Perfume
Era: 2006
Genre: Thriller/Drama
Director: Tom Tykwer (Tom Tykwer)
Region: Germany/France/Spain
Theme music: "Prologue-The Highest Point"
Then for an entire day I was immersed in the atmosphere of "Perfume". After devouring the entire original book during the day, I watched the movie straight through at night. For a novel, it had been too long since I had read a foreign masterpiece that captivated me so much; for a movie, it could be called a miracle and even changed my view of cinema. The original novel "Perfume - A Murderer's Tale" by the famous German writer Patrick, with its unique background of the subject and characterization, has stirred up the literary world shortly after its publication, causing a great uproar in the whole of Europe and even internationally, and has become a literary classic not to be encountered in a hundred years. While people marveled and praised it, they could not help but regret that it could not be brought to the screen due to the limitations of the genre. After all, the main character Grenouille's supernaturally sensitive sense of smell and the scent of various substances are indeed difficult to be fully demonstrated in a movie. In the past, the sense of sight (clairvoyance), hearing (hearing with the wind), taste (like a master chef), touch, and even the sixth sense could be portrayed in a relative way, but there was no precedent for the sense of smell, which was the most neglected. After some twists and turns, the famous director Tom Tykwer took over the script and finished the masterpiece with traditional realism, which is not new but very faithful to the original, letting me be attracted by the storyline but also admiring the perfect combination of novel and movie.
This is truly a movie that explores the human condition in a profound way, whether it's insightful, thought-provoking, critical, or satirical. What makes Grenouille such a special character is the significance of his exploration of human nature. He is a combination of an angel and a devil, born in 18th century Paris, France, full of filth and stench, and after being born to a filthy fisherwoman, his umbilical cord is cut with a fish-slaughterer's knife and thrown into a garbage heap of rotting bellies and intestines. But then a miracle began to happen: the child's resistance was as strong as a bacterium, and no amount of anthrax, syphilitic herpes variant, advanced suppurative measles, or man-made torture was able to put an end to his life. The mother who abandoned him, the nuns who adopted him, the foreman who hired him, and Baldini, the perfume maker who made money from his talent, all died in mysterious ways because of his absence. His divine nose wasn't satisfied with all the flavors of the world until the appearance of the red-haired girl selling fruit, which then defined his true purpose in the world. In order to get the most beautiful flavor in the legend, he started a murderous journey, and one by one, the girls became his sacrifices to complete the bottle of perfume that could rule the world, until he finally accomplished his mission, until he was put on death row as a serial murderer waiting for his execution. The final scene in the execution chamber is the climax of the movie, where the evil saint stands on a platform where the executioners kneel, and with a perfumed handkerchief subdues everyone present. His mission is accomplished and his ideals ended. After returning to the place of his birth, he pours the remaining perfume on his body and lets the crazily attracted people eat themselves with inexplicable love, and henceforth disappears in this rotten city he has already ruled. His persistence and pursuit of love is most profoundly interpreted in such an unfathomable way. At the end of the movie, the red-haired girl selling fruits is smiling at him, and this is what he really desires in order to make the final perfume by any means necessary. What he needs, in fact, is love.
The Lord of the Rings III - The Return of the King
Date: 2003
Genre: Magic\Epic
Director: Peter Jackson
Region: USA
Theme Music: "The Return Of The King"
I don't think I can say enough about this movie. To use an analogy that basketball fans understand, if the history of the Oscars is compared to the history of the NBA, and the unforgettable pieces of cinema are all basketball stars, then "Lord of the Rings 3" is Bill Russell. The latter as the core of the Celtics in the 60s, leading this green shirts in Boston to create an unprecedented eight consecutive domination of the NBA history, and finally a **** to get 11 championships, with ten fingers all wear can not wear the income of the championship ring of a pair of big hands created an unprecedented green dynasty; the former as the world's attention of the Peter Jackson "Lord of the Rings" trilogy of the final chapter, to become the 04 years of the first The former, as the final chapter of Peter Jackson's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, became the 76th Oscars in '04, the most uncontested award-winning film, and ultimately 11 nominations in all, creating a record of 100 wins, but also became one of the three films that won the most awards in the history of the Oscars.
