Author: Entertainment Fairy (Original)
A melon-eating masses with an attitude
Directed by Yoshihiro Nakamura and released in 2014, "Snow White Murder" is adapted from the suspense novel of the same name by the famous Japanese mystery novelist Kanae Minato, whose novels have been continuously adapted into popular film and television dramas since the release of "Confessions" in 2010.
Masayoshi Inoue, who plays Mihito Shirono, won the 38th Japan Film Awards for Best Actress for this film, while Tsuyoshi Ayano, who played Yuji Akashiro, also won the Best Actor in the 88th Film Shunbun in 2014 and the 10th Osaka Film Festival in 2015.
The film uses the shell of suspenseful reasoning, integrates real life, indicts unscrupulous media and online violence, gives the film realistic inspiration in addition to the plot, and brings layers of surprises to the audience. This may be one of the reasons why Snow White Murders became the highest-rated Japanese film of 14 years.
The film tells the story of the body of Noriko Miki (played by Nobuo Nori) of a well-known cosmetics company, found in the woods of Shiyu valley, with a knife edge on his chest opening like a poignant poppy, and being ignited by the murderer's anger and pouring gasoline on it. Noriko's figure is first-class, like the "Snow White" who came out of the fairy tale, and is the object of the company's male employees. In the mouths of netizens, the case was thus named "Snow White Murder".
For the candidates who may commit murder, everyone invariably points the spearhead at Miki Kinino, who entered the company at the same time as Noriko and formed a sharp contrast. The "love triangle" incident and the strange theft incident have become ironclad evidence that colleagues speculate that Meimei ji was jealous and instigated, and even can't wait for serious investigation and evidence collection, so they can't wait to convict their former peers.
At the same time, with the disappearance of Mihime Seino, all kinds of gossip, speculation, rumors spread rapidly through the Internet, television and other media, like a viral crazy news overwhelmed, the "gossip" between women gradually lost control, and the information explosion made the parties involved in it unable to recognize themselves, not to mention the onlookers' exploration of the truth...
In the face of the oppression of unscrupulous media and online violence, do you choose to give in or resist? What kind of reflection does this heavy theme bring us? Today, I will comprehensively analyze "Snow White Murder" full of realistic metaphors from the three angles of the film's aesthetic level, theme expression and social reflection.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" >01, aesthetic level: grasp the core of suspense feature films, using multi-angle contrast narrative, involving many characters, spanning more than ten years of time, exquisite details, intriguing. </h1>
1. Take the male protagonist as the clue, connect many characters related to the case, collage the narrative from multiple perspectives, restore the event, and create suspense
From the aesthetic level of the film, the narrative method can be described as the core competitiveness of suspense feature films. How to tell a seemingly simple murder case in an attractive way, and use the clue of the male protagonist Yuji Akahoshi to connect all his event-related characters, can be described as a test of the narrative skills of the entire film's creative team.
In "Snow White Murders", director Yoshihiro Nakamura abandons a single-perspective narrative and adopts a "Rashomon" style of multi-perspective narrative. The police are hidden behind the scenes, silent, but let the radio temporary worker Yuji Akahoshi play the role of "detective" to analyze the reasoning and try to touch the truth.
In the process of the investigation of the male protagonist, various people and other people appear in the camera, they rely on their own memories, provide stories with similar frameworks but different details, and after the audience collages themselves, restores the events and creates suspense.
The first to appear is Noriko Miki and Miki Narino's colleague and former girlfriend, Sasuke Kano. In the first version of the narrative, the Mihime Jono series was placed as a major suspect, which successfully misled the reporter's thinking.
The second appearance of the "big mouth bears" Eimi Manjima, and even extrapolates with her own details, further sat on the suspicion of Mihime No. The gossip boyfriend of Mihime Jono, who also is also the boss of the boss, Satoshi Shinoyama, is also trying to get rid of the relationship.
Only Miki Kino's childhood best friend, the beautiful Yukiko Tanimura, and her college classmate Maetani Minori portray the kind nature of Mihime Shirono with true stories. But in the midst of the multitude of evil words, it becomes a fleeting bubble and does not play any role.
