Film reviews of "Twin Peaks", "Wild at Heart", "American History", "Heartbroken Dreams"

"Twin Peaks":

David Lynch is really awesome. He made a suspense film with no results, and I, a child spoiled by Sherlock Holmes, must know the end. I didn't want to give up until the ending, so "Twin Peaks" really surprised me and left me with countless fantasy themes when I was in a daze.

There was a murder case from the beginning of the story. A beautiful female high school student was killed. After that, all the investigations turned up many fruitless stories. This seemingly peaceful and harmonious town is full of mystery and strangeness. atmosphere, and behind everyone's stable feelings there are hidden secrets. The repetitive life makes the town unable to withstand such a blow. Everyone begins to guess or dodge. Each of their actions reminds me of those hypocritical people in "Dog Town". All actions are just to satisfy their own selfish desires.

I am very interested in the girl who deliberately caused trouble in her hotel. When she learned that Laura was dead, her expression was not as sad as other classmates, but was full of pride. There must be a hidden meaning in it. Moreover, her dress and the mole on her left eyebrow look very much like a certain Hollywood star in the 1950s.

The seemingly neurotic FMI agent, the police officer who cries when he sees the corpse, the operator who speaks like a baby, the woman who likes to challenge the curtains, the wayward female student who deliberately drives away the guests , the crazy rogue boy, many characters are inextricably related to this case. It is worth noting that Chen Chong plays the heir to the sawmill in this movie. His bright red lips are full of oriental mysterious temperament. He is called "the most beautiful woman in the town" by the police. Only after watching the end do we understand that they are It's a lover, no wonder it's described like this.

The story ended like this, no wonder it was made into a TV series. Many people who have watched the movie version must not be reconciled. There is no ending, and there are many subtle hidden clues, which makes people feel itchy, leaving only complete despair. I was about to find out who the murderer was, and the word "End" appeared in the film. I thought it would surprise me with a second and third part like "The Bermuda Triangle", so I searched the disc front and back, and finally found out. Sure, this time it’s the end.

Perhaps David Lynch has no intention of telling us the result at all, because the dark evil force in his heart does not end when the murderer is caught. What we are facing is a powerful and invisible nightmare. You Can you grab Meng’s arm? cannot.

I hope to have the opportunity to watch the TV series version to reduce the doubts in my heart. Maybe, the doubts will become more and more like a bubble.

"Wild at Heart":

David&. Lynch is a "film auteur" who persistently walks between modernist themes and the Hollywood commercial production system. From his works, we can vaguely see the shadows of modernist film masters such as Fellini, Antonioni, and Bu?uel; on the other hand, we can easily smell the lingering atmosphere of traditional Hollywood films. . "Wild at Heart" is such an excellent example: in exploring the inner world of the characters, we can see the unique depth and critical power of European movies; in terms of audio-visual language and story narration, it also inherits Hollywood movies With a tradition of good story telling, Lynch has the ability to tell this escape story with twists and turns and thrilling.

From the moment he entered the film industry, Lynch's works have been marked by a distinct modernism. In his early works, from his first short film "Six" to "Alphabet", until he later moved to mainstream Hollywood creations such as "Eraserhead", "The Elephant Man" and "Dune", Lynch was obsessed with exploring human nature. Existential crisis and its essence express the extreme uneasiness and anxiety about human alienation. His works reveal a flavor that mixes mysticism, expressionism and surrealism. From this, the influence of European films on Lynch can be seen. In fact, this theme has never disappeared from Lynch's creations, but in Hollywood, where commercial interests and box office revenue are the highest goals, it is often combined with more ups and downs and vivid twists of the plot, or is It's just hidden by a more fluid and engaging narrative.

A major difference between "New Hollywood movies" and traditional Hollywood movies is that for the first time in the history of American movies, they truly penetrate the tentacles of artistic expression into the inner world of the characters. This makes American movies In terms of character creation, it has completely got rid of the "flat" and "patterned" characters. Whether it's a reinterpreted Jesus Christ ("The Last Temptation of Christ") or an ordinary taxi driver on the streets of New York ("Taxi Driver"). Or the former US military officer Colonel Kurtz ("Apocalypse Now") who "occupies the mountain and becomes the king". Compared with the stereotyped and "stereotyped" characters in traditional Hollywood movies, these unforgettable screen images are undoubtedly It is a kind of rebellion and subversion.

Similarly, the exploration of the character's mental state and inner activities is always David&. An important theme in Lynch's films. In "Wild at Heart", Lynch adheres to his consistent artistic pursuit, intertwining and overlapping the various loneliness and despair, violence and fear, dreams and fantasies hidden in the hearts of the characters in a very cinematic way, showing in front of an audience.

