The movie "Prodigal Son Spring Tide" (1960) British BFI version of the Blu-ray cover
In 1955, James Dean (1931-1955) starred in the film Rebel without a Cause/ Adopted Son Does Not Teach Anyone's Fault / Rebel without a Cause (1955), an image that once again resonated with young people, and in the same year he died in a car accident.
James Dean's image in the film East of Eden (1955).
In 1958, the father of Polish cinema, Andrzej Wajda (1926-2016), created a charismatic young rebel figure in Ashes and Diamonds Popiół i diament (1958), and his character, Zbigniew Zbigniew Cybulski (1927-1967), known as "Polish James Dean", also died young.
Zbignev Ziberski of "Polish James Dean"
In 1959, four hundred hits Les quatre cents coups (1959), which opened the curtain on the French New Wave, was released, and its protagonist was François Truffaut (1932-1984), a childhood that was not tolerated by school, family and society.
In 1960, Bruce Lee (1940-1973) played a cynically charismatic role in The Lonely Hong (1960), called "comparable to James Dean" by Hong Kong director CheUng Che (1923-2002), and 10 years later the young man returned to sweep the old Hong Kong action movie pattern with a wild and uninhibited temperament and skill, and he died as early as James Dean 3 years later.
In 1964, Beatles' first film, A Hard Day's Night (1964), sparked a frenzy among young british and Americans, but was seen as outlawed by conservatives.
In 1967, new Hollywood films emerged, and The Graduate (1967) depicted the confusion and helplessness of a generation of young people.
Images from the film One Night Revelry (1964).
In 1969, "Easy Rider" (1969), written, directed and starred by two young people, caused another sensation, two hippies driving on the road on motorcycles, so that young people saw their own confusion and unwillingness.
Long before One Night Revelry, British director Karel Reisz (1926-2002) had already made one of the more important films of the early days of the British New Wave, Prodigal Spring Tide/ Young Mo Light/Saturday Night and Sunday Morning on Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960).
Image from the film The Prodigal Son Spring Tide (1960).
The story is set in post-war Britain, where the handsome young Arthur (Albert Finney) works in a factory, tired of his daily monotonous work, and his surroundings leave him in a state of irritation and irritability all day.
Jack (Bryan Pringle), the older of Arthur's co-workers, is the man he despises, while Jack's wife, Brenda (Rachel Roberts), a vulgar city squire woman, has an affair with him.
Stills from the film The Prodigal Son Spring Tide (1960), Albert Finney
One day Arthur meets Doron (Shirley Anne Field), a young and beautiful girl at a tavern, pursues her and begins a relationship, but Doron's mother never has a good impression of Jack.
Brenda then told Arthur that she was pregnant.
British law at the time prohibited abortion, but Brenda did not want to give birth to a child. In the midst of this troublesome entanglement, Jack finally discovers Arthur and Brenda's affair, and two of his soldier friends injure Arthur.
Stills from the movie The Prodigal Son Spring Tide (1960), Shirley Anne Field
After this trouble, everyone is finally back on their own tracks, Arthur and Doron have established a normal relationship, Brenda and Jack have returned to their old lives, Arthur and Doron began to prepare for future marriage, at the end of the film, the two sit on the top of the mountain and look down, talking about what kind of house to buy after marriage, etc., at this time Arthur picked up a stone and threw it down the mountain.
Doron stopped him and said, "Maybe these houses are for us, you shouldn't throw stones like this." Arthur replied, "This will not be the last stone I will throw." ”
Stills from the film The Prodigal Son (1960), Albert Finney and Rachel Roberts (left)
The film The Prodigal Son Spring Tide is based on the novel of the same name by Alan Sillito Alan Sillitoe (1928-2010). In this novel, Alain Cilito introduces us to the story of Arthur Seton, a hard-working, alcoholic factory worker who has just turned 20, and in his short story titled "The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner", the young correctional prisoner Colin Smith Jr. does his best to prevent the ruling class from restricting his free spirit.
While they clearly fit the public's imagination of the resurgence of juvenile delinquency in the 1950s, these figures cannot be considered part of them ( such as " rogue youth " .
The film Prodigal Spring Tide (1960), from left: Albert Finney, Shirley Anne Field, Michael Medwin
Director Karel Reitz is still untouched at the beginning of the film, the roar of the machine is incessant, and the next first picture is Arthur in the workshop where he works, gray and lifeless, harsh and mechanical, followed by a close-up of Arthur's work, a dirty workbench full of oil.
Image of Albert Finney in the film The Prodigal Son Spring Tide (1960).
