Author: Entertainment Fairy
A melon-eating masses with an attitude
The brilliance of the city is like a very precious gemstone, like jasper, bright as crystal. The walls are made of jasper and the city is made of fine gold. Like clear glass. The foundations of the walls are decorated with various gems... There is no sun or moon in that city, for it is illuminated by the glory of God. And the lamb is the lamp of the city. The gates of the city are never closed during the day, and there is no night there. Whoever is unclean and who does abominable and deceitful things is not allowed to enter the city. Only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life must be entered.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > introduction:</h1>
Days of Heaven, also known as Days of Heaven, is a 1978 film by director Terrence Malik. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography, Best Costume and Best Acoustics. He eventually won the 51st Academy Awards for Best Cinematography. The poetic lens of his oil painting also outlines a beautiful picture of the American countryside in the 20th century.
Based on Terrence Malik's original screenplay, the film tells the story of Bill (played by richard Gere), a handsome man in a steel mill, who leaves the factory as a worker in a steel mill in the early 20th century, leaves Chicago with his girlfriend Abby and sister Linda, and finds a job harvesting wheat in the wheat fields of Texas.
Bill and Abby have always been brother and sister, and when he inadvertently learns that the farmer is terminally ill and greedy, Bill asks Abby to marry the farmer, and the three of them spend a heavenly time in the poetic countryside, but in the end they still do not escape the nightmare punishment of the burning of the Garden of Eden.
The whole film conveys the themes of love and greed. However, the audiovisual language and narrative style that are clearly distinguished from similar films make this "Heaven's Day" a film work that students in major film and television colleges focus on observing and learning. The film is a kind of retrospective of silent film in both form and content - the dialogue is concise, the form is more expressionistic, and does not rely on artificial light sources, the so-called photographic "magic moment".
Terrence Malik added a lot of empty shots to the film, with a poetic voiceover, and the lines were also inky, as much as possible to dilute the plot, in a "non-narrative style, I want to make a Beethoven symphonic film." "After watching the movie before going to bed last night, every scene in the movie lingered in my mind for a long time, and it was so beautiful that any screenshot of the scene could be used as wallpaper.
So today, I will start from the three angles of "style aesthetics, symbolism, and film value" and analyze this classic film in multiple dimensions to help everyone feel its artistic charm.
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" >, style aesthetics: natural beauty, poetic sound, together outline the unique style aesthetics of the film</h1>
Paul Weiss said: "A film that is in the hands of a director is the only form of cinema. A film without a director or a director's imprint cannot reach the height that a film should be. A good director will make sure that each part is creatively generated and combined into one. These will reflect his essential ideas. ”
Terrence Malik was not a prolific director, but with his unique style of video, he has made his few feature films occupy a place in the history of world cinema. Moreover, the poetry and philosophy of Malik's films become the most striking and thought-provoking parts.
This famous Hollywood "hermit director", in this film, uses the beauty of nature and poetic sounds to jointly outline the unique poetic style aesthetics of the film. Heaven's Day is the second film directed by Terrence Malik, which won best director at the Cannes International Film Festival in addition to the Academy Award for Best Cinematography.
1. In the movie "Heaven's Day", there are many depictions and captures of the beauty of the natural world using the lens. In the whole film, there are basically not many depictions of indoor scenes, most of which are pictures in the fields. The director deliberately placed the characters of the film in a background full of naturalness. Sometimes bright and dark skies, clear rivers, vast fields, toiling farmers and a variety of small animals appear from time to time.
Even the frail farmer is not a bedridden figure, but most of the time outdoors. The wedding with lies, greed and sin is also held outdoors, and the scene of the heroine Abby, the pure white and elegant bridal style, is the highlight of the whole movie, and the extreme beauty is followed by an inevitable decline.
We can feel the poetic beauty of the countryside and the inner loneliness of the characters from the endless Texas prairie that the director expects to convey. Like a rich and kind young farmer who has endured loneliness for many years because of his body, there are no warm hands that his lover can hold around.
