What is the theme of "Mary and Marx"?

"Mary and Max" is adapted from a true story, and the film's scenes are bizarre but innocent. This is a film about a friendship between pen pals over 20 years, and it is also a semi-autobiographical film by the director. The story is based on the director's own life. In the director's life, he also had a pen pal who he had been with for more than 20 years. Following a letter, we entered a journey of friendship, self-analysis and self-analysis:

In 1976, 8-year-old Mary Daisy Dingle was a child in Melbourne, Australia. A little girl with a flat face, a bulbous nose, spotted freckles, and an ugly birthmark on her forehead that looked like a piece of tape. Love the cartoon "Noblit", sweetened condensed milk and chocolate. Mary's mother is an alcoholic, and her father, who works in a tea packaging factory, only likes to make bird specimens. Lonely Mary has no friends. One day, on a whim, she meets Max Jerry, a man with Asperger's Syndrome in New York City, who is autistic, anxious, unable to recognize human expressions, unable to express emotions through his face, and has no friends. Horowitz, wrote a letter asking where American children come from and included a cherry chocolate bar. Max, 44, is autistic and obese. He also happens to like watching "Noblit" cartoons and eating chocolate.

The pen pal relationship between the two lasted from 1976 to 1994. During this period, each experienced many ups and downs in life, until the adult Mary finally came to New York to visit Marx... During this period, Mary and Marx's lives had their own ups and downs. , Marx's anxiety disorder reached the edge of collapse several times, and Mary almost said goodbye to her bleak life. The story is full of dark and weird humor, very much like a British comedy.

Eight-year-old Mary and 44-year-old Marx are equally lonely. The difference is that Mary yearns to break this loneliness with a naive and childish mind, while Marx is A decadent mentality that has experienced hardships and gained insight into the world deliberately avoids the world. Mary had a chicken named "Is" who never laid eggs.

And Marx had a series of goldfish "Henry" that he could not feed. In the days when he had no friends, the only ones who could communicate with them were these dumb animals. Mary longed for love and was full of fantasies about love, but she couldn't get it. Even if she got it by chance, she had no choice but to lose it in the end. Marx was born autistic and insensitive to love, but sometimes women favored this expression on human beings. There is a complete lack of recognition. You need to read the "expression guide" to distinguish what means happiness and what means anger. The obese middle-aged Jewish uncle has a child-like heart.

He did his best to answer all of Mary's strange questions as sincerely as he could, although many times the answers were crazier than the questions or even completely inappropriate. I particularly like how he talks about the inconspicuous and meaningless little things in his boring life, like his dinner recipes for the week (which are full of unpronounceable Hebrew Jewish names), and how the old lady next door smells like cough syrup mixed in. The smell of urine.

And the warm Jewish hat he still insists on wearing even though he does not believe in God. And those major events that would change the fate of ordinary people, including serious illness, winning a lottery, and death, were all brushed off by him, as if they were as weightless as a feather. Look, what kind of weirdo is this! This dramatic life story pleases the soul but tortures the human spirit. Mary can get some things, such as love, but in the end she cannot grasp it; Max is not interested in everything, but sometimes he has some good luck, such as a woman's kiss and a winning lottery ticket.

But none of these can make him happy. These are not what he needs. You can't get what you need, and what you get is not what you need most. This is the helplessness of life. But as Marx stated in his letter, his friendship with Mary was based on an "imperfect" disability, which enabled him to finally transcend "hurt, confusion, betrayal, discomfort, distress and breathlessness" and give a life The most sincere heart hug in a friend's life.

The story of "Mary and Max" is very simple, so simple that there are not many lines. It is expressed in unpretentious and even seemingly "clumsy" images, but it can deeply touch people. In today's world, living materials are becoming more and more abundant, but the strange thing is that it is becoming more and more difficult for us to survive. It is difficult to realize ourselves and create value. The lack of social credibility and the indifference of interpersonal relationships sometimes really make us at a loss. .

When dealing with Marx's story passages, the director tends to make more use of themes to ridicule, with a large number of narrations throughout, extending the objects touched by the tragedy to the entire American social class.

