Hollywood Road

After the gunshot, a black man was shot dead by another black man, laying his dead body on the street, the camera moved, and an indifferent young man passed by across the road, as if turning a blind eye to all this, and continued to move forward, the scene then switched to his point of view, Various scenes of chaos in the slums of Los Angeles were staged one by one.

Drug addicts, gangsters fighting, scrawny beggars, and ineffective policemen all appeared in front of the young man.

Although the picture is converted back to color, the dark tones make people feel depressed and lifeless.

"He did it on purpose."

In the second row, the strange-looking Quentin Tarantino said to Robert Rodriguez wearing a hat, "This color reflects the current mental state of the teenager, just like this dark color, There is no hope in sight."

Robert Rodriguez said, "For the use of black lenses, I am not as good as him."

The young man walked into a small, low and dilapidated apartment building. Immediately, there were waves of women shouting and cursing in the building, and then another sound of a man fighting.

Through the beating and scolding of the boy by these two people, the film properly explained the background of the boy.

A teenager named Diego Ross, whose father was shot dead by the police because of a crime, and his mother abandoned him to go to another city, and relevant government agencies put him in foster care with this Latin family. Unfortunately, how can a child who is not his own get proper care? Moreover, this family is not very wealthy. The housewife and the man in the family are very kind on the surface, but they are people with empty appearances.

The government still basically ignores him here, and the teenager grows up in a caring environment, and his life is like dead ashes.

Fortunately, there is still a little light in this dead ashes. The young Diego Ross is a devout Catholic. He goes to a nearby church every Sunday. A priest there treats him very well and always guides him with kindness and patience. Diego Rose can also find the only trace of comfort in a life of suffering.

From the perspective of Diego Ross, the film explains the dark and depressing living environment of drug abuse, drug trafficking, and juvenile delinquency in the living environment, and shows the comfort that religion brings to people by analogy.

"When did Murphy Stanton become a Catholic?" Todd McCarthy shook his head, "The Catholicism and the priest in the film are simply the incarnation of God to the male protagonist."

As if knowing what his old friend was thinking, Kenneth Turan reminded in a low voice, "There is always darkness behind bright characters."

Todd McCarthy thought for a while, then nodded slowly.

The plot of the movie has a turning point, and Murphy actually understands this very well, so the Catholicism in the film is better than the Holy See’s propaganda. However, when the teenager Diego Ross is faced with the temptation of drugs, he is at a loss and confides in the pastor. At that time, the very kind pastor left him alone and led him into the backyard...

Seeing the teenager's pants fall to the ground in the dark house, and the kind priest squatting in front of him with a benevolent smile on his face, Todd McCarthy couldn't help sighing. What they did was in stark contrast.

A young man at a loss, faced with the molestation of the only pure land in his soul, the last belief in his heart collapsed instantly.

Diego Ross no longer goes to church, but the pastor has not forgotten him, and has repeatedly visited him in the name of charity in the name of charity. The couple naturally did not care what happened to him, and the boy could only fall into the abyss.

Many people of the same age around him took drugs and even built a distribution network at the bottom of drug crimes. Diego Rose's defense line against temptation completely collapsed. A solid line of defense.

Fighting, drug trafficking, stealing, and even robbery with guns, these teenagers from the slums gradually grew up. Diego Ross also lived with the blonde girl who led him on this road. A large underground force in the area.

How deeply does the collapse of belief affect a person? How big is the subtle influence of the environment? Does religion have more advantages than disadvantages in this real society?

Clos Ismail frowned a pair of thick eyebrows. The poor social environment in the United States has led too many teenagers to go astray!

There is also the issue of religion. How many evil thoughts and actions have poisoned mankind in this land in the name of religious freedom?

Murphy Stanton is indeed an outlier among directors. Through the depravity of a drug dealer, he obviously explores such social topics in depth, and cuts open those negative influences one by one, and puts them bloody in the film.

This is what an excellent director should do most. While focusing on artistry, he can also objectively and calmly strip away the most serious social problems.

Margot Robbie doesn't have many roles, and in Diego Rose's narration to Murphy, this is just a passer-by in his life, but this passer-by has left extremely deep footprints.