The psychology of the mother Marita in the film is a dirty, dirty and crazy inner world that Lynch tried his best to create: she collaborated with Santos to murder her husband, and she suspected that Seiler had witnessed her husband's death and threatened her many times. and intimidating Seiler. After instigating an assassin to assassinate Seiler but failed, he continued to send people to hunt Seiler and tried his best to break up Seiler and Laura, the "mandarin ducks in trouble". When she realized that Santos might attack her other lover Johnny, she could not hide her inner panic and uneasiness. In extreme mania and despair, she painted her face scarlet with lipstick, like a demon Disgusting - the director used such a very "screen-like" way to show Marita's inner ugliness, filth and fear in a vivid and heart-stopping way. At the same time, in the scene where Johnny is killed, the female killer's frightened shouts, ferocious expressions and frantic scenes all reveal the madness and desire deep in the character's heart.

What Lynch is really interested in is the character's "id" (Freud)/"real world" (Lacan), not the "self", "superego"/"imagination" "World" and "Symbolic World", that is, his films often focus on the various primitive and instinctive desires and impulses hidden in the hearts of the characters, rather than just describing the social reality relationships between the characters. With rare calmness and patience, he quietly depicts the characters' instincts and desires, and presents them with mysterious stories and strong images, which are shocking. Therefore, it is not surprising that scenes of death and violence abound in "Wild at Heart", which can be regarded as a great exposure of the evil of human nature: Bobby the Goon&. Ray was punched in the head by Seiler until his brains overflowed and died; Laura's father was burned alive; Johnny... Feinegut was shot dead in a mysterious and weird ceremony similar to primitive religion; the evil killer Bobby&. Peruv was shot in the head by a bullet fired from his own gun during a robbery and his head was dismembered. In these passages, the characters' loss of reason, the viciousness of their actions, and the cruelty of the scenes have reached a shocking level.

Essentially speaking, Lynch is a "dream maker" or "fantasist". With his unique sensitivity, he calmly, even coldly, examines and observes this chaotic and absurd world. He continues to weave one nightmare-like story after another to criticize modern civilization mercilessly. The world in Lynch's eyes is a chaotic world full of evil and violence, and the people living in this world are either extremely ugly and nasty - such as Marita, Santos, Bobby, etc.; or they are mentally alienated and distorted - -For example, Laura inadvertently talked about her cousin Dale: This man is schizophrenic and hysterical. He looks forward to the arrival of Christmas every day (referring to the loss of the "Christmas spirit" that represents faith and love), and is in constant panic (worry) The earth is controlled by aliens), until one day he disappears silently and ends up unknown - as if he has never existed in this world at all; or he is completely lost in modern life and cannot extricate himself - such as Thaler and On the way to Big Tula, Laura met a girl who survived a car accident. Her head was bleeding, but she didn't know what the "gooey stuff" on her hair was - she was on the verge of death but didn't know it. , actually chattering in ecstasy and hysterically insisting on looking for his wallet, otherwise he will be scolded by his mother. The director's arrangement is unintentionally very meaningful: Human beings in Lynch's eyes are just like this girl - they have been suppressed so much that they have become twisted, numb, and slow, and have long lost their sense of being human. Characteristics, even not knowing that death is coming, can only end up with a tragic ending of "dying in despair" (Sartre's language). This reminds one of Beckett's work "Ah, Beautiful Days!" 》: The heroine is still dressing up when she is old and about to be buried, praising this as a "beautiful day", and even singing a frivolous love song - her confused and ignorant state has become numb to the point of insanity. extent.

2. Style: Weird and Mysterious

Watching Lynch’s films, one can’t help but think of the German Expressionist films that were popular in the 1920s. Expressionism emphasizes the naked catharsis and the most direct expression of human emotions. Passion is infinitely expanded and even becomes an all-inclusive existence. In the abandonment of specific experience details, Expressionism establishes an extremely abstract, deformed, and distorted world. the illusion of the world, thereby exposing the essence of human existence. German Expressionist films, represented by "Dr. Caligari" and "House of Wax", often feature madmen and ghosts as their themes. They strive to express the inner madness of the characters through exaggerated shapes, sharp color contrasts and bizarre plots. and violence, leaving an important mark in the history of world cinema. Not only did it influence the crime and gangster films of old Hollywood, but the influence of German Expressionist cinema is still clearly discernible in Wild at Heart and other Lynch works.

