Chapter 1074 1074 The Depth of the Script

Roger has always been fond of independent films, not because there are so many excellent independent films. In fact, on the contrary, in fact, independent films are still not mature enough, so the number of outstanding works is not as much as expected, but after nearly a century of precipitation. Hollywood, although the eight major film companies have completed the monopoly, and the film has fallen into a commercial routine that lacks new ideas, but the quality and completion of the film is indeed second to none.

However, Roger believes that even if the quality of independent films is not outstanding, its existence is a reminder to Hollywood: after stripping off the commercial significance of films, the film itself, as a form of artistic expression, still needs continuous innovation, Continuous development can maintain continuous vitality.

In Roger's view, it's not that Hollywood is too commercial, but that after Hollywood is used to routines, it gets tired of innovation and thinks that the old model can be successful, so that it becomes lazy. But independent films can continue to maintain the vitality of creation, which is of great help to the development of the whole film.

Roger has always been supportive of Robert Redford's creation of the Sundance Film Festival because he knows that sooner or later Hollywood will thank Sundance and they will need Sundance. It was as if the "male and female thieves" made an earth-shattering announcement of the opportunity for the surging wave of new Hollywood movies.

The "male and female thieves" appeared in the 1960s. At that time, the American society was noisy and uneasy, the domestic anti-war sentiment was high, and ethnic minorities as an important political force rose strongly on the American social stage. Radical young people have a feeling of confrontation with tradition, doubts about the existing system and living conditions, and rebelling against the mainstream myth has become the goal of their movement. From the beat generation evolved hippies, from jazz evolved rock music, correspondingly, when the golden age of Hollywood has become a thing of the past, a group of young directors began a new experiment.

This group of directors tried to use films to reflect the concepts and lifestyles of the younger generation who conflicted with the old concepts of life, and to explore social and political issues, with a strong "countercultural" color. They have inherited the traditional Hollywood star system and industrialized production methods, and have made bold and novel attempts within the system to endow movies with more realistic content, and develop various means of expression for movie types. This historic moment, known as the "New Hollywood Film", dragged the already lifeless Hollywood out of the mud, achieved a comprehensive alternation of two generations of filmmakers, and once again filled it with cutting-edge light.

The creation of New Hollywood is embodied in walking within the system to seek itself. It is attached to the system, but it is a new wine in an old bottle, and it has come to the opposite end. "Male and Male Robber" borrows the model of traditional robber films, but changes the original model, breaking the three-part plot of the crime, repeated chases, and the finale, and produces a new text that is specific to the original model.

The film replaces the moralized hero characters in traditional robber films with two anti-moral characters, Bonnie and Clyde, and shows the characters' dialogues, behavioral details, survival and psychology through a long, gentle, everyday narrative. State, exuding deep sympathy for the two characters, blames the crime on the neglect and mutilation of young people by society and families.

This tragedy is elevated by the baptism of bullets at the end of the film, which film history has repeatedly praised, and it tells the truth of the government, the courts and the police. Observe the slaughter of two living lives. The character Clyde appeared repeatedly in several paragraphs of the film with the image of "sex. Incompetence". He did not kill innocents like the gangsters in traditional robber films, and he did not have a cruel and cruel expression. Some were just in front of Bonnie. of weakness.

In the story, the Great Depression brought about economic poverty and the 1960s when the film was made were faced with spiritual troubles. Clyde's image alludes to the nature of society. inability. This is also a resistance to the traditional gangster films' lack of reflection and criticism of the ****, and a calm examination is full of reflection on the society.

Therefore, "male and female thieves" has a very special status in film history, dividing the two eras before and after Hollywood. Many Hollywood practitioners in the old era were tragically eliminated because they could not keep up with the pace of social change. After entering the new era, the entire Hollywood was reshuffled. It's the same on stage and behind the scenes.

Ernst Lehrmann is one of those who have been eliminated from the past.

In fact, many actors are out of touch with society after entering the new Hollywood era. Although many actors have continued their career peaks in the new Hollywood era, within the entire Hollywood industry, everyone unanimously recognizes that it spans the old and new Hollywood eras. There is only one superstar, and that is Marlon Brando, which is also an important reason why he always has a special position in the history of film.

After entering the 1990s, Hollywood entered the second golden age, even surpassing the first peak period from the 1920s to the 1940s, because countless classic works were born in the 1990s. In addition, North American movies The box office has also entered an era of rapid development, thus giving birth to a group of box office superstars in the true sense. The fusion and balance of commercial elements and artistic elements have become the main theme of Hollywood in this period.

