Author Tiangeng
I don't know when we also reached the age of watching the master leave.
This time it was a movie, and on May 7, the famous director Emano Ormi died in Asciago, Italy, at the age of 87. As soon as the news came out, the local mayor decided to hold a condolence at his burial, and the Italian Prime Minister and the Minister of Culture expressed their deep condolences.
The master's departure was a bit hasty, because a day later, this year's Cannes Film Festival opened, where his work was first crowned the highest international honor, and his best-known "Clogs Tree" won the Palme d'Or in 1978.
But you may still be unfamiliar with him and his works, but it doesn't matter, although the master is gone, art is immortal after all, and your relationship with him may have just begun.
1. White-collar and blue-collar workers, all gorgeous and sad
Olmi first directed in 1959, and Time Frozen is his debut novel, which tells the story of a college student who is hired to work on a construction site on Christmas Eve and eventually harvests a two-generation friendship. The camera is calm, the rhythm of the flow of life, delicate and clean.
But this work did not have a great impact, until the completion of "Work" and "Milan Heart" filming, let the world discover his existence, and really include his work in the international film circle. These two works are often discussed together, although they are not the same, but there are many similarities.
"Work" tells the story of Domenico, who came from a poor family, to experience white-collar working life in a big city. I believe it is not difficult for everyone to understand the impact of urban life on this young man, which is also the focus of the film, and the director spent a lot of time and technology to show.
For example, arrange a lot of infield scenes to show the closed and depressed environment, and observe the reactions and psychological activities of the male protagonist with the lens. Or, aggravate the lively noise of the ambient sound, so that the male protagonist feels out of place, and then slowly eliminate the contrast, and gradually be infected.
In terms of role setting, there is also a beautiful female colleague for the male protagonist, which is the only bright color in the boring workplace, but they only stay in the beautiful fantasy of romance and end in loss.
This impermanence of love is only an episode in "Work", but it becomes the main tone in "Milan's Heart". The camera also shifts from white-collar to blue-collar, and the protagonist Gioniwa is transferred to Sicily for work reasons, which forces him to break up with his girlfriend, which leads to the two falling into memories.
Also uprooted, "Milan Heart" shows another kind of cruelty, that is, the unsatisfactory emotional desire, the director carefully designed the timeline, often flashing back to the love past of the year, or sweet, or sad, or ridiculous. No matter how complicated, everything is as vulnerable as everything under the last downpour in the movie.
These two early works laid the foundation for Olmi's style, his concern for the state of man in nature, society, and work, and many profound problems are reflected in his images. Harmonious and unpretentious.
2. "Clogs Tree" at the Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Film Festival in 1978 must have been remembered by film history.
At that time, mainland films were still unrelated to the Palme d'Or, and many directors who are now talking about it have not yet emerged.
But a lot happened that year, and it was then that Gil Jacob, synonymous with the Cannes Film Festival, took office.
The Marble Man, which describes Polish politics, also broke through obstacles to Cannes. "The Biography of Yanwa", which involves young prostitutes, is also not afraid of large-scale controversy and wins the grand prize. The "Golden Camera Award" for his debut was also established at that time.
The creator of "The Legend of Yanwa" is in Cannes
In addition to these, of course, Ormi's "Clogs Tree" won the Palme d'Or, a film about rural daily life, but it is difficult to calm down, with a total of 186 minutes. It does make people avoid it, but if you calm down and look closely, you will enjoy the beauty.
The film depicts life in rural Italy at the end of the 19th century, the protagonists are poor peasant families, some of which have their children's clogs broken, the father went to the farm to steal the tree, and was driven out by the landlord after being discovered, which is also the source of the title.
But this film is not only this one story, but depicts the faces of sentient beings, the film is the director's hometown, these are the stories he heard from his grandfather, the actors are also local residents, basically restored the life at that time.
The three-hour image, not driven by dramatic conflict, tries to place the viewer in that rural land, muddy land, changing weather, and the pastoral song of the peasant woman is also the protagonist, releasing a kind of spiritual goodness, poetic and timeless, which is watched by us.
To this end, the director does not even add additional modifications in the later stage, for fear of destroying something, as the director himself said, "The special and mysterious feeling of life lies in the fact that we cannot understand the whole of life." ”
3. "I don't want to put a bookmark in at the end of my career"
After "Clogs Tree", more and more people fell in love with Ormi's neorealist aesthetic, and his works have been internationally recognized again and again.
"Long Live the Lady" won the Silver Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival, and just one year later, "The Legend of the Holy Winemaker" turned the silver lion into a golden lion.
The Legend of the Holy Drunkard
The director also began to receive various recognitions, in 2004, the Locarno Film Festival, the Golden Leopard Award (Lifetime Achievement Award) was awarded to him, and the Venice Film Festival also wanted to award him the Lifetime Achievement Award, but there were twists and turns.
In fact, as early as 2004, Venice made this request, but he has been refusing because he does not want to be put in a bookmark in his career, and he wants to continue filming.
For the honor, he has always felt that it is not very important, and does not want to be defined by it, he is most concerned with the creation itself, and does not want to be disturbed by things outside the lens.
But in the end, he compromised and came to the ceremony of the 65th Film Festival to accept the trophy, saying: "I have quit the film world, I am no longer making films, and I am completely immersed in joy at winning this award." ”
But a person who has loved movies all his life is obviously joking when he says such a thing.
He is still immersed in his work, and almost every year he has his works published, some documentaries, some drama films. He also unearthed new themes, such as "European Immigrants" in "Cardboard Box Town" and "World War I" in "Battle of the Plateaus".
Olmi did not give up the film until the last moment, he deserves the memory of each of us, and may the master go all the way.