Green Book is a feature film released in Chinese mainland in 2019 and directed by Peter Ferrari.
The film can also be said to be Peter's turning point, no longer revolving around vulgar content, but revealing the real social state of the American South in the twentieth century.
Unlike other types of films, which are easy to bring visual impact or make people feel blood boiling, the pace of drama films is relatively slow, but the plot is compact, and it is generally more inclined to resonate emotionally.
There are many excellent works in the category of feature films, such as "The Shawshank Redemption" and "Les Misérables", which are praised by everyone.
And it, there is no unexpected harvest, Douban 8.9 points, ranked 60th in the Douban TOP 250, 2.56 million people have seen it, almost all of them are five-star praise, absolutely good films.
Not only that, it earned 478 million box office that year, broke 7 records in film history, created 58 milestones, and 59 related awards.
It includes the Academy Awards, Golden Globes, Hollywood Film Awards and so on, almost full of loads, can be described as famous.
Why is Green Book so well received?
What kind of story does it tell?
Why is it so impressive?
Let's relive it.
(1) A film based on a true story, warm and healing
"Green Book" seems to me to be a very warm and healing movie.
Life is not smooth sailing, even if your life has reached a certain height, but for the regrets you want to make up, there may be no way to do it so far.
But the journey of life will always bring you some different surprises, fill your irreparable regrets, just like in the film, Don meets Tony, they are more like each other's redemption.
What appealed to me most at first about the film was the phrase "inspired by a true story" at the beginning of the film.
Not every true story can be made into a movie, and it chooses to explain the source of the story to the audience at the beginning, as if to say to the audience, "Are you ready to listen to this story?" ”
The story of the Green Book itself takes place in a time when everything didn't seem so fair.
Wherever he went, the Negro was like a special being, mostly not respected by whites, even though the Negro was a famous pianist.
In European countries in the twentieth century, there was still a great deal of racial discrimination.
Black and white, can they be friends?
Can they have an equal dialogue and interdependence?
Can two people with very different personalities really become inseparable friends?
In the end, this movie still revolves around these 3 thought-provoking questions, and the experience of the two protagonists' mutual redemption is touching, especially for countless middle-aged and elderly men.
In the past, I felt that friends were like-minded, just like choosing a life partner, the two must have a common language in order to get along more long.
But sometimes, complementary charm is far greater than similarity.
When the white man, Tony, accepted the job of escorting black man, Don, on tour, there was a certain racial difference between the two people born in different regions.
I had thought that he would never be able to bear it and would end up breaking up with Don.
But it didn't, and that's what I'm curious about, because they ended up being close friends.
Will the calm "little angel" and the happy "little devil" fight?!
(2) The friendship of middle-aged men makes people more aware of the true meaning of life
The process of Tang and Tony getting along has made us understand many truths about how to behave in the world.
For example, people who like to fool others are not actually bad people, and they can't look at people too superficially.
Tony wasn't a nice guy, even a little bad, and that was what I decided about him at the beginning.
He uses the money to take the jeep's hat from the woman's hand, making the jeep angry, and finally returning the hat in his own name, so that the jeep not only thanks Tony, but also treats him as a brother and gives him a tip.
It looks like a child's prank, but I have to say that he can really fool people.
After I gave Tony a not-so-good definition, I found that this person, when he came home, first gave his children a goodnight kiss and checked that each child's quilt was covered, would carefully pat his feet clean when he went to bed, and would put his wife to sleep in his arms.
So I began to wonder if my definition of him was a little too superficial, and decided to revisit Tony.
The club where Tony works, because it needs to be adjusted, is closed for a few months, which means that Tony has no job and no salary in these months, but the rent and living bills are all reminders that he needs to find the next job to maintain the family.
He can eat 26 hot dogs for $50, but he knows that life is not something that can be solved for $50.
At this time, Don was preparing to tour the South, a well-known pianist and African-American.
At that time, the racism in the South was more serious, so Don needed a driver and bodyguard to escort him through the show.
When each other's needs are released, there is room and possibility for encounters.
Their encounter can be said to be full of sparks, people who pay attention to the rules in everything, and people who do not play cards according to the routine.
At this time, Someone recommended Tony to Don.
Don's first impression was elegant, perfectly in line with his pianist temperament, and after considering things very comprehensively, after deciding to hire Tony, he personally called Tony's wife and asked for Her wife's opinion.
Tony seems unreliable, and his personality and Don's can be said to be two extremes.
I thought at one point that he would not be able to stand Don's stubbornness and rules, and throw Don back halfway through, and unexpectedly, the two of them' journey began.
"The smoke has been sucked into my lungs, what's the matter with you?"
Lo and behold, the tone was that Tony was right, don was still his employer, but his tone was extremely rampant, and he also filled the car with smoke and a bad attitude.
However, he reluctantly threw the cigarette out of the car.
Then he also mischievously ate the sandwich that his wife had prepared for Tang.
Tony is more like a child, unhappiness and reluctance are sometimes written on the face, and it is this kind of person, in fact, the purest, who will do pranks, but cannot tolerate others to do evil.