Then came Arthur's monologue calculating the pay: "954, 955, a few more pieces, enough for Fridays, 14 pounds and 3p, 1,000 pounds these days, no wonder my back is always sore, although I'm almost done, I'm going to work hard, I don't have to work every minute God gives me, if I'm as fierce as a bull, I can finish the job in half the time, but they'll cut my salary so they can make money (left-wing thinking)." Don't let that bastard torment you, that's one thing I learned. ”
Stills from the movie The Prodigal Son (1960), Brian Pringle
The film uses Arthur's perspective to express a lot of dissatisfaction with society, such as Arthur's complaint: "I work in a factory, income taxes, insurance premiums, enough, they rob you from all directions, and when you are robbed, you are called to the army, and finally you are killed." ”
When a friend advises him: "All you should do is work hard, hopefully, and then one day something good will happen." He replied, "Yes, maybe, but you have to be as insidious as they are." ”
Stills from the film The Prodigal Son Spring Tide (1960), Albert Finney and Shirley Anne Field (left)
In addition, Arthur's distrust of politics is obviously the attitude of the film's authors, who risked being arrested and imprisoned before the age of 21, voting in his father's name and making a mockery of democracy.
He said; "I'm not like most people, and there's still fighting in my life." He mocked his parents' generation: "What will happen to us when we see that there is no fighting, just like our parents?" They got what they wanted — TV, cigarettes, but they were all dead. Reminiscent of the classic mocking monologue about "Choosing the Television" in Trainspotting (1996), which was also a British film.
But he finally admitted that "all people are like this, like a boat need to be pushed, there are more things in life than their parents get", and he finally returned to the right track, representing the last necessary path for most rebellious young people, just like Mark of "Guess the Train" finally chooses to go home, just like the "hippie" of the United States eventually evolved into "Yupi".
At the same time, this is also the process of a young man who is dissatisfied with everything but only knows how to vent, and becomes an adult who accepts reality but also begins to understand responsibility.
Albert Camus of France (1913-1960) wrote in His Myth of Sisyphus: "This fate is tragic only at the fortuitous moment when the workers become conscious."
The protagonist in "The Prodigal Son", on the other hand, is an example of the meaninglessness of his work and life at a fortuitous moment, so he becomes cynical and gets by.
Stills from the film The Prodigal Son Spring Tide (1960), Albert Finney and Avis Bunnage of Avis Bennage (left)
For Westerners, the modern era of "God is dead" already has such a tragic nature that people can no longer attribute the value of life to religion or to the kingdom of heaven after death, to the final judgment, just like the Michelangelos of hundreds of years ago.
On the contrary, because of the development of science and technology, people have realized that man is small and accidental in the universe, and the human species is not sacred and solemn.
What is the meaning of life? What do people live for? This is an unanswerable question for the vast majority ( perhaps all ) of people.
The film Prodigal Son Spring Tide (1960) is an American DVD edition cover
The film certainly has its value, as Wong Kar-wai said, the film is like "showing a disabled leg to people."
Especially the relationship between Arthur and Mrs. Jack. This film is only more realistic when it was made in that depressing era.
Mechanical work is of course meaningless, but if this meaningless work is to take responsibility for others and bring happiness and security to relatives, then it also has meaning, just as in Albert Camus's thought, life may be as meaningless as Sisyphus, but you recognize this, and still smile and warm to life, still move forward firmly, bring hope to others, and this becomes the greater meaning of life.
Images of Dustin Hoffman in the film The Graduate (1967).
At the end of the film, Arthur is back on track, but this does not mean that he has taken the initiative to take responsibility for the sake of his loved ones, he is still going with the flow, if it is a real person, this is a despicable character. And the heroine is classical and tolerant, making people feel that he is far from worthy.
"Prodigal Spring Tide" and the later Hollywood new film classic "The Graduate" - the two films have great similarities, the protagonist Arthur, just like Dustin Hoffman in "The Graduate", life is confused and empty, do not know what the future is, and like Dustin Hoffman, entangled between two women, one old and one young, but there is no connection between the two women in "Prodigal Spring Tide".
At the end of "The Prodigal Son", Arthur confesses everything to Doron, and Doron tolerates him, and perhaps it is this tolerance that makes the "prodigal son" finally turn back and accept the track of life.
But the biggest difference between "The Graduate" and "Prodigal Son Spring Tide" is that there is more romantic content in "The Graduate", not only has very classic and beautiful music, but at the end of the film, Dustin Hoffman finally realized his mistake and used actions to win back (take back) his happiness, but the protagonist of "Prodigal Son Spring Tide" seems to just go with the flow from beginning to end, and finally leave the chaotic life, and there are also forced elements. The similarities and differences between the two films are not entirely accidental.
Image by Lawrence Harvey in the film Tears of the Golden House (1959).
This starts with the New Wave of Cinema in The Uk in the 1950s and 1960s, when it comes to the New Wave, people tend to think of France first, and think of André Bazin (1918-1958), François Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard Jean-Luc Godard, and the New Wave of British Cinema actually began much earlier.
As early as 1947, Lindsay Anderson (1923-1994), the equivalent of André Bazin of England, had founded Scenes and strongly attacked British cinema at the time.
