This is a movie that I don't dare to write, but I really want to write.
I don't dare to write because many of the discussions about it on the Internet have deviated from the movie itself.
In this hyperpolarized situation, whatever I say risks being attacked.
I really want to write because despite those discussions on the Internet, it is a "movie" in the true sense of the word.
It can even be said that to some extent.
In this Spring Festival file, it is the closest to the film art itself, and it is most worthy of repeated study by fans.
How to say?
"Nameless"
In two days, I'll be doing Nameless for the second time.
The reason for the second brush is that I noticed some details and wanted to reconfirm.
What details, you ask?
I said, it doesn't matter.
The reason why I wrote this film review before the second brush is not to give you the knowledge points in popular science movies.
I don't want to bluntly instill you with all the details, Easter eggs, and foreshadowing, as most of the media do.
Why?
In the movie, Miss Jiang (played by Jiang Shuying) lurked next to Minister Tang (played by Dapeng) of the Wang puppet government.
In order to assassinate Minister Tang, Miss Jiang did not hesitate to betray her appearance and made a careful plan.
As a result, the long-term ambiguous relationship made Miss Jiang develop love for Minister Tang.
And this love also caused Miss Jiang to set herself on fire, resulting in the complete destruction of the assassination operation.
Yes.
If you have watched "Color Ring", you will find that the role of Miss Jiang is a bit like Wang Jiazhi played by Tang Wei.
If you understand the history of the War of Resistance, you will understand that Miss Jiang and Wang Jiazhi may have been inspired by Zheng Pingru.
And, if you understand all this, you will feel that you have received the expression of the creator and produce a sense of satisfaction.
In 1939, Zheng Pingru, Chen Bin, Wen Qimin and others formed a hoe rape group. Zheng Pingru used his hue to lure the traitor Ding Mo Estate to the fur shop, where the Central Unified agents ambushed in advance, and after entering the fur shop, Ding Mo Estate found that the situation was different, that is, he ran away from the car, the assassination operation failed, and Zheng Pingru was immediately arrested. In 1940, Zheng Pingru was secretly executed at the age of 22
But what if you haven't seen "Color Ring" and don't know the history of the War of Resistance?
Is there any point in me instilling this knowledge point to you bluntly?
Except for exclamation, "So it is," you will not produce any satisfaction and pleasure.
That's why, I refuse to summarize the foreshadowing of the film as most media do.
I am not writing this article to show off to you how advanced "Nameless" is and how professional I am at watching movies.
What I want to tell you is what ordinary people should do to find the right way to watch "Nameless".
In other words, as a movie fan, how can you improve your movie-watching cultivation and avoid crowds.
Since Hollywood ushered in the genre era about 100 years ago, the film industry has been booming.
In an increasingly commercial-seeking environment, directors and screenwriters racked their brains to summarize a set of "film drama methods".
In short -
Hollywood's "film drama approach" is to use linear plot advancement to focus on the changes in the characters' mental journey.
To put it bluntly, it is storytelling, which is to let the audience substitute into the plot, adventure with the characters, and grow together.
So far, we have seen that most of the films called "genre films" are shot according to these rules.
However, in 1941, "Citizen Kane", hailed as "the greatest movie", broke these rules.
Unlike most genre films -
"Citizen Kane" does not adopt a linear narrative, nor does it allow the audience to follow the characters on adventures and grow together.
It is to portray the characters from various perspectives in an inverse linear way and shape the three-dimensional sense of the characters.
To put it bluntly, it is like peeling an onion, from the outside to the inside, revealing the inner depths of the characters layer by layer to the audience.
In a sense, "Nameless" is a movie like this (not to say that it can be compared with "Citizen Kane", don't spray).
For example, when Miss Jiang first appeared, she was imprisoned in the interrogation room of the Wang puppet government because of the failed assassination of Minister Tang.
As an interrogator, Mr. Ho (Tony Leung) said a lot of persuasive words to Miss Jiang.
Probably meaning: Chiang Kai-shek is just a warlord, you don't have to work for him, it's stupid to do so.
Through Mr. Ho's perspective, we quickly realized that Miss Jiang was a secret agent and believed in the Kuomintang.
This is the first layer of onions.
After that, in the face of interrogation, Miss Jiang said-
"On the surface, it's because of poor organization, because of his caution."
"Actually, no, if I had done it myself, he would have died a long time ago."
"When it matters, I don't know myself, whether I hope that the assassination will succeed or fail."
What do you mean?
Miss Jiang thought that she believed in the Kuomintang and pursued a traitor with a hand blade to resist Japan and save the country.
But in fact, before contacting Minister Tang, she was just like us, only seeing the first layer of herself.
Sitting in the interrogation room, when she began to think rationally, she understood that she believed in love more than the Kuomintang.
This is the second layer of onions.
