I love Nameless.
There is a tone, director Cheng Er's consistent style is very different from the common undercover spy movies on the market.
Heavy and "romantic", when the chaotic world is wandering, in the cold and cold blood, the tragedy of death and life, the ghost of conspiracy, and the white bones of the prince's red makeup are like mountains and forgotten surnames, all of which are sad and moving.
There is a fierce impact like a knife, and there is an unforgettable long afterglow of repeated shadows.
"Nameless" is not very advantageous, and at first I misunderstood that it was the quality of the film: is this a play to smash the playing into a depression?
After watching the film, I was quite surprised, this is obviously not a Spring Festival family look, and the "super commercial film" that suddenly appeared in the promotional film seems to have little to do with it, but the personal perception is that this Spring Festival file is the most suitable for fans.
Very classical, very cinematic.
There is even the meaning of "a small step without a name, a big step in the Spring Festival file", which is very beneficial in terms of diversified styles and types.
The results of the sinking market may not be optimistic, but if you like Cheng Er's director "The History of the Demise of Romance", then it must be right to watch "Nameless".
(The following contains spoilers, friends who have not watched the film please collect it first)
First, tone
1. Texture
"Nameless" is very tone, not the so-called tone of pretentious pose, but a strong personal style, aesthetic expression, and the organic combination of excellent texture.
The picture composition color, soundtrack, actor presentation, overall texture, each scene is silent expression, nameless transmission.
For example, Sen Leng cell, a heavy iron fence is hard and cold.
There are almost no scenes of passers-by being tortured in the cell, on the contrary, there are several scenes of washing the ground after the killing.
There were red blood stains on the yin tide, and the ghosts were cold.
Whether it is a person, a ghost, or a ghost, there is an Asura hell in an instant.
Director He, played by Tony Leung, is also a window, anxiously waiting for a cold black and white dark green tone.
After revealing the mystery and reversal, it was golden under the light.
People's state of mind, the color of the picture, the overall texture, the aesthetic expression is changeable and unified, and the good looking is not only good-looking.
Another example is Minister Tang played by Dapeng, who appeared, either for negotiation or dinner.
In a scene where he secretly negotiates with the Japanese on behalf of Jiang after his defection, the two bright flags on the wall and the bright red of the tablecloth form a complete and colorful picture.
Minister Tang stood in the center, which was particularly impactful.
(Sorry I didn't find this image in the trailer)
Captain Wang (played by Wang Chuanjun) and Secretary Ye (played by Wang Yibo) appeared in two appearances, saying that the Japanese raped the girl in front of their parents and threw the corpse of the family into a deep well afterwards, such a horrific and heinous atrocity, it was actually told as a breakfast story.
As if talking about who the little girl and the teenager are in love at the mouth of the lane, it is common to add to the daily conversation of how breakfast ribs are not good.
The contrast between the cold blood and the relaxed daily life, without a word "this is the decline of morality, this is the tragedy of human nature", but it instantly gives people goosebumps.
One of the most terrifying moments in the story is when the crowd slowly raises their heads in a deep well, and then the mud falls.
Wordless cruelty and inhuman crimes, seeping through the bones, making people frightened and chilling.
2. Nonlinear view of time
"Nameless" is obviously adventurous, with the story constantly reversed, the character disguise and the truth changed several times.
However, the texture of the film is very different from the "intellectual game thrill" and the common flattering way of Benge mode.
The film chooses a non-linear view of time that is risky and even slightly "offensive" to some viewers.
It is not a time loop mode, nor is it the counterpoint relationship of multiple branch lines "one hour a day", or flashbacks to insert different modules at different nodes.
The same shot appeared again, and my first reaction was a little confused: Huh? How did it come back?
Looking down, it seems to understand what this "nonlinear view of time" is trying to express.
Of course, non-linear does not mean difficult to understand, and there is no obstacle to understanding when viewed in its entirety.
The "offense" of "Nameless" lies in the fact that in the context of fragmentation and directness, eager to fill all voiceovers, and leaving no room for thinking about the possibility, "Nameless" takes a step back, more subtle, more hidden, more white, and recovers a little.
It is not so much an arrogant offense as a scarce bravery and sincerity.