A person who does not know what love is and lacks sufficient cognitive ability is likely to be discriminated against and marginalized. Moreover, after Marx left his family, he voluntarily gave up religious spiritual pursuits and denied God. existence. In the eyes of outsiders, this weird middle-aged man can only be a confused walking zombie. He has no spiritual support and does not care about the gains and losses in life. He has become a "transparent person" and has lost his social value. . They are the humblest little people, losers in the eyes of the world, but they have their own love, persistence and desire, even if only they know each other. It is said that lonely people are shameful, but in fact it is just that no one pays attention to their cuteness. With the help of technology, while our space for activities is getting larger and larger, the space of our souls is getting narrower and narrower, so narrow that sometimes we have to curl up in the Internet, just like Mary, staring at this bizarre world with a pair of innocent eyes. world.

To a certain extent, the story of Mary and Max is a microcosm of our real world. Although it was in the last century, the difference is that we use letters to communicate with each other, but now we use the Internet Weaving myths. Especially when everyone is condensed into a mobile phone number or QQ number, the distance between hearts is actually further amplified, and we have even lost the expectation and concentration maintained by the letters between Mary and Marx. When we kept changing our personal signatures to show our online presence, Mary's tears dripping on the paper seemed as rare and precious as diamonds.

"Mary and Max" is very similar to Tim Burton's image style, which is absurd and exaggerated, and conveys a faint humanistic care in the dark tones. The film depicts Mary and Australia in a taupe color, but once it switches to New York where Marx lives, it changes to a gloomy dark black, just like Marx's gloomy and melancholy mood. Apart from these two tones, the whole film has only a little bit less color. Poor red, women's lips and some accessories, the red tassel on Marx's hat, and the torch in the hand of the Statue of Liberty (the Statue of Liberty also has an ugly face like Marx).

Even the birthmark on Mary's forehead is just a disgusting "shit yellow" color. These few reds dot the monotonous scenes of the film, and they are also in the unpleasant atmosphere of the film. Leave us with a trace of warmth. Under the distinct colors of this fortress, two equally lonely and gloomy worlds are created. When the two worlds begin to come into contact, the bright red torch in the hand of the Statue of Liberty seems to herald a warm beginning and a helpless one. ending.

There are many death stories in the film, and these deaths are all abnormal deaths. Mary’s grandfather died by drinking ammonia, her father was washed away by sea water, her mother died by accidentally drinking preservatives, and Marx’s mother died. Shooting himself, even Max's neighbor Ivy died in an extremely nonsensical way. This kind of death has continued to the two protagonists. Mary, who was tortured and hit by love and friendship, also once A hanging rope was put on. All these deaths look like an extreme mockery of life and the world, and each of these deaths is a genius and hilarious sight when viewed individually, but when viewed in the context of the entire film, under the calmness of the narrator But under the deep eloquence, he seemed so sad and helpless.

Like all autistic people, Marx was a fool in some aspects, but a genius in other aspects. He had super computing power and rigorous logical thinking ability, but he also There is always something incomprehensible about people's behavior, just like he can't understand the lip print of a woman on his face. All this drives him crazy. Any small change in the outside world will stimulate his spiritual world and his thoughts. He was never as calm as he looked, and the red tassel on his hat was a barometer of his mood. Marx, who was half genius and half fool, had a selfless and broad heart under his ugly appearance and weird behavior. He became the only spiritual sustenance of young Mary and accompanied her as she grew up.

Marx reminds me of the old Carl in "Up". The sense of tragic fate that permeates life makes me feel palpitating; in the American TV series "Surgeon Grey", there is a character The sick old man described his countdown life like this: "All milestones have passed, graduation ceremony, marriage and childbirth, retirement... There will be no new milestones in the remaining life, only one step closer to death." One day, Everyone will realize that they have no chance and no need to improve their future, and there is no suspense in life anymore. This is when people truly understand what they are squandering and missing out on. ?

It’s just that when the life trajectories of the two people finally intersected and the colors of the two different worlds on the screen finally reconciled, what the film left us was another peaceful death. Fortunately, the two protagonists who had known each other for years passed. The red tassel and hairpins on the head are still shining brightly in this cruel and helpless situation, which may indicate the hope and meaning of life. Under the film's classic narration, the cruelty and helplessness of life are ridiculed in black and white pictures, but like a trickle, it becomes meaningful and thought-provoking.

The most touching thing is Marx's reply, always his reply: "I forgive you because you are not perfect. You have shortcomings, and so do I... We cannot choose our shortcomings. They are part of us and can only adapt; however we can choose our friends. I am glad that I chose you. You are my only friend. Think about it, this is the core of "love".

