Text: Overnight flowers
If you carefully examine the nomination list of this year's Academy Awards, you will find that the kind of fresh, light and romantic "romantic comedy" that has grown up with generations seems to be missing, while the high-profile "Marriage Story" tells the self-reconciliation under the conflict of marriage and love. It is not difficult to see that with the improvement of the audience's knowledge level and the professional quality of filmmakers, more people are willing to explore the essence of love, rather than immersing themselves in the "utopia" of beautiful love fantasies.
Nevertheless, as a genre film that occupies an important position in the history of world cinema, romantic comedy has brought a wide impact on the entertainment industry around the world in the process of its development and evolution, and the "BJ Single Diary" series that has sensationalized the world in the new millennium, and the urban women's films that are popular in domestic films such as Tang Weibai Baihe are all variations and innovations of this genre.
"Goodbye Girl", which was nominated for the 51st Academy Awards for Best Picture and won Best Actor (Richard Dreyfus), is undoubtedly a milestone in romantic comedy. The benchmark significance of "Goodbye Girl" lies not only in the vertical history of the development of romantic comedy, but also in the portrayal of the spirit of the times, and what is particularly memorable is that the film reflects on reality and cultural criticism from the perspective of literary and artistic workers in the romantic comedy mode, which is quite enlightening to future generations.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > typical of the "New Hollywood" romantic comedy</h1>
Generally speaking, most of the Hollywood romantic comedies imported from China come from two periods. One is the "scroungy comedy" or "Screwball Comedy" of the "Golden Age" (the blockbuster factory period of the 1930s and 1960s, that is, "Old Hollywood"), such as Clark Gable's "One Night", the biggest feature of this type of comedy is to soothe the mass depression and loss of the Great Depression with a grotesque, absurd, ironic and funny tone. Usually manifested as a high density of line output, witty words and swords, especially the heroine is usually independent personality, obedient behavior, and has a strong rebellion against the traditional marriage dominated by men such as stale patriarchy and husband power.
The other is the 90s, when the global output of Hollywood genre films was at its peak, represented by Julia Roberts's "Pretty Lady in the Wind and Moon" and Tom Hanks's "Seattle Sleepless", when romantic comedies have fully evolved into modern romantic romances. Chick Flick is aimed at middle-class, urban white-collar women as the main audience, and is reflected in the fashionable and modern modern life style painting, fresh and humorous tone, light and bright rhythm.
The gender ideology from this female perspective is reflected in the character positioning: female characters are mostly professional women with independent personalities, and male characters are not as brave and wild and powerful as Westerns and gangster films, but are gentle and personable in line with modern urban aesthetics, such as Hugh Grant and Colin Firth in "BJ's Single Diary".
As a typical representative of the "New Hollywood" romantic comedy, "Goodbye Girl" can see both the inheritance of classic comedy and the prototype of the late comedy style. The film was born in the "New Hollywood Period" of the 1970s, from the gangster epic "The Godfather", the urban ranger's tragic song "Taxi Driver" to the science fiction milestone "Star Wars", the Hollywood films of this period flourished in the post-war environment of open-mindedness and cultural freedom, and the reflection on real life has an unprecedented depth. Therefore, as a romantic comedy of this period, the realism feature is particularly obvious.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > New Yorker Theater Stage</h1>
The realism of the film is first and foremost reflected in the fact that the love story is based on real, harsh and trivial life. When mentioning "New York movies", it usually reminds people of "street crime films" represented by "Taxi Driver", which usually focuses on the marginalized people in the cracks of the times and the lost people who collapse in the spiritual world and self-exile, with a strong anxiety and lack of individual identity; "Goodbye Girl" is undoubtedly different from Martin Scorsese's other perspective of New York, which takes New York's Broadway culture (that is, "Wide Street Culture") as the starting point and accurately presents the confusion in that confusion The era of helplessness, the mental state of ordinary urban people.
The male and female protagonists in the film are "New Yorkers" who are engaged in drama and stage. The symbolic imagery of New York's "theater culture" and Los Angeles' "film dreamland" have been continuously strengthened by films such as "Philharmonic City" and "Marriage Story" in recent years. Paula is a dancer, and as she gets older, she becomes increasingly unable and anxious about her dance career. Not only did she suffer the betrayal of the actor's boyfriend, not only leaving her for Los Angeles, but also selling their final settled residence to the new tenant Elliot, an enterprising young man who traveled to New York for theatrical dreams.
