In 2013, a Hollywood science fiction film starring only two actors won seven awards at the 86th Academy Awards. It was praised by Cameron, the director of "Avatar". "The best space-themed movie in history", the science fiction movie "Gravity" was evaluated by "The Hollywood Reporter" as "completely overturning science fiction movies".
So do you really understand such a movie that has received many praises and has become a "milestone in the history of science fiction movies"?
The story of the entire movie is actually very simple: two astronauts on the Explorer space shuttle, Ryan Stone and Wofsky, were attacked while performing maintenance work on the Hubble Telescope outside the cabin. Under the attack of space debris, Ryan Stone failed to evade the attack in time and broke away from the space shuttle and floated in space. When her colleague Wofsky was rescuing her, the rope connecting the two suddenly disconnected. Under the condition of insufficient oxygen, Wofsky took the initiative to give up his chance of life to Ryan Stone, and disappeared into the deep and dark space.
Dr. Stone, who finally returned to the cabin, experienced small crises and climaxes such as the space station being on fire, getting caught by a parachute during the escape, running out of fuel, trying to turn off the oxygen and trying to commit suicide, and finally successfully landing. After the climax of "Tiangong-1", it finally returned to Earth successfully.
At the beginning of "Gravity", the director used black screen subtitles to remind viewers who have become accustomed to the roaring spaceships and collision of weapons in space battles in Hollywood science fiction movies. Here, "there is no sound transmission." medium” space. The sound processing of the vacuum environment in the film actually serves the authenticity of the background, making the science fiction space real and perceptible. Out of consideration for authenticity, the film broke the audience's aesthetic habits and did not add the sound of spaceships like other science fiction films. Therefore, in the first shot at the beginning of the movie, the huge blue earth occupies most of the screen. It is nearly a minute into the movie that the audience recognizes the existence of the space shuttle through the dialogue between the two protagonists. When Wofsky was walking in space, and when Dr. Stone was swept into space, there were only the sounds of conversations and loud shouts due to panic, which profoundly reflected the helplessness, loneliness and insignificance of human beings in space.
The film uses a large number of long shots to show the vastness of space. At the beginning of the movie, the blue earth occupies most of the frame, and the vague dialogue lasted for nearly a minute before the "Explorer" began to appear. And in order to avoid the fatigue caused by long shots, the camera is always rotating slowly, from objective to subjective, from far to near, through changes in scenery and camera position, the range of character activities is smoothly presented to the audience. , and does not destroy the continuity of character movement and picture modeling at all.
"Space itself is a metaphor," said director Alfonso Cuaron. Humanity's desire to explore and conquer the universe has never stopped. There are many film and television materials with space as the background, and most of them depict an "Earth-style" imaginary space suitable for human survival. At the beginning of "Gravity", the director used black screen subtitles to highly restore a real space environment.
"Life cannot survive in space." This sentence seems to be a warning from space to human beings.
The deep, quiet and dark space has no conditions suitable for human survival. There is no oxygen and no medium for transmitting sound. And the conditions for survival in space created by humans - space shuttles, satellites, etc. will eventually lead to humans being trapped in a cocoon and reaping the consequences.
The movie uses real "space junk" in space as the source of a series of accidents, which is a reflection on the ecological damage caused by human beings' conquest of space. At the same time, space is a metaphor for the plight of human existence. Human beings who have lost gravity are floating and struggling in the vast universe. The seemingly vast universe is actually lonely, cold, and closed, which coincides with the living conditions of contemporary people.
Therefore, the concept of "home" in the film not only represents a living space, but also represents the habitat of the human soul.
Homes on Earth are big and small, but for Ryan Stone and Matt Wofsky, who are active in space, home and "Mother Earth" have the same meaning. Under the vast and spectacular space, what they talk about most is still the earth. The country music played by Wofsky during the mission, "Sunrise on the Nile", "Half of North America has no way to access the Internet", "Central Region", etc., are indescribable to them. intimacy.