It is always easy for us to appreciate a person's advantages: beautiful appearance, strong body, strong financial strength, intelligent mind, enviable background... all of these are always used To increase the weight of one's own value; but tolerating shortcomings, such as Marx's fat body and insufficient frequency of contact, and Mary's personal violation of treating Marx as a case, requires the most sincere understanding and care. This kind of understanding cannot be a frivolous verbal perfunctory, nor can it be a purposeful gesture. It is the half-filled bottle of tears sent by Mary, and it is Marx's complete set of "Noblit's Couples." ?

Mary finally found Marx. What a blessing this is! One is a girl bathing in the Australian sunshine, and the other is a homeboy living in a cold apartment in New York. Originally, there was no possibility of their lives intersecting, but when they unexpectedly became pen pals, every time they talked and listened to each other, they became... Beacons on their river of life. This simple attachment warmed Mary's first half of life and Marx's second half of life.

So, when the two hands, big and small, were finally held together, when the pamphlet hanging on Marx's chest and every letter on the ceiling was ironed, I was moved. Still, I could no longer hold back the tears in front of the screen. It's not love, it's not family affection, but it goes far beyond friendship. It is difficult to describe in words, and it is beyond logic and cannot be repeated. It is the burning moment when two hearts abandon all age, appearance, identity, race, gender, belief, nationality, and culture and finally face each other honestly for a second. Dazzling light.

Without Marx, Mary’s troubled life might not have been known, and vice versa. Because of the age gap with Marx, Mary's longing and curiosity about the world were revealed, but she never thought that Marx was a weirdo with incomplete personality and knowledge structure. Only in this way can two people become pen pals for twenty years, looking forward to each other's support at key points in life. If everything goes smoothly for them in real life, there will be no need to find an invisible friend.

A pen pal story that is supposed to be sensational, resolves each other due to personal misfortunes. Director Elliot always maintains a "frustrated optimism" and penetrates his own feelings about friendship into the clay figures. The "M" on the typewriter keyboard is a clever "key" that the director set up in the film. The first letters of their last names became a bond, and Marx could not forgive Mary for a time and cut it off with his own hands.

The kind-hearted Mary relied too much on Marx. Without this key, life lost its luster, and even her husband left him. The film reaches a turning point when the two suddenly break off their relationship, revealing the attachment and fragility in everyone's heart, not only Max and Mary, but also the audience. In addition to Mary and Marcos, there are many supporting characters with distinct personalities in the film. Their appearances and habits are deliberately exaggerated, and they are actually ordinary people in life.

Beggars, landlords, parents, neighbors... were captured by the cartoonist's pungent brushstrokes, shaped into villains and placed on the screen, igniting the audience's screams of déjà vu.

Elliot is always full of emotion about life. The previous "The Life of Naked Harvey" is more similar to a traditional silent film. The protagonist ends up escaping, a bit like Chaplin's "Charlotte the Tramp" the taste. "Mary and Max" incorporates a large amount of inner monologue and self-analysis, and uses the contrast between interior and exterior scenes to create Marx's sense of alienation. Under the layered model of New York City, isolation and loneliness are in line with the personal experience of urban people. Even though Marx's fate was an extreme state of exaggeration and sensitivity, his own simple quality and cherishment of friendship still shone with the original light of an ordinary person.

Everyone will have rare and precious friends in his life. Whether it is one or two, they are the wealth of your life. Just like Marx, when he was dying, he could lie comfortably on the sofa and see the letters on the ceiling when he looked up. There is no love more comforting than this kind of love;

Mary experienced life They finally held Marx's hand through the ups and downs. Although Marx had gone to heaven to guard his chocolate, their hearts had always been closer than the hands held together. There are so many regrets in life, maybe it is the sustenance of half a bottle of tears, maybe it is the sharing of a piece of chocolate, this little bit of innocence is enough. It is enough to break down the barriers of sophistication and become the last generation of female light and a touch of warmth in the hearts of all of us...

Jeffrey Germer, director of the Dance Film Festival, said: "This is A film about two lives. The two protagonists have some physical disabilities. Eliot used clay to paint two portraits for us. The film is full of unexpected encounters and touching moments. The jokes and plots that force us to think are also highlights - the symphony that swirls with the rhythm of the typewriter when Marx first writes to Mary, Mary is surrounded by a sad black screen in a semi-awake state, the old Hitchcock movie "Capture". The classic song "Que Sera Sera" in "The Last Day" is surrounded by sadness, as well as the crooning in the ending opera "Madama Butterfly", which are both deeply moving.

I believe that the audience will watch the film. Afterwards, Elliot's work will be applauded for making an intriguing and meaningful film.

Remember, this world is weird and crazy and confusing, but good. We still have friendship.