As Linda narrated: This man he won't hurt anyone, you give him a flower and he will save it for the rest of his life. In a way, I feel sorry for him because no one has stepped up for him, stays by his side, holds his hand when he needs care, and that's pretty miserable.
Many of the beauty of director Malik was filmed in the so-called "magic time" of photography. The so-called "magic time" refers to the effect of setting up lights from the sky to the ground every day before sunrise and about half an hour after sunset, and the sky turns to a more intense dark blue or red, clearly reflecting the outline of the scene on the earth.
The picture effect of this moment is quite like oil painting and silhouette. The stories, desires, sins, and images in the film are insignificant compared to these beautiful images that are gifted by God.
2. The sound composition in the movie "Heaven's Day" is very characteristic of the director's own style. The first is to use character narration to undertake the narrative and structure; the second is the flexible use of classical music.
The actor who played her sister Linda at the time of filming was only 16 years old, and the whole story was told by Linda. Her appearance in the film around 3 minutes and 40 seconds, accompanied by clusters of flowers, with her eyes bowed, is extremely beautiful, even brighter than the heroine. (This shot was a big motivation for me to watch this movie last night)
Her narrative process is devoid of any emotional overtones, the tone is extremely peaceful, with a calmness and old age that does not correspond to her real age, mixed with comments, additions and annotations on the whole thing. After his brother Bill kills the farmer, the three escape in a boat, and their time in paradise on the farm is officially over.
This passage on the ship also implies a different symbolic meaning. "You can see people on the shore, but it's too far away, you can't see what they're doing, maybe shouting for help or something like that, or burying someone," she said. ”
In addition to the excellent use of narration, Terrence Malik's understanding and use of classical music also makes the poetic atmosphere in his films better created.
He chose to use classical music in a broad sense, balanced and clear, full of formal beauty and full of emotion. Perhaps the calm narrative in the film lacks emotional rendering, so classical music is needed to fill and perfect. Among them, Saint-Saën's work "Carnival of Animals" is full of longing for heaven and regretting the burning of the Garden of Eden.
These two points are the main source of the poetic atmosphere of Terrence Malik's films.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > second, symbolic significance: the director takes "flame" as the clue, echoing from beginning to end, containing the main contradiction of the story and highlighting the theme of the film</h1>
The narrator of the story, Linda, in the 5 minutes and 18 seconds of the film, said this passage: "I met a person named Jingle. He told me that the world would become a sea of fire, that fire would come out of nowhere, and that it would come out, and that the mountains would fall into a sea of fire, and that the water would burn together.
Animals will run around, some of them will be burned to death, half of their wings will be scorched, people will cry out in sorrow and cry out for help, and those who have done good deeds will go to heaven and escape the baptism of fire. But if you do something bad. God will not hear your cry for help, and He will not even hear you. ”
At first I didn't understand the meaning of this passage. But when the film is an hour away, the locust plague is overwhelming, and in 1 hour and 08 minutes, the fire on the farm is ignited. It was not only the farmland that burned down, but also the beloved Garden of Eden and the heavenly time that the three of them could never return to.
And this flame, as the clue of the film and the important intention of the beginning and end echoes, contains the thoughts and emotions of the film creators, sublimating the theme and philosophy of the film.
In Cheng Ji's collection of short stories, "Like Flames Like Ashes," the cover has this sentence: "Desire is as wanton as a flame, but love is as lonely as ashes." ”
Put into this "Heaven's Day" movie, it can be described as a perfect interpretation of the protagonist's mental journey. At first, man's greed was only a little, like a small flame scattered, a faint fire in the cold night, and all the luxury was to make money by hard work and barely feed himself. They also did not want to kill, and such a low desire to survive was far less than the level of sin.