Second, imagery
"Nameless" has a good texture, and the imagery that appears in the film has room for interpretation, briefly talking about dogs and bloodstains.
(Don't see it as dog blood together, hey)
Dogs appear several times in the movie, pet dogs on airplanes, stray dogs outside Guangzhou bomb shelters, and fierce "man-eating dogs" in Shanghai prisons (functional description, not category).
The blue sea and the sky and Shiba Inu follow the owner to swim and enjoy the ocean.
If it weren't for the identity of the invading camp, if it weren't for the flag clothes worn by the dogs, people really don't know what year it is.
Dogs fight people, people fight the country, sitting on the scenery of the sea and sky.
Behind the beautiful scenery, there are countless crimes such as pouring the living with mud.
The more cute and "innocent" the dog is (after all, it is just a dog that does nothing), the more it feels trance and scary.
On the other side, outside the bomb shelter in Guangzhou, in a broken wall and a depression full of wolf smoke, a cute dog with a broken front foot limped and jumped and whimpered pitifully on the line.
The two "enforcers" drove the dog, and the dog's eyes were pitiful.
Although he broke his leg and became a stray dog wrapped in mud, he can still see that this little poor had a good family before, and once lived well and was very pampered.
In troubled times, chaos is not as good as stray dogs, not to mention stray dogs "this dog".
But this little pitiful was driven away, tricked into the cold wind and rain in the name of feeding, and finally stiffened and strewn into the streets, which is still sad.
The world is so big that it can hold all the killing, ambition and malice.
The world is so small that it can't accommodate a cute dog that doesn't want much.
Another dog that appears frequently in the film is the fierce dog in prison.
Grinding teeth and sucking blood, murderous and bloodthirsty.
This is not so much a natural attribute of dogs, but rather a person created by special occasions, such as Asura evil ghosts, dogs for evil spirits.
Another example is the blood that often appears in the film.
Films of this theme are the least lacking in plasma.
But "Nameless" is impressive, not relying on the overwhelming blood of the valley, not in quantity, but in quality and presentation.
Secretary Ye slashed at the other party, cutting his throat violently and splashing blood on his face.
He lit a cigarette with a bloody face.
My hands shook a few times, and I finally lit a cigarette.
This detail is very interesting, at first I thought it was the fierceness and cruelty of the character.
After watching the final ending, I understood what he really wanted to calm down when he lit that cigarette.
For example, Director He, played by Tony Leung, had a conversation with Mr. Zhang, a traitor played by Huang Lei, and the film deliberately stopped at key nodes.
As soon as the picture turned, Director He had already gone to eat roast goose on the street full of fireworks.
Roll up her snow-white sleeves, and Yin red a little bloodstained.
That little bit of blood is an explanation for the end of the character.
It is also a description of the character's state of mind, there are many levels, the same detail, and there are different interpretations of different known situations.
Before the reversal is one layer of meaning, after the reversal there is another layer of meaning.
The sense of suspense in "Nameless", what attracts me the most is not the unknown direction, but the delicate, tactful, and deep meaning of the details that make sense under the logic of positive and negative black and white.
It is a spy war film, with multiple camps opposed, but the expression does not stop at "justice will eventually defeat evil" itself, and the alienation of human nature by war seems to be untraced and unpolished, but it is like the afterglow of alarm bells.
Third, group portraits
Tony Leung is too cheating, if I hadn't supported the audience with the off-site information that "the male number one would not be a villain", I would even feel that I was moved by Director He sitting across the table.
His disguise is too real.
The earth-shattering fight with Secretary Ye, broken bones and bones, and deadly fists was too impactful.
His lamentation, his "tiredness", his final meeting and embrace, the suffering and the evil he saw are far beyond imagination.
Such a thick and tearing inner drama was all expressed in the quiet eyes.
Minister Tang's attitude towards his cousin being an undercover agent is also very interesting.
The Japanese asked when you would start knowing your cousin's true identity, and he said that all I have to do is let people know when the time is right.
A speculative wall-riding faction, casting a net on both sides and three knives, listening in five directions, and paying attention on six roads.
Oily, slippery, greedy.
But "Nameless" does not focus on the ordinary characteristics of harlequin or "evil", on the contrary, it shoots the cruelty of political opportunists who make masters and fool the grassroots to life and death.