We have to admit, the previous Oscar judges tend to be not very optimistic about the magical sci-fi related subject matter of the film, Star Wars, The Matrix, and other milestone series of masterpieces in the Oscars and did not get the honor they deserve. But the Lord of the Rings series with its y rooted novel story background, huge huge investment, epic shock grand scenes and other factors, coupled with the trilogy of plot rhythm, let the audience one episode than one episode of the big call for a good can not stop, not to lose the compatibility of commercial and artistic films, catering to the general taste of the Oscars, and ultimately become the epochal masterpiece of the fame and fortune. Subsequently, until today's "The Chronicles of Narnia", "Dragon Rider", "The Golden Compass" and other similarly-themed magical films, until the "Troy", "Dynasty of Heaven", "Spartan 300 Warriors" and other war epics, in my eyes can not be over the Lord of the Rings series of the threshold, which has become the bible of the magical epic films, recognized as the peak of the monumental work.
Kill Bill
Date: 2003
Genre: Action/Crime
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Region: USA
Theme music: 'Battle Without Honor Or Humanity. '
If it weren't for Kill Bill, it's possible that Quentin the ghostwriter wouldn't be recognized by most people. Even though he's instilled his otherworldly talents in such works as "Lowlife" and "Reservoir Dogs," it's as if nine times out of 10, a non-pornographic, limited-quality movie has his old man wrapped around a few feet, and often shows up to spit out a couple of expletives, which is child's play compared to the blabbering that goes on when he's a jury member at a film festival. But that's just one side of him. He is open to new things, especially those outside his familiar environment, such as Eastern cultures.
It's clear that he put a lot of effort into Kill Bill, which is basically a hodgepodge summary of all his favorite genres. Interspersed with classic footage of Italian westerns, Chinese kung fu, Japanese samurai, etc., a cast of actors from various countries and fields, a variety of styles of transitional music, a lot of blood spattering and gruesome scenes, and the bucket of plasma. (Laughs~) The depiction of Liu Yuling's tragic childhood and the experience of embarking on the path of the killer is a direct use of Japanese animation with a slightly rough American style, which is even more impressive, and can be called the highlight of the whole movie.
Of course, I have to mention the lower part, in fact, I would like to say the two together. Compared to the bloody violence of the first part, the second part seems to have more depth. Especially the last leg of the revenge tour, when she confronts Bill, the latter sets up a situation that surprises her to the point of shock. Her own daughter is actually alive in front of her, and she was stunned but still subconsciously and Bill to complete the harmony of the family of three scene, by the daughter's toy gun "knocked down", reflecting a bloodthirsty vengeful woman in the sudden change into a mother's heart that kind of desire for family love. But she has not forgotten the ultimate goal of this journey, whether she finally forgave Bill, or from the rationale of whether to forgive Bill, she still want to complete the decision that has long been impossible to change - to kill Bill. Perhaps the final collapse in the bathroom crying in pain will be considered the true end of the journey of revenge in her heart.
The Thousand-Year-Old Woman
Era: 2001
Genre: Animation
Director: Ima Toshi Satoshi Kon
Region: Japan
Theme music: "Chiyoko no Teiichi Ma MODE-2"
As the only animated movie among the seven, "The Thousand-Year-Old Woman" left me with endless feelings. I was left with endless sadness and despair. I have always believed in the saying that the first love is the most sincere, pure and selfless love in a person's life, no matter how childish or even ridiculous it is. In real life, people's first love is mostly to fail, and from then on to become the heart of the pain is not small. To be half of the long life, looking back just a smile and then carry on. But for some people, for the first love of nostalgia is accompanied by their whole life, because they pay the love is precious, from a certain point of view, they know more about love, know the true value of the love paid, for their own value, for the value of others, for their subjective world contains the value of everything.
Chiyoko Fujiwara is a representative of them. The film depicting love is too much, the animated film depicting love is also quite a lot, but to be honest, the millennium actress, Fujiwara Chiyoko, she really let me touched, the deepest things in my heart touched. That kind of perseverance to love, even if it is so hazy love, trance love, she is willing to give her life for it. At the end of the movie, the dying Chiyoko recalls the time when she set foot on the spaceship through the layers of stars, and suddenly an inexplicable feeling of grief swam in my heart in a state of repression and eruption, which made me immensely difficult to bear ............
