兰闺艳血

Film Nior是上学时了解的概念

不过那时候没有对它产生兴趣 印象只停留在那本同名书籍的封皮上

那是bogart的照片 一个不怎么英俊的男人 但非常有魅力

特别是经过光影雕琢 令他透出巨大的神秘感

2016年打完了几场硬仗 开始能说服自己稍微休息一下

从阿郑那里拿了本介绍好莱坞经典时期电影的书

从秋天到冬天 看了很多那时的电影

我当然会喜欢江湖侠侣、马耳他之鹰、失落的周末之类的片子

却也很难忘记这个故事 又说不上它与我产生了怎样的联系

我会偶尔来这个页面 看看bogart那纠结的脸 念几遍那经典的台词

鬼使神差的沉浸一下

最近 总在大脑不断的超频后 短暂的在一氧化碳过量中产生些许的缺氧感

既疲惫又感性 于是在恍惚中与bogart的角色产生了些许的共鸣

长久沉浸在自己世界中的人 忽然因某个人 某个事件 被鲜活的唤醒

不论是悲伤、窃喜、孤独、失落、猜忌、想念……它们哪个在某一刻占了上风

单是那短暂的又活过几周的鲜活感 也的确是值得铭记的体会

“i was born when she kissed

I died when she left me.

I lived a few weeks while she loved me”

此刻想来 迸发出极端情绪的自己 或许也像是个需要被救赎的灵魂

要在强烈的波动中确定一些什么 或许是需要 也或是被需要

而本着大道至简的原则出发 跳出那些戏剧性建构的手段

由衷希望那些莫名其妙说的话 那些无序的咆哮 能变成理性的沟通

因为生活终究并不是电影 时间也并不会治愈一切

尼古拉斯.雷的电影总会将故事聚焦到性格极其不稳定的男人身上，比如《无因的反叛》里的詹姆斯.迪恩，比如《高于生活》里受药物影响逐渐黑化的中年男人。而本片里，鲍嘉饰演的暴躁落魄编剧斯蒂尔同样是一个性格不稳的男人。他邀请到家中研讨剧本的女人在回家的路上被杀，他成为第一嫌疑犯。女邻居劳雷尔出面帮他作证，证明其清白，随后两人陷入热恋，但斯蒂尔逐渐暴露了自己性格里暴躁甚至暴力的一面，尤其在杀人案的压力和来自他人的怀疑的压力之下逐渐失去了理智。而暴力因子的展现也让深爱他的劳雷尔和观众不得不被迫怀疑他是凶手的可能。这是尼古拉斯.雷在剧作上的功力展现，用杀人案和男主的暴躁性格黑化将悬疑感不断加大。影片前半段斯蒂尔发挥自己的编剧功力向朋友描述凶手边开车边杀人的凶杀案过程，其生动的描述方式和代入感让男性朋友听得如痴如醉甚至差点掐死了女性朋友，随后女性朋友私下表示斯蒂尔有点变态，这是一个黑化的起点，也让劳雷尔出面作证却依旧无法打消众人对他的怀疑。那些关于斯蒂尔骨子里暴力因子的闲言碎语无不影响着劳雷尔的判断，她逐渐从信任转变为怀疑。影片后半段的车祸段落展现了斯蒂尔最暴力的一面，他奋力殴打与自己发生口角的年轻人，甚至差点用石头砸死对方。这样不受控的暴行让本就对他心存芥蒂的劳雷尔目瞪口呆，也让这段充满暴力因子和怀疑的关系走到尽头。最后那通警长打来的凶手认罪，斯蒂尔摆脱嫌疑的电话对于这段感情毫无作用。就像斯蒂尔的老友所说，他已经忍受了斯蒂尔20年的暴脾气，即使没有凶杀案，斯蒂尔这样的暴躁老哥也注定无法平和的拥抱爱情。

There might be a handful of grammatical mistakes but it's too late for me to care...

The Farewell

I genuinely loved watching this film; the experience of which, without any exaggeration, is unprecedented for me in quite some time. It is not the typical Film Noir that is mostly centred around lies, traps and intricate storylines - I'd go so far as to say that this one isn't a "film noir" at all, because it's about love and defeat that only "happen to" entangle with a straightforward murder case. The thing is, regardless of the murder case, I knew that this love story is doomed to fail if Dix keeps being unaware of the damage that he causes. Either he'd change and learn to stop being violent altogether (which is way too ideal in real life but apparently it's good enough for a 90 mins film of the 50s judging by the ones I've watched - how immensely hilarious and entertaining); or he keeps acting in his brutal ways until Laurel's had enough and leave.

I'm almost glad that the writer didn't go with the "she changes him for the better" plot. A proper demonstration of how violent men can also be "charming and tender" sometimes when they are "in a good mood" (and vice versa) is extremely lacking in the 50s films, therefore, the way that the creators chose to approach this issue is delightfully refreshing. Moreover, the tolerating attitude that all the characters adopted towards Dix's relentless behaviour (just because he's a creator of some sort!!! and not even a good one) was very distressing to witness: Brub reinforces that Dix "is a good guy" while Sylvia thinks a creator has the excuse of being "temperamental"; Lochner suspect Dix as he should, but it's only associated with the murder case (in other words: he only cares about if he's the murderer or not; even he knows how much of a brute Dix is, the well-being of Laurel after her alleged marriage is out of the question). And Mel Lippman straight up told Laurel that Dix is a talented "dynamite" that Laurel should accept and tolerate ("I'd willingly do it again for another 20 years" while later on quit being Dix's agent, 打臉吧就 lol) Their attempts at mitigating the seriousness of Dix's ruthless behaviour really made Laurel helpless in the situation - there is no one for her.

Of course, this film isn't about "anti-domestic violence" or warning young ladies not to rush into love (and I'm sure the creators didn't have "an abuser" in mind when they create Dix's character) but the ending partially shattered the belief (that was held by all the characters) that Dix's relentless behaviour is OKAY. I am particularly fond of the near-ending climax where Dix NEARLY KILLED Laurel (The violent tendencies of Christian Grey in 50 Shades is NOTHING comparing to THIS) - Dix's not someone who can be helped or saved by anyone else, and he's going to need another good few years to change for the better to be love-deserving. I did feel a bit sorry for Dix in the end, but he should probably quit his whining about how "I died when she left me" (what a beautiful foreshadowing line *applauses*) because he pushed her away (by nearly strangled her, lol). Being charming and creative won't cut it when he's such a quick-to-anger brute. I'm genuinely glad that at least Laurel's no longer intimidated and got out of it in the end.

On a side note: the guy, though 10x times more charming, reminded me so much of my first ex. Sometimes, this is what the so-called "artistic temperament" is really like when it's stripped off of the Hollywood happily-ever-after cliché. People that aren't working their ways to change their violent tendencies are not deserving of love (esp. by someone so tender and kind as Laurel); and being emotional and creator-like aren't adequate excuses for hurting people.