The depiction of careerists, invaders, lackeys and traitors gives the upper ones an extra layer of "contempt above the clouds", and the bottom enforcers have some more greed and helplessness.
The traitor Mr. Zhang, vacillating and hesitating, what impressed me the most was that he was a "real person".
Two points of compassion, a little home, feel very "alive".
One time was Miss Chen holding a gun at each other, and the next shot he carried something and ran away.
According to the usual style, this should kill people, right? As a result, he just grabbed the gun.
Another detail is Director He's relief that he obviously exposed his emotions after hearing that Miss Chen was unharmed, and Mr. Zhang's professionalism did not drop, and he was instantly suspicious.
But he was only suspicious, and did not kill the killer because of this.
This hesitation is a little compassionate, and it seems to instantly make the character more recognizable from two-dimensional to three-dimensional.
Secretary Ye and Captain Wang were very close at first, and the subsequent reversal texture became more and more different, everyone had a drama and a clear group portrait.
Fourth, the obsessive men and women who hate the enemies of the country in troubled times
Several actresses in "Nameless" do not have many scenes, but they are all outstanding.
Zhang Jingyi plays an old man with a marriage contract, and the fireworks pose of the Ten Mile Ocean Field appears.
The appearance and makeup are gorgeous, and the look is still cold and proud.
Three points of simple innocence and righteousness, three points of fearless enthusiasm and burning, three parts of robes and two decisive throwing sounds.
Beautiful and warm and cold, the heart burns, and the ending is bleak.
Wen Jun has become an enemy lackey, and he has come to fight each other.
His eyes were full of disdain.
And at the end of the movie, what she disdained turned out to be just an illusion.
For a while, people can't tell whether the former lover who was still kept in the dark until death is more tragic, or it is more misunderstood and unable to explain, and watching the tragic death of the sweetheart in the alley.
Miss Chen, played by Zhou Xun, I like the way she looks with tears in her eyes when she holds the gun.
A little different from the fictional path of the legendary killing decision that is too windy, she seems more human.
It seems weak (I was afraid with a gun, and after reversing and reversing it, I understood what she was afraid of).
In fact, his heart is tough and strong, and he and her husband have not been able to recognize each other for five years, and they have never changed their original intentions.
Like a tree in the wind and rain of the old garden, a pear blossom, a pool of spring water, a bend of the crescent moon, beautiful, pure.
Like the clouds and the morning sky, like the spring wind and night rain, it seems to be vulnerable, but in fact it will always be with the earth.
Jiang Shuying's role Miss Jiang is also very memorable.
Her past TV series roles, except for a smile and sadness on the flaming red lips in the early days and in a certain drama, I personally have never been able to get it.
In this "Nameless", she played a female spy, who was attracted to the other party during the mission.
The object that made her move and hesitate was actually played by Dapeng.
If you told me that, I would laugh: What is this?
However, such a short scene is almost entirely communicated through third-party interrogation.
The entanglement of grievances, the tearing of love and position, beautiful and cold-eyed and desperate.
If Miss Fang (Zhang Jingyi) is still naïve, black and white brilliant and cold when she first got involved in the world, Miss Jiang (Jiang Shuying) is self-deprecating and miserable after being disappointed with her heart, then Miss Chen (Zhou Xun) is the original intention of the old garden, and the stream is silent and endless.
Without a word of love, obsessed men and women, sons and daughters, national hatred, three completely different grievances and entanglements, all moving.
I love "I'm tired" that appears several times in the movie.
The traitor played by Huang Lei said that I was tired, and I still had some fields at home and could see the Li River.
After the Japanese officers became disillusioned with their ambitions, they also said that I was tired, that I still had some land at home, and that I wanted to go back and be an ordinary farmer.
Director He, played by Tony Leung, also said "I'm tired".
Finally, the person who insisted on lurking until the final moment walked in the human fireworks of Hong Kong.
I ordered a cup of coffee for Miss Chen and went to the restaurant where the colleague who was shot and the enemy was killed.
After everything, he hid his merits and fame, and put all the prayers of "I'm tired" (wanting to live an ordinary and peaceful life) in the fireworks hidden in the city.