I Lost My Body is a French animated film with a unique artistic style, based on the novel Happy Hand by Angel Amelie screenwriter Guillaume Laurent, directed by Jehemi Crapan, released on November 6, 2019, and including several international awards and nominations, including the "International Critics Week - Best Feature Film" at the 72nd Cannes International Film Festival.
An art film with so much aura, I didn't dare to touch it easily at first, because I was afraid that the plot would be too brain-burning and abstract and obscure. But when I finally plucked up the courage to open it, I was glad to find that it was completely different from what I had guessed.
The film is indeed very brainy, but the two parallel narrative lines are very clear, and there is nothing deliberately difficult for the audience in the story. Not only that, but I think it looks inexplicably intimate. Because once upon a time, each of us will have the same hand as the film, there have been regrets of loss, and there have been things that we want to grasp again.
The film's camera movement and musical sound effects are distinctive, and all artistic techniques are perfectly served in the narrative, while allowing the audience to experience a kind of shocking loneliness.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > clever use of lens language to create a silent but wonderful adventure</h1>
In terms of mirror editing, the most wonderful embodiment of this film is the portrayal of the dangerous, tense and exciting journey of this broken hand.
From the moment the hand falls out of the lab freezer, the camera switches back and forth between the first-person perspective and the God perspective. And to achieve a seamless connection, not only will not make the viewer feel confused, but enhance the sense of tension and substitution, and raise the suspense of the film to the highest. Such skillful mirror movement, the rhythm of the transition is fast and slow, creating a fascinating opening suspense.
The excellent camera language, without a single line, gives the severed hand an independent personality, making its seemingly absurd actions full of humanity. It also allows the audience to focus all their energies on it, thus slowly overlapping it with the protagonist on another narrative line, leading to the causes and consequences of the plot.
The skillful use of matching editing makes the transition between reality and memory very natural, smooth and smooth, and brings more surprises to the audience.
This is a very potentially inspiring and creative lens assembly technology that can guide the audience to associate the connection between these two things, so as to understand that the boy who once lived happily in the black and white image is the owner of the broken hand in front of him.
At the same time, the warmth and beauty of the memories and the harmony of the family also form a strong contrast with the loneliness of the broken hand now, and further highlight the incomparably lonely atmosphere of the narrative line of reality.
This brave attempt reminded the hand of the picture of him when he tried to get up as a child but fell
Good memories cannot be retained like sand between your fingers, and you have to accept the harsh reality in front of you
More often, there is no need for hands to appear, and the film has completed a very smooth transition just by the change of light and shadow tone and perspective.
When the director tracks the hand, the camera is often placed very low, which is in line with the actual situation, because the height of the broken hand is only a small cut. But from a low, oppressive perspective, suddenly looking up to the open sky, a shift like this also brings a strong contrast. In this way, it is easy for the audience to have psychological fluctuations, so that this part of the rhythm of the film becomes as gripping as a roller coaster.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > musical sound effects that perfectly match the atmosphere of the picture, bringing the audience an immersive experience</h1>
In addition to the excellent camera language of an animated film with so few lines, another crucial success factor is the musical sound.
The right soundtrack can set off the atmosphere and render the feelings more accurately than the language. The delicate and realistic sound effects can give the audience an immersive experience, making it easier for people to have an immersive enjoyment.
In terms of music, classical music and modern music also exist in the film, and the occasions that appear are very appropriate. For example, this section of the hand running and the hand's former owner riding a motorcycle to deliver pizza to run parallel clips, accompanied by symphony. The hardships of the little people struggling at the bottom and the sense of urgency of life that are almost desperate are vividly expressed.
At the same time, since the owner of the hand, Laufer, was born into a musical family, his mother was a famous cellist, his father was also a musician, and he himself dreamed of becoming a pianist. Therefore, the memories related to my parents and my own pianist dreams, and the background almost always appears classical music.
For example, in this passage, the real-life interrupt hand appreciates the other party playing the piano in the home of the blind pianist, and slowly turns the other party's piano tone into background music, and the imaginary picture of him becoming a pianist appears. At this time, the picture shifts to a concert hall, and the piano sound in the original bedroom gradually becomes empty, and then transitions to the picture of rummaging through the relics of his parents.
A melodious and slightly sad piano piece connects a process from reality, to dreams, and then to memories, with great fluidity and naturalness.
In addition to classical music, the application of modern pop electronic music in the film is also very well in place. If classical music represents Lauffield's attachment to a happy childhood and regret for not being able to grasp his dreams, then modern music represents his enthusiasm and courage to get out of the haze and bravely pursue.
