Movies with children as the theme can generally be divided into two categories, one is the "entertainment film" for children, mainly based on funny, adventure and fantasy; the other is a movie with children's growth as the theme, but it is a movie for adults to watch. Today I want to talk about the classic Swedish film "The Dogface Years", which was released in 1985, which belongs to the latter.
This Oscar classic film occupies an important position in Swedish children's films, which can be said to be one of the representative works of Swedish children's films, and it is also a new breakthrough in the creative road of director Russ Holstrom. The film subverts the previous comedy style, depicts the joys and misfortunes in the life of the boy Ingmar in a unique tragic style, allowing us to feel the joy and sadness of children's growth from a real and fantasy screen world, and have a new understanding of life.
"The Dogface Years" was not optimistic at the time, because the shooting mode of "Happy Tragedy" was very strange, and no children's film had appeared in this way before. It turned out that director Russ Holstrom was very good at this style, and it is still widely recognized today. He uses the Holstrom-style "GrowIng Up" tragicomedy to construct a beautiful and poignant coming-of-age story for the audience.
Of course, the director did not live up to the expectations of the audience, won the 60th Academy Awards, and made this film a film with world influence that the Nordic film industry had to mention.
Today, I will interpret the success factors and charm of this film from three angles: the narrative method of the film, the perspective of the film, and the dual fate mapping, and finally I will talk about some of my own thoughts in combination with the film.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" >01, the film's narrative method adopts flashback inner monologue, coupled with the fusion of tragicomedy techniques, making the story plot interesting</h1>
(1) Flashback monologues run through the film, revealing Ingmar's subtle psychological world
At the beginning of the film, it is the monologue of the protagonist Ingmar: "Think it is not so tragic, maybe it will be worse..." This also indicates that the film is mainly carried out in the narrative of monologues, and the director uses a monologue similar to flashbacks, following the footsteps of memories and developing in the footsteps of memories. Such monologues often appear in the film, accompanied by melodious piano music, and run through the entire development process of the film under the brushstrokes of the director.
Whenever her mother was angry because of her brother's pranks, and looked at her mother's angry look, Ingmar would enter monologue mode: "I should tell everything, when she still has strength." 」 When his mother was so ill that she was forced to go to her uncle's house and sat on a fast-moving train feeling abandoned, he went into monologue mode again: "I'm really sad to think of the poor Laika who was sent to space..." ”
In the development of the story, such monologue scenes will always be interspersed in a sequential way, coupled with flashback shots, driving the development of the entire storyline. It is precisely because the narrative method of monologue and flashback constitutes the real fulcrum of the film, so that the plot can be smoothly and concretely advanced.
In my opinion, the director cleverly designed a framework, and then circled Ingmar's own psychological world in this framework, using a European film style, so that the camera constantly passes through the plot of the film, using seemingly muttering monologues to show Ingmar's lonely and unique inner world to the fullest, which can also make the audience resonate with the inner world of the characters from the soul level. Ingmar's inner monologue and memories and repetitions of it, the film has actually become a story told by Ingmar and the director.
(2) The combination of tragedy and comedy makes the film flow with joy and sorrow and joy
In films, tragedy and comedy are often closely linked, or even fused together, making people burst into laughter and tears at the same time. For example, after Ingmar's "run-in", he hid in a pile of ruins because he was worried about causing his mother to be angry when he returned home. At this point, the audience can't help but feel pity. But when he lit a fire to warm his puppy, Cassie, it caused a raging fire that left him helpless. The tragic scene immediately transforms into a comedic plot.
When he encountered some misfortunes, he made some jokes because of mischief, and every time he mentioned that he was sad, he thought that his childhood was really funny. But growth is like this, there is sadness and joy, there is confusion and full of hope. The most eye-catching thing about the film is that the director brilliantly grasps its delicate boundaries, blending tragedy and comedy, so that the misfortune of life and the joy of growth maintain a balance in the audience's mind.
In my opinion, it is this kind of integration into the tone of comedy in tragedy, and there is no lack of childlike liveliness and humor in sadness, which makes the work break through and also makes the audience think further in the film. The theme itself is heavy, but the director presents it in a relaxed and cheerful way, so that people feel the pain of this growth process in addition to laughing, laughing with tears, making people feel more profoundly, which is also the director's cleverness.
(3) The depiction of micro-phase lenses, highlighting the details of the action
Micro-phase lens is a means of detailed description, highlighting a certain detail or a certain action, which can strongly express the inner emotions of the characters. The story itself does not have a lot of conflict and intense scenes, so the director uses the portrayal of details to make the story more tense, and the charm of the details makes the audience impressed. This effect is precisely the director's use of micro-phase lenses in many places in the process of narrative.
