What kind of movie is Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk?

First of all, let me talk about the subjective feelings of watching movies from a personal point of view ~

Billy Lynn's long intermission walk.

Recommended index: four stars +0.5

Exquisite index: four stars +0.5

Basic information

Type: drawing

Screenwriter: Jean-Christopher Castries

Director: Ang Lee

Starring: joe alwyn, Kristen Stewart, etc

Release date: 20 16 1 1 month (domestic)

The day before yesterday, Ang Lee's new work "Billy Lynn's Long Midfield War" (hereinafter referred to as "Midfield War") was released, and then the film and television circle was shocked. As an old-timer in the Jianghu, Ang Lee never makes moves easily, but as long as he acts, he will attract worldwide attention and get rave reviews. Many of his masterpieces, such as Brokeback Mountain and The Fantasy Drifting of Youth School, have proved this point.

I watched Halfway through last night. I almost burst into tears when I saw Billy, the male host, standing motionless on the stage as a clown to please the American public. When the movie was over, I heard the girl at the back sigh, "I can't understand anything I shot." The word-of-mouth of this film is controversial, especially in European and American countries where there is a strong demand for film commercialization. Metacritic, a website that can be called the nirvana of film critics, scored only 53 points for its Half-time Battle (another work by Ang Lee, The Fantasy Drifting of Pi, scored 79 points on this website).

I have seen every movie of Uncle An, and I like them all. Uncle An is not a director who pleases the audience with strong plots, so many people feel bored and particularly sleepy when they look at Uncle An's works! Radish and cabbage have their own tastes. My feeling about Shu 'an's new work is that ten exclamation points are a good cow.

When writing the film review of An Shu's movie Halfway Out, we should watch the film several times, at least to deepen our understanding of the story. Because this film has just been released, the technical specification is 120 frames /4K/3D, so the ticket price is very expensive, and you can only watch it once, and there is little information about "Midfield War" on the Internet. Then I can only write film reviews from memory. If there is something wrong with the middle story, you can leave me a message and we can communicate together.

Next, talk about the movie itself in detail ~

1. What kind of story does "Midcourt War" tell?

When it comes to this question, Baidu Encyclopedia has a bunch of explanations, but I always feel that it is not right. To understand this story, the best starting point is a technology: 120 frames /4K/3D shooting format. Although everyone is not engaged in technology, they may not know much about the framework, K and D. In a word, this format is the highest standard shooting format in the world at present. It is said that only five cinemas in new york, L.A., Beijing, Shanghai and Taipei can meet this broadcasting requirement.

Uncle An is not macaroon, nor is he obsessed with technology. He uses this technology and has his own explanation:

"In any case, movies are people's feelings after all, and they still serve art, stories, people and drama. I never feel that technology is here and art is on the other side. " What An Shu means is that technology is for telling stories.

Outsiders understand this sentence, the basic feeling is nonsense. Of course, the filming technology serves the story, otherwise why is it called filming technology? You are wrong, my friend. In my opinion, the film "Midfield War" must be shot with this technology to make the audience close to the heart of the hero Billy Lynn.

The movie story is for people to see, and the content in the story tells the story of people. Billy Lynn is the man of the hour in midfield. He has no story, only a position.

Some people say that you are ridiculous again. Without stories, there is no connection, and stories are meaningless. What Is Cinema?

Well, it seems that I have to admit that your story must be related, but you have to listen to me tell this story "not a story, only a position":

Billy made a mistake because he supported his sister Catherine and taught her brother-in-law. Joining the army is Billy's only choice that satisfies everyone (except Catherine's opposition). After Billy joined the army, he was sent to Iraq. At this time, Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq had already fallen, and everything in Iraq was under the control of the US military. Billy's class is called Class B, and the monitor of Class B is called Mushroom. Mushroom is a thoughtful person and believes in karma. He trained Billy by training new recruits himself. Billy and Class B are on duty in Iraq, and they have seen too much information from another country, such as the way Iraqi children look at American soldiers: anger, hatred, panic, greed, confusion and cowardice; For example, the Iraqi people are suspicious of American soldiers, who fight with American troops with shells and lives.

Mushrooms and Class B were seriously injured in a battle with jihadists and almost taken away by them. Billy saw that the mushroom was in trouble, so he drove away in the rain of bullets, killed one of the jihadists and saved the mushroom. But in the end, the mushroom was seriously injured and died.

The battle of mushroom sacrifice was originally a common small battle in Iraq. But the picture of Billy bravely saving his comrades-in-arms was recorded by the camera of the army reporter and spread to the United States. Because of the photo of Billy bravely saving his comrades-in-arms, Billy won a silver badge, and he and Class B became American heroes. In order to serve the politics with war as the main theme, the American government recalled all the B-type people to China and let them tour the country for publicity. At the beginning of the story, Billy and others had only one last publicity activity, which was also the most important activity: performing at the halftime of the Thanksgiving rugby open. The rugby boss even asked the film producer Albert to promise to Class B that everyone in Class B would get a reward of100000 dollars as long as they were willing to participate in movies related to the Iraq war. Money cheers everyone in Class B, except Billy.

