Chapter 975

From an objective point of view, the acting challenge of "Before Sunrise" is not so arduous, at least not as difficult as "Schindler's List", but the role of Jesse is Hugo's another attempt at acting, another kind of understanding.

So far, Hugo's acting career can be divided into two parts - although only less than three years and six works, "Schindler's List" before the four works is a part, "Pulp Fiction" after the first part. two parts.

Before "Schindler's List", Hugo was more involved in the role during the performance. He was accustomed to sketching the role in his mind, then allowing himself to enter the role bit by bit, and finally turning the role inward. Performed outside. After the brewing and precipitation of three works, this kind of performance reached a climax in "Schindler's List", so Amon Goss's eyes seemed to be looking up from the abyss of the soul, reaching Hugo's acting career the first small peak.

But in the "Pulp Fiction" that followed, Hugo made a new attempt.

Because Vincent is different from Goss, Vincent is like an ordinary person without any characteristics, which makes it difficult for Hugo to establish the character and accurately grasp the characteristics of the character. After careful consideration, Hugo tried an opposite performance method: he played the role on his own basis, and sketched the character with himself as a blueprint, which means that the character would have characteristics that clearly belonged to Hugo.

This is different from the previous performance.

To put it simply, "Schindler's List" used to be the characters in the play leading the performance, and "Pulp Fiction" began with Hugo leading the role performances. These are two different performance styles and two different performances. angle.

It may not be accurate to discuss the two representations separately, because the performance itself is the actor's personal experience and presentation. Whether it is the role that drives the actor or the actor drives the character, these are things that cannot be clearly distinguished. But from a technical point of view, different starting points will indeed lead to differences in performance methods.

Take the characters Goss and Vincent, for example, Goss has a distinct, sinister sexuality. The struggle between emotion and good and evil is brought into full play; but Vincent seems to be very vague and can't tell why. After watching the movie, many people are deeply impressed by Jules, who should read the Bible before killing people. But I can't remember Vincent's characteristics, but Vincent's personality is real enough, as if he is the kind of character that may appear in the streets and alleys at any time in life.

In addition, Sam, the protagonist of "Sleepless in Seattle", who also has no distinctive features, can leave a gentle but humorous impression after watching the movie, which is in line with Vincent's mediocrity and simplicity. different.

Therefore, in the filming process of "Pulp Fiction", Hugo sketched Vincent based on his own personality and characteristics. The small details are delicate and real. Among all the characters in the same work, he is actually the One of the most difficult to perform, and Hugo did a great job, so Hugo won Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival instead of Samuel L. Jackson, who played the more characteristic Jules.

This difference also allowed Hugo to start a new exploration on the road of acting research. Before "Schindler's List", Hugo was always easy to get too deep into the play and could not distinguish himself from the role. There is a state of overexertion; but after "Pulp Fiction", Hugo was able to incorporate his own personality and traits into the character, turning the performance into a process of savoring and swaying. It can be said that this is a different discussion of Hugo's acting skills.

Now, "Before Sunrise" Jesse and Vincent are the same type of character, and Jesse is a further challenge, and Jesse's performance is even more difficult than Vincent.

At least, Vincent still has some borrowing points in the "Pulp Fiction" story, such as the scene of dancing with Uma, such as the process of his dialogue with Jules, and more importantly, Vincent The identity of special "****, killer", these still have ways to shape.

But Jessie has nothing, no leverage, no special identity, and there are no conflicts in the story for the characters to play. This is an ordinary ordinary person. The same goes for Charlize's Selena.

Such a role, to say it's ugly, is a role that is thrown into the sea of ​​people and can't be noticed at all, so that the actor can't find the starting point or the point of strength, but such a role is the protagonist, so such a role is very important for actors. Said it was a huge test. How to distinguish life-style acting from authentic performances, how to sublimate authentic performances to role modeling in dramas, and how to integrate self and characters while maintaining differences are all very arduous tasks.

In fact, in the field of professional performance, the characteristics of characters can be called "crutches", and most characters also have crutches, such as stuttering in "The King's Speech", despair in "Dallas Seller Club", "Scarlet General" The cold blood in "To", the cunning in "Training. Day", the innocence in "Forrest Gump"... These are all crutches, which are the breakthrough points of actors' acting skills.