Yukiko Tanimura's line can be described as a stroke of genius: "People's memories are fabricated, and they will only choose the part that is good for themselves, so don't miss important things." ”
2. The names, appearances and hearts of Noriko Miki and Mihime Shirono, set multiple contrasts and reversals, and extend to the wonderful contrasting narratives of other characters, interspersed with many suggestive details in the process, until the end of the film, it is revealed, thoughtful thinking, and exquisite structure
In "Snow White Murder", the director uses "contrasting narrative" in many details to enhance the dramatic conflict and achieve a shock to the audience's heart. At the same time, Miki Noriko and Miki Kinino, who entered the company at the same time, look at the name alone, must be the gorgeous heroine, after all, "the princess in the castle", more in line with the character image of "Snow White".
But returning to the appearance, it is the simple name of Noriko Miki who is dazzling and beautiful. She also deliberately embarrassed Miki Kinino when she introduced herself, making the other party look like a Cinderella who was powerless. Here, the audience can vaguely perceive the jealousy of the "vicious harem" under the appearance of "Snow White".
The character setting of Noriko Miki echoes with Akane Haruka, a classmate of the heroine's childhood friend Yukiko more than a decade ago, all because of the problem of beauty comparison, she suddenly has a vicious jealousy, begins to bully Yuko who is more beautiful than herself, and even encourages the teacher to participate in verbal humiliation (the problem of teacher morality presented here is also terrible), resulting in Yuko's long-lasting psychological shadow.
The film uses various contrasts and reversals between characters to express the complex darkness of human nature and society, alluding to the absurdity of reality. The skillful use of wonderful contrasting narratives has also triggered deep thinking from the audience.
As a suspense film with the cracking of the murder as the main line, it is very important to intersperse many suggestive details in the multi-perspective narrative process to enhance the sense of suspense and form an effective interaction with the audience. In "Snow White's Murders", the director also inserted a lot of clever hints in the character's narrative process.
For example, the mug with the "S" logo that the heroine cherishes very much; the "Serizawa Brothers" peripheral product owned by Noriko Miki, a ballpoint pen worth 5,000 yen; and the colleagues of Mihime Jono who appear one after another, with the same large frame but different details. These overlooked details have become the film's wonderful suggestive foreshadowing, which is not revealed until the end, which makes people lament the director's meticulous thinking and exquisite film structure.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" >02, Theme Expression: The "Rashomon" dilemma of information dissemination in the media and Internet age, the "silent spiral" effect of communication, and the indignant behavior of netizens, is it justice or lynching? The definition of right and wrong of good and evil is the eternal theme of human society. </h1>
1. The "Rashomon" dilemma of information dissemination in the media and Internet age
Under the background of the big explosion of information in the 21st century, the development of various self-media and networks has challenged the authenticity of information dissemination as never before. In the description and dissemination of the same news event, each person has opinions and opinions formed based on their own cognition. Similar to the "multi-perspective narrative" shown in the movie, the truth is more confusing and difficult to distinguish, forming a "Rashomon" dilemma of information dissemination.
The term "Rashomon" originated in a 1915 novel by The Japanese writer Ryunosuke Wasagawa. Later, it was made into a movie by the great Japanese director Akira Kurosawa, and it began to be widely known. "Rashomon" is used to refer to the boundary between the human world and hell, the difference between facts and illusions. Later, it was extended that everyone made up lies for their own benefit, so that the truth of the matter was not known.
The Rashomon phenomenon in the information age refers to: in the context of the big bang of the information age, everyone has their own understanding of information, people often express different opinions according to the profitable parts, and use self-media communication tools to spread and spread, so that the concepts and characters shaped by the communicators with the help of speech are promoted by traffic.
This is often inextricably linked to the chain of business for marketing purposes. However, in the process of pursuing profits, information will lose its authenticity, and the communicators will also lose their integrity, and under the chaos of various media talking to themselves, the audience of information is often at a loss.
2. The "spiral of silence" effect of communication science, the collective silence of reason
The "Spiral of Silence" is a political science and mass communication theory that is well illustrated in Snow White's Murders. With the indiscriminate revelations of intern reporters on the Internet without any sense of responsibility, the public fell into a collective trial carnival and used online violence to convict the innocent Mihime Shirono. Are there rationalists? some! It's like the behind-the-scenes characters of the cops, but they collectively silence in the "spiral of silence."
