"Gravity" is a movie that Lan Li personally likes very much.

In the 84th Oscars, among all the nominated works, Lan Li likes and admires "gravity" the most, and personally, he will choose this work as the best picture, rather than a work like "12 years of slavery".

In a way, "12 Years a Slave" is just another variation of "The King's Speech", which is completely tailor-made for the awards season, and there is nothing new in terms of art and ideology, new wine in old bottles, not even new wine, but "Gravity" is a work that is braver and more breakthrough than "Social Network" and "Avatar".

Not only the eighteen-minute long shot at the beginning of the film, the technical difficulty has surpassed that of "Avatar", but also all the weightless shots after that, Alfonso has set an almost insurmountable peak and truly created a new chapter.

For many viewers, it seems that they can't capture the true excellence and deep meaning of "gravity", and they are amazed by the power of technology and the wonderful visual effects, but they have complained about the weakness of the script and the mediocrity of the story, and always involuntarily compare it with "2001: A Space Odyssey", and then think that "gravity" is far inferior to the former.

In fact, "2001: A Space Odyssey" and "Gravity" are both outstanding classics.

The former deals with the exploration of mysterious space and the mutiny of artificial intelligence, as its title suggests, "A-Space-Odyssey", an epic poem of ancient Greece alongside Homer's epic, and the core of the film is exploration.

The latter, on the other hand, deals with a very different topic: human origins. At the heart of the film is speculation.

The technical aspects of "gravity" are certainly brilliant, but what really moves people in this work is the metaphors in the simple script. Through the desperate survival under space, it is a metaphor for the origin and birth of human beings, and explores the most primitive philosophical topics, which is similar to the "fantasy drifting of the life of Pi".

Perhaps, the relatively weak and minimalist script, without further digging, restricts the work from exploring the larger blueprint, but it is not enough to be profound, but it is enough to be great!

All the core ideas, with the heroine as the carrier, quietly permeate the whole work, the conception of women, the reproduction of life and the origin of species, these philosophical reflections are presented through different picture compositions, abandoning the line language of the script, and purely using the lens composition and actors' performances to complete the communication.

Women, this gender attribute, plays a crucial role in this role.

In the last life, the heroine was played by Sandra Bullock. After winning the Oscar through the work "Weakness", there was really a lot of controversy about Sandra, because it was also a small year for the Oscars, and Sandra stood out more because she was the tallest of the short, but in the work "Gravity", Sandra really proved herself.

"Gravity" is the same as "buried alive", it is a desperate situation to survive, it is also a narrow space, and it is still a one-man show. But the difficulty of the performance of the two works is different.

First of all, the "buried alive" environment can be learned from in real life, while the "gravity" outer space environment is not.

Secondly, "burying alive" needs to face the urgency of a narrow space, and in addition to "gravity", it also needs to show loneliness and panic in a weightless environment.

Thirdly, the overall appeal of "Buried Alive" is relatively simple, the thriller and fear genre film explores social reality through the setting of characters and scripts, but does not go further, while "Gravity" is not only about survival, but also about life, a minimalist script that relies on all the emotional burden on the protagonist.

It is certain and certain that it is also a one-man show, but the difficulty and depth of the performance of "gravity" goes beyond "buried alive" at least two levels.

Sandra's performance is delicate and profound, with a sense of layering, inwardly retracting all the performance aura, but not affecting the transmission of emotions at all, under the capture of the camera, truly presenting the poetic and philosophical theme of the film.

On top of the Oscars that year, Sandra won the Oscar nomination for Best Actress for the second time with her outstanding performance, although she finally lost to Cate Blanchett of "Blue Jasmine", but Sandra still received countless affirmations, truly established her status as a first-line in the industry, and became the leader of Hollywood's first actress.

In the work "Gravity", there are only two actors, and all the acting weight is on the heroine.

In the previous life, the two roles were played by Sandra Bullock and George Clooney respectively, but George was completely reduced to a supporting role and became the best witness to shine in Sandra's one-man show.

It is no exaggeration to say that Sandra made "gravity", and "gravity" also made Sandra.

From a technical point of view, Lan Li is very fond of "gravity", and from a performance level, "gravity" will be a new test for the film industry, not only for the actors' self-performance, but also for adapting to the magic of the dream factory of film, and making corresponding adjustments, which is a completely different challenge from the West End of London.