Lynch, like Kubrick, is good at the evil side of human nature, but compared to Kubrick's works such as "A Clockwork Orange" and "Full Metal Jacket", the supporting power of his works is obvious There is an additional element of irrationality and logic; Lynch, like Kerppola, is good at expressing the inner world of characters ("Apocalypse Now", "Conversation"), but there seems to be more in his character creation Mystery and destiny are at work; Lynch is as good at narrative as Scorsese, but he does not have the handsomeness and brightness of Scorsese ("Raging Bull", "Taxi Driver"), but instead has a more mixed atmosphere. The narrative style is very psychedelic and dreamlike; even compared to Oliver, who is similar in age to Lynch. Stone, even "Natural Born Killers", which has a similar theme to "Wild at Heart" and also describes escape, rebellion, and violence, as long as you compare it carefully, it is not difficult to find the difference between the two: in "Natural Born Killers" In it, Stone wanted to create an atmosphere that was close to a "carnival", pursuing "flattening" and "deep flattening", which was an attempt to subvert the "depth model" in a postmodern context; while Lynch "Wild at Heart" adheres to the theme of modernism. From the relationship between "background" and "foreground", the "foreground" of the film is obviously blurred and obscured, while the "background" is unfathomable. The two * ** Together, they constitute Lynch's psychedelic and dream-like modernist art world.

The weird and distinctive image shapes are undoubtedly the "label-like" characteristics of this strange art world, and are even one of the most important elements in Lynch's works. In fact, this powerful and impactful image expression complements the theme of the work, and together builds Lynch's unique artistic world. A woman's face painted blood red; a blazing fire; the body of a girl with blue lipstick and wrapped in plastic; an ugly and terrifying face of a man wearing stockings and grinning; a refractor car Cars running on the cold road with dim residual light... these have long become the "signature" mirror language of Lynch's works.

In "Wild at Heart", the image of fire appears repeatedly, becoming the most prominent visual image in the film. Under Lynch's pursuit of excellence in styling, fire is no longer just a tool to explain the plot. It is not only an important styling element, but also an important means for the director to express his emotions. At the beginning of the film, a black screen gradually overlays the credits, and in the darkness, a close-up shot of a suddenly struck match appears; then, as the title credits appear, a blazing flame is accompanied by a thick Black smoke breaks into the audience's field of vision in vain, occupying the entire frame. This is the first time the image of fire appears in the film. Generally speaking, the images of fire in the film can be roughly divided into two categories: first, the flames of lighters, matches, or burning cigarettes. This situation occurs six times in the whole film, usually accompanied by the friction sound of a lit match, a close-up shot of the flame of a lighter or a struck match, slowly igniting a cigarette, and then the match slowly ignites a cigarette. Burns slowly and extinguishes gradually. By carefully reading the text, we can find the unique characteristics of this type of imagery: matches, lighters and cigarettes are usually placed in close-ups and shot with an elevated lens; matches usually suddenly cut through the surrounding darkness, Starts to burn; mostly accompanied by the sound of burning matches off-screen. It is not difficult to find that this image of fire can be regarded as a symbol of life impulse: although it burns for a short time, it can break the control and restraint of darkness in an instant and release all energy until it is extinguished - just like in the play A visual representation of the protagonist’s fighting spirit. From it, one can see the unstoppable rising and throbbing of life. Another type of fire imagery is the fire that appears many times in flashback shots through Laura or Seiler's memories: for example, in a panoramic shot, a burning car is shot in the night with an elevated lens. Tumbling and falling into the cliff; a room engulfed by fire; Laura's father who was caught in the fire and struggling desperately... Here, fire is not only a symbol of life impulse, but at the same time, fire is also a metaphor for unstoppable and crazy spreading desire, raging fire. It can swallow up everything and destroy everything. The boundless, blazing fire seems to be a harbinger of death and destruction.

Sound and music are also extremely important elements in "Wild at Heart". Whether it is the sound of burning fire, the sound of matches rubbing and burning, or the screams and shouts of characters, they all play a very good role in creating atmosphere, rendering the environment, and thus expressing the director's intention. The music of this film is also very rich. For example, at the banquet at the beginning of the film, the background music is relatively relaxed jazz music, and when Cyler beats Bobby... When thunder occurs, the music suddenly changes to penetrating and shocking heavy metal rock music; in the scene where Johnny is killed, the composition of the background music is always turbulent, exaggerating a terrifying atmosphere; Seiler and When Laura dances in the wilderness, the background music is passionate rock music. At this time, the camera slowly rises and focuses on the sunset and the vast wilderness in the distance. The music naturally turns into a delicate and lyrical orchestral symphony, which is evocative. repeatedly.

3. "American Spirit": Resistance and Rebellion

It also shows violence and the character's crazy and desperate inner world. Lynch is not like the other one who is also famous for showing violence. Like the Japanese director Takeshi Kitano - he only shows the results of violence, but puts the entire process of violence in front of the audience with rare enthusiasm and patience, and allows the audience to experience the chaos of the world in such a direct and extreme way. with fury. In fact, the difference between Lynch and Takeshi Kitano can be seen as the difference between Japanese culture and American culture.

