The original novel of "When the Monster Knocks" is "The Devil Calls", the shell of the film is a fairy tale color, but it contains one cruel truth after another. Although it is a cruel growth story of a little boy, the healing factor is particularly high, which makes people cry when they see it.
But do you understand the details, including the sound, the shot, the color, the content of the picture?
Today a fish takes you to enjoy this movie from the perspective of the movie
Connor's mother started chemotherapy after she had cancer, and Connor had the same nightmare every night, dreaming that her mother fell off a cliff and she couldn't do anything about it. In Connor's subconscious, he wanted to end all this as soon as possible and let his mother leave this world early, but he was reluctant to let his mother leave. Connor was struggling repeatedly, and his heart was in great pain. In the dream, her mother fell off the cliff from her hands, feeling that she had killed her mother, and condemned herself incomparably. Until a demon finds him, the demon exchanges three stories with Connor for a true story—the first story: the old king falls ill after marrying a wife, and people say that the new queen is a witch who wants to usurp the throne and poison the king, and the king dies a month later. However, the prince was too young to succeed to the throne, and according to the law, there was a queen acting as the king, but the prince fell in love with a girl. The prince eloped with the girl, but the girl died under the purple-shirted tree, and people said that the queen had killed her. People revolted, and the queen disappeared without a trace. But the truth is that the prince killed the girl, which could cause war to destroy the queen, and the king also died naturally because of his age. The second story is: there is a stubborn man in the town who refuses to change, he follows the ancient method of making medicines, and the villagers call him Mr. Pharmacist. There was also a young priest in the village, very knowledgeable and kind-hearted. The priest opposed the pharmacist's way of pharmacy, saying bad things about the pharmacist in his sermons, and the pharmacist's temper was also grumpy, and the villagers were convinced of the priest's words. A single purple-shirted tree can cure all diseases, but the priest is determined not to let the pharmacist cut down the tree. Finally, when the priest's daughter fell ill, he went to the pharmacist and was willing to give the purple shirt tree to the pharmacist, and he would also say good things about the pharmacist in the sermon, and he was willing to give up everything for his daughter. But the pharmacist told him he couldn't help, because the priest had lost his faith and given up everything. The third story is simple, Connor no longer endures the bullying of his classmates but beats him up, and the school does not expel him, and the classmates also look at him differently. In the end, Connor was also released, accepted his mother's departure, and told his story to the devil: he did not want to see his mother die or live, and wanted his mother to die as soon as possible.
First, the use of lenses and scenes
Although the word "monster" in the name of the film gives people a sense of horror, whenever the monster comes out, a close-up of the monster is used, which highlights the theme of the monster and gives the audience a profound monster image. At the beginning of my mother's terminal illness, a set of motion shots and shaky pictures were used to show that my mother was about to be unable to hold on. When the monster finishes the second story, the panorama is used, and the first time in the film, the monster and Connor's panorama are used to bring it into the story, and follow the use of the moving camera, so that the whole shot is smooth from beginning to end. In many details in the film, the director gave many close-up shots, suggesting that the growth story of the little boy has many truths, and also provides guidance for the hearts of the audience who are confused and afraid in life. There are many fixed shots of the "Purple Shirt Tree" in the film, but there is no close-up or close-up for the audience to enjoy, which shows that it can cure all diseases, but it can only heal the trauma of the soul, just as the priest is willing to give up everything to come to the pharmacist for help, the pharmacist says: "You give up everything, then I have nothing to help you." This passage gives a subjective perspective shot of a priest watching the pharmacist walk helplessly.
