The Best Actor in the Vase of Meiyu

Chapter 513 Campus Incident
Gus Van Sant is a director with a unique style and has been studying lens language. His interest is not in showing off his skills, but in extending the length of the lens to present the state of the characters and scenes, and using the camera lens to capture time. .

Just last year, Gus spent ten days shooting an experimental film, "Jerry," with Matt Damon and Casey Affleck.

There are only fifty shots in the entire movie, which is particularly concise compared to other movies that have thousands of shots. From the beginning to the end, Matt and Cassie are walking in the desert, chatting while walking, in a very unique way. Self-exploration and analysis in a minimalist way.

Released earlier this year, it is undoubtedly a unique endeavor.

From such a project, we can see Gus's exploration of film; in the field of American independent films, Gus is undoubtedly a well-known name.

As early as 1989, "Psychedelic Cowherd" made Gus famous; in 1991, he collaborated with River-Phoenix (River-Phoenix) and Keanu Reeves to film "My Private Ada" "He" established his place in the film industry and proved his unique charm as a director.

"Good Will Hunting" in 1997 and "Milk" in 2008 earned Gus two Oscar nominations for Best Picture and Best Director, reaching the pinnacle of his career.

Overall, Gus is a director who believes in the lens and is passionate about it. He especially likes to use the camera lens to capture the collision between actors and characters, so the actors in his lens can always give charming performances, and the actor's charm is even certain. To a greater extent than the movie itself.

However, Gus himself has a strong temperament that is far away from the mainstream attention and indifferent to fame and fortune. He has never directed any commercial movies. The excellent box office performance of "Good Will Hunting" is more like a beautiful accident. He spends more time concentrating on his work. Writing scripts and researching movies makes people unfamiliar with Gus as a director.

When people think of "My Private Idaho", they think of River Phoenix; when people think of "Good Will Hunting", they think of Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, but if you are not a movie fan, you probably won't remember it. Kicks.

So Darren asked.

"Do you know a director named Gus Van Sant?"

The smile on Anson's lips rose, "Of course. When I watched 'Jerry' in the cinema at the beginning of the year, I fell asleep directly in the screening room and almost caught a cold. How could I forget."

In the first half of the sentence, Darren thought that Anson was going to compliment Gus, and was surprised; in the second half of the sentence, the painting style turned to an unknown territory, and Darren burst out laughing when he couldn't hold it back.

"Haha, you can talk to Gus about it. Honestly, I haven't seen that movie. God, what the hell were Cassie and Matt thinking."

Casey Affleck, Ben Affleck’s younger brother, is also Gus’ next-door neighbor, plus Matt Damon, they all play together every day——

The project "Jerry" was inspired by Gus after watching the seven-and-a-half-hour work "Satan's Tango" by the master of long lenses Bela-Tarr, and sat down with his neighbor Cassie to discuss it. .

"How does a boy become a man?" Anson answered Darren's question seriously.

Darren:? ? ? "ha?"

After a moment's delay, Darren realized what was going on and couldn't help but burst out laughing, "Boy, you and Gus should hit it off right away."

After saying that, Darren burst out laughing.

"That's a good thing."

"The thing is like this, you still remember the year before last - no, the year before that - wow, 1999 has been so long ago? Time flies so fast, in short, Columbine in 1999?"

Remember, how could you forget?

Even if Anson is a time-traveled soul, he heard the news on the other side of the Pacific in his previous life, a school gun violence case that shocked the world. On April 1999, , a school shooting occurred at Columbine High School in a suburb of Denver, Colorado.

Two teenage students entered the campus equipped with firearms and explosives. After failing to detonate the bombs, they opened fire with guns, killing 12 students and a teacher, and injuring 25 others. In the end, two people committed suicide.

This incident was regarded as the bloodiest and most violent school shooting in North American history until the Virginia Tech incident in 2007.

The incident caused a moral panic in the entire society, and aroused people's concerns about marginalized people in society, school violence, youth depression, violent movies, violent games, religious beliefs and many other issues.

Until 2002, the discussion surrounding the incident still did not subside.

To be precise, not long ago, a documentary called "Columbine Campus Incident" appeared at the Cannes Film Festival, once again attracting all the attention. After the film won the 55th Anniversary Award, it was also released in North America for a full release.

Discussions about violence and life should never be ignored.

Wait, Columbine High, Gus Van Sant?

The keywords collided together, and Anson immediately thought of a movie——

"Elephant" won the Palme d'Or at the 56th Cannes Film Festival.

"Elephant" is a very special work, and it is Gus's exploration of film language. The film records a daily life in an ordinary middle school in a pseudo-documentary way, no matter how ordinary, simple or peaceful it is. , and then brutally destroys everything with gun violence in the last twenty minutes of the movie.

In the movie, Gus's directorial perspective is calm and even detached. He does not analyze, express or condemn from any angle. He presents the turbulent undercurrent beneath the calm in an almost cold-blooded manner, but combines the characters and the environment. The depression, restlessness, and madness of the time are vividly displayed, creating a chilling impact.

In the first half, Gus used trivial and delicate line drawing techniques to create ordinary and vivid images of students, treating them as human beings; in the last part, Gus crushed everyone to pieces with his unreasonable attitude, Cold and cruel, it does not treat people as human beings. Such contrast and impact perfectly display the cruelty and blood flowing in the image.

A masterpiece without a doubt.

People's impressions of Gus have always been about the loneliness and confusion in "Unruly Skies" and the tenderness and inspiration in "Good Will Hunting". However, Gus has thrown out "Elephant" in an understatement, completely subverting all imaginations.

However, if Anson remembers correctly, Gus used an all-amateur crew to shoot this movie, and all the characters who appeared in the movie were either actors, just ordinary students——

Otherwise, if Gus needs it, Matt Damon or the Affleck brothers are all a matter of one sentence, and he doesn't need to worry about actors at all.

No need for Darren's help.

Did Anson guess wrong and the project Darren was discussing was not "Elephant"?
Anson did not rush to the conclusion, remained patient, and followed Darren's words, "Of course, so Gus is planning to make a movie about Columbine?"

Darren did not continue to talk about the topic and went directly to the topic.

"Correct."

So, it is indeed an "elephant"?
(End of this chapter)