Text: Overnight flowers
Unconsciously, the 92nd Oscars are coming, and "1917", which is the best movie hit, appeared in the audience's field of vision at the latest, but it won the Golden Globe Awards and Union Awards, and the influx of awards and honors also raised the audience's expectations. Here, the film is explained in detail from the characteristics of the audiovisual language, image style and theme content of the film.
For audiences familiar with Oscar-winning films, Sam Mendes is no stranger to the name. "American Beauty" sets a benchmark for a "family ethics film", reflecting the spiritual crisis of middle-class families with an absurd and playful black tone. For a long time after winning the 72nd Academy Award for Best Director, Sam Mendes was trapped in the bottleneck of the creation of similar genres, and although there were no shortage of more influential works such as "Revolutionary Road", the interpretation of the spiritual crisis of middle-class families was always unable to break through the strength of the former. After 007: Breaking Bad, Sam Mendes turned to a director who focused on cinematic language technology, and 1917 was the one who once again shined in the awards season (golden globe, British Film Institute, directors guild best director).
The story of "1917" is very simple, it is inspired by the story of the director's grandfather, and it conveys the reflection on the war through the observations of two soldiers passing on intelligence. The film is more meaningful in the innovation of war films in audiovisual language, as well as the reinterpretation of the creative direction of cinema films and traditional drama films in the development of the film industry. Although some viewers have commented that the film has been reduced to a deliberate "showmanship", the film still provides a reflective model for the audience to understand the reflection themes of contemporary film forms and war films.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > talk about Sam Mendes' audiovisual features from "one shot to the end" and "immersive experience"</h1>
The literal meaning of "one shot to the end" is to shoot the entire film through one shot, without editing. In fact, more often, the so-called "one shot to the end" belongs to the "pseudo one shot to the end", not really to complete all the filming work (one-shot) at once, but to use as few clips as possible to make the longest possible shots as possible, through a "traceless" way to group together, so as to achieve the joy of watching the movie. Therefore, when "one shot to the end" is used as a propaganda hashtag, it is usually a more technical audiovisual expression.
From Alessandro González Iñárritu's "Birdman" reversal victory over "Boyhood", to Sam Mendes's "1917" and "The Irishman" and "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood", it can be seen that the "Industry Award" Oscars, which are judged by Hollywood filmmakers and the world's top filmmakers, are willing to recognize films that stand out in technology and reflect the aesthetic trend of creation.
At the same time, "looking for editing points" has also become the primary purpose of many viewers when watching the film, and after watching the film, you will find that some parts of the film are similar to the editing techniques of "Birdman", whether it is the line of sight of solid matter, the transition of the black screen, the fixed camera perspective, the same actor's position and the fine lens of the action, or the special effect transition, rapid panning, empty lens connection, The common principle of their editing techniques is to use the audience's blurred vision and visual dizziness caused by the rapid and complex picture during the viewing process to make a quick and precise cut, often difficult to detect.
The "one-shot to the end" of "Birdman" is mainly based on repeated enclosed spaces such as indoors and stages, while "1917" is a linear advance in the expansion of space, that is, the space in front of it is placed in an unknown and mysterious color. From trench slopes, rivers and waterfalls, to church farm basements, it seems to be immersive, with a certain sense of tension and fear.
As a film that focuses on audiovisual language, the function of the text is weakened to some extent, so "1917" does not have an advantage in the competition for the best original screenplay in various awards, and loses to "Parasite" at the Writers Guild Award. Under the film logic of audiovisual language dominating the story, war is no longer presented in a panoramic, chronicled grand narrative, with the individual as the viewpoint and the task execution in a short period of time as the main line of the story mode, just like a live-action video game that stipulates the human setting and task and simulates the situation.
This "immersive experience" is a technological attempt by contemporary film art in the face of the impact of other forms of entertainment such as live-action games, can traditional war films breathe new vitality through the advancement of form? And "1917" has achieved more than 100 million (US dollars) at the box office in North America, which is undoubtedly a considerable achievement.
From another point of view, "1917", as a theatrical film that embodies the traditional values of the Oscar system, is undoubtedly in line with the value orientation of many traditional filmmakers in the face of the impact of online streaming media represented by Netflix (Netflix) "The Irishman" and the word-of-mouth pressure of non-English literary and artistic films represented by "Parasite". This is also the reason why the film has a mediocre reputation among film critics in the awards season, and it has come from the Golden Globe Awards and the Union Awards. No matter who the oscar best film is in the end, it is of full significance, for the audience, the film recognition of the award season provides a kind of film industry dynamics and development trend.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > the real and the absurd, poetic and surreal</h1>
Continuous long shots show the state of real people under the flow of time. Beginning with Bazin's long-shot theory being widely promoted, the recognition that "cinema is the asymptote of life" has become a common mainstream view. Therefore, the cramped and thrilling sense of reality is the biggest feature of the film.