But Roger clearly knew one thing, the prosperity must decline. This is the normal law of natural development. Although the whole Hollywood seems to be prosperous now, the Hollywood works are once again caught in the pattern and vicious circle. Ten years is as short as five years, and Hollywood is bound to face another change.

Therefore, Roger has always believed that the Sundance Film Festival is accumulating strength for the next change, and maybe the next "Heroes and Thieves" will appear here.

"Pulp Fiction" was the first sign, not just of the rise of independent films, but of Hollywood's need for fresh air. In Roger's view, the reason why Hollywood is so fond of "Pulp Fiction" is the absolute quality of the film itself, which is an important factor. Another reason is that the audience has already shown their desire for change in their hearts.

"Pulp Fiction" not only breaks the traditional concept in narrative structure, but also redefines the relationship between lines and plot advancement, making people feel the different shooting methods of gangster movies and action movies. Most importantly, the film caught Hollywood's attention: the ratio between investment cost and profit-to-profit can break the box, and the film's production model also provides Hollywood with a whole new option.

Against this background, "Before Sunrise" appeared in front of Roger. That's why Roger likes the movie so much, because Roger noticed the difference in "Before Sunrise".

On the surface, "Before Sunrise" is a downright boring literary film; but in fact, two innovations in "Before Sunrise" are eye-catching: The first is the narrative method, which consists of lines throughout. The movie made everyone understand the obvious difference in the skill of the lines; the second is the depth of the lines. The seemingly ordinary dialogue is worth chewing again and again, savoring the connotation of the lines, and more importantly, advancing layer by layer. , slowly and gradually, and inadvertently complete the theme advancement and the sublimation of the core idea, which makes people applaud.

In other words, there is only one innovation point, and that is the lines.

As an important element of script construction, lines have been gradually forgotten by Hollywood over the years, because Hollywood encourages structural innovation. At this point, "Before Sunrise" and "Life and Death" are two extreme cases.

The lines in "Speed ​​of Life and Death" can be said to have no plot driving force at all. They are basically a buffer zone used to slow down the rhythm and nonsense to fill in the time gap. The whole story is completely driven by the ups and downs of the storyline. This is the poster child for post-90s Hollywood cinema: vision, vision, vision, everything is about vision. Create climax through vision, create highlights through vision, and create atmosphere through vision.

But the innovation of "Life and Death" is that it shows people a retro effect that is different from a visual blockbuster like "Terminator 2", and presents the visual effects of the film in the cheapest and easiest way. Detonate the enthusiasm of the audience.

On the other hand, "Before Sunrise" is just the opposite. The plot does not have any driving force. The lines are the core of the movie. Use lines to promote the plot, use lines to control the rhythm, use lines to sublimate thoughts, and use lines to complete communication. This is almost It is to push Woody Allen's "talking movie" to a new peak.

People always think of Woody's films as the most typical of the most talkative films, and "Annie Hall" is one of them, filled with countless monologues, narrations and dialogues throughout. But in fact, the dialogue in Woody's film is only auxiliary. He has a plot line, and then uses the dialogue to explain this idea and promote this core.

But "Before Sunrise" is more daring than Woody's, building the film entirely with lines, without even a main line. It's also more outrageous and brave than "Pulp Fiction," but it's a model that's almost impossible to replicate. The reason lies in the vitality of the lines.

Almost every sentence in the lines of "Before Sunrise" looks like nonsense, but every sentence also has a deep meaning. Almost any paragraph in the movie can be excerpted and then carefully studied. Life outlook, world outlook and values ​​are all over the corners of life. The seemingly random lines are carefully arranged, but they are invisible to the audience.

Such a solid foundation fully reflects the screenwriter's excellence and ability, and at the same time, it can be seen that the screenwriter's profound literary heritage and life experience. This is the biggest highlight of "Before Sunrise". It can be said that the depth of the script is enough to become a textbook model for professional screenwriting colleges.

Therefore, in Roger's view, "Before the Sunrise" appeared after "Pulp Fiction". Both films were talkative, but they explained the importance of lines to people in different ways. The script mode is an important addition and boost, which will also make people re-recognize the importance of the screenwriter's position.

For this reason, Roger was full of praise for "Before Sunrise"; for this reason, Roger gave "Before Sunrise" a high score of 95 and a full four-star recommendation; for this reason, Roger believes that Hugo is a genius, and he thinks that Hugo has given full marks to his first performance in the position of screenwriter!