Chapter 108
Self-Defense
Chapter 108 Self-Defense
La La Land itself is actually a simple linear narrative, with only an "what if" storyline added at the end. It doesn't employ any fancy narrative techniques.
However, the biggest characteristic of musicals is that the plot is driven entirely by song and dance, rather than by lengthy dialogue. The opening group dance of "Another Day of Sun" directly sets the tone for the dream-chasing atmosphere of Los Angeles.
The film also relies entirely on song and dance to depict the attraction, ambiguity, and confession between the male and female leads, effectively avoiding the monotonous feel that often occurs in typical linear narratives and making the simple story both dynamic and engaging.
What do you like about musicals?
"Making abstract emotions concrete."
"Um?"
"There are many subtle emotions that cannot be expressed through dialogue, but can be conveyed directly to the audience through song and dance."
David tried his best to explain in simple terms, "Do you understand? This allows emotions to be expressed more openly and impactfully, giving the audience a more direct emotional resonance than ordinary narrative films."
The most typical examples are the astronomical observatory dance scene in "La La Land" and the flashback montage at the end of the film.
The former connects the two at the crucial moment when they realize their feelings for each other, using a surreal journey through the starry sky to elevate their relationship from an ordinary date to soulmates.
The dreamlike quality of a starry sky visualizes the ultimate romance of being in love, a romance that transcends worldly concerns and involves complete immersion, allowing the audience to directly empathize with the couple's heart-fluttering moments.
If this was just a matter of performing as expected, then the montage at the end was simply a stroke of genius.
Completely escaping the real timeline, they use a shared dream to make up for all the unfinished regrets of the two of them, and to officially say goodbye to this relationship.
It is said that the retro and gorgeous colors and the continuous duet dance pay homage to the fantasy song and dance segment of "The Glamorous Imperial Concubine".
David wasn't particularly concerned about which old films it paid homage to; the most important thing was that the dance steps, which shifted emotions from fervor to relief, connected the complete life story of "what ifs".
The complex melancholy of "loving each other but missing out" is released through a dazzling fantasy feast, ultimately returning to the relief of a smile exchanged between them. The beauty of regret becomes the highest emotional point of the entire film. It can only be said that the director is really good at filming bad endings.
Using song and dance sequences to convey information is a characteristic of musicals, while using voice-over narration to convey information is a universal technique that can be used in all types of films.
After a voice-over narration introduces the background story, the main feature of "L.A. Confidential" officially begins.
David sat in the front seat of the car with the window open, the camera pointed at his face, then slowly zoomed out, changing from a close-up to a medium shot.
He plays Bud, a police officer, who is looking through a window at a couple arguing in a house.
"You're just like Santa Claus, following that list exactly."
His partner behind him read a line from the script, "It's just that everyone on your list is a piece of trash!"
If these two sentences were taken out of context, the audience might be a little confused.
However, based on the information conveyed by the previous camera angle, we can roughly deduce that Bud, as a police officer, is patrolling with his partner on Christmas Eve.
During his patrols, he will likely focus on checking the homes of people with prior criminal records.
"He's only been out of prison for half a month." David's line confirms the earlier deduction.
"Let's deal with it later," his partner advised, thinking it was better to avoid trouble. "We still need to go buy some wine for everyone."
"Hollywood Precinct, this is car 6A7." David ignored him and picked up the walkie-talkie in the car to report to his superior.
Here, Hollywood refers to the administrative district of Los Angeles, not the American entertainment industry as commonly understood today.
The so-called Hollywood Precinct is a real entity, and its jurisdiction covers the Midwestern Los Angeles area centered around the Hollywood district.
"Please send a vehicle to 4216 Changchun Road. A parolee has assaulted someone due to a family dispute."
The parolees mentioned here refer to criminals who meet certain conditions for early release. After serving their sentences in prison and meeting certain conditions and passing the review, criminals can be released before the end of their sentences. However, during the parole period, they must be subject to the supervision and control of the judicial authorities. If they violate the regulations, they will be returned to prison to complete the remaining sentence.
The film is set in Los Angeles in the 50s, a time when the parole system in the United States was just beginning to mature.
The reason for this system was that the mainstream concept of punishment in the United States at the time was "rehabilitation first," which believed that giving good offenders the opportunity to reintegrate into society earlier would be more conducive to their rehabilitation; at the same time, it could also alleviate the pressure of overcrowded prisons and save financial expenditures.
"We will not remain on site."
After saying that, David opened the door and got out of the car.
The following plot is quite interesting. Instead of knocking on the door, the character Bud deliberately makes noise by knocking down the Christmas lights that the other person has placed on the roof to lure them out.
Then he said something like, "Your Christmas lights are hung too low," to provoke and anger the other person. Only after the other person made a move did he actually start fighting.
This also shows that the character of Bard is not entirely a brute; he is actually quite thoughtful, somewhat like Lu Zhishen, who is rough but meticulous.
Breaking down the door directly could lead to accusations of "illegal trespassing," while waiting for the other party to make the first move is to make one's actions appear as "self-defense" by a police officer.
This kind of shady tactic of intentionally portraying one's violent law enforcement as "self-defense" will reappear later in the movie.
"Are you alright? Are you hurt?"
As soon as the scene was filmed, David quickly asked the extra actor. "L.A. Confidential" is a realistic police drama, and the action scenes are designed to be hard-hitting and realistic. Although they had rehearsed the moves beforehand, David did not hold back in order to present a visually realistic fight scene.
Unlike Hong Kong, Hollywood at this time had developed very mature on-set safety regulations, mandatory insurance, and stunt performer protection mechanisms. Action scenes generally relied on choreographed moves and special effects, and actors were not deliberately asked to take meaningless risks of injury. Safety was a far greater priority than "absolute realism".
Therefore, Hollywood can make all kinds of movies very well in this era, but it has always been inferior to Hong Kong in the field of action movies.
Everything in *The Matrix Reloaded* was great, except the fight scene between the main character and Smith felt a bit weak.
It lacked any sense of impact, and I always felt like something was missing while watching it.
"So worried about hurting someone, why didn't you restrain yourself when you were fighting just now?" Kevin Spacey joked as he arrived on set to wait for his scenes to be filmed. "Are you playing yourself in this role, Director Ovitz?"
"Just call me David," David said with a self-deprecating laugh. "The main thing is that this role isn't that difficult to play, unlike your Jack."