Author: Gong Jinping, Associate Professor and Master Tutor of Art Education Center of Fudan University
The Indian film Tuner, based on the French short film of the same name, was released in October 2018 and is intriguing. In contrast, another Chinese translated as "The Invisible Melody" seems more relevant: thinking that life has a precise plan, fate is affected by the "invisible melody" and finally moves towards an unknowable future.
The characters in the film can be roughly divided into three groups: former movie star Singh and his wife Simi, Akash and Sophie, taxi driver Morrie and his wife. Among them, Sinha and Simi are barely upper-class people, Sophie and her father can be classified as middle-class, and Morrie and his wife are representatives of the lower class. In addition, there are Dr. Swami, who is involved in the illegal organ trade, and Manu, the corrupt and degenerate police chief. Their lives are not embarrassing, but their desires are hard to fill, and they become evil and cruel.
In the film, from the perspective of moral standards, the middle class that can be satisfied with the status quo is mostly peaceful and kind, but it is easy to be self-righteous and cannot see the truth of human nature. High society is a materialistic scene, and people are often mentally empty and their lives are boring. Because people at the bottom cannot see the hope of life, they will easily abandon the moral bottom line. As for those who are greedy, they will go to the loss of humanity in the surge of desire. Although the film involves all levels of Indian society, it does not intend to analyze or criticize the social structure, but wants to show the audience the entanglement of the fate of different classes and the common human defects at the level of social beings.
If you can't restrain your desires and stifle your greed, your life will inevitably go astray, or even lose your life. This is the clear moral stance of The Tuner, and it is also the subject of the intention to express. However, the film does not use the awe-inspiring posture of righteousness to carry out moral preaching, but leads the audience to carefully examine the process of the characters starting from curiosity and impulsiveness, getting lost step by step, and finally falling into the mud and being unable to extricate themselves.
For example, Akash may really have been to eliminate external interference and devote himself to piano writing and playing, but in fact, he got a lot of benefits by pretending to be blind. Since blindness can bring so many benefits, Akash will not be able to return to his original intentions, but will continue to forge ahead on the road of deception. Similarly, Simi's initial devotion to Sinha may have stemmed from the worship of the accomplished, but this cult soon escalated to greed for further profit, the desire to enjoy the riches, and the realization of his dream of being an actor with the help of Sinha. In the film, several people are in the pursuit of desire, and they have a tragic end. But these people, the initial desire of the starting point is not high, not even the most heinous place. Once desire is allowed to swell, the degeneration and loss of control of human nature will accelerate.
Perhaps the purest and most innocent person in the film is Sophie. She is warm and cheerful, love and hate, and she is a bright color in this society. But Sophie's kindness also led her to be blind again and again. If others are blinded by greed and have abandoned morality, Sophie is deceived by the world because of her confidence and innocence. These are two kinds of "blindness" that are different and homogeneous: Sophie cannot see the truth of the world because of insufficient mental ingenuity, and Akash and others see the depravity of the self and others and choose to ignore it. They all lack the ability to reflect, are wrapped up in desire or ego, and become "blind" in the face of the world.
In addition to Sophie, the characters in the film all have a desire target. This goal stems from greed, assisted by lies and deception, and then accidentally manipulated by the hand of God. Paradoxically, after some tossing and struggling, most people's wishes are disappointed, and they even die. The biggest beneficiary was Akash, who, with enviable luck and chilling coldness, laughed to the end, continued to win the sympathy and respect of his audience by deceptive means, and achieved greater success in the secular sense. It was like an accident, a joke made by God when he snoozed, a testament to the lack of justice. But in fact, Akash lost touch with true love and can never live frankly and sincerely.
"What is life depends on the liver." The sentence at the beginning of the film ridicules the cold-bloodedness of this world in a black humor. In this illogical sentence, we see a sneer from fate. The film is like a moral proverb, but also like a cautionary tale. For this world, the real horror is not that evil runs rampant, but that ordinary people choose to be blind in the face of evil, or take the initiative to join evil in order to maximize personal interests.
The film's choice to structure the entire film from Akash's point of view is indeed a rather innovative attempt. If told from a third-person omniscient point of view, the story may have only one direction of interpretation, but choosing a subjective point of view, the truth and falsity of the story become confusing, reflecting the selfishness and hypocrisy of human nature. The blind rabbit who steals cabbage at the beginning of the film is Akash's self-metaphor. Stealing food in the vegetable field implies that in the territory of the rich people, picking up some scraps and cold burning, chatting to feed the stomach. The rich man used a gun against it, demanding that it pay the price of blood. In this scene, Akash emphasizes his humility and harmlessness, and renders the cruelty of the rich.
Although classified as a suspense film, "The Tuner" has the style characteristics of a thriller in terms of plot setting: putting ordinary people in danger and allowing the audience to complete an extraordinary adventure with the characters. In this adventure, we see the amazing wisdom and courage of ordinary people, and we also see the real performance of human nature in extreme situations. The difference between "The Tuner" and the usual thriller is that the protagonist is an ordinary person, but he is a morally flawed liar, which makes the audience adhere to a rational alienation when taking risks with the characters, and will retain a trace of vigilance and reflection in the identity. That is to say, the film does not attach all the pleasure of watching the movie to the ups and downs of the plot, but in a more complicated and multi-meaning plot reversal, it summons the audience to imagine the multiple possibilities of the plot, and then think about the multiple possibilities of human nature.
It should be pointed out that although "Tuner" has indeed made breakthroughs in terms of plot setting, character shaping, theme expression, etc., it has also left a lot of logical inconsistencies. For example, Akash has no relatives and friends, no provenance, and an unknown educational background, which makes many details difficult to justify. Also, Simi' instant as a housewife as a calm murderer is somewhat staggering. In order to maintain the openness of the plot and complete the insight into human nature, "The Tuner" chose to use the subjective point of view to shoot the whole film, although it is extremely creative, but it is also difficult to ensure the unity and rigor of the point of view. At some important plot connections, the film uses objective perspectives. Although the change of viewpoint is allowed, the audience will not be demanding, but since the biggest charm of "Tuner" lies in the use of subjective viewpoints, the audience should be consciously guided into the atmosphere of the character's memory, and after listening to the character's narration, a trace of doubt and reflection emerges, and a sigh and sigh are issued. (Gong Jinping)
Source: Guangming Network - Literary And Art Review Channel