For example, when mom is out of control, Ingmar covers her ears and closes her eyes and keeps shouting "babababababa" (like calling Daddy Daddy), Mom will calm down. In the movie, this scene appears twice, once standing behind the door, and once hiding under his mother's bed, looking very painful, how much pain he has to bear inside at the moment. Another action is that when Ingmar is nervous, the hand holding the cup will tremble and he will not even be able to drink milk or water normally, which also shows that his heart is shrouded in great fear.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" >02, the establishment of a unique double emphasis point shows the cruelty of growth</h1>
Many children's films are from the perspective of adults to look at the story that happens to children, there is no lack of joy, childlike fun, but after all, adults' eyes are with "filters", in their eyes, compared to the adult world, childhood is beautiful without any trouble, but this recognition is one-sided, but also will lead to the film to present the audience what is not fair enough.
However, the film perspective of "The Years of DogFace" is another world, using the ignorant perspective of children to describe their unfortunate and sad childhood stories. At the same time, from the perspective of children, we observe and feel what happens in the adult world, thus showing the cruel side of growing up. The establishment of this dual emphasis makes the sense of involvement of the film extremely strong.
Most of the plot of the film is mainly what happens after Ingmar comes to the town, which can be said to be a adult world. Here Ingmar encounters all kinds of strange things: his uncle is a lame goalkeeper, but he made a summer house; Grandpa Avison, lying in a hospital bed in the basement, always lets him read women's underwear advertisements in magazines; Fang Song nails nails on the roof all day long; a female worker with artistic dreams pulls him to be a mannequin; there is a strange old man who always tinkers with "spaceships"...
These strange people and things not only brought a lot of laughter to Ingmar, but also brought some inspiration for growth. While we observe the inner world and life of little Ingmar with the director's eyes, we also see and feel the adult world that surrounds him through his eyes and heart. It is intertwined with love and sorrow, but also flowing with joy and sorrow. And what we are embarrassed about is that the world seems to us, just like Ingmar's eyes, to be full of contradictions and a little mysterious, even incomprehensible.
The film's dual emphasis on "wandering" puts the audience on a near-equal footing with Ingmar and to gain a sense of life together. It also enables the film to get rid of the problem of merely surrounding or raising a certain social problem, and to reach a certain level of philosophical reason. It gives people the image of a child who suffers misfortune and tries his best to escape his grief psychologically.
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" >03, Double Fate Allusion: Abandoned Dogs and Abandoned People</h1>
Since the name is "The Years of the Dog's Face", there is no doubt that this is a movie related to dogs. There are two dogs in the movie, one is Ingmar's inner monologue, the dog Laika who was sent into space, and the other is Ingmar's own puppy, Sika. There are very few shots of dogs appearing in the film from beginning to end, but the dog as a hidden line is always interspersed through the film, with a metaphorical reflection that highlights the theme of the film.
First, abandoned dogs and abandoned people, the fate of the "same way"
Ingmar felt that sending dogs into space without their consent and only giving dogs 5 months of dog food, and leaving dogs to fend for themselves after eating those 5 months of dog food, although for the sake of human progress, was wrong and absurd.
For the first half of the film, the poor space dog appears in Ingmar's monologue. He had always felt sorry for Laika, feeling that it should not be abandoned like this, and he subconsciously felt that his beloved puppy would be like this and might never come back.
When his mother was seriously ill and could not take care of him, but could only send him to his uncle's house, he was like this space dog, although he was extremely reluctant, he was forced to take away, lost his mother's love, and then began to live a wandering life under the fence. Whether it is a space dog or a puppy of his own, here has become an expression of in Ingmar's own destiny in his heart.
Although "The Years of Dogface" will feel strange from the title, there is a special attraction that makes you want to find out. After watching the movie, I realized that this is a metaphor, and when analyzing the fate mapping of the abandoned dog is actually the abandoned person, I think the title is really too appropriate, simple but connotative, very appropriate to the theme that the film wants to express.
Second, Ingmar projects herself as a dog to escape external shocks, but growing up is always involuntary.
When her mother was ill, Ingmar and her own puppy, Sika, did a lot of things that made her mother angry, spilling milk on the ground and accidentally burning a pile of rubble and trees. It is clear that the inseparable Sika is the embodiment of Ingmar, and Ingmar has been very guilty, thinking that it is because of his naughtiness that he killed his mother.
When he returned to the town, he found that Grandpa Avison was gone, the old lady had moved elsewhere, and he had been arranged to live in the old lady's house, and these real problems came one after another, and it was too late for him to think about it and grieve. Until there was a conflict with Sajia, the anger and sadness in his heart reached its peak. Then Ingmar suddenly made a shocking move: kneeling on the ground and barking at everyone like a dog!