Different from traditional spy films -
After Miss Jiang was imprisoned, she was not tortured to extract a confession, persecution and beating.
Instead, Mr. Ho agreed to her request and moved her to a room where she couldn't hear the dog barking.
After some conversation, Miss Jiang did not show any hatred for Mr. He and Dazuo (played by Mori Hirozhi).
She even gave Mr. He a snack containing confidential documents of the Japanese military as a gift in return.
You know, Miss Jiang should not know Mr. He's true identity.
But she still gave the confidential documents to the traitor in front of her (if she wanted to repay it, she could give something else).
What does this mean?
At the last moment of her life, Miss Jiang may finally recognize her true self.
She may not be an impassioned, righteous and willing to "lead the knife into a fast" hero.
Deep down, in fact, her desire is not to save the sky at all, but to be needed, protected, and loved.
This may be the deepest layer of the onion (or maybe Miss Jiang saw Mr. He's true identity, but I didn't see it, welcome to discuss).
Miss Jiang may not have died in the end, because there were two cars behind her
Found no.
As a supporting role, Miss Jiang's role, although only for a few minutes.
But her character image is still three-dimensional and full, which can make me think of more than 800 words.
This is by no means an over-interpretation.
If you don't believe me, you can try a similar way to interpret other characters in the film.
You will find that almost every character in this is an onion that is gradually peeled off.
What is a movie?
Martin Scorsese said that cinema is about aesthetic, emotional and spiritual, the revelation of truth.
And the real movie, even if there is no fierceness and contradiction on the surface, can be insightful and subtle.
The charm of films like "Nameless" lies in the fact that they use minimalist information to describe and convey extremely complex emotions.
For example, the first scene at the beginning of the movie is Captain Wang (played by Wang Chuanjun) having breakfast with Mr. Ye (played by Wang Yibo).
At this time, since we still didn't know anything about their identities, we only felt a peaceful atmosphere.
Captain Wang ordered himself a small portion of ribs, but Mr. Ye ate most of the plate, and he only ate two pieces himself.
When Captain Wang complained to Mr. Ye "Don't you eat ribs", it was easy for us to think that it was a good friend joking.
We will feel that they have a good relationship, even close to brothers, so that they can eat a small portion of ribs together.
This is the first layer of onions.
Later, we saw that Captain Wang and Mr. Ye both worked for the Japanese and were traitors to the Wang puppet government.
Later, Miss Fang (played by Zhang Jingyi) appeared in the dance hall and booby-trapped the Japanese army officials as a dancer.
Mr. Ye observed Miss Fang's behavior in the distance.
But not only did he sit idly by, but his eyes revealed mixed emotions (we later learned that they had a marriage contract).
Captain Wang, on the other hand, was further away, like a yellow sparrow, observing Miss Fang and Mr. Ye with black-bellied eyes.
At this time, we realized that the entanglement between Captain Wang and Mr. Ye was not so simple.
In the middle of the movie, the scene where Captain Wang and Mr. Ye have breakfast is played again.
On the surface, this scene is no different from the beginning, it seems to be just copying + cropping.
But in fact, as a attentive audience, the information we grasp at this time is far from being as simple as the beginning.
We don't think that Captain Wang's spit on Mr. Ye's "I only ate two pieces of ribs" is just a joke between good friends, but a kind of jealousy.
When Captain Wang raped and killed Miss Fang and secretly sent the relevant newspaper to Mr. Ye, we finally understood——
It turns out that every joke has a serious component.
It turned out that Captain Wang did not treat Mr. Ye as a brother at all, but only regarded him as an enemy who robbed his own ribs.
This is the second layer of onions.
Yes.
The creators put the same plot in two different time periods.
But the effect, the message, is not repetitive and not boring.
Instead, it gradually reveals the truth of the characters' emotions and advances the audience's understanding of the film.
I have to say that such an operation is really very deep and very artistic.
Regarding the relationship between Captain Wang and Mr. Ye, about onions, there is actually a layer in the depths.
What does the deeper layer look like, you ask?
I don't want to read it any further.
Because, as the article is written here, my creative goal has been basically achieved (to help some readers improve their movie-watching cultivation).
If I peel the onion of each character, it will not only exceed the word count, but also affect your enjoyment of watching the movie.
I believe that no matter how profound the art is, as long as you find the right way to get started, everyone can appreciate and enjoy it.
Finally, I want to say one more thing, something a little serious -
Although "Nameless" is profound, it is not a work of high and low.
Some people, even if you haven't read this article and can't understand the hidden one, two, three in the movie, you shouldn't give it 1 star.
Because, even if the structure of the play is aside, the character acting skills and dramatic tension in it are obvious to all.
Those who have a little appreciation can see that in the entire movie, there is no actor who is dragging his feet.
If you don't love movies, please don't convey emotions that have nothing to do with movies on a platform dedicated to movies.