The author of this article is a contributor @ Flower No Feast Pilgrim of the film, night watchman of words.
Affected by the continuous impact of the epidemic in North America, even the movies starring Hollywood star Tom Hanks have to be switched to streaming media one by one.
Following last year's "Greyhound", the new sci-fi film "Finch" starring him has recently launched apple tv+exclusively, and the current reputation is not bad, with a Douban score of 8.3 points.
"Finch" was actually produced as early as 2018, and although it took so long to go online, the sales of "Finch" were not bad.
The director is Miguel Sapshnik, who has directed the American drama "Game of Thrones" and "Dr. House", and the supervising producer is Hanks' old partner Robert Zemeckis (the masterpiece "Forrest Gump").
Divided by genre, "Finch" is defined as a science fiction film, and the science fiction elements in the film are pitifully small, but the story is set in the future world, and the protagonist creates a robot with independent thinking ability.
In terms of the atmosphere presented by the plot, it is more like an art film that reaches the heart and needs to be slowly savored with interest.
The narrative of the whole film is smooth, there is no science fiction spectacle of big scenes, and there is no climactic plot with ups and downs.
If you open it with genre expectations for science fiction, there is a high probability that you will be disappointed.
In addition, "Finch" is Hanks's second one-man film after "The Rest of the Desert Island".
In "The Rest of the Desert Island", he is alone, accompanied by a volleyball, but this time he is obviously much happier, with a warm family — a pet dog, a robot dog, and a robot.
A "family of four" needs to survive in the sands of the end of the world.
Set against the backdrop of the apocalypse of the flare attack, scientist Finch (Tom Hanks), one of the few survivors on Earth, needs to fight the harsh heat, hurtful ultraviolet rays, and bad weather.
Terminally ill, he created Jeff, a robot on his deathbed, to protect his beloved dog after his death.
However, in order to escape the new storm, they had to drive on the road and embark on an alternative road escape.
During the journey, Finch completes the delivery of love, allowing the robot Jeff to grow greatly in a short period of time, continuing the wisdom and tenacity of human beings.
Through this movie, we can actually see a lot of familiar plots and settings.
The "man and dog love" in the context of the end of the world will be associated with "I am legendary";
The setting of the robot dog, similar to "Robot Wall-E";
The setting of the robot is like "Super Chapai".
Despite these elements, "Finch" still has a unique taste.
Like Super Chapai, they all focus on the growth path of robots and nest human emotional relationships into robots – "Chapai" is mother and son, and "Finch" is father and son.
However, the robot in "Super Chapai" did not distinguish between good and evil at the beginning and wandered out of the gray area of human nature, while jeff, the robot in "Finch", set up a heart-warming flag from the beginning of his existence.
In its programmed instructions, there is a direct line that reads" If Finch is not there, the robot must protect the puppy, and that instruction takes precedence over other instructions." ”
On the other hand, if Finch and the puppy encounter crisis at the same time, Jeff can only save the dog and not save people.
Science fiction movies around artificial intelligence are generally divided into two categories: one is to take the thriller route and talk about the potential threats of artificial intelligence, such as "I, Robot", "Mechanical Ji", "The Matrix" and so on;
One type takes the healing route and talks about the warm companionship of artificial intelligence, such as "Machine Butler", "Super Marines", "Robot Wali" and so on.
"Finch", on the other hand, clearly belongs to the latter.
Robot Jeff, like Wall-E and Great White, is a cute and reliable intimate partner. Finch is both Jeff's creator and Jeff's guide, and the two get along as father and friend.
In the film, Jeff is like a fast-growing teenager with a clear growth line: from teeth and teeth, toddler to having a name, to imitating Finch, having an independent personality, and finally learning to drive, dress, and other necessary or unnecessary human skills.
The director uses a lot of cross-cutting to show Jeff's similarity with humans, as well as Jeff's inheritance relationship with Finch. For example, cut Jeff's coat and Finch's protective suit together to keep them in a kind of "god synchronicity."
In a way, Jeff is actually an upgraded version of Finch (human).
Humans will be burned by ultraviolet rays and unable to survive in the hot sun, but Jeff has no scruples about this; humans will go to the road of no return because of hunger, but Jeff has successfully avoided the dark side of human nature.
Compared with fragile humans, Jeff's program is obviously superior.
Therefore, when the moral rules of human beings collapse, a robot with a simple mind and strong survival ability like Jeff has become a new hope for the continuation of the light of human nature.
At the same time, this also involves another concept that the film repeatedly expounds - trust.
The story of "Finch" takes place in the apocalyptic situation of the collapse of trust between people, and no one can be trusted, otherwise they will die.
The film does not focus on the darkness of human nature like "The Walking Dead", but uses some concise lines and thrilling bridges to naturally interpret this background.
Jeff asked Finch the question, if daylight is so dangerous, why don't we drive at night?
To this, Finch replied, because it is necessary to guard against humans.
With just a few strokes, the obscure and unclear hearts of the people of the last days are outlined.
Fortunately, these dark tones do not obscure the optimistic background of "Finch"'s positive warmth. Many plot settings have a distinct fairy tale color, just as Finch finally chose a humorous and decent way to face the coming of death.
The director buries humanistic care in all corners of the film, nurturing hope and vitality at the end of the disaster, even if there is occasional loss in between, it will eventually be illuminated by the flame of hope.
The end of the film is a contrast to the beginning: Finch takes the robot dog to find supplies and struggles to survive; at the end, after Finch's death, Jeff walks forward with the dog comfortably.
Even if human beings withdraw from the stage of history, their good qualities can still be passed on in another form.
The environment can heal itself, life can be repeated, and everything is full of unknowns and possibilities.
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