In "Hanabi", Kitano Takeshi shows us a kind of restraint and reserve that is tinged with violence. This is exactly the unique character of the Japanese nation: When Ashi guessed poker cards in the car When he said "cookies"; when a passing car ruined the photo of the two of them and Assi pushed away his wife's outstretched arm; and of course at the end of the film, the farewell scene of Assi and his wife. In the play, when hearing the wife say only "I'm sorry, thank you", we see the way the Japanese express their feelings - this is their love and romance.

What we see in Lynch's works such as "Wild at Heart" is the American spirit and national character. One of the most striking characteristics of the American character is their deep yearning and desire for freedom, as well as their innate rebellion. The director said through Seiler: "It (referring to the snakeskin jacket) is a symbol of my beliefs and personality." The passionate and bohemian Seiler and Laura kept listening to rock music, dancing, and dancing on their way to escape. Have sex. Once, while driving on the highway, Laura turned on the radio, and what she heard was without exception - either shooting or rape. Unbearable, Laura and Sailor jumped out of the car. At this time, the camera gradually rose, and in the wide panoramic shot , accompanied by a burst of exciting music, the two danced crazily in the vast western wilderness. In them, the director allows us to see the unique enthusiasm and rebellious personality of Americans, which is a primitive and inner impulse of life. Sailor and Laura in the film have not yet been assimilated into the world, or in other words, they are fighting unremittingly to get rid of the various constraints and oppression imposed on themselves. They dare to fight for their own freedom against anything that suppresses their ideals. Make an uncompromising fight.

Saylor and Laura are two characters endowed with the "American spirit" by the director: although they are surrounded by evil (represented by Marita, Santos, and Bobby), they are He never gave up the pursuit of individuality and freedom, but became more and more hateful towards evil forces. Undoubtedly, Lynch has placed his own hopes on this rebellious couple. At the end of "Wild at Heart", Thaler, who had decided to break up with Laura, was guided by the witch in "The Wizard of Oz" in a hallucination and returned to Laura to reunite with his wife and son. Despite going through twists and turns, they finally overcome the power of evil and gain their own happiness and freedom. It can be said that the victory of Seiler and Laura is actually the victory of the "American spirit".

In addition, "Wild at Heart" is also a "prototype" film text with relatively rich content. As we all know, since the 20th century, there has been an important turning point in the history of Western literary theory. That is to say, there is a tendency in Western literature, art and humanities to return to the primitive. Thanks to the efforts of Fraser, Jung, Frye and others, the criticism of mythical archetypes, which originated from contemporary people's research on early human culture, primitive thinking, and the unique psychological structure of human beings, has become a prominent school in contemporary Western literary criticism. . Swiss psychologist Jung, an important representative of "archetype criticism", believed that archetypes are relics of early human life and the basic paradigm of human psychological activities. They transcend eras and nations and are the most common psychological structure of human beings. And it is passed down and continued in a "collective unconscious" way. Jung further analyzed numerous archetypes, such as power archetype, hero archetype, devil archetype, savior archetype, earth mother archetype, giant archetype, etc.

In "Wild at Heart", it is not difficult for us to find such "archetypes": the most obvious one is the devil archetype, whether it is the dark and sinister mother Marita or the ruthless drug dealer Santos , Redier, whether it was Bobby, the thug commanded by Marita&. Ray is still the evil Bobby&. Peru, both of them are the "prototype" of the devil/evil; for another example, the mother-daughter relationship between mother Marita and Laura can't help but be reminiscent of the prototype relationship between Snow White and her stepmother: Laura is simple, beautiful, and kind, She wholeheartedly pursues her own happiness and freedom, but like Snow White in the fairy tale, she is weak, hurt, and needs to be saved; while her mother Marita is like the stepmother in the fairy tale: vicious and evil , is jealous of Snow White and does his best to persecute Snow White; and the other protagonist Seyler can be regarded as a "hero prototype": In a world full of chaos, evil, and violence, in the face of powerful evil forces, heroes always Be able to stand up, fight resolutely, and ultimately save the weak. Undoubtedly, Seiler in the film is the prototype of such a hero.

The Canadian scholar Frye, the master of "archetype criticism" in the history of Western literary theory, believed that archetypes are some of the most basic factors that constitute the overall experience of human literature. He further divided "archetypes" into three major image groups : That is, divinely inspired images, magical images, and analogical images.

In "Wild at Heart", images of divine revelation and magical imagery are reflected: the image of the witch in "The Wizard of Oz" appears many times in the film. She is like a god, always appearing at critical moments, and Giving inspiration to the protagonist - it is under her guidance and encouragement that Sailor and Laura are finally reunited; the magical image is a "pain, ignorance, ruins, and fallen world", and Lynch in "My Wild Heart" "What we are trying to create is such a full story

Sorry, the other two parts are a bit difficult