Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk

Recommended index: four stars +.5

Delicate index: four stars +.5

Basic information

Type: plot

Screenwriter: Jean-Christopher Castries

Director: Ang Lee

Starring: joe alwyn. Ang Lee, as an old-timer in the Jianghu, never makes moves easily, but if he takes action, it will attract worldwide attention, and praise will follow. Many of his masterpieces, such as Brokeback Mountain and Fantasy Drifting of the School of Youth, have proved this point.

I watched "Midfield War" last night. When I saw Billy, the male actor, standing motionless on the stage as a clown to please the American public, I almost burst into tears.

when the movie was over, I heard the girl behind me sigh, "I can't understand what I shot."

There is a great controversy about the word-of-mouth of this film, especially in Europe and America, where there is a strong demand for film commercialization. Metacritic, a website that can be called nirvana in fire of film critics, scored only 53 points for "Half-time War" (Ang Lee's other work "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 An Shu's new work is that it is a good cow with ten exclamation points.

When writing the film review of An Shu's movie "Midfield War", you should watch the film several times, at least to deepen your understanding of the story. Because this film has just been released, and the technical specification is 12 frames /4K/3D, the ticket price is very expensive, so I can only watch it once, and there is very little information about "Midfield War" on the Internet. Then I can only write a film review based on my memory. If there is something wrong in the middle story, you can leave me a message and we can communicate together.

What's the story in "Midfield War"

Baidu Encyclopedia has a lot of explanations, but I don't think it's correct. To understand this story, the best starting point is a technology: 12 frames /4K/3D shooting format.

Everyone is not engaged in technology, and they may not know much about frames, K, D. In short, this format is the highest standard shooting format in the world. It is said that only five theaters in five cities in the world, including new york, L.A., Beijing, Shanghai and Taibei, can meet this broadcasting requirement.

Uncle An is not Macaron, and he is not obsessed with technology. The reason why he adopted this technology has his own explanation:

"In any case, movies are ultimately human feelings, and they still have to serve the art, the story, the characters and the drama. I never feel that technology is here and art is on the other side. " What An Shu means is that technology serves for telling stories.

When outsiders understand this sentence, it basically feels like nonsense. Of course, the technology of making movies serves the story, otherwise why is it called the technology of making movies?

you are wrong, my friend. In my opinion, the film "Midfield War" must be shot with this technology, so that the audience can be close to the heart of the male actor 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 in Midfield War. He has no story, only a position.

Some people say that you are being ridiculous again. If there is no story, there will be no connection, and the story will not be interesting. What is a movie?

Well, it seems that I have to admit that the story you told must be connected, but you should also listen to me finish this "not a story, only a position" story:

Billy committed a crime because he stood up for his sister Catherine and taught his brother-in-law. Joining the army as a soldier 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 who believes in karma. He exercises Billy in the army by his own method of training new recruits.

Billy is on duty with Class B in Iraq, and has seen too much information from another country, such as the eyes of Iraqi children on American soldiers: anger, hatred, panic, greed, confusion and cowardice; For example, the Iraqi people are suspicious of American soldiers, and they fight with the US military with their shells and lives.

Mushroom and Class B were seriously injured in a battle with jihadists, and were almost taken away by the jihadists. When Billy saw that the mushroom was in trouble, he braved the bullets and drove away, killing one of the jihadists and saving the mushroom. However, in the end, the mushroom was seriously injured and died.

The battle of mushroom sacrifice was originally a small battle that was common 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 picture of Billy bravely saving his comrades-in-arms, Billy got a silver badge, and he and Class B became American heroes.

in order to serve politics with the main theme of war, the U.S. government recalled everyone in Class B to return 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 Class B that everyone in Class B would be paid $1, as long as they were willing to participate in movies related to the Iraq war. Money cheered 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 home as an American hero two days ago, especially Billy's mother, and her son was very proud as 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 strongly opposes her brother's going to serve in Iraq after touring the country for publicity because she joined the army for her own sake and entered the dangerous place of 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 Billy looked glum when faced with the promise of 1 thousand dollars, as if Billy had his own ideas.

In the last football open halftime performance, Billy and others performed with Beyonce, the right girl and others. As American heroes, Billy and Class B are behind all the seemingly beautiful scenery. In fact, no one in China takes them seriously.

Stadium spectators 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 scold them for cursing. Don't ask why, I will scold you if I am happy. As an American hero, you can still beat me in public. The busybodies said they were trench gays, and there was no basis, so they said, what can you do to me? ; The owner of the football team regards them as a tool to make money. In short, everyone has a feeling that Class B is not called the American Heroes Propaganda Team, but rather called the Zoo Heroes Tour, because they are not regarded as heroes.