He would take his wife's words to heart and write to her in a clumsy tone.
Even if reluctantly, the letters were introducing three meals a day or praising Tang's performance.
Don once asked a question when he applied to Tony, "Have you ever thought about working for black people?" ”
But Tony replied "no" three times in a row, which seemed very bland, but this was the first thing that impressed me.
He didn't think there was anything wrong with working for an African-American, and it made me completely dismiss all the bad definitions of Tony.
It turns out that the "little devil" likes to be quick with his tongue, but he always punches his face very quickly, which belongs to the positive type of mouth suspect.
But it seems unlikely to fight, after all, the "little angel" is too calm, but also extremely polite, please like to use thank you in the future, people can not refuse.
(3) The process of mutual redemption is precious and is also the essence of this film
Warmth will be late, but it will never be absent.
This sentence is too suitable for these two middle-aged men.
1. Cute people can also use violence, just like Tony Cherub
Don would be discriminated against and treated differently, something Tony knew during the interview.
With Tony's personality, I thought that when confronted with an unequal incident, he would use communication skills to calm the incident down, and apparently I forgot to start the scene where he beat someone up at the club.
In the contract for Tang's performance, he will mention that he only uses Steinway pianos, but just because Don is African-American, the piano prepared for him is also particularly careless.
Not only was there garbage on it, but Tony was also asked to persuade Tang Tony, not only with a bad attitude, but also by spitting out the fragrance of other people's races.
As a result, after a fist punch, Tony looked at Don sitting in front of Steinway with satisfaction, like a child who got the sugar, and was so happy that he bubbled.
Of course, violence doesn't solve everything, such as Don, who is African-American, but is at odds with other African-Americans in his accommodation.
This is also why Tony will feel that Don is actually very lonely, obviously can enjoy higher treatment, but he has to choose the low-paid and biased South to tour.
In fact, it is more about wanting to get equal respect.
2. The redemption of each other, and finally the fulfillment of a pair of best friends
When Tony sees don wronged and not getting the respect he deserves, he gets so angry that he punches the officers on roads that don't allow African-Americans to drive.
As a result, the two were imprisoned, almost delaying the last performance.
Although the last two came out, it was in the way that Don was most reluctant, he thought that it would leave a bad impression on others, thinking that they were African-Americans like this, and that their long-term efforts seemed to be invalid.
When he arrives at the final performance, Don wants to dine out like everyone else, but is told by the waiter to eat in a warehouse-like place.
Surprisingly, this time Don followed Tony's advice and did not perform.
There is a bit of a pleasure in this result, people want to consume Don's performance, think they are very elegant, satisfy their vanity, but they are not willing to give even the most basic respect.
This is also the most gentle point I think Tony has, because he has always respected Don.
Skin color is the first thing our eyes see, but we ignore that the mind is the key to judging whether a person is good or not.
Why would Tony and Don be each other's salvation?
Tony would let Don do things he hadn't done, such as going to a restaurant dedicated to African-Americans, proudly telling others as if he were showing off his baby that Don was a great pianist and encouraging Don to play on stage;
Let Don eat fried chicken and dispel the concern that only African-Americans like to eat;
Will in order to let Don get the respect he deserves and others to shoot;
Because the race does not give Tang a try on a suit, he will pull Tang away without saying a word, thinking that such a shop is not worth patronizing.
Salvation is mutual, Tony will take other people's things, And Don will make him either pay or return them;
Will teach Tony how to write letters to his wife to make her happier;
Like embracing a child, talking to Tony, it is accidental and inevitable that the two will become close friends.
As at the end, Don comes to Tony's house for Christmas, and the family is stunned for a moment, then warmly greets Don and adds tableware to him.
Tony's wife also gave Don a big hug and thanked her husband for teaching him to write a letter.
Looking at Tony's family, I seemed to understand why Tony was so cute.
Warmth may be late, sometimes you will feel that the world is not fair, and often you are drowned in the night, still eroded by loneliness.
God may just think you're special, so it takes extra time to prepare gifts for you.
But it will never leave you alone, nor will it let the warmth that belongs to you be absent, driving away all the night and cold for your journey.
epilogue
To be honest, this film can win the award, first of all, because it is aimed at the problem of racial discrimination, it uses a very warm story to tell people that all this is possible and warm people's hearts.
The second is that the audience is particularly wide.
Do you know why over the years, the delay drama is so hot?
Because the core of their story is the two young people, that feeling of pity for each other and the redemption of each other.
In this chaotic society, what could be more heart-warming than friendship?
Isn't it more exciting than the intrigue, deceitfulness, and the kind of brain-wrenching palace fighting and business wars, plain mutual redemption, and taking each other out of the predicament?
After watching the movie, you will have a feeling.
You know what this story is about, and you know what this journey will go through.
You understand that there's not anything too deep in it, but it also shows a lot of bluntness.
You understand that identity is something that everyone can't avoid, and you know how rare it is to understand each other.
You'll naturally laugh along with the funny, or not really funny, clips.
You know that the story and the title of "Green Book" are actually not very related, and you probably didn't think that you would like this film.
I'm sure you'll like it too.