After Ryan Stone completed the first test, she returned to the space station with almost no oxygen. At this time, she took off her space suit and floated in mid-air. The weightless state in the cabin caused her to curl up. The background picture was the floating tubes in the cabin. Due to the visual superimposition effect, Dr. Stone at this time was like a baby in the mother's body. The ropes that appeared again and again connecting her and Wofsky, and her and the space station, also have the metaphorical meaning of "umbilical cord". And all of this is "Made on Earth", and the connection with the space station is the connection with "Mother Earth".
When Dr. Stone returned to Earth on the "Tiangong-1", she landed in the sea. Ryan took off his space suit, opened the hatch and swam out of the water, which was a metaphor for the birth of a baby from the mother's womb filled with amniotic fluid. Almost 80% of the earth is composed of water. The origin of life is closely related to water. The evolutionary process of life is also from the ocean to the land. Dr. Stone leads from the water to the earth, which also symbolizes the evolutionary process of life.
When Dr. Ryan swam from the sea to the shore, she lay prostrate on the beach, her cheek pressed against the earth. The texture of the soil on the beach made her feel at ease. She couldn't help but say thank you, which was a sign of gratitude for life. , and also a tribute to Mother Earth. When she stood up little by little with trembling legs, powerful music played, and the director gave her a close-up shot of her feet, which was a very religious metaphor:
In ancient times In Greek mythology, the giant god Antaeus, the son of the earth goddess Gaia, was so powerful and invincible because when he fought with the enemy, as long as he stood on the earth, he could obtain a steady stream of power from Mother Earth. . The camera takes a close-up of his feet and takes an upward shot. Dr. Stone standing on the ground looks very tall, full of strength and confidence.
At the same time, the heroine’s escape journey into space is also a journey to find the meaning of life.
Twice throughout the film, Dr. Stone talks about her own daughter.
The first time was when she was found by Wolfsky, and when the two returned to the space station together, she told the story of the unexpected death of her daughter while she was driving. From that time on, the entire meaning of her life has collapsed. The death of her daughter has taken away all the joy of life from her. "I just drive with my head down and listen to the car radio, but I just turn it on and don't mind the content."
At this time, Dr. Stone was sad and desperate. When it came to her daughter for the second time, she had already experienced many tests, each time threatening her life, especially when the Soyuz ran out of fuel, she turned off the oxygen valve and tried to Committed suicide. In a coma, he dreamed of the deceased Wolski.
"Why do you have to live? What's the point of living?"
"The key is what you do now"
"If you plan to go back, you have to Cheer up and pick yourself up"
"You have to get down to earth and start living again"
Ryan was inspired by Wofsky to rediscover the meaning of life.
At this time, she has removed the heavy shackles she was burdened by the death of her daughter and has rediscovered the meaning of life. While operating the procedure calmly, she prayed to the deceased Matwo. Fitz:
You will see a little brown-haired girl with messy hair that is all tangled because she doesn’t like to comb her hair, but that’s okay. His name is Sarah, can you tell her that mommy found her red shoes, she's been looking for those shoes, they're actually under her bed, give her a big hug and a deep kiss for me, tell Her mother misses her. Tell her she is my angel and I am so proud. Tell her I will never give up and that I love her very much.
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The role of "daughter" is used twice in the movie to convey the creator's thoughts on the ultimate concern for the meaning of life. At the last moment, the heroine is preparing to break out of the Soyuz and go to Tiangong-1. The hopeful words "Stop driving alone" are a powerful declaration after she once again found the meaning of life.
With the support of the latest technology, the director created the most realistic virtual space for "Gravity". Through a journey of escape and rebirth, he explored the world free from the constraints of "gravity" The living conditions of human beings in space convey the director's thoughts on the ultimate concern for the meaning of life. At the same time, by showing the various "evil deeds" of human beings in space and the ultimate "reaping the consequences", it reflects on the increasing expansion of space by human beings. The road to conquest.