"Gravity" is a unique work, and before you can get to know the characters, you have to understand the background of the whole story, as well as the finished effect that the director is trying to present.

Purely from the perspective of the story of the play, in fact, "gravity" is the space version of "buried alive", the main line and core of the story is escape, under the cosmic environment, staged a thrilling alternative escape room, ups and downs, peaks and turns of the survival journey, the achievement of an outstanding commercial work.

If that's all there is, "Gravity" is far from being a masterpiece, there is not much difference between it and "Buried Alive", the style and theme are the same. Then, Lan Li's re-starring is just repeating himself, there is no need at all, this is not an exploration of acting skills, let alone the progress of acting skills, but standing still, and even reversing.

But in fact, "Buried Alive" is an excellent work, and "Gravity" is a classic worthy of going down in history. It is not only the technical breakthrough of Alfonso Cuarón, but also the core idea of the whole film and the sublimation of the final chapter.

From the audience's point of view, the performance methods of "gravity" and "buried alive" are actually the same, the despair in the secret room, the anger under the desperate situation, the giving up after the pressure and the hope when the hope is rekindled, the emotions of oppression and tension intertwined, and the feelings conveyed after revealing the screen, which are incomparably similar.

But from the standpoint of actors and directors, the two works are completely different. Because the starting point of the characters is different, because the director's demands are different, and because the characters' mental journeys are also different.

Previously, during the filming of "Detachment", Lan Li experienced such a process of self-polishing, which was during the filming of the scene of the first encounter with Erica on the bus.

When the changes in the starting point, turning point and foothold of Henry's innermost emotions collide with external conflicts, they will inevitably trigger a series of chain changes, which will have more chemistry on the plot and story, and even enhance the core of the theme. Naturally, the actors' performances are also different in terms of appeal and penetration.

These differences in details, for the audience, they are difficult to say a reason, they can't see clearly, even professional film critics are no exception, but for the actors, they are crucial, especially in the process of polishing their acting skills.

Now, the difference between the two works, "Buried Alive" and "Gravity", can also be explained in the same way.

In the work "Buried Alive", the male protagonist Paul Conroy is a blue-collar driver who becomes a scapegoat and victim of the war game in an accident.

In the process of survival, the official shirk, the indifference from the company, and the strife from the family, all of which made Paul suffer, not so much because he struggled to survive, but because he was an ant in the whole social background, and insignificant became cannon fodder.

This is also the appeal of director Roderick Scott, through this work, to refract contemporary war and social problems, and to ridicule lies from the White House. Therefore, in the process of performance, the inner driving force is the emotional bond, and the powerlessness of the little people in society, and the despair is infiltrated step by step.

In the work "Gravity", the actor Ryan Stone is a high-level intellectual, in an accident, passively caught in the space dilemma, if the story of "buried alive" has a man-made indirect accident, then the story of "gravity" is much purer, and the accident is just an accident.

The same purity continues into the story.

In the process of survival, Ryan is fighting with himself, without the involvement of social background and the promotion of family factors, and that kind of complete loneliness and loneliness has become the main theme of the whole movie. In "Buried Alive", a mobile phone has become the connection point between the actor and the outside world, and in the space environment of "gravity", there is really nothing.

So, what is the core factor that plagues Ryan – or the core motivation – exactly?

In the story of the previous life, Sandra Bullock played the role of Ryan Stone. The unexpected death of her daughter cut off Ryan's connection with society, and she began to work like crazy, forgetting to sleep and eating, gradually numbing herself, and her existence began to lose its meaning.

So, Ryan was in a desperate situation, and she went through such a mental journey:

At first, everything is a survival instinct/energy reaction, just like a drowning person, the first reaction is to kick and breathe, and then, after struggling and trying, she begins to give up deep down, because she can't find the meaning of survival, and begins to gradually sink into the pain and suffering of the past.

In the end, I woke up again, felt the call from survival again, in line with the instinct/ability of nature and human beings at the beginning of their birth, everything started from scratch, and again began to give it a go in order to survive, and then found the meaning of life - like the heart, always beating, never giving up.

Sandra's performance is undoubtedly wonderful, and she gives the character of Ryan Stone more vulnerability and tenderness from a female perspective, and then reinvigorates and is strong again. This flexible force successfully gave birth to life and opened up a ray of life, guiding Ryan back to Earth.