Second, the use of sound
Connor is bullied by his classmates, and the screams of crows in the sky coincide with the screams of Connor being bullied, which also hints at the misery of the little boy's life. The noise in the classroom, the "squeaking" sound when the monster appeared, and the "whistling" wind outside were all bullied by Connor by his classmates, and the crows in the sky flew away with a scream, and the crow's cries and Connor's cries of pain when he was bullied were fully reflected. The handling of the sound effects throughout the film is very meticulous, making the audience feel as if they are in the movie. The first sentence the monster saw Connor was: "I am here for you" this sentence paves the way for the final plot, and the third story of the monster is summoned by Connor himself, which just shows that the monster is the result of the repression in Connor's heart. And finally the mother took Connor's hand and was about to fall off the cliff, and Connor in the moment of letting go, the sound disappeared, the world was quiet, as if time had stopped, and here for the arrangement of sound has another meaning, in this completely quiet few pictures, the director also gives the audience enough time to think, letting go is also another kind of love. The director's intentions can be seen here
Third, the use of color
The beginning of the film is the dream of the male protagonist little boy Connor, which is full of red, which also represents his panic and uneasiness. In the dream there are cemeteries, trees and homes. Suddenly, the house collapsed in the dream, and his mother fell into a big pit, and although Connor tried his best to hold his mother, her mother fell down. The implication is obvious, the horror comes from the loss of a loved one. Connor was startled awake and looked at the cemetery and the trees in the distance. Although the three stories told by the monster to Connor are all expressed in fairy tales, they are all dark black fairy tales, stimulating the audience's vision and distinguishing themselves in the form of colors. The film uses adult black fairy tales to tell, and the language world of watercolor animation collides with the cold cruelty of the real world as a contrast. The use of dark color also expresses a variety of elements of the film, not only darkness but also healing and growth.
Fourth, use the axis to express the connotation
Connor loves his mother deeply, but her mother has a terminal illness and there is no cure. In many of his conversations with his mother, the axis is unified, Connor is on the left side of the axis, his mother is on the right side of the axis, and the middle is the axis, in fact, his subconscious is looking forward to his mother's early death, and does not want his mother to die or live like this. Until the final director designed Connor to break the axis, it also meant that Connor was about to make a change and let his mother go. He did not know that his heart had been slowly swallowed up by darkness, and under the guidance of the "monster", he slowly released himself and accepted his mother's departure.
In his final conversation with his mother, he uses the empty lens of the tree man to create a gap between time and space, and then it is the choice that Connor has to make. The use of the axis throughout the film suggests that the "monster" is a reflection of Connor's heart, which can be regarded as another personality of his, sometimes dark, sometimes guiding him in the right direction. In the first story of the film, the prince, he killed his girl just to compete for the throne, but he became king and did not oppress the people, which is also as the monster said: "There are no absolute good people in the world, there are no absolute bad people, most people are in between." This sentence is exactly what the director wants to tell us, seeing is not necessarily true.
Fifth, the use of montages
The monster appears to tell Connor the first story, in which the witch is mistaken for killing the king, but the truth is not. This section mostly uses fade-in and fade-out editing to make the story more narrative. In fact, this plot really compares Connor's grandmother to a witch, implying that even a misunderstood witch has the right to be redeemed. In the film, the arrival of the monster is at 12:07, the time has a specific law, using a metaphorical montage, and each story he tells is related to the experience of Connor later, the plot is compact, echoing up and down, as if the director's metaphorical montage is hinting at something. Slowly screened in the film, the audience does not know whether the monster is real or Connor has multiple personalities, until Connor sees his mother's picture book, and the monster seems to be some medium that connects mother and son. The purple-shirted tree in the film is also a clue used as a metaphor for the medicine that cures disease, but it requires the correct debugging of the pharmacist, who is the embodiment of faith. The increasing metaphorical montage at this time means that if you want to completely cure the disease, you can not use medicine, but the mind and faith are also part of the cure. The clues and details are well reflected in the film, and the audience watched the shocking. Every use of montage in the film seems to tell the audience the theme of this film, evasion and cowardice are not the ultimate solution, and dare to face and dare to let go is the real growth. And the fairy tale style in the film resonates with people, everyone has played the role of a prince, and also needs redemption like a witch, everyone needs to have faith like a pharmacist, and finally, be their true self.
This is "When the Monster Knocks" that even the original author supports, and the content in the film, whether it is a prince and a witch or a priest and a pharmacist, or an invisible man, in real life, he is right. Good movies are always made with such care, not excluding his dark style, but also can not deny his healing and warm factors. "Monsters" are the secrets hidden in our hearts.