When everyone works day after day like a machine, in a two-dimensional world of social relations, man becomes an emotionless tool. Behind the burial of habits, does human nature still exist, and can people still be called human?
The Argentine short film "Employed Life", released in 2008, presents a special social structure in an almost absurd and cruel way. Under the infinite creativity, a shocking reality has been unveiled, so this film has been widely recognized, has won 102 awards, and was rated as a high score of 9.1 on Douban.
Here, all the tools are done by people, who, without complaint, form an important part of this cold world. At seven o'clock in the morning, the alarm sounded, and a middle-aged man immediately got up. But in his room, whether it was a floor lamp, a dresser, a dining table, a chair, or a hanger, it was all a person. And all the people had no expression and no complaints.
When a man goes out, the taxi hired is a person. The traffic lights are also played by people, the elevator is pulled by a fat man, and even the automatic door at the door is replaced by four men. He himself, on the other hand, became a humanoid mat of the company, trampled on but habitually.
The film explores deep topics about human nature and socialization. Although the film presents an absurdity, everyone can find their own role, as if this is their own life.
<h1>01. The narrative strategy of repetitive construction and reversal is adopted to make the plot structure of the film more exquisite</h1>
In order to show the cruel world reflected in the film more touching, the film adopts a unique narrative strategy, which highlights its unique charm in a short period of time and a bland plot.
First, it uses repetitive construction to make the narrative structure more complete.
Repetitive construction is a common narrative technique in short films, which can make the story line more complete, but also make the plot echo back and forth, and the emotional conflict is more obvious.
In the short film, the humanoid hanger appears in many places in the film. At first, it is before the hero goes out, which makes people feel surprised. Next, when he went to the unit wardrobe, the humanoid hanger once again appeared before and after echoing.
This setting makes us feel that the strange image of the hero's home does not happen by accident, but is the norm in this world. In this context, the universal reality of the existence of society as a whole is pointed out.
Secondly, the precise setting of the reversal makes the film thought-provoking and increases the tension of the story.
In order to make the narrative process become ups and downs, so that the audience is attracted to the plot after the unexpected, the film sets up multiple reversals. Under the reversal, the story shows a new climax, which increases the connotation and depth of the film in a short period of time.
The first reversal: the contrast between the hero's employment and the hiring
The hero who appears at the beginning of the short film seems to be at the top of the social class, and the family is full of people hired by him. But when he arrived at the unit, we finally found that he was just a humanoid carpet of the unit, a hired person, who was trampled on the soles of his feet.
Under this great contrast, we can see that in fact, there is no pyramid tip model in this society, but a relationship between people who are hired and employed. In such an environment, the plot is unexpected and reasonable, making people aware of the cold and cruel nature of this society.
The second reversal: the contrast between the floor lamp's hired workers
Everyone in the film is expressionless and insensitive. It seems that all people have become accustomed to it. But the floor lamp hiring workers let us see a surprising scene. The awakening of some people's souls makes us feel a little warmth while being deeply shocked by the cruelty of the film.
In the film, the floor lamp hired appears from the beginning of the short film and reappears at the end. Surprisingly, he threw the lampshade over his head to the ground, then turned and walked away. Such a reversal of the plot can be seen that although there are generally people in society who are habitually destroyed by humanity, there are still people who maintain critical and negative in the convergent value system and have made a struggle against society.
<h1>02. Show the thriller of the film with a variety of performance methods, and portray the cold and cruel reality</h1>
The short film shows a special social structure in a life-like scene, showing an empty and pale soul in a plot without any vocals or narration. Under the gray tone, it is shocking and adds to the thriller of the film.
First, the life scene makes the viewer associate with real life and extends infinitely with the development of the plot.
The scenes shown in the short film are all from daily life, but the film shows strange social phenomena that are different from our real society, making people unconsciously compare and associate with real life, and causing the viewer to think.
In the short film, people perfectly replace tools, which is different from our reality on the surface, but behind it is an invisible hint. Between the same and the different, the huge and strong contrast impacts people's vision and nerves, making us think about whether we are also instrumental like the film, but we are often in it without knowing it.
Second, there is no vocal or narration, and the instrumentalization of the character is portrayed more deeply.
Films often use sound to set off and create the inner world of the characters, but this film is completely different. Not only is there no life and narration, not even music, like a machine world, showing a boring, repetitive and numb world.
In a weakened language environment, everyone seems to be just a machine, without any thoughts, and accustomed to such daily life. This increases the irony of the film, and also makes the social reality portrayed appear more cold and cruel, making people can't help but break out in a cold sweat.
Third, the gray tone shows the blindness and emptiness of the characters' hearts, which is even more ironic and shocking.