The vernacular definition of this seemingly esoteric theory is as follows: when people try to express their ideas and opinions, if they see that the views they agree with are widely welcomed, they will actively participate, and such views will become more and more boldly published and spread; and they will find that a certain point of view is ignored or rarely (or even attacked by the crowd), and even if they agree with it, they will remain silent.
The silence of one party will inevitably lead to the strengthening of the other party's opinion, and so on, the opinion that occupies the "dominant" position will become stronger and stronger, and the voice of the person who holds the "inferior" opinion will become weaker and weaker, and such a cycle will form a spiral process in which "one side shouts louder and louder, while the other side becomes more and more silent."
In today's society, a little bit of incitement of emotions on the internet can set off an uproar, and few people take the initiative to seek verification and verification in many ways, enrich their own information sources, and think objectively and rationally. Just rely on the impulse to "fill with righteous indignation", blindly vent, and be willing to be a "keyboard man". But the essence of the media is to pursue profits, and everyone must be clear. Manipulating the rhythm of public opinion, playing that is called a "pure fire", just like the depressed intern reporter in the movie can completely lead away public opinion with his own speculation and a few non-objective interviews.
Once again, the "silent spiral" effect in communication science is confirmed. The strong side of public opinion occupies an absolute high ground, and whether it is right or wrong, the influence will ferment. Even if the opinions of the "minority" are more objective and accurate, they will be collectively silenced. If you have read Wang Xiaobo's "The Silent Majority", you may have a relationship. After all, we are all mortals, conforming to the crowd and not willing to make a splash, even if we feel that public opinion is inappropriate, but seeing that there are many supporters, we will not risk using our maverick views to attract criticism, opposition or disregard. The common sense of man is beyond reproach.
3. Is the indignation of netizens justice or lynching? Under Murphy's law, no one can escape the dark nightmare of the irrational vortex
I don't know when I was so tired of the so-called "hot spots" and "controversies" that flooded the major news platforms, and even made me not even have the idea of raising my pen to speak out (but I was watching, thinking). These carefully concocted information guides and controls public opinion, incites people's emotional impulses, and uses herd mentality in exchange for a so-called "blockbuster"...
If you just use "unique skills" to make a profit, there is nothing wrong with it. After all, this is definitely a "craft" that the self-media is proud of. But the people who came with it, the human blood buns, the online violence, the insults, the right and wrong... The hatred, jealousy, and darkness that envelop the people at the bottom are like a black nightmare that cannot be dissolved, descending into this complex world, bit by bit eating away at the light in people's hearts and eyes. In my opinion, it is a disaster more terrible than the epidemic.
Is such indignation justice? No! It's just a lynching that ignores the law! The development of the Internet has greatly promoted the speed of information dissemination, expanded the source of information for netizens, and also given everyone the opportunity to speak freely. It may be that the initial scattered slight malice does not show a destructive destructive force, but when these insults and curses come together, they are enough to break the protagonist's psychological defenses like the plots in "Search" and "Snow White's Murder", leading to the evil consequences of suicide.
Although online violence is always under the banner of "justice", it is actually the opposite, it will even violate the law, and it is not moral, because it is a lynching! Lynchings are often unjust because the perpetrator does not have this power, there is no standard of judgment, and the masses are caught in a frenzied mood in the vortex of irrationality, often accompanied by excessive harm.
Moreover, in today's society, the use of lynching for others is a sadness of civilization and a disregard for the law. In the hot events, the "keyboard warriors" transform into a ragtag crowd of "only emotions, no reason", they selectively see and express their own ideas of identity, regardless of the truth, and enjoy the morbid carnival.
Many people will feel that online violence is far away from them, rarely occurs, and those who suffer violence are also "bad people" who are at fault. But in fact, under Murphy's law, no one can escape the dark nightmare of the irrational vortex.