And for this reason. The director, Ima Min, came to my attention, and he hasn't done much so far, but is definitely a talented and gifted animator. The whole movie is a series of thousands of years of illusory scrolls through a series of special methods of narration, will be Fujiwara Chiyoko's career and the pursuit of eternal love in the key to the perfect blend together, the first time I watched the feeling is a little chaotic, the plot changes too quickly, but this is also the special expression of the alternative embodiment of the method, but also will be the Japanese various times into a montage of the background of the set collection. The movie's music is also absolutely amazing. In addition, the film's music is absolutely superb. Susumu Hirasawa, who is responsible for the music production, mixes the film's music with a variety of elements such as modern classical and natural alternative elements, and makes a perfect fusion of these elements, with a sunny rhythmic tone (the music of "Run" is very deep in the hearts of the people), which is not even inferior to that of the works of Jean Hisaishi, and has become the film's content approach to the outside of the film's major highlights.
The Last Samurai
Date: 2003
Genre: Action/War
Director: Edward Zwick
Region: U.S.A.
Theme music: "Red Warrior. In addition to "Kill Bill," which featured a samurai sword that sprayed blood all over the screen, "The Last Samurai" also attracted the attention of countless people, with its combination of East and West represented by Japanese culture. Unlike "Kill Bill", which highlights an exaggerated alternative style, "The Last Samurai" really emphasizes the spiritism of sacrificing everything for the sake of conviction, which is exactly what Americans couldn't understand before.
During the Pacific War, the conflict between the United States and Japan was not just a matter of hatred between countries, but also a matter of different cultural ideologies that could not be reconciled. Japanese people can not understand why the American soldiers captured will be willing to be captives and not contain the humiliation of suicide, the Americans also do not understand the Japanese soldiers will be defeated after cutting off the abdomen to thank such behavior. And now, the Americans have always held a very strong interest in Eastern culture, but also very confused about the contradictory attitude, many countries in the East and their original humanistic concepts are diametrically opposed to what they originally thought, but they are still reasonable to their own country's cultural perspective to the East of the world of the various things that happen, but did not, or is not willing to change the way of thinking to look at these things. Therefore, the films they make related to Eastern culture are often conceived on the basis of their ideas and westernized, and the end result is usually a commercial film with confused concepts and inverted logic that seeks only visual pleasure, without any practical theory. But some directors still understand the importance of this point, although they can not fully understand the true meaning of Eastern culture, at least in this film, can be considered as the East and the West of the cultural ideological concepts of a collision. The story is set in Japan during the Meiji Restoration, where the samurai are gradually becoming victims of the transition of the times, but their strong beliefs until death prevents them from accepting this reality. As a result, an army of samurai, led by Katsumoto, the head of the Imperial Samurai, starts a riot in order to survive, hoping to bring the government to its senses through war. From the traditional American perspective, these men were just a bunch of ignorant, barbaric, backward organizations stuck in the cold war era of swords and knives, and would eventually be wiped out. However, Nathan, an American general invited by the Japanese government, is sensitized by the spirit of Bushido after being captured and eventually becomes a member of the samurai, and together they go into battle to fight against the odds and ****. These samurai also became the film described the sad heroes, the last remnants of the samurai flew to the enemy's fire until the scene of all the fallen, to give a person is definitely a spiritual shock and touched, in order to the heart of the noble beliefs ultimately died on the battlefield, that is a kind of beyond the life of the honor, which is expressed through the film of the spirit of the Japanese samurai the most extreme and perfect portrayal.
Perhaps friends who have studied Japanese history will not recognize the historical authenticity of this film, but the main theme of the film is to promote the spirit of Japanese samurai loyalty and righteousness in a relatively real historical context, Tom Cruise played Nathan is an indispensable role. Before he came to Japan, he had made great achievements during the Civil War, but because he had killed countless innocent lives and the guilt was immense, and after the war, he was depressed, feeling that the world no longer has the things he seeks. It is not until he arrives in Japan that the spirit of Bushido stirs his heart, and he realizes what he truly seeks in the life of a samurai, vowing to live and die with his comrades in a foreign land. It's not just the tragic heroism of "Braveheart" that moves people to realize that even if Eastern and Western cultures are different in form, they're all the same in essence.