Such a mental journey is far simpler and purer than the political/political demands of "buried alive", but it is also more magnificent and larger, which also makes the overall quality of "gravity" reach a new height.

In particular, the audience's feelings in the process of watching the movie, from trapped loneliness to igniting hope, from fragile collapse to perseverance, the whole emotion is stripped of all external influences, and completely focuses on the emotional dialogue between the soul and the soul, which is enough to touch the heart. Out of the shallow level of "buried alive", into a higher stage.

It can be understood that "buried alive" pays more attention to a kind of empathy.

Focusing on the category of people like Paul Conroy, who were implicated in the war, deceived by the White House, abandoned by the corporation, and forgotten by society, who were full of anger and who did everything they could to oppose the war, only to become victims, who could not speak of their suffering, and then who were sacrificed like that. For this type of people, when watching a movie, they can't help but substitute into it, and then enter the director's mood and rhythm.

But for the upper class or highly educated and high-quality people, such themed works cannot move them - because they are the group of people criticized in the movie.

On the other hand, "gravity" focuses more on empathy and sublimation.

The film doesn't focus on any one type of person – while Ryan Stone also has a social component, the movie focuses more on Ryan's raw emotions. After stripping away the social attributes, return to the most primitive and basic emotions of human beings, which is applicable to anyone.

Regardless of age, class, education, culture, or wealth, everyone is suffering from their own difficulties, loneliness, pain, struggle, and even numbness, and at the same time, everyone is trying to survive, even those who have suicidal thoughts in their minds, and the thoughts of survival and destruction are always fighting each other.

It's like a philosophical question, maybe not everyone thinks about it, but it can be felt everywhere in life. Therefore, movies can awaken everyone's empathy.

From an artistic point of view, "buried alive" is still talking about life, while "gravity" is already talking about the universe and nature.

In other words, getting rid of the plot of the story and the characters themselves, "Buried Alive" brings a thriller and horror movie, while "Gravity" brings a shock rooted in the depths of the soul, truly marveling at the greatness of life. But on the other hand, these differences in viewing feelings are themselves caused by the plot of the story and the characters.

Returning to the original point again, standing on the audience's standpoint, watching "buried alive" and "gravity", the viewing effect and the quality of the finished product are aside, but the tension and thriller in the process of watching the movie are similar, they are also paying attention to the self-survival journey after a person is in a desperate situation, and the ups and downs of the process are the focus of watching the movie.

But what are the differences between the two works?

First, in the process of watching the movie, the different senses of individuals, watching "buried alive" is a sense of parallelism, and oneself and the character are equal, while watching "gravity" is a sense of looking up and being small in front of the universe.

Second, after the end of the movie, reflection and aftertaste are completely different, and the topic of "gravity" will enter a higher and deeper level, of course, even if you look at the effect of popcorn simply, because the whole shock is directly acting on the depths of the soul, the actual experience is also multiplied.

Both of these differences come from the performances of the actors, rather than the structure of the play itself.

Undoubtedly, this makes an extremely harsh distinction between the actors. This is especially true for Lan Li.

Before that, "Buried Alive" had already been a huge success and won an Oscar nomination, which can be regarded as his famous work, and now, Lan Li is once again challenging a similar work, and a little less than a little bit of the audience may fall into the cliché of "repeating the old tricks", thinking that Lan Li's performance has not broken through, or even repeating himself, which in turn affects the perception of the whole work.

As a gimmick, Lan Li can already be imagined, and the media will inevitably call "gravity" the space version of "buried alive", which is a propaganda method used by journalists, and it is irrelevant, but if the audience really thinks so, it is a failure of Lan Li's performance.

The differences in details slowly permeate in the performances of the actors, and present different textures and styles, giving the whole work a more three-dimensional feeling, distinguishing "gravity" from "buried alive". This is the serious challenge of Lanli.

It can even be said that this is the biggest challenge for Lan Li from the shadow, because he not only needs to surpass the original Sandra Bullock in the previous life, but also needs to surpass his own "buried alive" and distinguish the two works, and at the same time need to interpret the grandeur of "gravity".

The performance is so difficult that just making up for it makes people get ready to go.