There are many reasons why two people become friends: maybe it's the similarity of personalities, maybe it's because they feel great together. When they encounter unsatisfactory things, they are by their side and encouraged to get through the difficulties.
But what if the reason two people become friends is mutual salvation? None of them are good people, and they are all doing things that are not good for society. How should such feelings be defined, and where should they go? Perhaps, this movie can tell you the answer.
Half Nelson
The male lead is played by Ryan Gosling.
The role of the infatuated man in "Love Notebook" makes him the dream lover of the majority of female film fans, and the performance in "Blade Runner 2049" is even more remarkable.
At the 74th Golden Globe Awards, he won the best actor in a comedy film with "Philharmonic City", which was unanimously praised by the audience.
This time, he plays a middle school history teacher named Dan.
The class is very interesting, not like other teachers, but to add other knowledge to the boring theory, from the theory of contradiction to the Chinese yin and yang.
He was not afraid of the pressure of the principal and society, and bravely discussed the contradictions between black and white with the students. Even though not many people listened to all this.
In Dan's view, imparting knowledge is not the most important thing, but telling students about the cruelty of life.
The world seems normal, and everyone lives the life they want. But behind the scenes, dirty things are one after another, and everyone has a secret that no one knows, and there is no black helplessness.
Dan himself is like that.
Looks very reliable and responsible for students. The opening of the mouth is an "idealistic society", yearning for a life of positive energy, and all people have no pain and no poverty.
In fact, he was an out-and-out addict. The "teacher" was just one of his skin bags, and more often than not, he indulged in the chaotic bar, hugging left and right, relying on drugs to vent his emotions.
Feeling that the world fucks and fucking yourself is not necessarily related to these two things.
Unfortunately, Dan's drug use was discovered by the students, and the mask of the teacher was suddenly unveiled, and the girl who found another image of the teacher was stunned.
But soon, the girl understood Dan. Due to her family's circumstances, the girl has always relied on drug trafficking to survive, she can understand the teacher, willing to help the teacher keep this secret.
They talked together and complained about this terrible world. Hate racism, hate the three-six-nine class that divides the crowd.
This sense of identity touches the dots off-screen. In fact, everyone is very lonely. No matter how busy life is, no matter how indifferent it looks. But the heart is longing, hoping that there is a person who understands himself and understands all his thoughts.
Until one day, Dan met at the bar and the girl who came to deliver the drugs.
At that moment, they were not teachers and students who had been preached, not friends who cherished each other, but sellers and buyers of sin. They escape from reality, refuse to acknowledge their depravity, and blame it on this sick society. But they have to face reality after all.
Ryan Gosling is worthy of being a powerful veteran actor, and he vividly interprets the frustration in Dan's body.
The character is contradictory, longing for an idealized life while putting himself in a state of depravity. He obviously took drugs, but he warned the girl not to sell drugs.
Just like the problem of "dialectical unity of opposites" that he emphasized in class and his students. For life, he could not find the right answer.
Fortunately, at the end of the film, both people are back on the right path. After that bar meeting, the girl chose to give up drug trafficking, and Dan was infected by her and no longer withered.
Two lonely souls meet and change two bad lives. Even if the feelings do not rise to love, it is enough to make the audience feel warm.
It seems that the title has nothing to do with the story. Until the end of the film, the audience did not find the person named "Nelson".
In fact, it is not, the core of the title lies in the state of "half".
Half ideal, half depraved.
Half future, half reality.
This is a portrayal of dan and the girl's life, taking drugs to escape ideals, drug trafficking because there is no financial resource, and want to get a better future through this method.
It is precisely because it is difficult to judge right and wrong, the director made such a story, hoping that the audience who has seen the story will get hope. Even if it is only a little, it is enough positive energy.
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