Images of Lawrence Harvey and Heather Sears in the film Tears of the Golden House (1959).
The New Wave of British Cinema also began in 1959, when Lindsay Anderson proposed that films "should be freely composed like poetry, painting, and composing", which is the origin of the "free film", and the first influential work is considered to be 1959's "Golden House Tears/Upper Class Room at the Top" (1959).
The culture of social transition is radical and often produces good works, just like the fifth generation in China. British New Wave films began after the British Labour Party came to power for many years, coupled with the creators' generally critical social attitude, so that they naturally accepted the stylistic influence of Italian neorealist films in the 1940s, coupled with the realistic tradition that British films had before, making the British New Wave film universal editing method simple and subtle, and the same is true of this film "Prodigal Spring Tide".
Stills from the movie The Bike Thief (1948), Lamberto Marjolani Lamberto Maggiorani (left) and Enzo Staiola Enzo Staiola
But the difference is that British New Wave films pay more attention to depicting social ethics than Italian Neorealism, and they are also less romantic, such as the representative work of Italian Neorealism , Ladri di biciclette (1948), although suffering, you can also see very romantic content, like the father lost his bicycle, simply ran to eat fried chicken with his son, it is very romantic, but the British New Wave, including this one, is mostly full of constant repression, troubles, and unsolvable problems.
Image of Richard Burton in the film The Young Woman's Grudge (1959).
In 1958, a lesser-known Canadian producer, Harry Salzman (1915-1994), along with playwright John Osborne (1929-1994) and director Tony Richardson (1928-1991), founded Woodfield Films, a woodfield film company, and produced the film Young Woman Look that year Back in Anger (1959), directed by Tony Richardson, starred Richard Burton (1925–1984) and Claire Bloom.
Images of Mary Ure (left) and Richard Burton in the film The Young Woman's Grudge (1959).
It is the iconic film work of the "Angry Generation" and is directly linked to the British Free Film Movement, which was born in February 1956. A year later, they released The Entertainer (1960), also directed by Tony Richardson, written by John Osborne, and starring Lawrence Laurence Olivier (1907–1989).
In 1960 they again released a prodigal Spring Tide starring Albert Finney, which the Evening Banner commented on the then Prodigal Son, calling it "our own new wave film born by chance" and Albert Finney the face of "Angry Youth."
Producer Harry Salzman's apparent interest in films depicting the dark lives of britain's underclass has not waned in the slightest, and he has even targeted international markets.
To Harry Salzman's surprise, Prodigal Spring Tide was an unexpected success at the box office and won three BAFTA awards, including Best British Film and Most Promising Newcomer Starring (Albert Finney).
In 1964, Richard Lester's "One Night Carnival" was very different from films such as "The Prodigal Son", in terms of style and theme, and the British New Wave had declined.
Images of Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman (right) in the film Midnight Cowboy (1969).
Karel Reitz was born in the Czech Republic in 1926 to nazi concentration camps to parents, and he joined the British Air Force in exile. Karel Reitz is best known for his 1981 French Lieutenant's Woman (1981), which came to the United States after the end of the British New Wave.
Images of Audrey Hepburn and Albert Finney in the film Beauty Walk (1967).
Like Karel Reez, many of the British New Wave directors of that year came to the United States to develop, just in time for the social upheavals of the 1960s in the United States.
In 1969, the two most important works that marked the beginning of the new Hollywood film, the beginning of the New Wave of American cinema, "The Graduate" and "Midnight Cowboy" (1969), were actually culturally identical, depicting the cultural changes in American society, especially the confusion of the younger generation and the collapse of traditional values.
Stills from the film Beauty Walk (1967), Audrey Hepburn and Albert Finney
The latter was directed by John Schlesinger (1926-2003), one of the british New Wave masters of the year, and although the form has changed, it is more Hollywood, and more watchable, but the spiritual and cultural significance of his works is in line with the British New Wave, and it gives people a similar feeling to "The Prodigal Son".
Arthur was played by Albert Finney (1936-2019) in The Prodigal Son, and although he later had a good performance in the film Tom Jones (1963) and was nominated for Best Actor at the 36th Academy Awards in 1964, what attracted him the most attention from the world was that he co-produced "Beauty Walk For the Theory" with Audrey Hepburn (1929-1993). On Road (1967), Audrey Hepburn fell in love with him and divorced her first husband, Mel Ferrer (1917-2008), on December 5, 1968.
The film Prodigal Son Spring Tide (1960) British BFI edition DVD cover
To die is to live – a reading related to James Dean
The coldest trick: love outside the standard, life and death from now on
A masterpiece that has been overlooked: the tragedy of the last five minutes ruins the future of a beautiful teenager
Audrey Hepburn took over the filming of "Stealing the Dragon and Turning the Phoenix" but cheated in the filming of "Li Ren Xing"
The director and male and female lead actors of Rebels Without a Cause have a leg james Dean when he is idle as a cowboy