Laijon Liu 20190320
“Are we not
brothers?”
“So man and man
should be;
But clay and
clay differs in dignity,
Whose dust is
both alike.”
The Shoplifters,
every scene is meditative, the director has put much thought on how screen setting and characters positioned, in harmony, if you stop the film at any moment for the 1st half length, you get a 21st Century Vermeer painting. I love the slum house, all those trash they picked on street to build their own warm house, how each individual from the bottom of society come under one roof and form a family. yet, they can only handle their present moment, no prospect. everything else, and their outer surrounding is grey. the universe and society is focus onto one point, a hopeful light glow. Acting is amazing, ordinary people, ordinary faces, folks of the street, that also shortens the distance of viewers and film. Characters connect with each other, even in stealing crime they are bound together. but that moment of feeling complete soon to end.
Best script lines:
"I teach him stealing because that's only thing I know."
"woman who gives birth doesn't automatically make her a mom."
An Elephant Sitting Still,
So opposite from the Shoplifters, this universe is collapsing and tearing itself from the beginning. and the story, the culture are where I grow up. none of the characters in the film understands about his or her world, nor can grasp how their being and environment developed into such reality they all must dwell in. parents take it out on their kids for their inability of bettering their environment from the morning, kids afraid of their homes, schools, streets, just like how their parents grow up, so they mindlessly become parents themselves and start to take it out on their own kids, drive their kids away from every eye connection and yelling anger exchange, kids fall into teen gang (not real gang), just little wannabe thugs, not even like the real thugs at the high place like Beijing, Kremlin, Washington. They are useless no-goods just existing on the torn down construction sites, trash gathering places, Americans call it trash park or landfill. they can only connect a little bit is thru silence, avoid seeing eye to eye, the more words they speak the more anger they have to let out that they've been bottling it for years, for generations. they have nowhere to go, no home, never home, home is not a comfort place, a safe harbor like how our dictionary defines, more like Trump's Truth, Politician's Loyalty. and righteous kids are driven to act out on street, in the neighborhood, how similar compare to shanty town of western Latin America and project housing high crime neighborhood in the States. there's no hug, nor any loving touching physical connection, a man is standing in front of a angry storm that ready to explode, yet both parties trying to bottle down. everything is grey, their larger surrounding, their brief happy moments, like the boy trying a chat to the girl, the grandpa hugging his young grand-daughter, and she is the every reason his son and daughter in law determine to kick him out to a nursing home so they can sell their slum apartment to buy a good school neighborhood place. about 4 hours, I am seeing childhood home. that many lines the character exchange me and my parent want to say to each other, yet none of us would have courage to say now, and in the past I would not even dare. the hopeless anger you cannot vent, the stupidity you dare not to mention, so you won't hurt people you love. it's a huge scab that's so bad that you cannot just cut it, it will bleed and hurt just like the first time.
it's not surprise that the director took his life after his film done(at age 29), people come out that place dealing with two things mainly: suicide and manslaughter just for the thrill of it or just nothing. My close friend once asked me "what's your American Dream? why you even come to America?" I said: "my American dream is that when I lie in the bed I know I won't be disturbed."
people a few times ask me why I don't want to form a family or have kids like normal Americans do, I tell them I have not grown up yet, or I am not a father material. I avoid to give any explanation, I think anyone needs my explanation please go watch Elephant Sitting Still film. the director and me from same hometown culture.
the last scene, they were on the night bus to see the elephant, and for a stop rest, they played jianzi in front of the bus headlight, and they still could not connect, they cannot even play a simple game.
Same Narrative Style: Slacker 1990
Same Style Camera Shot: Elephant 2003
Early British film: Fish Tank 2009
Authentic background setting, natural acting that the viewers can relate to, real life context nothing dramatized, the style of camera work and lighting mastery in simplicity. I guess might be the Elephant director watched Fish Tank or some others I haven't dug up.
Early American film: Winter's Bone 2010
some similarities of the art work too.
Best script lines in the film:
the gangster head, young thug:
"In Manchuria city zoo, there's an elephant, that elephant just sits on the ground all day, doesn't care about eating. people poke him, try to make him move, but he doesn't even bother."
the father says to his son first in the morning:
“Why you are so stink?! Why you are so stink! Why don't you die! Why don't you die!?
the gangster head to the girl he trying to woo:
"we are just useless shit dwelling on a pile of garbage."
"look at here, look around, you think you can live like middle class? for what?"
the mom says to her daughter:
" I don't even know what is it! I don't even know how everything becomes like it! I don't even know how it all comes to this! I don't fucking know anything! I don't know nothing!"
the teacher to his student:
"don't expect you go some other places that things are all changed for the better. the pains and problems just go with us, everywhere we go. people don't know what is existence. the pain comes with life, not from the places."
the young high school kid stands crying and shouts in front of the trash dump place:
"Fuck you! You fuck! I fuck your mom! you fucking shit! Fuck You!"