It can be said that this plot concentrates all his sadness, and at this time he has fallen into the circle he drew, fighting back and venting in the way of a dog. When he fled and hid in a summer house built by his uncle and cried for a night, and was sure that the puppy Sika was dead, he bid farewell to his childhood—a childhood like a dog.
I have to say that after seeing him finally bark and provoke people like a dog, I feel shocked and at the same time feel that he is very pitiful. In the face of various changes and the confusion of growth, he can only project himself onto the dog,000, which can be used to escape external shocks and achieve the purpose of protecting himself. But growth is not independent, and even growth is very unconscious, is wrapped in confusion and panic, even if you want to escape, growth is always unexpected.
< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" >04, based on the development of the storyline, talk about some thoughts and inspirations brought to me by this film</h1>
As mentioned earlier, the biggest feature of this children's growth film is that the film is mainly shot for adults, which inevitably brings us some thinking. This is also the biggest value of this film, and it is one of the reasons why this film can receive such high praise. Therefore, I will talk about some of the educational considerations that this film brought to me in the development of the film's storyline.
(1) The growth of children needs the love of parents.
Ingmar's childhood was loveless, his father was always "picking bananas at the equator", his brother loved to bully him, his mother was always very irritable and had no time to take care of him when he was sick, only the puppy Sika gave him companionship. In such a family, he does not get the love and attention he deserves. For him, the most loving scene is his mother sitting on the golden beach laughing, and this shot has become his eternal memory of his mother's love.
Fortunately, the director let him meet a loving uncle, which gave the trapped Ingmar some comfort and dependence. The uncle often played songs to relax Ingmar, and took the self-complaining Ingmar out to see the people of the new day, and established a kind of kinship connection with him. Although growth is always painful, confused, and confused, if there is enough love and support, the process of growing up will be much more comfortable.
In The Power of Play, Dr. Lawrence Cohen likens the love of a child's parents to a cup that needs to be constantly filled with water.
When children get full of love, they will become sunny and confident, and they will have more strength to face the ups and downs of life. Therefore, what parents have to do is to fill the cup of love for their children, give them the courage to break through the smog, and grow up with them.
(2) An open-minded and optimistic personality is more important than anything else
Some people think that Ingmar is lucky to meet some very good people, such as his uncle, Ingmar has such a warm ending; others say that Ingmar is young and ignorant, which makes the pain appear so short in front of him without leaving a trace.
But it seems to me that Ingmar is not so much lucky or too young to know anything, but rather that he is wise and kind in his bones, which makes all the sharp suffering seem mild.
Although Ingmar has suffered a lot of misfortunes, he will use the "contrast method" every time to make himself less uncomfortable. He loved his puppy Sika as deeply as he loved his mother, and when he knew that Sika was dead, he didn't know how sad he was, but he would compare it with the experience of the missionary woman being killed, and he felt that he didn't know much better. No matter how bad his life is, he can always find worse ones to compare.
It is because of his optimistic and open-minded personality that he found himself in the process of growing up and learned to say goodbye to the past. It is said that character determines destiny, and this is not alarmist. Compared with the timid, optimistic and open-minded people are more able to face suffering, use it for challenges, and do not easily give in. Therefore, parents should learn the correct way of parenting and shape their children's optimistic, cheerful, open-minded and kind character.
(3) Listen more to the child's voice and pay attention to the child's inner world.
There is a monologue in the movie that appears many times: "I should have told her everything, Mom loves stories like this." When Ingmar returned home from the town, he happily told his mother about the interesting people and things he had encountered in the town, but his mother was not listening. Compared to what her son saw and heard, she was more willing to listen to the stories in the books. So that later, Ingmar no longer dared to tell his mother about what happened around him, which became his biggest regret.
In reality, such parents who are unwilling to listen to their children abound, and they seem to be less important than caring about their children's academic performance, food, clothing, and housing. As everyone knows, in contrast, children's emotional changes and inner world are more worthy of parents' attention and concern.
Every child, regardless of age, longs for their parents to listen to them more. Many times, when the voice of the heart is no longer paid attention to by adults, the child's instinctive reaction is to attract everyone's attention, until it is ignored countless times, and it has to be tightly locked in its own world. As a parent, the best education is to let the child finish speaking, listen to their hearts, and care for their feelings.
To summarize:
"The Years of Dogface" is a very different film work of Russ Holstrom, although the growth is very cruel and realistic, but through the director's introduction into the comedy of the storyline, the bits and pieces in the film are like an illusion, and the process of growing up is full of innocence. Of course, there are some shortcomings in the film, such as the different accents of Ingmar and his brother, but I think this defect is negligible in the face of the film's film charm and educational value. Little Inma's monologue in the dead of night is an indispensable reflection in growing up. What it conveys to us is the childhood growth of each of us in real life, in addition to sadness and more human care.