The color of the film has a very important role in the development of the plot of the story. The rendering of colors can give people an unconscious hint.
The colors in the short film are always gray, and most of them are monotonous dark tones, which are exactly opposite to the colorful world. Beneath this monotonous tone, the inner numbness and emptiness of the characters can be seen.
Monotonous colors and silent characters, but living in scenes similar to those of the real world, show a frightening but ironic social meaning. While making people feel that they seem to have no humanity and soul, it also causes people to reflect and think about the paradox between one-dimensional life and human nature.
<h1>03. Under the unique intention schema of the film, the audience's emotional experience is more profound</h1>
The intention schema is derived from the "diagram" of philosophy and the "intention" of psychology, and plays a very important role in the reader's emotional experience. The film uses a unique intentional schema that allows the audience to achieve further emotional identification while watching the film.
Circular schema
The short film shows people engaged in monotonous and repetitive work under unique social conditions, so the film shows the scene from the morning of the person, to the office location, and finally back to the darkness of the house, making an abstract circular illustration.
In the short film, the traffic lights at the intersection are constantly changing, as if there is no end. From the body hangers in the home to the body hangers in the office storage room, everyone is in a cycle. Therefore, under this cyclical schema, the boring and monotonous work is highlighted, and the state of people who are accustomed to the instrumental life and numb to the point of lack of self-awareness is portrayed.
Vertical schema
Vertical is a form of upper position, in which people have different hierarchical relationships up and down or in society. In the short film, we can clearly see the social state of verticalization.
When the protagonist is at home, the people he employs are in a controlled position for him, and he himself is at the top of power. Until he goes out to use a human taxi, it can be seen that he is always in the role of controller and occupies 2/3 of the time of the film.
When he arrived at the company, he was at the bottom of the unit chain, becoming a humanoid carpet lying on the floor of the doorway. People stepped on his back and shined the soles of his shoes with his clothes. In this vertical diagram of straight up and down, the status of the protagonist controller is completely subverted, and "up" suddenly becomes "down".
In the vertical relationship between the top and the bottom, in addition to reflecting that the protagonist is in an infinite cycle of control and control, it can also be seen that there is only a two-dimensional opposition in this society. Life becomes a single line of opposition between the two, in which humanity is constantly lost and destroyed.
<h1>04. Behind the plot reflected in the film, it is a reflection and criticism of the real society</h1>
The film shows the extreme social phenomena that only employ and are employed. Here, humanity is constantly worn out, and it seems that man cannot become a man, but is just a repetitive machine. Only when people must make corresponding struggles and embody the need for self-realization, so that they will not be worn down by the converging value system and eventually lose themselves.
(1) Society is a big cycle, and when we use others, others are also using us.
We are all part of society, and we may become employed or employed. In other words, when we use others, others are using us.
In the short film, the hero hires a lot of people at home to work for him. But when he came to the company, he was just an ordinary hiree. In such a cycle of social collectives, everyone is actually a relationship with each other.
In fact, each of us is born ordinary, and no one is more noble than anyone else. In the big dyeing vat of society, we are all indispensable screws. Only by realizing this can we maintain a sober understanding, put ourselves in the right position, and have more thinking about society.
(2) People are not tools, life is not only work, but also human nature and more important meanings.
The meaning of life is not just about work, there are many more aspects. Only by flashing the power of human nature is a truly complete person.
The short film shows a squashed two-dimensional world. Humanity is constantly worn down, and everyone is hollow and numb. Although everyone performs perfectly, it is more like a precisely operated machine, devoid of emotion and color.
In today's materialized interests, many people are busy making money, but they ignore their inner needs. The meaning of survival is not only work, but more human care. Although work is important, individuals who lack human factors can only be cold tools, and cannot even be counted as a healthy and complete person.
(3) Converging value systems will only inhibit our criticism and denial, so we must have the courage to fight accordingly.
When everyone continues to survive in the converging social value system, in the fast-paced work life, without thinking and reflecting on human nature, human nature will be constantly destroyed.
Although the society told in the short film is shocking and extreme, it is not a metaphor for our real life. Although we do not use the human body to replace tools, how can we not be such a tool. In the fast-paced life, the side of our humanity should not disappear, but should stop and think more about life and increase thinking about society.
Only when people maintain a sober soul and a critical sense of society can this society be a normal society that develops in a healthy direction. If only a numb soul remains in every person, then the future of this society will stagnate, even if it runs freely. Only by awakening self-awareness and maintaining human thinking will it not bring about the loss of humanity.
<h1>epilogue</h1>
This is a thought-provoking film that seems absurd but full of meaning. Only by recognizing the connotation reflected in the film and triggering our realistic thinking can we appreciate the value and significance reflected in the film.