"At first, no one cared about this disaster, it was just a wildfire, a drought, the extinction of a species, the disappearance of a city, until this disaster, and everyone." 」
The natural environment is like this, the network ecology is the same, now the signs of "evil" are not controlled, and one day wildfires will burn on themselves. Just like the initiator of the film, intern journalist Yuji Akahoshi watches the brutal online violence against Mihime Seino from above, but at the end of the film, he kneels down to apologize, faces dismissal, and is wantonly insulted by netizens. In the opposite situation, he finally felt the pain of online violence, and the director's ironic meaning was self-evident.
I hope that one day the media will have more positive energy and sanity, rather than just creating selfish desires, jealousy and hostile junk information, inciting online violence. Whoever the victim is, it is the sorrow of the entire human race.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" >03, social reflection: starting from the individual and social level, be wary of bad media with rhythm, and avoid the "Rashomon" of information dissemination. Keep the original intention of clarity and goodness, and avoid becoming an accomplice of "evil". </h1>
1. Individuals need to always be vigilant against the rhythmic bad media, speak cautiously about hot events, do not participate in the network scolding war, devote themselves to improving the quality of the whole people, advocate rational thinking, and return to the pure world
Now the Internet is full of too much nutritious, negative energy, false and vicious information, deliberately guiding public opinion, and it is really scary to think about it carefully. Are you afraid of ghosts? It is better to look at public opinion and look at people's hearts... Public opinion has never been rational, and rational views cannot stimulate the nerves of the masses, cannot provoke controversy, and cannot ferment into "public opinion." Just like the netizen public opinion in the movie, when the case is full of doubts and loopholes, they can't wait to use vicious words to attack and insult the heroine, causing emotional harm.
After all, people who can look at problems objectively and rationally are a minority, and if they bring in their own emotions, they are doomed to be one-sided... So, when we speak out online, think twice! Don't inadvertently become an accomplice to "evil", or even the initiator. (For example, heroes such as Zhang Wenhong, Zhong Nanshan, and Han Hong have recently been questioned and even insulted in China) There may be no so-called "retribution", but in case of online violence killing people, can your conscience pass when you dream back in the middle of the night? "When an avalanche occurs, no snowflake is innocent."
Feeling that you can use the keyboard to administer justice is the biggest illusion of netizens in this century, and in the end, you are still gunned by others. Except for happy emotions, which I am willing to let others stir, the rest of the emotions are precious and resolutely cannot become weapons for others to profit or do evil. I only trust my own judgment in anything, and no media has the right or ability to think for me. (So it's very important to develop the habit of independent thinking, don't be taken away by the media)
And my requirements for myself, today also share with you, just two points: reason, kindness. Specifically:
(1) Always be vigilant against bad media with rhythm, speak cautiously about hot events, and never participate in any scolding war on the Internet.
(2) Analyze anything and try to be as objective as possible. Even if everyone is scolding, I don't understand the truth, and I don't judge right from wrong.
George Bernard Shaw's "Major Barbara" can be described as a thorough and ironic point of "discerning right from wrong".
"Really? How! There is no talent for business, no interest in art, no dare to touch philosophy, but know the secret of distinguishing between right and wrong! This is a question of overthrowing all philosophers, destroying all lawyers, disciplining all merchants, and destroying most artists! Oh, sir, you are such a genius, a saint of saints, a god of the world! And he was only twenty-four years old! ”
It can be seen from this that when it comes to discerning right from wrong, children seem to be stronger than adults, and ignorant people seem to be stronger than intelligent people. This is really an interesting phenomenon. The more people know, the harder it is to discern right from wrong. Therefore, if you want to make the network ecology more harmonious and pure, it is better to devote yourself to improving the quality of the whole people and advocating rational thinking. The more we know, the more cautious we are, the more compassionate we are, and we may think twice before uttering evil words.
2. The moral character of the media industry should be strengthened as a whole, and its heart can be blamed for disregarding human life for the sake of profit
"Especially when the half-informed amateur and trained experts become obscure and make people question the credibility of the information, the truth becomes a commodity to buy and sell!" —Andrew Keane, "The Carnival of Netizens"
In the Internet age, everyone can speak, they can express their ideas arbitrarily, and the possibility of being held accountable is very small. Mixed with a lot of interests and selfish desires, through multiple layers of information disseminated and packaged, or is it not the original truth?