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

After the halftime performance of the Thanksgiving rugby open, Norm, the owner of the rugby team, called Billy to talk to the current monitor of Class B, Tim. 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, Nome. I can't give you 1, yuan. If you don't do it for 5, yuan, you will leave immediately. You don't need me to make a movie or something.

In the face of being squeezed by the profiteers of Damme, Billy and Damme have defended the dignity of Class B: 5, won't do, but 1, must! This is a highlight of the film. I'll talk about it later. The negotiation itself naturally collapsed, because this was the last publicity of Class B. After the government arranged things, everyone in Class B had to go back to Iraq to be a world policeman. Class B didn't earn the $1,, and his sister Catherine didn't keep Billy. Finally, Billy followed the troops back to the battlefield in Iraq, and the story ended.

I processed the above story, and reversed the original order, because the film is a cross between two narrative lines (reality and memory).

Now that the story is over, what exactly is Billy's role and what does he do in Midfield War? What was his campaign?

Billy has been fighting, but you didn't realize it: Billy has two important lines, which 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, and the lens continues from the living room to the bedroom. On the bed, the picture of Billy having sex with the rainbow is gray. That is to say, in Billy's mind, leaving home and returning to the battlefield after dinner is his first choice, and being with the rainbow is also what he wants, but he himself has denied 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 explained with lines that Billy was still a virgin, which means Billy and Rainbow just kissed and didn't have sex. Billy met the woman who wanted to be with her for life, 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 battle in midfield (growth, identity and more) started!

2, Battle

Two days before Billy's last performance, Catherine told Billy that as long as Billy was willing to cooperate, she had the ability to keep Billy at home instead of obeying the government's orders and returning to the battlefield in Iraq. What is Catherine's ability? Has she reached a certain 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. If Billy doesn't go to Iraq to rebel, he may not be profitable, so maybe Catherine has not reached a * * * understanding with Noam. 2. I was very tired after swimming, and I watched such a brain-burning movie in the evening. I only watched it once. I can't guarantee the truth of some plots.

At the beginning of the article, I said that I almost burst into tears when I saw Billy standing on the stage like a puppet. At that time, there was music on the stage, and the lyrics probably meant: The reason why I love your soldier, because you are a hero, will give me tears and happiness.

When Billy and others left the venue, Rainbow appeared to say goodbye to Billy. Billy told Rainbow that he actually had a chance to be with Rainbow forever. Rainbow didn't understand what Billy said. Rainbow's answer was, "Aren't you a hero?" One implication is that I think you are a hero before I want to be infected and driven by you and sleep with you, otherwise who do you think you are?

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

As for the bright spot, when Billy and Norm haggled with Tim, they said, "Five thousand won't do, but one hundred thousand!" It's a clever use. Let's ignore whether the 5, yuan is a down payment or more or less. For example, if there is such an opportunity, if I give you 1, yuan, will you let me sleep for a month and then give it back to you? The answer is generallyno. What if I pay 1 million yuan? Do you still promise not to promise me this condition?

So personally, I think that apart from telling the story, does the director have another meaning: the director himself won the war hero aura of Class B, telling the audience that Class B is just trading, and soldiers are just their profession.

As for Midfield War, many people say that the film contains anti-war, social reality, this and that highlights and ideas, so you can talk nonsense. As a director who is good at mastering delicate emotions, all Ang Lee's thoughts are still on the character Billy, showing the character well, whether it is anti-war or other, it is just a shell and its own aura, but the premise is to shape Billy vividly.

That's why the film uses the highest technical specification of 12 frames /4K/3D, so that Billy's face is shot in the film countless times, and the world appearing from Billy's perspective appears countless times, all of which are expressing Billy's inner battle about the stalemate of this world to the audience.

Thinking contained in the film

There is a classic case in Buddhist scriptures: when a wise man points his finger at the moon, a fool looks forward to it.

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

Everyone's life may have infinite possibilities, but there are many jumpers in the world, both in thinking, behavior and expression. It is possible to live. Before Zhang Youyi was 18 years old, in her cognition, she might just be a husband and wife, and never thought of going abroad. Who would have thought that she would not only go abroad, but also become a professional manager?

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

If you act according to this thinking, the wise man points to the moon and nobody cares about it, because no one is a fool. It's not that they can't see the moon, but they are willing to accept that their fingers are truth.

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

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

I'm afraid to do anything now that I've cast my name. I must safeguard the dignity of my world, and so must I.