Why is Billy unhappy? Did he kill someone in Iraq and get the sequela of war trauma? Still too little money? In the movie, Billy was warmly welcomed by his family when he returned to China as an American hero two days ago, especially Billy's mother, whose son was very proud of being a hero. In this family, except for my sister Catherine, who is deeply worried about Billy, other family members are more proud than worried about Billy.

Catherine joined the army for her own sake and entered this dangerous place in Iraq. After touring the country, she strongly opposed her brother's service in Iraq. Sister is not only verbally opposed, Catherine said that as long as Billy is willing to cooperate with herself, then Catherine has the ability to keep Billy at home. At this time, Billy was faced with a choice, whether to follow his sister's advice and leave his comrades-in-arms or continue his career as a war machine.

Did Billy listen to Catherine? I don't know, but faced with the promise of100000 dollars, Billy looks glum, as if Billy has his own ideas.

In the half-time performance of the last football open, Billy and others performed on the same stage with big-name stars Beyonce and Mr. Right. As American heroes, Billy and Class B are behind all the seemingly beautiful scenery. In fact, no one in China takes them seriously.

The spectators in the stadium regard them as animals, because only animals can eat and kill people; Stadium staff regard them as procedures to complete their work, because they can only get off work after the procedures are completed step by step; The dancers on the stage called them names. Don't ask why, I will scold you when I am happy. As an American hero, you can still beat me in public. The busybodies say they are trench homosexuals, and there is no basis, so they say, what can you do to me? ; The owner of the football team regards them as tools to make money. In short, everyone has a feeling that Class B is not called the American Hero Propaganda Team, but called the Zoo Hero Tour, because it is not a hero.

Billy doesn't care about these, except for the sequela of war trauma and the interference of his sister's retirement. He fell in love with the cheerleader Rainbow (whose name I forgot) at first sight, and he added the rainbow to his fantasy about the future. Rainbow also worships American hero Billy. They meet for two hours and are intimate for … minutes.

After the halftime performance of the Thanksgiving Football Open, Noam, the owner of the football team, called Billy to talk with Tim, the current monitor of Class B. Because movies about the Iraq war are likely to be made, which means that Billy and others will be rich. I don't care what kind of hero you are, norm. I can't give you100000 yuan. If you don't do it for 5000 yuan, leave immediately. You don't need me to make a movie or anything.

Faced with the oppression of Damon's profiteers, Billy and Damon defended the dignity of Class B: 5000 won't do, it must be100000! This is a highlight of the film. I'll talk about this later. The negotiation itself naturally collapsed, because this was the last time that Class B was made public. After the government arranged things, everyone in Class B would go back to Iraq to be a world policeman. Class B didn't earn $654.38 million, and his sister Catherine didn't keep Billy. Finally, Billy followed the troops back to the battlefield in Iraq, and the story ended.

I have dealt with the above story, reversing the original order, because the film is crossed by two narrative lines (reality and memory).

After the story is finished, what is Billy's role and what does he do in the halftime war? What is his campaign?

Billy has been fighting, but you didn't notice: Billy has two important lines that were hidden by the director.

1, story structure

Through the lens language in the film, we can easily find that when Billy fantasizes in his own world, the dining table in Billy's living room is colored, the lens extends from the living room to the bedroom, and the picture of Billy and Rainbow making love in bed is gray. That is to say, in Billy's mind, leaving home after dinner and returning to the battlefield is his first choice, and being with the rainbow is also what he wants, but he himself denies this choice.

After an indoor interview in Class B, Billy and Rainbow fell in love at first sight and made out backstage. The director didn't film how they made out. At the end of the story, the director told Billy that he was still a virgin, which means that Billy and Rainbow just kissed and didn't have sex. Billy met the woman who wanted to spend his life with her, but he chose his own military status. That is, from that moment on, the story changed from the first act to the second act, and Billy's midfield battle (growth, identity, etc.) began!

2. Battle

Two days before Billy's last performance, Catherine told Billy that she had the ability to keep Billy at home as long as he was willing to cooperate, instead of following the orders of the government and returning to the battlefield in Iraq. What is Catherine's ability? Did she reach some understanding with Noam, the owner of the football team, and the psychologist: as long as Billy is willing to cooperate, for example, if Billy is sick, for example, if he follows Noam's suggestion to make low-priced movies, Billy may stay in China (this line can be ignored by everyone, 1, Noam makes movies with the help of the main theme, and if Billy doesn't go to Iraq to rebel, he may not make a profit, so maybe Catherine didn't reach an agreement with Noam. I was very tired after swimming, so I watched such a brain-burning movie at night. I only watched it once, and some plots are not guaranteed to be true. )

At the beginning of the article, I said that watching Billy stand on the stage like a puppet almost made me cry. At that time, there was music on the stage, and the lyrics probably meant: I love your soldier because you are a hero and will give me tears and happiness.