Just like the media person Yuji Akahoshi in the movie "Snow White Murders", he can send unconfirmed inducing news that is not suitable for broadcasting to the audience for the sake of heat, and also publish subjective remarks on the Internet, without putting the innocent Mihime Shirono in his eyes, as if her life and death and feelings are not important, how cruel! For the sake of profit, the disregard for human life is reprehensible.
For the sake of traffic, he deliberately avoided all the favorable remarks of Miki Kinino with his conscience, and released vicious speculations. Yao Chen's character in "Search", the reporter, also killed Ye Lanqiu in this way. A point in the message is taken out, infinitely magnified, and discussed by everyone, which is not just a rumor, but also a weapon for killing people. In the era of new media where everyone has the power to disseminate information, it may be the end of the event.
The moral character of the media industry has thus become the greatest torture! News practitioners may need to strictly implement "collecting, editing, and reviewing" in their work, adhere to the pursuit of the truth, and become the yardstick for information audiences to identify the truth.
3. Avoid the "Rashomon" of information dissemination, keep the original intention of clarity and goodness, and avoid becoming an accomplice of "evil"
The emergence of the Internet was based on the era of information technology, while creating a boom in social media. When there is no freedom of speech, we suppress and we cry; when we speak too freely, we become unscrupulous and unobtrusive, desperately hoping that others will agree with us, even at the cost of hurting others.
Once the views of others do not conform to our values, then the truth of the matter is no longer important, and what we believe is only in line with our views, not the truth, which is the ugliness of human nature. Netizens, who can prove that they are wise and good enough to distinguish between right and wrong? Who can be absolutely fair and impartial?
As the bottom of the information chain and the general audience, we need to understand the facts and then make our own judgments, rather than blindly following the trend, believing what others say, and not just summarizing the overall situation based on the one-sided truth. Each of us has the right to know, which is a right given to us by law, but we must also protect the right of others to know in the process of disseminating and receiving information.
Angry remarks should be based on information after it has been identified. We can analyze the overall situation, after sorting out the pros and cons, we can make personally responsible remarks about the incident, and do not attack people with different opinions, so that we may be able to avoid the "Rashomon" of information dissemination, keep the original intention of clear goodness, and avoid becoming an accomplice of "evil".
"Snow White Murders" can be described as a combination of Akira Kurosawa's "Rashomon" and Chen Kaige's "Search". There are both presentations about the deceptiveness of people's memories, as well as accusations of unscrupulous media and online violence. If the first grand theme is well explained, it will be even more shocking, but the director focuses on the media and Internet violence, does not deliberately elevate, and is closer to the daily life of the public.
Such a realistic theme, presented in an artistic way of suspense, weakens some of the aggression and may be more deeply rooted in people's hearts. Cai Caixu has a beautiful and evil face, so that from "Snow White" to a jealous "vicious harem", there is no sense of violation. It is the pure beauty of the Japanese version of "Fancy Man" in memory - Inoue Masayoshi suddenly transformed into a "widowed woman" in the movie, which surprised me quite a bit (but also confirmed Inoue's excellent acting skills and diverse drama paths as the heroine).
In reality, we are all passive recipients of information, and it is impossible to know the "whole truth" or "all the truth" under the influence of the media and the Internet. Under the influence of Murphy's Law, each of us may fall into the vortex of public opinion, facing the boundless malice and unpredictable future alone. Who can guarantee that he will be as lucky as Miki Kinino and be saved by the news of the police's case solving? If the psychological quality is not strong enough, it will be killed by network violence before the truth is revealed...
Tagore was asked three questions: First, what is the easiest thing in the world? Second, what is the hardest in the world? Third, what is the greatest in the world? Tagore replied: It is easiest to blame others; it is the hardest to know oneself; love is the greatest.
I hope that each of us can choose kindness when facing others, use a sincere soul to lighten the battle, and not be swallowed up by fragmented and dazzling information. For the judgment of information, it is necessary to have independent thinking and cognition, rather than unconsciously following, and extreme rendering and expression.
Perhaps only in this way can our hearts and the whole society gradually become calm and beautiful, and find the light of the dawn in the long darkness. Under the nest, Ann has finished eggs? After all, in a society full of violence and lynching, "others are hell", no one can be left alone and safe.
(The picture comes from the Internet, invaded and deleted)