Here, for example, he builds an igloo of wood for his beloved girl Gabriel, accompanied by a modern slow-rock electronic piece. The lead singer's slightly psychedelic singing voice, combined with the focused eyes of Lauffield when he built the igloo, set off his vision and desire for beautiful love.
This slightly hoarse warm singing makes people deeply feel that no matter how bad life is, as long as they think of their beloved, it is as if they have a pair of gentle hands to clear the fog for him and let him slowly see the light again.
In terms of sound effects, in addition to the various delicate ambient sounds and urgent sound effects where the broken hand went, the most impressive thing was the wind sound captured by Lauuffel with the tape recorder.
The sound of the wind also symbolizes a fate that he cannot capture, but he still wants to try to grasp it and record it forever with a tape recorder, just like recording the trajectory of his own life. He liked to do this as a child, but he had a car accident on the way to recording, so he also recorded the moments of losing his family.
In the end, he finally completely let go of his heart knot, picked up the tape recorder again, and re-recorded the sound of the wind, including the sound of his breathing after he finally made up his mind to jump on the long-awaited tower crane. He left it all to his beloved girl, hoping to share with her the joy of finally transcending himself.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > interlaced two-line narrative technique, like peeling back the cocoon, so that people know the answer completely at the last moment</h1>
All of the above lens language and musical sound effects not only bring people visual and auditory shock, but also accurately serve the narrative.
Saying that it is a double line, in fact, in detail, it should be a third line.
So let's take a look at how the narrative of this film is constantly alternately unfolding, and at the same time, it will not confuse the audience, so that people can clearly distinguish between memories, memories in memories and reality.
At the beginning of the story, several shots are used to briefly explain the reason why the protagonist Lauffer broke his hand. Then, interspersed with opening credits, jump to his carefree childhood. The image of the fly runs through it, symbolizing his tragic situation of not being able to capture fate and being manipulated by fate.
At the end, however, the fly does not reappear, indicating that Lauffield has finally figured it out. He no longer dwells on the impermanence of fate, bravely challenges the limit he has always wanted to challenge, and is very successful.
As a child, he drew a circle of the sun in his hand, which symbolizes that although life is not satisfactory, although it cannot be perfect, we can still try to reach out and pursue with all our strength.
Whether it is Lauffield or this broken hand, what they want to grasp is fate, although they have been mercilessly tricked by fate, they still have not given up their last hope.
In addition to the clever design of the beginning and end echoes, the director is constantly laying clues for us during the film.
It's like giving you a piece of the puzzle every once in a while, but the puzzles are completely incoherent. Only by the end of the film, when you have collected all the puzzles, can you piece them together to get the final answer.
For example, here, why would a broken hand climb up the barbed wire fence and gaze through the gap at the building and tower crane?
After seeing the second half, the audience will know that It turns out that Lauffield once made an igloo for his beloved girl Gabrielle on the roof of this abandoned building. He also very intimately pasted the note from the first encounter between the two of them only by sound, on the pizza box, hoping to evoke Gabrielle's good memories and accept his love.
However, it backfired, which made the sensitive Gabrielle think that this was his long-planned conspiracy. She left angrily, never to believe him again. In desperation, Lauffield destroyed the igloo, and because of the bad mood, it caused a series of problems and even an accident to break his hand.
And here, why do flies and eyes suddenly appear, pulled into the distance to find a goat?
This black-and-white picture lasts a short time, and only at the end of the day can we understand that at that time, Lauffield's father was because of the sudden appearance of this goat, the car crashed into it, which led to a car accident, thus causing Rauffield to lose his parents and fall from the clouds into the worst mortal dust.
The fly on the goat's eyes, like the one that appeared on the sheet music, astronauts, and globes in previous memories, represents the impermanence of fate that he cannot catch but cannot escape.
< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > concluding remarks</h1>
Only in this way can we really understand what this broken hand, which has undergone a fantastic thrilling journey, is what it wants to grasp.
What it once wanted to seize may be the old days, the beautiful memories that are slowly and mercilessly lost like the sand between its fingers. But after a series of tribulations, it, and its owner Lauffield, finally understood that what was lost could not be regained.
Although fate is uncertain, there is still a glimmer of hope that we can still try to capture when we reach out our hands.
So for the future, please firmly grasp, do not give up lightly.
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(Copywriting: Small boss A Yang, it is strictly forbidden to reprint without authorization, and the plagiarism of the manuscript will be investigated!) ）