In the Spring Festival file that focuses on family celebrations, “No Name” is really not a frivolous movie. Its story took place during the Anti-Japanese War, when the undercurrents in the isolated island-like Shanghai were raging, and all forces competed desperately. In the end, the communists, who were hidden in the dark and suffered countless sacrifices, ushered in the dawn of victory. For today’s well-informed audience, the spy battle line of “No Name” is not difficult to guess, but the background is heavy, coupled with the non-linear narrative, the perception is really not friendly.
In a sense, “Anonymous” is an atypical theme movie. It wants to pay tribute to those “unknown” heroes who hide their identities and carry forward the burden for the people of their country, but it does not adopt the presentation method familiar to the audience. , but with intertwined clues to connect the portraits of the characters in the troubled times: Captain Wang and Secretary Ye mentioned a tragedy in which four members of the gold shop owner’s family were killed by the Japanese army and thrown into a well. The squad met by chance, which led to another bloody murder of Chinese laborers; Secretary Ye’s sweetheart was killed by Captain Wang, and he personally killed this former “friend”. However, as time passed and everything seemed dusty After the settlement, Secretary Ye ran into Captain Wang’s family in Hong Kong again…
In the interlocking advancement, “No Name” greatly mobilized the audience’s sense of participation, allowing everyone to piece together and interpret the truth of the story by themselves, and calmly and coldly confess the cruelty of war. In the whole film, there are very few direct death scenes. Instead, there is a scream of a stray dog submerged in an air raid, a newspaper news about the murder of a young woman, and the indelible blood stain on the cuff of Mr. He’s shirt… one A living character suddenly exits the scene without even leaving any traces. Death is like a part of daily life.
In terms of shaping the temperament of the whole work, the pictures of “No Name” have contributed a lot. For example, when the city of Guangzhou was devastated by the bombing, and when the laborers looked up in despair, director Cheng Er used his always preferred perspective view to present the insignificance and helplessness of people engulfed by the torrent of fate and war. The rich colors like oil paintings and the extremely neat composition that seems to be obsessive-compulsive disorder not only complement the dark and gloomy tone of the film, but also a rare visual aesthetic feast. When secret agent Miss Jiang thought her death was approaching, she was put in jail and put on a red cheongsam. In such a dark and polluted environment, the cheongsam is dazzlingly red and cold, like roses and blood. With just one image, this character’s tragic traits of wandering in troubled times and deep love for life have been demonstrated to the extreme.
If many works of the same theme are novels with tight rhythm and strong emotion, then “No Name” is a delicate and restrained prose poem; Looking for fun in light and shadow, then “No Name” is indeed a work that can bring a lot of joy. (Gao Qian)