The author of this article is @Ghost Foot Seven of the Xiaowan family
The only thing movie does is to make life more interesting than movies
Some big stars, don't mention it, don't think about it, but when they suddenly think about it, they find that "they haven't seen him for a long time"!
For example, the former diamond king is the fifth, and the beloved public lover George Clooney.
Clooney has not appeared in the audience's field of vision in recent years, but he has not been idle in the background, and various jobs in production and directing have been playing well.
For example, this year, he directed a new work of Chong Ao, "Gentle Bar".
In addition to George Clooney as director, the cast of "Batman" Ben Affleck and "Ready Player One" actor Tye Sheridan is also enough to attract the attention of a group of fans.
However, this film has neither action nor science fiction, and as its title is full of gentle healing atmosphere.
The protagonist of the film, JR, is a child who grew up in a single-parent family, whose mother has no house, no job, no man, and who takes him back to his mother's house as a "loser".
For JR, his father, a radio DJ in New York, is nothing more than a vague voice on the radio, and his growth process is also a metamorphosis journey that constantly seeks fatherly love and determines the relationship between father and son.
"Gentle Bar" tells the story of everyone who became JR's "father" on his life path.
His uncle, Charlie, who runs the bar, tells him that "men must never beat women", a foul-mouthed grandfather admonishes "take care of your mother", and the regular customers of the bar cheer him for getting into college and finding a job.
Along the way, his college classmates, first love girlfriend, and internship boss all played different roles in his life.
Growing up without a father, JR learned how to be a healthy and brave man in a variety of relationships, and even though these experiences were bitter and sweet, they became the most precious part of JR's memories.
To be honest, in the current overall evaluation of "Gentle Bar", which is very mediocre, there are still many details worth mentioning in the depiction of growth feelings and male relationships.
But overall, the most obvious feeling of watching this film is still: "Too George Clooney!" ”
As George Clooney, who has long been famous in Hollywood and has reached the top of the line, the biggest difference between him and other newcomer directors as a halfway director is that he never needs to worry about creative expression and shooting resources.
In 2002, just over the age of 40, he directed his directorial debut, Confessions of Dangerous Thoughts.
This work of black humor is about the double life of a secular filmmaker who is developed into an CIA agent, oscillating between "entertaining to the death" and "serving the country."
This debut film is full of double ridicule of the entertainment industry and politics, of course, in Hollywood, Clooney certainly knows how to grasp and scale.
In contrast to the nerves and unblemished satire of independent films and art films that really sting the industry's big names, Clooney's "Confessions of Dangerous Thoughts" adopts a similar approach to absurd comedy.
More importantly, compared with other directors, the "newcomer" has come up with a full and mature production scale and eye-catching cast from the beginning, the most representative of which is that in a dating show planned by the protagonist in the story, even the guest male guests are Brad Pitt and Matt Damon.
Confessions of Dangerous Thoughts
It can be said that from the beginning of his debut, George Clooney has established his most typical characteristics in his directorial work - sophisticated production, a star lineup, a yuppie-style tone of ridicule, and a stable moderate temperament.
"Confessions of Dangerous Thoughts" was nominated for the Golden Bear Award at the Berlin Film Festival, which is a good start for Clooney's directing career, and also allows the old handsome guy who acted and directed to receive more attention.
Although it is difficult to see in Clooney's work that really touches the core of the problem, he is always wandering on the surface of the problem to make painless and itchy temptations, but this is far from a "disadvantage".
After all, for an excellent actor who can play roles in various types of works with ease, handsome and golden, it is enough to be able to take out a director's work that is not yet crotch-pulling at a stable level, isn't it?
However, to say that Clooney's directorial career is completely ticket-playing, it is also a bit of an underestimation of his ambitions.
In 2005, Clooney directed Good Night, Good Luck, a serious politically charged work about the historical events of the news media's fight against McCarthyism.
The overall black and white tone, light and shadow processing, atmosphere creation and narrative rhythm of the film can be seen to be quite professional. "Good Night, Good Luck" was a hit that year, nominated for an Oscar, Golden Globe, venice best picture, and was the highest work in Clooney's directorial career so far.
"Good Night, Good Luck"
Next, the 2008 self-directed and self-acting "Love Touchdown" tells the story of a football team trying to rely on a star player to survive the predicament, and the past of this player has aroused the curiosity of the media;
2011's "Presidential Killing" is the secret and conspiracy behind the candidates with equal votes in the final stages of the presidential election;
In 2014, "Allied Treasure Hunts", which brought together superstars such as Matt Damon, Bill Murray, and Kate Blanchett, set the story at the end of World War II, where an Allied squad was tasked with saving important artifacts from the war...
Clooney makes no secret of his ambition to touch on political and historical issues in his works, whether it is the power of the political circles, the power of the media, the reshaping of historical events, which have become his favorite genre.
Even in this year's seemingly small pattern of "Gentle Bar", a condensed display of American culture has been crammed into the growth of a young man. The film shows not how a boy grows into a man, but how an American boy grows into an American man.
This shows that George Clooney is not willing to be a director, and wants to be a "material" director, look at the works he has produced, it is clearer: "Cinrina", "Escape from Tehran", "Informer", "Crisis Counterattack"...
On the one hand, it is a smooth production that is exquisite but lacks real pain points, and on the other hand, it is constantly selected around serious issues, and this contradictory and always coexisting characteristics constitute the biggest feature of George Clooney's work.
Clooney was one of the producers of Escape from Tehran
In addition, with his appeal and connections in the industry, Clooney's works have never lacked good actors. Ryan Gosling, Matt Damon, Julianne Moore, Renee Zellweger... It is the ordinary director who looks red, and the fans will see the degree of hunger.
As an actor, George Clooney no longer needs the recognition and affirmation of the industry, and at the age of 60, he is also turning more attention to production and behind-the-scenes, and his style may make it difficult for him to become a real "famous director".
But this does not prevent him from continuing to try his own direction on the road of directing, and for Clooney, who has the top resources and markets, he may be more able to appreciate the joy of free creative expression.
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