But when Bill accidentally learns that the young farmer is ill, has only one year left to live, and that he has a crush on his girlfriend, Abby, greed grows like a flame. He did not resist, allowing the desire for money to devour him, sacrificing love for a short time, abandoning the exclusivity and exclusivity of love, and exchanging his girlfriend for a rich life after a year.
After Abby married the farmer, the rest of the three of them lived a veritable "day in heaven", and Linda had this narration: "We have never been so rich, and we have nothing to do all day, except to sleep and lie down, and we don't have to work." I tell you that rich people really have a way. In this wonderful time, the intention of "fire" reappears, only in the form of a celebratory campfire. Desires that are within control can also bring joy and happiness.
But the lie will eventually be revealed, and the secret of Bill and Abby is discovered by the farmer, who on a locust-infested night, let the fire burn and burn the farmland, venting his anger. He couldn't stand his love like the ashes of loneliness, and he wanted to confirm that his wife loved him only one. But reality had disappointed him.
This fire is both the fire of material greed in Bill's heart and the fire of the farmer's desire for love and anger. When human desires were excessive, the Garden of Eden was burned down and ceased to exist.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > third, film value: based on the storyline and picture, combined with their own viewing experience, analyze the artistic charm and practical significance of the film</h1>
"Heaven's Day" inherits the consistent film style of director Terrence Malik. Poetic natural landscapes and melodious and emotional classical music combine to create a stunning audiovisual feast that tells a story of love and greed.
At the same time, the director also combined the concept of Impressionism to create a new American poetic film. And can focus on people's desires and express profound philosophical thoughts. So next I will combine my own movie viewing experience and talk about the unique charm of the movie.
1. The picture is poetic, the music is melodious, and the audio-visual feast is absolutely beautiful
As a feature film made in the 1970s, it was also my bedtime movie last night. "Heaven's Day" can be said to refresh my understanding of American cinema.
There has always been a stereotype of American movies, which is the Hollywood-style commercial style. But Terrence Malik's film chose French cinematographer Almendros to take charge of the film. Whether it is the chiaroscuro of the picture light or the brilliant colors like oil paintings, each frame of the picture can be cut off as wallpaper. The delicate poetic touch brings an excellent viewing experience.
Director Terrence Malik explores the good and evil, greed, love and confusion of human nature in the process of creating poetic images. In this beautiful poetic world, in the rural pastoral picture, the struggle between people and the selfishness and desire of the characters' psychology are also presented in front of the camera.
Of course, film as an art of sound painting, in addition to analyzing the beautiful photographic pictures, the music in the film can not be ignored. Of all the art forms, music is the art form that is the best at expressing emotions and can stir the heartstrings of the people, and music is flowing poetry. Poetry itself has some musical characteristics, such as rhythm and rhythm. And this musical characteristic is cleverly used by the director in his own films.
The narrator, Linda, uses poetry-like language to narrate the narration. And the choice of classical music to assume the main composition of film music, without any vocal mixing. Better to make the poetic passages in the film fully presented, without being disturbed by the superfluous vocals and lyrics in the music. Through the flexible use of classical music, Terrence Malik organically unifies the sounds and pictures in his poetic films, presenting a beautiful audiovisual feast.
2. Combining the concept of "Impressionism" to create "American Poetic Film"
From the second half of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century, a group of Impressionist masters emerged in France to create a large number of classic works, such as Monet's "Sunrise Impression" and Van Gogh's "Sunflower", impressionists emphasized the feeling and impression of objective things, opposed the academic school of conformity, and advocated artistic innovation.
Impressionist painting, which reached its peak in the 1870s and 1880s, had an influence throughout Europe and spread around the world, and the film was also filmed at the height of Impressionism, which chose a French photographer to take the helm. Impressionist cinema is also a school of cinema that originated in France.
Terrence's "Heaven's Day" can be said to use the characteristics of Impressionist cinema to express his own philosophical ideas. A large number of long-range shots are used in the film, and the natural landscape beautified by the camera makes all the characters extremely small. He does not exaggerate the sins of human nature, but uses extreme calmness and restraint to show the tragedy of burning the Garden of Eden.
