Nebraska is a film I often recommend to people.
I wouldn't tell them before recommending that the film was nominated for 6 nominations at the 2014 Oscars, and I wouldn't say that director Alexander Payne was a regular at the Oscars, and that the film was hailed by countless people as the best work he's ever made.
I'll just borrow a quote from steven Schneider, a famous Hollywood film critic: This is the kind of movie you have to see before you die!
But it's very interesting that most people are probably hesitant to open the film at the first moment. But after 2 hours, there was no one, yes! No one! Will deny that this is such a funny, moving and wonderful movie!
So, whenever I hear those overflowing, heartfelt, or even incoherent praises, I smile...
"Nebraska" is what makes me fall in love with movies so much.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > an undeliverable lottery ticket</h1>
From Billings, Montana, to Lincoln, Nebraska, the film follows a father and son on a road trip.
What prompted the 70-something father to hit the road was his stubborn belief that he had won a million dollars in prize tickets, and that whatever his wife and sons told him about the so-called lottery ticket was nothing more than an exaggerated advertising leaflet. But the old man is like a stubborn donkey, biting to death that this is the only time in his life that he has "unearned" withdrawal slips, and he will run to the prize collection place marked on the "lottery" - Lincoln City, Nebraska, and personally collect the prize!
In order to receive the award, the old man ran away from home again and again, so that the old partner who was about to be driven crazy and the eldest son who was overwhelmed with annoyance wanted to send the old man to the nursing home again and again. Only the second son had different thoughts, he knew that his father's time was running out, and he wanted to fulfill his father's wish for the last time, no matter how incomprehensible it seemed.
So, father and son went on the road. 3 days, 1000 miles.
Whether it is the beauty of the road, or the childhood hometown of the road, or even the covetousness, envy and calculation of the lottery ticket by relatives and many melon-eating masses in the unknown... They were ignored by the old man's brain that dropped from time to time, because the old man had only one thing in his mind - to go and collect the award.
For the old man's second son, the journey was like a journey in time, because for the first time he had the opportunity to understand the man who had once filled him with complaints and had always been incomprehensible—his father.
For the upcoming end, the old man is full of expectations, and the son is worried, because he knows that his father is holding a lottery ticket that can never be cashed...
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > a decision that is not too late</h1>
It has been said that a man matures 3 times in his life: the first time, he realizes that his parents are ordinary people; the second time, he realizes that he is an ordinary person; and the third time, he realizes that his children are ordinary people.
Ordinary, is a class, but also a reality, or it may be a shadow under your feet, following a lifetime, but you rarely pay attention to its existence.
It's a story about ordinary people, and while it's an American film, it's the only film I've ever seen that can be remade into a Chinese film almost without any changes. Because the most ordinary and real emotions in the story, even the scenes, span races and cultures.
The old man is an ordinary person, with the experience of ordinary people and the problems of ordinary people. When the old man was young, he worked hard, earned money to support his family, and often relied on alcoholism to pass the time and relieve his bitterness; the old man married his wife and had children, accompanied him around in life, but mentally ignored the growth of the children; the old man and his wife ended up, but it was difficult to say that they loved each other, quarreled and quarreled for decades...
The ordinaryness of the old man will make many of us see the shadow of our father in him to a greater or lesser extent, even our own shadow...
Once, when we were children, our parents were omnipotent. But when one day we see their incompetence and embarrassment, disappointment and even contempt will slowly creep into our hearts. Once upon a time, we saw ourselves as ambitious and scrappy, until one day, when we saw the familiar disappointment and contempt in the eyes of our own children, we would understand that incompetence, sometimes not a defect, but a reality.
So, it's a story of love and understanding. For the average person, true love is probably not the kind of reward you get after you get a rich inheritance or meticulous love. More than that, it may just be a complex emotion that hovers before gratitude and regret, or even a kind of calmness and helplessness in the face of parental incompetence or ignorance.
Life is not easy, we all had too many future careers, families, or visions between ourselves and future generations when we were young and ignorant, but when we are beaten back to the original form by reality again and again, one day, we will find that the gap between the real us and the imagination is too big... Do we still deserve respect at this time? Do you still deserve to have a dream?
The film answers with the old man's decision. Even if he walked, he had to go 1,000 miles away to receive the prize, because he wanted to leave something for his sons to make up for the lack of a better life for his family when he was young.
The film also answers with the decision of the second son, although the father in his eyes, when he was young, absurd, ignorant in old age, even if he knew that it was a lottery ticket that would never be cashed, he still had to accompany his father on this journey, just because he wanted his father to have less regrets before the end of his life came...
As the saying goes, no vendetta is no father and son. But in this father and son, we feel the emotion that gently strikes the deepest and softest part of our hearts—love. This kind of love is an understanding, but also a kind of tolerance full of good intentions.
Many times, reconciliation with the past allows for a future.
In the story, the father and son both made a decision at the right moment, not too late. In real life, this is a film that every man should not miss, and it is not too late to take advantage of everything...
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > a rare comedy</h1>
The joys of life are always unforgettable, and so is this film.
Whether it is the old man's thoughts that are often not online, or the unobstructed mouth of his wife, or even the faces of the relatives and friends who covet the old man's "lottery"... There are too many laughs in the whole film, so that people who have watched the film can talk to their friends again and again.
These laughs are not at all ostentatious, as if they are soaked with humor, from the simple plot, quietly refreshing...
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > a group of actors who don't look like they're performing at all</h1>
In the eyes of many people, the nominations for the 2014 Oscar for Best Actor and Best Actress simply do not properly prove the true acting skills of Bruce Dunn and June Squibb, the two old couples in the film.
In this regard, I prefer a New York film and television reporter's evaluation of Bruce Dunn's performance in the film: this is a character he has waited for all his life!
The performance of her old partner, June Squibb, is also extremely impressive, not only because she contracted almost a small number of lines and most of the laughs in the film, but also because she created a character that was so beloved, even talked about.
Actor Will Ford, who plays the second son, is a comedian on the popular Saturday Night Show. But in this film, he changed his comedic style, but instead played a middle-aged man who was weak on the outside, but tough and full of kindness on the inside, and played it extremely well.
The entire film was shot in only 35 days, but the previous casting took a full year. Every actor in the film seems to have been born for that role. Even the passers-by on the street look so kind and natural.
It was as if they were not acting, they were experiencing a story together that people wanted to appreciate over and over again.
Finally, it's a black-and-white film.
There are many opinions on why the film was shot in black and white. From the film idea, from the tone, from the relationship between the characters, from the story style... Countless people have given countless reasons!
In my opinion, it doesn't matter! For this film, the color does not affect the viewing effect of the stars and a half at all.
Because, although the picture is black and white, the mood of everyone who has seen it is colored.