The film's "Joyful Enemy" model is not new, but the exquisite details of the play and the beauty of the lines, supplemented by the vivid performances of the two protagonists, make love come naturally. The male and female protagonists were not the most popular business superstars of that period, nor did they have a stunning appearance, but they interpreted the kindness and cuteness of ordinary people.
Facing the double whammy of career crisis and love betrayal, Paula is often on the verge of a mental breakdown of anxiety and neuroticism, but in fact, she has no city, innocence, kindness and loveliness. Eliot seems to be outlandish, absurd, and informal, but he is a romantic who adheres to principles, has ideals, is tolerant and generous, and has a gentle understanding.
At first, they rejected and hated each other because of differences in personality, and the encounter of "the same fallen people at the end of the world" and their good nature made them complete the complementarity and mutual integration of personality in the mutual help and encouragement of life. Richard Dreyfus's performance captures the essence of the male protagonist's frank and romantic personality, and all kinds of unexpected details are unbearable. And the heroine Martha Mason has been nominated for the Oscar for best actress 4 times, as a representative of the urban civilian girl, she is more familiar with the interpretation of this confused, helpless, confused and chaotic state after being imprisoned, and her staged body expression is more comedic.
The script's homage to classic plays and films enhances the authenticity of character building. For example, the dialogue between the male and female protagonists often quotes Tennessee Williams' "StreetCar Desire", and the male protagonist masturbates with "No one knew before Al Pacino starred in The Godfather". The information increments on these lines are all reinforcing the identity of the male and female protagonists as "actors".
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > deconstructing classics, cultural critiques, and self-deprecating reflections</h1>
The realism of the film is also reflected in its irony. The male protagonist Eliot is eager to deconstruct the classics, as a new interpretation of shakespeare "Richard III", but suffers from a sensationalist, mediocre director, the concept of performance art is difficult to achieve; when the run-in compromise is finally released, but the bad criticism and criticism are overwhelming. With the age of the heroine Paula and the fading of her face, the dance career is finally inferior to the young women of Shaohua.
The film's satire and criticism, in a light, playful tone, provokes a series of cultural reflections.
In the modern trend of deconstructing the classics, how to make Shakespeare's traditional stage repertoire breathe a new life in order to be more adapted to the aesthetic habits of the younger generation?
As a theater and film worker, how to grab a balance between the audience's aesthetic and artistic expression? How to balance artistry and public appreciation so as to be popular and profound?
Under the increasingly critical aesthetic vision of the audience, how to keep up with the trend and not be eliminated?
What is even more poignant is that the film also makes a self-deprecation within the film circle from the perspective of an actor, and the actor boyfriend of the heroine Paula is always unable to leave her for various reasons, and the helplessness and financial interests intertwined with this ideal reality are not the real life portrayal of filmmakers in any era?
What's even more exciting is that the thinking caused by the film is finally realized in reality, and "Shakespeare's Love History", with its subtle irony, humorous jokes, and deconstruction of history, beat Spielberg's "Saving Private Ryan" to win the Oscar for best film with a novel artistic style.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > the charm of romantic comedy: moments and eternity</h1>
"Goodbye Girl" ranked fifth at the box office of $41.839 million, second only to the annual key high-cost productions such as "Star Wars", which is enough to see the audience's love for it. The love charm of the film lies in the fact that it does not fall into a kind of "love first" fantasy, but portrays a love affair as a unique life experience, the result is not important, this simple and beautiful experience has become a precious mark in life, it does not make people fall into the spiritual shackles of gain and loss, but awakens the vitality of life and guides themselves to move forward better.
Whether it is the love tragedy in "Broken Blue Bridge" that conforms to the psychology of orientals, or the idealized love myth across classes in "Titanic", the exploration of love about moments and eternity is always the most infectious to the audience.
The male and female protagonists of the film meet on a rainy night, the trough of each other's lives, the uncertain future, the situation of wandering and helplessness, deepening the dependence between them. Also on another rainy night, the male protagonist Elliot had to be separated from the heroine Paula for an opportunity in his life, and the film ended abruptly. This open-ended ending is a direct annotation of the title "The Goodbye Girl," and an unresolved question arises: Will the hero and heroine see each other again? The answer may not matter.
This uncertainty of life and the unknownness of life are the most direct touches that the film brings to people. People who come unexpectedly in life appear in one heavy rain and quietly leave in another heavy rain, which shows a romance and comfort. Just like the freshness and purity of "Roman Holiday", even if it is difficult to stay together, the brief overlap of life moments emits an eternal light and illuminates each other's lives.
For the audience, it is not to persuade the audience to maintain unrealistic fantasies about love, but to call on everyone to maintain their innocence and kindness, and cherish the unique and beautiful fate in life.