Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri: Deconstructed Anger

Undoubtedly, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, who shines brilliantly at the Golden Globe Award, is the most talked about film recently. The unanimous praise from both fans and film critics has also made us expect that he will win several golden statuettes at the Oscar in the future.

The story is actually very simple. The daughter of the hostess was raped and killed, and the police chief couldn't find the murderer, so the hostess rented three billboards that had not been used since 1986 and wrote down the protest slogan. The director had cancer for a few months, and he didn't want his wife and daughter to see the worst of him. Together with these three protest slogans, he shot himself.

Generally speaking, a simple story can be ended after the director has committed suicide. But the movie added more details to make the whole movie full.

In the setting of character background, Mildred, the heroine, divorced, and her daughter and son followed her; Director Willoughby is a man with a sense of justice recognized, trusted and supported by the whole town. He also has a pair of well-behaved children, an interesting and hardworking wife, and his subordinate Dixon also sincerely loves him.

The remaining characters are: it is unclear whether it is because of the inner sense of justice or whether the billboard of a simple businessman owns a merchant; The ex-husband who has a domestic violence against her in the mouth of the hostess; The raped and murdered daughter who appeared for 1 minute and 4 seconds; A son who relaxes the family atmosphere with less skillful teasing methods; The mayor's only dwarf (Dinraki always makes me play in an instant); Female black friends; Black men who helped repaint billboards; The deputy has a racist mother and a white male who is suspected of killing the real murderer.

A news event that is so simple that even major media don't want to cover it, an ordinary case that can't make a splash in unsolved criminal cases in the United States, and a social reflection that people in a small town think that the behavior of the heroine is too extreme, through these "extra actors" who appear for a short time, the film becomes heavy.

Some people say that since the sheriff committed suicide, three letters have promoted the development of the plot. But objectively speaking, in addition to the main characters, directors and screenwriters have made the optimal solution to human nature.

For example, Mrs. Willoughby, who just lost her husband, gave Willoughby's letter to Mildred. Obviously, in her opinion, those three billboards are the culprit who forced her husband to death, so if it were me, I would never convey this letter truthfully, or maybe after a long time, I would give it to her after I calmed down.

Another example is the black man who helped repaint the billboard. Obviously, it is not his job to help Mildred. Is that out of kindness or because you hate that racist deputy sheriff?

On the other hand, it seems that the crew has made an optimal solution to human nature, but in fact, they are also faced with a practical problem. Even though everyone loves Willoughby very much, when the billboard is really put up, only two residents will "call the police" to show that they are on the side of the director.

Whether the priest who went to Mildred's house and tried to persuade her to take down the billboard was because he didn't want the town to become chaotic, or whether he really tried to influence the hostess with "love" was even more unknown.

judging from the performance of the film, most residents show a posture of "nothing to do with themselves, hanging high". Even though everyone was sorry for Willoughby's death, no one really did anything to remember the director. From another perspective, this non-conflict just reflects Mildred's hatred of social "inaction".

So, in my opinion, with Willoughby's death as the dividing line, the film may only be deconstructed by plot advancement. But what if the woman put up the billboard as the dividing line between the emotions expressed in the film?

why is the director's film called Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri? Perhaps from the beginning, the director looked further, just like the dialogue between Mildred and Dixon at the end of the film.

going back to the film plot, in fact, from the perspective of outsiders, a mainstream, commercial and successful film is nothing more than "artistic tension" or "drama conflict". A profound beginning, a tortuous process, and an emotional catharsis at the end. It can be called a good movie, but it can't be called an excellent movie.

The genius of director MacDonald lies in that he has given the audience many "preset characters" in traditional films. According to the brief plot summarized at the beginning, the "preset" of this film should be: an overstaffed police station, a bully sheriff, a dog's leg doing whatever he wants, the protagonist suffering and struggling with society, and finally the third party intervening or the hostess saving herself.

but he didn't do it. when we looked at all the presets, it suddenly flipped.

Mildred didn't take any drastic measures, but told the facts in peaceful and objective sentences through billboards. Willoughby is the only principle that is full of sense of justice and works for himself by "maintaining peace". Dixon, who seems to have racial discrimination, still has the kindness and persistence endowed by the word "justice" in his heart.

But except for Willoughby, the director of justice, Mildred dares to kick his pussy when someone throws a drink bottle at the window, even if the other person is only a student and even if the other person is only a female student. After learning that Willoughby committed suicide, Dixon took all his grievances out on the billboard, and the advertiser who repeatedly challenged him was beaten up by Dixon and then dropped from the second floor.

In the end, Mildred was carried away by anger and set fire to the police station, while Dixon seemed to be reborn and began to help solve the case.

So, when you watch the whole film, you can understand that the director is actually not showing a special group, but filming a conflict faced by all human society.

An ordinary mother, an ordinary policeman and a group of ordinary people living in their own lives are linked to each other through a case. And the connection and conflict between them are magnified infinitely under the director's lens, until we think, what choice would we make if we were in the same position?

In fact, there is no optimal solution to the whole event, and it is precisely because of the complexity of human personality that it is impossible to predict the trend of the event.

Mildred, who swears and calls her daughter a "bitch", will believe that it is the reincarnation of her daughter when she sees the deer, and will play a role in children's slippers. Advertisers who only squint at the secretary are still willing to pour Dixon a glass of juice, insert a straw and put it on the table even if Dixon is seriously injured and hospitalized.

In the film, such moments of "brilliant humanity" are all turned into details that are not easily perceived, which promotes the development of the plot.

If you fast-forward through the movie, you will definitely think that it is a "red and professional" white-left "politically correct" movie. However, when you carefully watch it from beginning to end, you will definitely get confused again.

Because in this movie, apart from the rapist and the passer-by who boasted that he raped and killed women, there is no villain in the traditional sense and no decency in the traditional sense.

As we discussed at the beginning of the article, at the end of the film, Mildred and Dixon talked in the car, and all they had to do was "discuss it on the road" about depriving a person of his most precious life.

We "think" the decent Mildred and the "villain" Dixon finally came together to catch the murderer.

At the beginning of the film, there is an Irish folk song-"The Last Rose in Summer", and there is a sentence in the lyrics that means "When the loved one has passed away, who wants to be desolate alone in this dark world".

At the end of the film, Anne covers the song buckskin stallion blues from the album AT MY WINDOW released by the folk group Townes Van Zandt in 1987, in which there is a sentence "If I had your love forever, Sail into the light of day".

As if there was an echo in tandem, it gently wrapped up the raging fire on the billboard, in the police station and in Mildred and Dixon's heart.

Maybe MacDonald didn't want to make a weathervane movie. He just wanted to tell you a story that might not be ordinary with a black humor that escaped anger.