogue of the scene related to "money" in the film never sees the shadow of the half-cent banknote, but a naked number: at the beginning of the film, Lynn calculates the tuition fee for the principal from head to toe; when trading with the rich second generation, it is about 234,000 yuan per year; the account of Lynn who opens the side business is also full of 0s that cannot be counted...
These numbers, for the genius teenagers Lynn and Banks, may be a new dress, a new motorcycle, or their own feast; and for the rich second generation, this is a chip to win the trust of their parents and exchange themselves for their own continued happiness.
So the two parties reached a pleasant deal, handing over money in one hand and delivering the goods with the other.
But these clearly priced transactions have deepened the gap between the two classes of the cold door and the nobility: the cold door has exchanged the sweetness of money through the score, but it can never have the aura of nobility like the rich second generation; the noble son can make himself go up to a higher level after a few charity, and only need to pay, without responsibility.
Both sides are happy and satisfied, but we who have a full view of both types of life are inevitably uncomfortable. Because this indicates that more and more people from ordinary backgrounds will no longer believe that hard work can be exchanged for hope, but will delve into how to get rich overnight, how to build a relationship with the rich.
The trajectory of life may be defined, determined, or even changed by numbers. The dismal end of the film seems to be a good ending, but it is also helpless to this status quo.
<h1>Write at the end:</h1>
Obviously filmed is cheating on exams, "Genius Gunner" still relies on its diversified narrative methods to make movies full of youthful elements into crime suspense films.
The characters created by the film with strong contrasts also make people think deeply about the fault line between the two types of people, Hanmen and Takako.
Achievements and money are all numbers, have they been able to divide the class like in the movie, so that the light of the heart is extinguished?
The movie gives us a "maybe" answer.