The Fifth Element
Era: 1997
Genre: Sci-fi/Action
Director: Luc Besson
Region: USA/France
Theme music: The Diva Dance
If I had to choose a classic sci-fi movie to put in the movie, I'd probably go with the classic. to put in, I'd probably go with Matrix II-III, Star Wars Prequel Episode I - The Phantom Menace, and T2, all of which personally seemed like such classic masterpieces at the time. But "The Fifth Element" does have a fantastic element different from the general science fiction film, can let people watch not only will remember its stimulating visual effects, but also to the movie itself is filled with a kind of amazing design imagination by the breathtaking, we must know that this is still the 20th century film, but also the French commercial blockbusters impact on the Hollywood one of the most successful. In addition to the high-tech Hollywood-style set decoration, the costume design of these characters in the future world is also very accurate, whether it is the orange red-haired beauty played by Milla Jovovich, Gautier, who starts with a duct tape outfit and then a kung fu backpack to set off her unearthly innocence, or the male female "super cool" who wears a Victorian collar and black demonic outfit. Or the Victorian-collar black demonic outfit worn by the boy-girl "super cool", or the futuristic Hitler-like look of the multi-purpose gun-wielding baddie Zorg, who embodies a dictator and psychopath, all of them portray each of the characters in an unmistakable way, which is very insightful. In addition, "The Fifth Element" creates a unique atmosphere of French cinema in a futuristic sci-fi setting that is light and witty, never deliberately solemn and serious, and romantic and delicate, never highlighting the tension and thrill, which makes people feel that the plot is not new, but it's still very tasty when you watch it again a few times.
If I had to choose a director to deserve the title of "all-rounder", I think I would definitely choose Luc Besson. Almost every one of his films is a different genre - gunfight, action, documentary, romance, sci-fi, epic, thriller, kung fu, animation ............ - and he seems to be trying his hand at every genre in the world, regardless of the fact that at the time, he's only directing ten films, as he claims. Whether or not his backtracking on his word that he would only direct ten films was a ploy to attract media attention and keep his work in the spotlight, at least the anticipation of his fans shows that his work has always been in the limelight. From the time "The Fifth Element" grossed hundreds of millions of dollars at the box office, the media began to criticize him for his stylistic shift, accusing him of not being able to stand the lure of money and beginning to succumb to the commercial world of Hollywood, abandoning the emotionally delicate and narrative elegance of his original works. But in my opinion, his ideal is not just to be a French director who can be praised by the outside world, but to change a pattern. The history of French cinema is not too short, and in the eyes of the world, France can only export literary films, just as India, the second largest country in cinema, can only produce song and dance films. Nowadays, with the rapid development of science and technology, just relying on art films is far from being able to satisfy the public's tastes, and French films will be eliminated sooner or later if they stagnate in terms of themes and genres and don't try to innovate. Therefore, there must be someone who will break the rules, even if he or she may be ridiculed by the world, one day they will know what a noble contribution he or she has made to the future of French cinema. Luc Besson wants to be such a person.
Purple Sunset
Date: 2001
Genre: War/Drama
Director: Feng Xiaoning
Region: China
Theme Music: "Purple Sunset"
Okay, I'll admit it does seem a bit cobbled together to put this one out. I don't know why I'm reviewing a domestic or anti-Japanese movie, but I did have an indescribable feeling after watching it for the first time N years ago. Let's start with the failing side of the movie. This has been in the movie channel reruns no less than eight hundred and sixty times tear-jerking (yawn to tears) anti-Japanese theme film, although it has taken a lot of small and large awards, but the filming technology of the hard wounds and the concept of the creation of a series of cheesy set of criticisms, so that the audience public opinion from the objective and subjective point of view are unable to give the film too much praise. As the sixth installment of Feng Xiaoning's "War and Peace" series, "Purple Day" has the status of the apex of patriotic and humanitarian thoughts throughout the series, but it disappoints most people, and this is for a reason. Feng Xiaoning is in fact a very talented director, but his vision is not high and his ambition is not far. From his films, we can see that he only wants to cling to the domestic system of melodramatic themes, and survives under the inertia of the traditional domestic film mindset without thinking about progress. This kind of stubborn thinking has completely limited his talent, and he lacks the kind of boldness of an international director. No matter how distinct the subject matter is, and how intentional the visual landscape is, the film is still a change of scenery, and will eventually be gradually eliminated by the yawns and even curses of the audience, whose aesthetic standard is rising faster than the price of commodities.