Characters with breakthrough points are actually a test of acting skills, because these breakthrough points are often situations that actors cannot experience in their daily lives, such as autism in "Rain Man". Although Dustin Hoffman It's an old show character, but he has studied autism for a long time; for example, the world-weariness in "Taxi Driver", Robert De Niro personally drove a taxi in New York for a few months to feel the character's mental journey .

Therefore, how to really break this breakthrough point is a very arduous task for actors, not all actors can do it, and even the most outstanding actors may not be fully confident.

However, on the other hand, the breakthrough point means that the actors have a direction to work hard, and they clearly know the goal of their sprint, which also enables the actors to target. Before "Schindler's List", Hugo was like this. He could feel the strength of the characters, so he went all out to study each character, and then pushed himself to the extreme, and finally presented a wonderful performance. Performance.

However, in many scripts, the characters have no crutches, maybe an ordinary person, maybe a mediocre story, maybe a piece of life, it is difficult to find a breakthrough in these characters. It is undoubtedly another test for actors: they cannot find the direction of their efforts, and must rely on their own judgment, the guidance of the director, and the structure of the script to think about the foothold of the character.

At the same time, once many actors are accustomed to borrowing a cane during the performance, they may not be able to get rid of it for a lifetime. Daniel - Day - Lewis, Al - Pacino is a typical representative.

Day-Lewis is one of the greatest actors in film history. There is no doubt about his strength. Almost every performance is a classic. In 2013, he became the first actor in history to win three best actor awards, which proved him. absolute strength. However, Day-Lewis's acting line is fixed in the framework of bitterness and hatred. Although the roles played by his three statues are all different, the overall style is dark and deep.

Similarly, Pacino is the same, starting from his famous work "The Godfather", to the peak work "Scarface", to the dream of "Smell the Scent and Know a Woman", and the later "Devil's Advocate" (The. Devil's. Advocate)", "Heat", the characters he plays are all powerful and explosive characters. The process from calm to sudden outbreak without warning is Pacino's housekeeping skills.

Not only that, but also Jack Nicholson, Robert De Niro, and Dustin Hoffman, who were as famous as Pacino in the 1980s. Nicholson is limited by his appearance and personality, and has always played an evil and rebellious role; De Niro is trapped in a gangster role; Hoffman is good at portraying small characters, and his performances are as delicate and smooth as running water.

Of course, this is a bit biased and one-sided. The actors have made different breakthroughs in their careers, and the efforts they put in to play these roles well are beyond the reach of many ordinary people. But overall, their crutches have become the most important part of their performance.

Among them, Hoffman is the most special. He has always played mediocre little characters. The gentle and delicate way of acting often makes people lose sight of the focus of his performance. These roles seem to have no "crutches", but in fact they are not. The banality of these characters is Hoffman's crutch.

Objectively speaking, those roles without crutches are not only very difficult, but also unflattering. Because it is very likely that he will become a truly mediocre person, without any characteristics or charm, such a person may be as ordinary as the next door neighbor to the audience, so naturally they will not be attractive, and they will not feel the acting skills. the power of.

What the audience wants to see is the kind of situation where the acting skills suddenly explode, the conflict is fierce, and the actors play each other's acting skills.

But the problem is that learning how to act without a cane is a life-long task for every actor, and that kind of smooth and silent acting can help actors take their performances to the next level.

Take the 2014 Oscars as an example. Among the twenty actors nominated for acting awards, you can see many outstanding actors playing "Ordinary People", "Nebraska (Nebraska") Bruce Dern ( Bruce. Dern) and June. Squibb, Sandra Bullock for "Gravity", Judi Dench for "Philomena" . Dench), Sally. Hawkins of "Blue. Jasmine" and more.

The roles of these actors do not have any leverage. They rely on their own experience, their own precipitation, and their own understanding to re-inject their souls into the roles. They are like actors themselves, but they are not like actors themselves. In the ordinary The power to move people's hearts burst out, this is the acting skills that can't be seen in the slightest.

It is not to discuss the level of the acting test of these two roles, but the only way for every actor to study acting skills.

Hugo had tried it once before in "Pulp Fiction" where he dropped Amon Goss' cane and gave a great performance, so what about this time?