Released in the United States in 2009, Journey to Heaven tells the story of an elderly Frank who, eight months after his wife's death, discovers that he and his children are getting farther and farther apart. So, Frank, who has pulmonary fibrosis, despite the doctor's advice, embarks on a journey to visit four children alone, and in the process of reuniting with his children, Frank finds the truth of the lie and gradually finds a way to get along with his children.
The film is a warm and touching drama film directed by Kirk Jones, starring Robert De Niro. The male protagonist Robert De Niro is recognized as the representative of the acting school among American actors, known as the "King of Drama Kings". For his outstanding performance in this film, he also won the Actor of the Year Award at the 13th Hollywood Film Festival. After the film was released, it was rated as a family film higher than 92% by netizens and received a Douban score of 8.6.
After watching the film, I thought of what Long Yingtai once wrote: "The so-called father-daughter mother-son relationship only means that your fate with him is that you are constantly watching his back drift away in this life and this life." "When the child grows up, he will eventually fly to the sky that belongs to him, and compared with the gradual distancing of the spatial distance, what makes people meditate is that the distance between the parents and the children's hearts is out of reach."
The greatest sorrow between parents and children is that they are obviously the closest blood relatives in the world, but they never really know each other. Frank lived peacefully in the beautiful lies woven by the children, until a sudden trip revealed the lies, and throughout the process, Frank learned to grow up in the children's white lies and truly understand the children's hearts.
The film does not have fierce contradictions and conflicts, but easily tells the story of an ordinary family about love, through a linear narrative structure and a variety of rich language shots, let the audience relive and examine the family affection in warmth and emotion, leading the audience to look back at their parents and think about life.
Next, I will interpret the charm of the film from three aspects: "narrative structure, lens language, and practical significance". At the end of the article, I will also talk about my own thoughts and feelings in conjunction with the film.
The causal linear narrative structure is the classic narrative mode of the film, that is, the entire story is completely presented in accordance with the normal chronological order, which is convenient for the audience to understand the story content and development process, and generate a sense of identity while triggering deep thinking. I will analyze the narrative structure of the film from a narrative perspective and narrative form.
First, the plot is told chronologically from an omniscient perspective, with clear narrative threads, which is convenient for the audience to understand the plot and immerse themselves in it to resonate. In the narrative, the film adopts the perspective of an all-knowing and all-powerful God, which is a narrative perspective commonly used in movies, and is generally referred to as the Lord by a third person. At the beginning of the film, the story is not told from Frank's point of view, but from frank's evening phone calls and messages from children saying that they cannot come to the family gathering, the development of chronological order promotes the plot of the story, using this perspective, the film's narrative clues are extremely clear, driving the audience's emotions, and the audience can also find a lot of resonance from it.
Second, the conflict and reconciliation relationship between father and son is used to promote the development of the storyline and enrich the content and plot of the film.
The story in the film seems bland, without the fierce conflict between the characters. However, it cleverly uses the conflict between father and son to reconcile the relationship, making the plot intertwined. It is easy for the audience to enter the story, and the emotions rise and fall as the plot develops.
Conflict and reconciliation between father Frank and son Robert: Frank arrives in the city where the eldest son Robert's orchestra is touring, and finds that his son is not in the conductor's group, but a dispensable drummer in the band. He asked his son why he didn't work hard and not insist on fulfilling his dreams. Robert said that it was good to be a musician, and that being a conductor was not what he wanted, but he had to learn it because of his father's requirements. The father Frank believes that his son can not achieve self-worth as a dispensable beater, which is the first time that the father has clashed with his children during his journey. After the final reconciliation, Frank realizes that his own request made the child not very happy now, and perhaps the child's favorite can make him feel happy. It was also this conflict that Father Frank began to reflect on himself and re-examine himself.
Frank's journey to the third stop, through the conflict and reconciliation with his son, drives the audience's emotions, leads the audience to look back at their feelings with their parents, and thus think about real life.
Long shots play an important role in depicting the psychology of the characters and setting off the atmosphere. The director uses long shots to show the reality of life, the loneliness of the father. In the film, there are many long shots of Frank, the father, alone with a leather-heavy box. The first stop to find the young son was unsuccessful, the night was quiet, the father dragged a heavy suitcase on the street alone, which was in stark contrast to the bustling bustle of the city, reflecting the loneliness in his father's heart. After the third stop leaves, the camera focuses on the father lying alone on the bench waiting for the car, and there is silence around him, at this time, the quiet of the environment is also a true portrayal of the lonely heart of the father. Through a series of long shots, as well as the combination of cold and warm tones, it quietly touches the audience's heart and leads the audience to feel the father's spiritual emotions.
Close-up shots can subtly show the facial expressions of characters, have special visual feelings that are not common in life, and can more subtly depict the inner activities of characters. After learning that his young son, whom he feared, had passed away, Frank dreamed of his youngest son, David, after falling asleep. The close-up is of Frank smiling in his sleep and saying to his young son, "Whatever you do, I'm proud of you."
Through the close-up of smiling expressions in deep sleep, frank has a deep respect for the dream of his young son, whether he becomes a painter or a painter, the child will always be the pride of the father, and also highlights the father's deep love for the younger son from the side.
Cultivate children's independent personality and respect children's choices. In the film, the old father dreams of his younger son to become a painter who paints on the wall in the future. First of all, instead of affirming his son, he told him that the painter was not good and that his future paintings would be contaminated by the urine of the dogs on the street, and then told his son to become a painter. Denying the child's dream at the first time will have a certain impact on the child's young mind and give him a lot of pressure. At this time, I think we should first encourage the child's ideas, after all, the child's ability to think independently is not innate, and then respect the child's ideas and decisions, which are the cornerstones of cultivating the child's ability to think independently. If parents really love their children, give him the opportunity to make his own choices and decisions.
Companionship is the longest confession of affection. The whole film mainly revolves around the theme that the children do not attend the family gathering, prompting the father to visit them. This film also reflects many children in real life, living in a noisy city, because of various reasons such as busy work, patronizing their existing lives and slowly ignoring their parents who grew up with them. We have never found that young parents are slowly getting older, the years are not spared, in fact, their graying hair, unfavorable legs and feet, and declining memories represent that they are slowly getting older. So, spend some time with your parents. While your parents are alive and loving them, companionship is the longest confession. Filial piety should be done as soon as possible, and do not wait for your parents to be gone, and then regret it.
Today, we are indeed working hard for the future life, but we also ignore the most essential happiness. The happiness that materials cannot give is the love and hope that abandons all impurities, the smile in the heart of the parents, the happiness of accompanying the parents to enjoy the happiness of the world, the healthy and happy family together, and everything in life is very good!
Tomorrow is Father's Day, please remember to give father a warm hug, but also a simple and sincere blessing!
I am #Beaver Linxi#, focus on handwriting my heart, handwriting my love, if you like this article, welcome your attention and comments.