A template for a complex plot

Rating: 8/10 (29 April 2020)

The absolute failure of a bad film lies in the scriptwriter, the relative success lies in the director.
The absolute success of not bad films lies in the director, the relative failure lies in the scriptwriter.
At first glance, this seems to say that the writer is always bad and the director always makes things happen. In fact, there are at least two kinds of films that I have not discussed, "good films" and "bad films". Instead, I'm emphasizing the importance of screenwriting to a film, especially a drama. There is no good script, no matter how good the director is, he can only make a good film. Although it is said that the director is the soul of a movie, I have always believed that without a good script, the soul cannot be possessed. We have many good directors, but not many good works, largely because we don't have good screenwriters. I don't know since when, with the myth of the founding of the Chinese people can not tell a story? !
Back to la confidential, which has won over a million awards for best screenplay, and to be fair, I've never seen a feature film with such a great story, ever! Here to add a word, many film masters and successful films are often set in one, their own written words into the image. The director of the film also participated in the main work of the scriptwriter, which undoubtedly laid a solid foundation for the success of the film. Never has a movie caused me to pause frequently during the movie (I usually like to watch it in a coherent way), or even back to the relevant paragraph for clues to the lines; And there's never been a movie that made me want to bang my head against a wall during a movie (I actually meant it for a moment), because the plot was so unexpected that I'll admit that my brain hasn't yet evolved Hollywood to an advanced stage. When the dust settles, the great lines, the great acting, the complex plot... All let me not long aftertaste.
The seven main actors in the film, when the film, either has been a mature old drama bone, or is at the time of the big star, or is the future of the real power. You can imagine how much better it is for the audience to have so many excellent actors working together. With the elaborate lines and dialogue of the scriptwriters, it can be said that they complement each other perfectly. Russell Crowe's integrity and careless hands; Guy Pearce's self-effacing, calculating gentleman; Kevin Spacey looks like a handsome man... I haven't seen a movie like this for a long time that allows me to remember at least five characters at the same time after watching it. The last time was probably akira kurosawa's seven samurai.
Actually, I really want to talk about the plot, but I can't bear to reduce your desire to see the movie by revealing the plot, so I have to make a few points. The film of such subject matter now general meeting gives the boundary of good and evil ambiguous change, this film is no exception. But specifically, there are many unique. The first three male heroes are all policemen, with different personalities, and the audience will most clearly like and dislike each other. When the murders "seemingly" (on the one hand, it does not knot, according to the story development on the one hand, the audience no matter from the rational or emotional also feel it should be the case, faintly feel someone to astray in the three police officers in order to continue to make dramatic conflicts, unexpected three evil suddenly appeared outside (turning point) are performed, and the case continues, this has led to absolute opposition between good and evil, and the audience a different attitude towards the protagonist and unified into support (in fact, the great hero personality differences stand together). And when the final triumph of good over evil (including its own desires), there is an ambiguous treatment in the end. Generally speaking, the plot design is "ambiguous -- opposite -- ambiguous", which is obviously different from the ambiguous to death design in Hong Kong films or the ambiguous to death design in domestic films.
To compliment the plot, more than two hours of film, in the opening is less than half an hour to start, drag the audience in the water, and when the crowd seems to be over with the case has been held up some fatigue (because there are too many clues to the 7788), drama master again, and this time the power because of the large space in front of the bedding, old clues to add new clues, makes efforts to larger, more fierce, is infinite to the audience the enjoyment on the movie. If the first half of the audience can still participate as a crime solver, the second half of the audience can only be an honest outsider, because the development of the story has been beyond the ordinary experience of watching the film. The relationship between the main characters shifts as the story progresses, the center of gravity keeps moving, and before this tension is broken, that tension builds up again.
The last thing I want to say is that some people will unconsciously compare it to "two smoking barrels." I think for a moment, the comparison is not very great, because the differences between the two are far greater than the similarities, although they both tell a very complex story seamlessly. "Two barrels of smoke" is notable for its lovely British humor, unique video style and brilliant rock music. "La confidential," on the other hand, is shot in the traditional Hollywood style, and its score is mainly jazz, but the music is too monotonous, probably because of the time limit of the story. The highlight of "la confidential" lies in the fine lines of the writers and the excellent acting of the actors. The two schools of good and evil as well as the different personalities of the three main characters are also easy to lead the audience to participate. "Two barrels of smoke", on the other hand, dismisses the police for justice, mainly a bunch of people who don't represent justice, so the audience instinctively allows itself to stand off the screen and watch instead of getting into any of the characters. Of course, none of this means that the two countries are superior to each other. It's more due to cultural differences between the UK and the us.