According to Diego Rose's original description, Murphy processed it properly in the film. The first love girlfriend played by Margot Robbie, after a high drug addiction, mistakenly took heroin for cocaine and took it directly. A large dose of death.

The death of his girlfriend was a huge blow to Diego Ross. He has become a small regional leader and is determined to quit drugs and plans to leave the industry.

After possessing a certain ability, Diego Rose kept inquiring about the situation of the pastor back then, but the pastor was no longer in the parish, and he had not received relevant information.

Just when Rose was about to leave the industry, and a friend found him a job as a car washer, it was reported that the pastor was investigated by the police for committing suicide in the diocese of Nevada, but he was not found because of the Vatican's intervention. After being punished, he was transferred back to the news of the Vatican's tenure.

On the screen, Diego Ross stands between the door frame and the door, behind is a dilapidated picture of the fallen angel with deep meaning, he is like a bird trapped in a cage, always turning around within the range of the door frame To and fro, the spire on the pillar of the stairway porch pointed at the indecisive face.

Take a step out of this industry and become an ordinary car wash worker.

Get rid of the last restriction, stay in this industry, climb up step by step, and become the leader of this area.

Two options are placed in front of Diego Rose, and he must embark on one of them.

No one forced, no one lobbied, no one analyzed pros and cons, only Diego Rose himself could make the decision.

It is ultimately up to him to make his own choice.

"This..." Kenneth Turan looked at the actor wandering in the door frame of the camera, and suddenly moved closer to Todd McCarthy, lowering his voice, "This seems to be Robert Downey Jr.'s best performance. "

"Yeah." Todd McCas nodded slightly.

Kenneth Turan added, "Totally freed from the loud pomposity of Iron Man."

He wondered again, "When did his acting skills improve by such a leap?"

"It's not about acting..."

Looking at the long shot on the screen, Todd McCarthy quickly said, "It's not Robert Downey Jr., but Murphy Stanton that brought about the change. The design of this scene and the framing of the shot can maximize the It highlights the indecision of the characters in the face of choices."

Kenneth Turan looked carefully for a few seconds, and it was indeed the case.

This shot is really outstanding, not only has excellent scene layout, but also unparalleled photography, this long shot is simply a work of art!

The camera gave Kenneth Turan the feeling of being there. Finally, the characters on the screen stopped and stayed in front of the picture, just blocking the fallen angel. Then the camera gradually zoomed out, and the colors and tones became more and more cold. Until it gives people a cold and thrilling feeling.

It is really ingenious to use this kind of lens to show the inner changes of the characters!

Although the protagonist doesn't have any lines, and the camera doesn't give a clear explanation, they can all feel from the camera that Diego Rose has made a choice, and it's a choice that is biased towards the dark side.

Diego Rose went out, came to the cemetery, and stood in front of the tombstone of his first love girlfriend. The sky on the screen became darker. Even though the sun could be seen, but through a certain angle of the camera, the sun gave people a cold feeling.

There were faint singing sounds, and the tone of these singing was very similar to the singing of a Catholic choir.

"Whether there is a God may not be so important anymore. Many times, people can only rely on themselves to live. Legend has it that there is a God who believes in the city, who is stroking the camera and combing his long braids every day. Dear, Have you ever seen the misery that happened in front of you in the distance..."

For some reason, Todd McCarthy felt chills when he heard this supposedly warm choir singing. He quickly picked up a pen and wrote down his feelings at this moment in the notebook.

"Use an extremely peaceful tone and an almost indifferent voice to tell those sad stories. Because of peace, indifference, and tragedy, such a contrast can force out a more tragic emotion more clearly. The movie gave me that feeling."

"Because it is tragic, it is peaceful and indifferent. Because of peace and indifference, this tragic taste is intensified. The voice is slow, empty and sad."

Kenneth Turan sighed softly. The film has progressed to the present, and it is as amazing as a slowly flowing beautiful poem. It seems to be scattered, but in fact it is concentrated. The footage shows the impact of the surrounding environment on people...

But in another art theater in the Hollywood area, many ordinary audiences who watched the film did not see it that way, especially those relatively young audiences.