And this reality is accompanied by an absurd black humor, first of all, the replacement of character relationships. As a key figure in delivering messages, carrying out missions, and rescuing his brother, Blake should be a well-deserved clue character and the first protagonist, and in the first half of the film, whether it is in the execution of motivation and enthusiasm, the dominant ability in the interaction between the two, he is higher than Schofield. Halfway through the film, Blake is stabbed to death by a sharp weapon in a struggle with enemy soldiers, and the task of delivering the message falls on Schofield.
Schofield was resistant to this task throughout, questioning the meaning of war and the value of killing, and thinking of his wife and daughter's family. And when Blake died, he did whatever it took to carry out this task, more to fulfill the spirit of his contract with Blake on his identity, rather than being enthusiastic about honor and value.
The film uses a change in narrative perspective to emphasize the absurd meaninglessness of this war and the unknowability of fate. Although the first half of the film focuses on the real situation of the two people walking through the trenches in an all-round way, it is from an obvious objective perspective. And after fainting in midfield after being wounded by an enemy. The only "black screen clip" that is emphasized in the whole film is produced, followed by a change in time, from day to night. The apocalyptic surreal imagery of the burning church also reinforces the collapse of faith in Schofield's subjective feelings, while the dim flicker of fire symbolizes a kind of divine compassion, and life is fleeting even though it is shining.
Just as the poetry of the flowers in the garden is scattered, under the hunger and death, life is like the falling flowers in the orchard silently withering, just like the rats in the ruins inadvertently touching the crisis and turning into ashes. In the killing of modern society, every individual is placed in a slaughtering net to fight. No matter which side wins the outcome, there is no winner at the beginning of the war, and countless living and lovely lives use flesh and blood as a memorial to the war. Thus, in the second half of Schofield loses his attitude of resisting the task, and his face is like ashes, and this numbness and indifference is a silent indictment of the great devastation of war and the alienation of human nature. Therefore, under the perspective of mixed image styles and blurry changes, the film is a reflection on war and a question of human nature.
< h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > reflection on the meaning of individual life in war</h1>
Films about World War II were overwhelmingly superior in both number and influence, and the reason for this is obvious. On the one hand, as the largest global campaign in the history of all mankind, it has directly laid the pattern of the modern world; from another point of view, the reason why "anti-fascism" has become the mainstream value under different national backgrounds and cultural forms is not only to satisfy the hopes of all mankind for peace and beauty, but also to witness the struggle of one nation after another in the struggle against oppression and the stoic vitality in crisis with suffering and honor and humiliation.
During World War II, William Wheeler's "House of Loyalty", with the wise and determined British middle-class housewife Mrs. Minnifer as the main perspective, reflected the cruelty and tragedy of the rear of the war to one side of the people's real life, and used mutual encouragement and mutual assistance within the family and the unity and friendship between neighbors to complete a national culture and collective honor recognition, thus achieving an inspiring effect; in the 90s, Steven Spielberg's "Schindler's List" symbolized the power of compassion and compassion with the "little girl in red". The confession and redemption of a common man was completed, and the myth of the civilian hero was written.
Although these films have no lack of in-depth reflection on human nature, full of humanitarian spirit and humanistic care, in the end, it is impossible to avoid subconsciously taking the reflection on war as a manifestation and manifestation of victory in the struggle, the defense of the homeland, and the status of the ethnic group. For example, in the World War II theme of Jewish directors, the indictment of the history of the concentration camp is also an export of ethnic culture, thus condensing the collective identity of today's Jews as a cultural infiltration and implicit output.
As for the First World War, except for Lewis Milestone's "No War on the Western Front" in the 30s, there are few powerful masterpieces that are well-known. Therefore, the theme of the story of "1917" itself is to complete the final question of the meaning of individual life through reflection on the First World War:
The expansion of human civilization and the plundering of living space have led to killings and wars between groups, and ribbons have become a manifestation of the value of war merits, and as Schofield weaves through the ruins of starvation, he realizes that individual life and death, sorrow and joy, ideals and pursuits seem insignificant to a collective honor, to the conquest between civilizations. And for the individual, the existence of life is the basis for the realization of all self-worth, compared with life itself, what is the weight of the ribbon?
When Schofield saw that Blake's brother was in despair, he had to use the phrase "he is a good man" to express his mixed feelings, and when the living life was ruthlessly destroyed by artillery fire and turned into ashes, the deep sorrow and powerless sorrow, seemingly simple and straightforward, but still deafening. The meaning of individual life is still a topic worth thinking about for contemporary audiences.