From beginning to end, it is a paradise-like beauty, with a soothing rhythm, without the plot and scenes that Hollywood habitually uses to hang people's appetites. Perhaps, this is Terrence Malik's American poetic film.
"American Poetic Cinema" has eight main characteristics. Most of these eight characteristics are the special standards of traditional European art films, unlike popcorn commercial films, most of them have deep connotations and contain the author's philosophical thinking.
Open form: that is, the film is not a form of mass production in traditional Hollywood, not a conformist, but to have its own distinctive characteristics, the overall open pattern.
Ambiguity: The meaning of the film is complex, multiple, and profound, and must be understood.
Expression: The film must have its own unique expression, not like the crowd, but like poetry, it must have a theme and depth.
Non-linearity: that is, the film is not like the traditional Hollywood, but to show divergence
Psychology: The film should go deep into the depths of human nature to dialogue and make a sound, the purpose is to awaken the audience's thinking, so that the audience can use their own psychological thinking.
Interjection: that is, the film itself can jump out of the development process of the story, and add the creator's emotional expression and rational thinking at any time.
Subjectivity: The film should express the subjective thinking of the creator and the embodiment of its own worldview.
Style correction: In the development of the film, the correction of the self-style is allowed, and the style can be changed as the thoughts and emotions change.
In fact, Terrence Malilik's films do not meet all the criteria. It is only more prominent in some aspects, and this complete 8 criteria define the scope of American poetic films.
After the release of "Heaven's Day", it won the love of many audiences, it is a classic with Malik's personal distinctive characteristics, profound philosophy and elegant appreciation, the perfect poetic film picture, but also made this film a textbook for cinematography.
3. Focus on people's desires and express profound philosophical thoughts
The focus of the film's themes is certainly love and desire, but there are currently two theories about the profound philosophy behind it: One is Nietzsche's "moral naturalism" and the other is some philosophical views of the German existentialist philosopher Heidegger. But personally, I am inclined to the former, after all, Heidegger was also deeply influenced by Nietzsche, and he is the source of such philosophical ideas.
Why didn't the director focus on depicting the ugliness of human nature, and did not render the cruelty of this case of making money and cheating marriages. Behind it is Nietzsche's "moral naturalism" and emphasis on life. In Nietzsche's view, the question of the meaning of life is the starting point of all philosophies, life is nothing else, it is life itself, from which people truly feel the actual existence of man in his flesh and blood.
It's our current state of being—living. To be alive is the flowing state of the reality of life, it represents the reality of life, it shows that life is present, present, real, and alive. "To live" is the original meaning and right of life. Life must be "alive" as long as it has its legitimacy.
In order to survive, the three poor people at the bottom are displaced and respected under the director's lens. After the male protagonist went to the farm, he learned about the farmer's condition and found that after he liked his girlfriend Abby, greed grew and tried to seize the property, but did not want to kill people to achieve it, and the rich and free life was their "Heaven's Day".
Heaven's Gate
But in the end this wishful thinking lies and fantasies did not come true, heaven was burned down, and they fell into hell again. The "door" scenes appear several times in the film, hinting at their intention to arrive and leave the Garden of Eden. In the process of depicting the beautiful scenery, the director also focuses on the desires of human nature, and reflects the profound and compassionate philosophy.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > concluding remarks:</h1>
As a 1978 feature film, "Heaven's Day" depicts to us the unique living conditions and life choices of young people in rural America at that time, as well as the flame of love. Although it mixes love triangles and sins, under the director's restrained description, there is no climax and no grand narrative, but it has a strong penetration of beauty, through the picture, directly hit people's hearts.
Therefore, in order to better appreciate this film to everyone, after analyzing the two parts of style aesthetics and symbolism, I focused on my viewing experience and association in the third part, "Film Value", hoping to help everyone. Thank you for your attention
(The picture comes from the Internet, invaded and deleted)