The Edge Diary poster
If you look at "The Edge Diary" from the scene of playing basketball in the rain in the 38th minute, it is simply two movies. The first half is sunshine, passion, basketball, and friendship, and the second half is drug addiction, depravity, theft, and murder. It's the same person who goes through all this, Jim Caro, played by Little Plum, who has the same name as the archetypal character.
At the same time, we can also see that the 21-year-old little plum has walked on the road of self-destructive performance. Of course, you could also say that he was "destroyed" more thoroughly in 1993's "Different Skies."
Jim cried and asked his mother for money to buy drugs
Although this is a film based on a live-action film, the look and feel of this film is more like an educational propaganda film, showing the process of a teenager being harmed by drugs as much as possible, and adding a confession scene at the end of the film to warn future generations that preaching is very interesting.
Jim's confession
From the perspective of the film, this arrangement is inevitably somewhat straightforward and not beautiful enough. However, if we talk about the practical significance, seeing that small fresh meat such as small plums is destroyed into small jerky, I believe that some young audiences can feel the horror of drugs and wake themselves up. It is like a bowl of Cantonese herbal tea, not good to drink, but good for the body.
The subtitles at the end of the film tell the follow-up story of the archetypal characters, jim Carroll completed his "basket diaries" (the title of the film, also translated as "Basketball Diary" at the age of 17, and then published 3 poetry collections and 4 albums at the age of 22, becoming a popular literary and artistic worker.
Jim has been in a habit of keeping a diary since he was a child
Among them, "Basketball Diary" is the work that Xiao Lizi has been creating in the movie. It's a very inspirational story, but it's not unique, for example, Robert Downey Jr. also fell into a low point in his life due to drug use, and after struggling for many years, he ushered in a new peak in his career with 2008's "Iron Man".
Of course, this situation is relatively rare in China, perhaps because of the difference in cultural concepts, our requirements for personal morality are relatively strict, and they are often linked to works.
Back to the point, the film has made great efforts to differentiate before and after the production, and even without understanding the background of the story, watching the first half hour will think that this is a film that remembers youth. Bright tones, hot-blooded basketball games, although there is a very fierce priest restraining Jim's group, but the basketball coach seems to be able to get along with them.
Sunshine Healthy Jim
Jim's first drug use was when he was hanging out with his friends at the home of two girls and was invited by girls. While he was sucking in excitement, the director arranged for a large red light to hit him, covering most of the camera, and the red color seemed to hint at the approaching danger. After that, the film goes into dark tones and Jim falls.
Jim took drugs for the first time
Not only did Jim's body and spirit become dark, but even the society in which he lived suddenly lifted its veil.
The seemingly amiable basketball coach actually had sex dealings with the minors; after Jim's drugs were confiscated, we could tell from his friends that the police usually enjoyed or re-sold them for money after seizing drugs; Jim ended up in a drug rehab center, and his narration also told us that it was easier to get drugs in prison than on the street, and it was clear that the prison guards were involved in the transaction.
Twisted basketball coach
This depiction of the dark side of society is like a video of a car accident played at a driving school when you get a driver's license, warning the young boys and girls who are about to step into society.
The Edge Diary, which directly exposes darkness to teenagers, is very different from our usual whitewashed Taiping education. Sometimes it is wondered whether this will be beyond the scope of the teenager's acceptance and whether there will be a compromise approach. But at the same time, there is another voice questioning: is the idea of compromise itself a kind of whitewash?