And again, it's commendable. As a young person, I don't disregard anti-Japanese movies. It's not that I value the bitter history of China's old society, or that I hate the Japanese empire so much, but I have to admit a reality: Chinese movies have developed to the present day by relying on the anti-Japanese war genre led by the Eighth Route Army (Eighth Route Army) and the Communist Party of China (CPC). In terms of this theme alone, "Purple Sun" has reached a peak. Europe and the United States, no matter how shocking the scenes of the big war movies, its main theme is to let people remember the history of those wars and wars to bring the suffering of mankind, etc., their own country's wars, the people of their own country have the most profound understanding. To use the movie to let the present Chinese people do not forget the indelible history of the revolutionary war, the current domestic war theme works are still with Hollywood's high level of large-scale production, but put aside the intuitive scenes of war, reflecting the real sense of war can still be interpreted with other shooting angles. Feng Xiaoning's concept is unique in that a Chinese refugee, Yang Yufu (representing the suffering Chinese people), a Soviet female soldier, Nadya (as a gesture to help liberate the country), and a young and ignorant Japanese schoolgirl, Akiba (the true form of the Japanese people at that time) become the main characters of the story, and they go from antagonizing each other and not understanding each other to supporting each other to form a friendship under the desperate situation of a vast forest area. The film on the embodiment of the brutal side of the war also do more real point, in addition to shouting the Japanese surrender of the end of the war Qiu Ye Ye was killed by a gunshot, the Japanese soldiers burning sacks of dying Chinese laborers, assassination of Yang Yufu's mother, the Japanese officer driving a warplane shot down the reluctance to do the human missile Qiu Ye's boyfriend, as well as the announcement of Japan's surrender, the Japanese military officers to force the local Japanese people to commit mass suicide, etc., are more than a direct perspective of the soldiers on the battlefield blood and flesh, and the Japanese officers to force the local Japanese people to kill themselves. angle shots of soldiers on the battlefield in blood and flesh kind of approach is much more profound.
Personally, I think the center of the film is still the mutual feelings between Yang Yufu and Qiuye. Yang Yufu's hatred of the Japanese and the war is deep-rooted, the audience sympathized with, can be said to be obvious, from his sentence "so finished?" One can see the kind of unwillingness to grieve after all the suffering but unexplained end, and at one point spreads this hatred onto Autumn Leaf. While the pain of the autumn leaves themselves are unable to express, their own country initiated the war, but they are y involved, she can not bear their own suffering but also by the reality of the hatred of others, perhaps the last tragic and poignant end is also a kind of liberation. In fact, the film brings more than just the cruelty of the war itself to reflect on, for the current Chinese and Japanese people can not avoid the hidden sense of national hatred between the people, directly or indirectly embodied in various events, these are self-evident and difficult to change. No matter how the relationship between China and Japan will be in the future, and how the mutual attitudes of the two peoples will change, we should at least look at this history objectively and correctly, both the Chinese people and the Japanese people were victims of suffering at that time. Therefore, it should not be the common people who are hated by the common people.
- About the music -
Finally, let's talk about the theme music of the seven films I chose: "Prologue-The Highest Point" in Perfume uses soft psychedelic female voices to depict the olfactory world that Grenouille felt, with a strong seductive color, which attracts people y and gradually stirs up the dark and evil side of human nature. The Lord of the Rings III - The Return of the King" soundtrack album was highly rated at the time, and here is only a selection of the most titled "The Return Of The King", the final war finally ended in victory, peace, laughter, light, honor, happiness, all of which came one after another along with the people's hope. Peace, laughter, light, honor, happiness, all this comes with people's hope one after another, and the hardships and tribulations of the past can all be left behind; "Kill Bill" picks one of the most classic "Battle Without Honor Or Humanity", needless to say, typical of the shocking appearance of the music of the big man; "Millennium Actress"'s "Chiyoko no Tiyama" is a tune that runs through the whole process. The soundtrack album contains three versions, roughly divided into teenage years, youth and middle age, and here MODE-2 (youth) is selected, Chiyoko's stage between innocence and youth and maturity and stability, and also the stage of longing for the person she is looking for; The Last Samurai's soundtrack is absolutely excellent, but after carefully enjoying it once again, I found that I didn't find any music that could completely inspire the sadness and emotion. Tracks, "Red Warrior" is a relatively good one, as if immersive into the magnificent war; "The Fifth Element" in the star Octopus songstress Diva sings the song "Diva Song" is a classic, the first half of the song is Donizetti's Italian operatic aria "Lucia Di Lammermoor (scented candles have been burned)", the second half of the song is interspersed with rhythm and rhythm, and the second half of the song is interspersed with rhythm and rhythm. The second half of the song is interspersed with the fast-paced "The Diva Dance (Goddess Dance)", not to say that after listening to the Vitas song feels so familiar, here is only an excerpt of "The Diva Dance"; "Purple Day" is also needless to say, the theme music is still quite sensational, the violin melody around the entire plot development, reflecting the hatred of each other in the depths of people's hearts yearning for peace and tranquility, which is aptly described as the "purple day", the theme music. Peace and tranquility, can be said to be just right.