It stands to reason that Lan Li has no reason to refuse, and he should even be eager to try.

However, from the film level, Lan Li believes that female characters can give more connotation to films, especially philosophical reflections. This is a shortcoming that actors do not have.

Needless to say, Lan Li was deeply honored, but it was because of his love that Lan Li had to remain objective and calm: Sandra Bullock was the best choice for "gravity".

"Judging from your description, this is a secret room survival that takes place in outer space, are you going to shoot a work like 'buried alive'?" Although the memory of the previous life is extremely vivid, but now Alfonso has not said the details of the script, Lan Li cannot predict in advance shockingly, but can only guide it step by step.

"'Buried alive'?" Alfonso had a question mark all over his head.

Lan Li couldn't help but be slightly stunned, and then laughed dumbly.

In fact, Alfonso revealed last night that his knowledge of Lan Li is very limited, and it is very likely that he has never seen Lan Li's works, and all his knowledge of Lan Li comes from the performance of the Almeida Theater, which also became the driving force for him to find Lan Li. Therefore, "buried alive" may be a name that Alfonso has never heard before.

This is the first time Lan Li has met people in the industry who have never heard of "buried alive", but not having encountered it does not mean that it is rare.

Lan Li didn't explain further, but changed the subject with a smile on his face, "I mean, what is the core idea of the whole movie? Is it just survival? It's just that this time survival is more special, it takes place in outer space, and other than that, the movie has no other appeals?

"Yes, of course. Alfonso's eyes lit up slightly, "The space dilemma is just an external package, and the real connotation lies in the origin of life." ”

Alfonso was not an actor after all, and the meaning might not be accurate when he expressed it, so he paused slightly, collected his thoughts, and then continued, "It's like winter is over and spring is coming." On the frozen earth, the seeds take root and sprout little by little, and even need to crush the boulder that weighs on top of their heads, and grow tenaciously and unyieldingly. The reason why life is precious is that it is constantly striving. ”

"In the midst of absolute loneliness and endless despair, Ryan is like an embryo, or a seed. By the way, Ryan is the protagonist of the script. Ryan is faced with a dilemma, he can choose to give up, then he will disappear completely, and he can also choose to persevere, not necessarily survive, but at least grasp a glimmer of hope.

The birth of any life is like this, only after layers of tests, survival of the fittest, the weak and the strong, and finally give birth to the fragrance of life.

Being in outer space, it is an extremely special environment, just like a woman's child/palace, all quiet, deep in the heart of the belief in survival, and the attachment to the earth. That will and determination became the essence of his continuous struggle, continuous efforts, and finally succeeded in salvation. ”

The script for "Gravity" was written by Alfonso Cuarón and his son Jonas Cuaron. Although he is not an actor, he is a screenwriter and director, and his grasp of the core of the story is pure and profound.

"It's like gravity. Lan Li said in conclusion.

This is where the title of the movie comes from, the connection between Ryan and the earth, the connection between embryos and life, starting from the gravitational pull of physical phenomena, pulling Ryan from the weightlessness of outer space into the gravitational state of the earth, and the will to survive at the philosophical level, like a seed breaking through the ground and sprouting, breaking through many obstacles and blooming life.

A gravity, a down-to-earth gravity, reflects the origin and birth of human beings. It's not weightlessness, it's not space survival, it's "gravity". Again, "2001: A Space Odyssey" is about exploration, while "gravity" is about speculation.

Alfonso's mouth was wide open, his face and eyes were full of shock, he couldn't make a sound, he was stunned, he squeezed, and finally exclaimed, "God!" he blurted out an exclamation, and then he finally broke the shackles, and he approached the round table with great excitement, "Yes, this work is called 'Gravity'! Jesus Christ! How do you know!"

Rotten.

After saying that, Lan Li exclaimed in the depths of his heart, and he exposed the details without paying attention. Looking at the ecstatic Alfonso, Lan Li pretended that this incident had not happened just now, and quietly changed the topic, "Since it is about the origin of life, using actresses, this should be a more suitable choice." You know, the compositions of the imagery and metaphors, the matrix that women represent, are always philosophical. ”

This is true in every work of art, especially painting. In those great works, gender itself is a kind of symbol, which is combined with philosophy, mythology, and literature, and reflects the artist's self-exploration and thinking through the composition and setting of painting.

"Hah!" Alfonso laughed merrily.