Luc Besson's new film "Dog God" has undergone a "surprise appearance" at the 7th Pingyao International Film Festival and a Chinese premiere in Shanghai, and will be fully released in theaters on December 15. This is a typical Luc Besson style film, with a balance between genre commerciality and authorship artistry, and at the same time, it has a very fresh creativity and expression in narrative, imagery, and even themes and concepts.
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The story focuses on the growth process of a "marginal person". The short time of inquiry after the protagonist's "crime of passion" has formed a correspondence and fit with the long growth time in the past, and the past will never disappear, but it is just necessary to find the right time to be mentioned again, and only in the face of the right object can it be told. Because the inquirer has a "pain" that seems similar to his own, the inquirer has the possibility of having an in-depth conversation with the inquirement. The story unfolds in the structure of "interrogation transcript", the cramped space of the inquiry room, and the vast time and space of the protagonist Douglas from the time of his childhood, jump in and out between language narration and image reproduction, the rhythm is free and distinct, and the narrative is clear and organized.
The film has delicate expressions and intense emotions, and the narrative is inseparable from the audience and has a deep meaning. In the relationship between people, dogs, and gods, there is a detail of the problem - the young Douglas was locked in the kennel by his father, and his brother, as the father's ** and the executor, hung a "in the name of God" banner on the kennel, and after being blocked by two letters, the banner looked at the reverse side and became "dog man" from the perspective of the protagonist. The mysterious mirror correspondence between the two is a coincidence, but the use of this coincidence is very creative, and it becomes the central metaphor of the film: the union of man and dog is the opposite of God, but in another sense, they are the embodiment and part of God. The protagonist's affection for the dog is dedicative and unconditional, and the barrier-free communication between humans and dogs is also religious, with a priori and mysterious that does not need to be explained. In this way, the meaning enters the narrative level, and the relationship between humans and dogs breaks through the paradigm and interest of traditional "pet movies" or "dog movies", from common loyalty, ** and love, etc., to crime, marginality, physical disability, transgender and marginal growth, etc. The audience should notice and really feel that the "darkness" of "Dog God" is not negative, because it is against the ugliness of the world (such as the oppression of gangsters, the greed of insurance officers, and the violence of fathers and brothers), which is a kind of refutation and correction of negativity, so it will produce a different kind of **sex and warmth.
The dog in "Dog God" is not the background, not the embellishment in the story, or even just the empathy or imitation of people, but the family members and gang members of the male protagonist, which is a fusion of family affection and brotherhood. Dogs are group-like, personified, and Luc Besson makes them further individualized, even actionable, on the basis of this. Several dogs that have completed important tasks have impressed the audience, such as the corgi who sent the **, the Doberman Pinscher who guarded the door, etc., are all very important supporting roles, and the three dog group scenes of "burglary", "gangster fighting" and "rescue and prison escape" are also shown in the movie with clear lines and sharp edges.
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The empathy and symbiosis between marginal people and stray dogs also benefits from the special performance of space in the film and the humanistic meaning that arises from it. the restraint and freedom of cramped spaces (dog cages, stray dog adoption homes, abandoned houses converted into human dog homes, interrogation rooms at police stations); the compensatory and vain of the stage space (the school's theatrical stage, the show's bar); The paradoxical relationship between the imaginary spiritual space and the material space (streets, suburbs, churches) forms a three-in-one narrative and a carrier of meaning.
The transcript of the interrogation asks about the man's sad and hidden legendary growth path, and outlines the tortuous process of how many injuries a boy has to suffer and how many roads he has to go through to become a man, and this is still a man who does not have sound legs and has to hide under cross-dressing from time to time. The combination of secrecy, legend and sincere dedication to love gives rise to the enchanting charm of the religious "God's idiot", which is in the same vein as the protagonists of Luc Besson's films, such as "Killer Leon", "The Fifth Element", "Angel A", "Superbody", etc., which is also the process of Douglas from "man" to "god".
Under Luc Besson's excellent directorial scheduling, the cinematography and **, character portrayal and animal performances of "Dog God" all reflect a high standard, laying a solid foundation for the landing of this "divinity". Because it involves stage performances, the two levels of ** are also highlighted like "play within a play", such as "Lily Marlene" and "Romantic Life" and other nostalgic old songs and "The Godfather" classics**, electronic hip-hop resonate after the contrast, under the role of Luc Besson's "second dialogue" of the film, life and drama inside and outside the stage are intertwined. The role of photography is even more so: a large number of interior shots, light and art rely on a sense of crime and thrilling genre to create a dark and magnificent, dirty and neat environment; The sports photography, especially the low-camera sports shots that express and mimic the dog's point of view, is perfect, and the dogs' appearance, running, biting, and coordination are all amazing. Caleber Landry Jones, who won the Best Actor in Cannes with "Netrom", played many roles, and even "lived" robots in "Finch", successfully portrayed the male protagonist Douglas. The dogs' performances are also excellent, and the chemistry between humans and dogs in the performance may be felt by the audience off the screen.
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What is insulted and damaged is the kind heart and innocent love, where people's legs can't reach, so many four-legged dogs can reach, they are human wings. Violence is the firewall against violence, understanding and love are the signal guns for finding companions, and humans and dogs become partners with smooth communication and intimacy, which is an effective cross-media, cross-culture, and cross-species communication of prejudice, closedness, and self-righteousness. Such a story will eventually present a fairy-tale sense of innocence, but also a sense of sublime based on pain, which is the salvation of breaking out of the cage, a freer and purer pilgrimage. The stubbornness and innocence of "Forrest Gump", the singing and resistance of "clowns", fall into Luc Besson's "The Dog God", which is passion, warmth and sorrow, and is the secret legend and innocent ritual of why the "man with the dogs" is called a god.
*: Shangguan News Author: Cheng Bo).