When Billy and others left the meeting, a rainbow appeared to say goodbye to Billy. Billy told Rainbow that he actually had a chance to be with Rainbow forever. Rainbow doesn't understand what Billy is saying. Rainbow's answer is: "Aren't you a hero?" The implication is that I want to be infected and driven by you and want to sleep with you, so I think you are a hero. Otherwise, who do you think you are?

The narration of this scene not only proves that Billy's choice to return to the battlefield is correct, but also shows the director's point of view, which makes the whole story more complete and saves all kinds of narration. There are many lines in the movie: "I'm not a hero, I'm just a soldier", "I'm going back, I made a promise, and I still have a long way to go", which subtly expresses Billy's heart. )

Regarding the bright spot, Billy and Norm bargained with Tim and said, "5 thousand won't do, it must be 100 thousand!" " This is a clever usage. Regardless of whether this 5000 yuan is a down payment or more or less. For example, if I give you 10 million, will you let me sleep for a month and then pay you back? The answer is usually no. What if I pay 100 million? Do you still promise not to promise me this condition?

So I personally think that besides telling stories, the director has another meaning: the director himself has won the aura of class B war hero, telling the audience that class B is just a transaction, and soldiers are just their profession.

As for "Midfield War", many people say that there is anti-war and social reality in the film, and there are some highlights and ideas. You can talk nonsense. As a director who is good at controlling delicate emotions, all Ang Lee's thoughts are still on Billy, which shows that this character, whether anti-war or otherwise, is just a shell and its own aura, but the premise is to make Billy vivid.

Therefore, the highest technical specifications of 120 frames /4K/3D are used in the film. Billie's face is photographed in the film countless times, and the world appears from Billy's perspective countless times, all in order to express Billy's inner battle about the world to the audience.

The ideas contained in the film

There is a classic case in Buddhist scriptures: a wise man points to the moon, and a fool looks forward to the wise man's hand.

So the fool's thinking is wrong? Their vision is not as far as that of the wise, but they live according to their own rules, and whatever the wise say and do must be correct.

Everyone's life may have unlimited possibilities, but there are many jumpers in the world, whether they are thinking, acting or expressing. It is possible to live. Before Zhang Youyi 18 years old, in her cognition, she might just be husband and wife, and never thought that she would go abroad. Who would have thought that she not only went abroad, but also became a professional manager?

But what is shown in the movie story is basically fixed. Every era has different values, and every era has different perspectives and thinking about watching the same movie. However, human nature is understandable. The world looks at Billy, and Billy looks at the world. He must have a place. When he grows up, he must grow up, too, because he has entered the world of adults (making friends with mushrooms and killing people), so he has to do things according to the rules of adults.

According to this line of thinking, no one cares if a wise man points to the moon, because no one is a fool. It's not that they can't see the moon, but they are willing to accept that fingers are truth.

In Descendants of the Sun, the hostess asked Dawei, if I had to choose one from my motherland, who would you choose? Dawei replied that it was the motherland. What a good theme education! I have a question. Does the captain love his motherland or his profession?

If this country launches a war unjustly, it is obvious that the war is only a continuation of politics and will continue. Is the sacrifice of some soldiers still meaningful? In film and television dramas, David must love his motherland, but if he is a warlord in reality, his world outlook must be maintained, even with his life.

I dare not do anything. I want to maintain the dignity of my world, and I must also maintain it!

The owner of the football team made a name for himself, so he tried his best to protect his world: interests and business maps. The movie stars in the movie just say hello to the hero politely, so as to maintain their calm image in the hearts of fans/or be afraid of having an affair (according to the camera language: in the background, the stars say hello to members of Class B such as Billy, with their backs to the camera and facing Class B).

In real life, there are no warlords. No matter what kind of warlord, Xiao San poisoned the main room in order to become a full member; The biography of Zhen Huan is staged every day in the office, and one plays to death. There is actually an undercurrent in the calm lake water.

Everyone has a yearning for a better life, and life is to experience fun, feel contrast, and learn the cognition and satisfaction in the relationship between people (father and son, neighbors, comrades, colleagues, etc.). In other words, everyone's vanity fair has an intersection, in which there is a kind of values that cannot be violated, and that is truth. Because this truth does not threaten everyone's interests, such as justice, kindness and dedication.

In minority music programs, everyone agrees that "I am a singer", and then a big advertisement comes, meaning that recognition can also be used.

In the eyes of the director, is the patriotic propaganda team Class B in nave War the same thing? We made our own warlords and arranged our own destiny. If you are obedient and safe, the whole world will be sunny. Billy finally chose the battlefield. This is his active choice. This is his life. When he was growing up, he could never control his helplessness.

In these strange worlds, Billy found his own way of life. Why should he accuse all kinds of people who regard American heroes as cakes to share the benefits? Let's go, let's go, everyone should learn to grow up.

Last question: Did Billy win in the end?

A complete movie, with a destination and an ending, seems to be standard, but I think a good movie is like life, and there is more than one possibility in life.

Don't ask me why I have the money to watch such an expensive movie. Members of Bona Studios give away a movie every birthday. I am the creator of Exclusive Memory, and I watch a lonely movie every year ... When I watch the movie again next year, you should have mushrooms around you.