01. The Shawshank Redemption
The Shawshank Redemption（1994）
Director: Frank Darabont
Starring: Tim Robbins/Morgan Freeman
At the 1994 Academy Awards, the film received seven nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Score, and Best Mix. But in the end, it failed to win any awards.
Surprisingly, although the film did not receive much praise when it was released in cinemas, it achieved great success in the home theater market and rental market.
The Shawshank Redemption is a story about freedom. Andy's path to freedom is also the path that everyone is pursuing
Freedom comes first, and this is almost a common view of human beings. What Andy did in prison was to make the prisoners realize that their minds were free. They can stick to their dreams, hopes.
Andy never gave in, he thought he was free, then he was free. The brilliance of the film's narrative structure is that although Andy is the real hero in Shawshank Prison, the entire film, except for the beginning of the film, which uses a few strokes to explain the reasons for Andy's imprisonment, never observes the world from his point of view, but uses calm and peaceful narration to bring the audience into the world under high walls.
It shows a picture of life painted with friendship and hope. Mandela said, "The heart is the strongest part of a person." ”
If our hearts do not stop, hope is always there. Finally, let's end with the letter Andy left for Red:
Having hope is a good thing, maybe the best thing, and there is always hope with hope.
Now that you've come here, go a little farther...
02. The Godfather
The Godfather（1972）
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Starring: Marlon Brando / Al Pacino
Don't hate your enemy, or you will make wrong judgment.
Don't hate your enemies or you will make a wrong judgment.
This is the godfather's negotiation technique. He was an elegant gentleman with a martinis in one hand and a butcher knife in the other; he was talking about dirty business,
A professional executioner in a noble suit; he only needs one gesture to make others lose his fortune;
Just one smile is enough to turn Gango into a jade veil. He was an awesome character, whether a politician or a funeral home owner, who seemed forever waiting to hear his gentle call, only for his noble promise: "Someday— maybe this day will never come, and I will let you do something for me." But before that day comes, please accept justice at my daughter's wedding, which is also a gift from me to you! ”
The great thing about the Godfather is that he is well aware of his responsibilities as an "underground emperor". Therefore, he always abided by his creed and would never sell drugs to harm others. To this end, he refused the request of the drug lord Surozzo.
That's what The Godfather tells us, as long as you can face the world with dignity, you can live with dignity.
As a masterpiece of Hollywood movies, the objective and cold perspective of "The Godfather" blurs the boundaries between good and evil, and its level of violence is also worth a big book, but Coppola said:
If anyone thinks that this film preaches violence, it's not my intention.
In fact, there are very few real violent scenes in the film, and they are very short.
03. Godfather 2
The Godfather: Part II（1974）
If anything in this life is certain, if history has taught us
anything, it's that you can kill anyone.
History tells us that one thing will always happen in life, and that is revenge. The film is considered one of the few films in film history that can be called a classic alongside the previous episode, and it is also considered the most successful sequel film to date.
Godfather 2 continues the plot of The Godfather, telling the story of the struggles of the second generation of Godfather Mike Creon, while interspersing the story with memories of the first generation of Godfather Vito Creon. The two plots unfold in parallel, which is a good addition and enrichment of the godfather from the front and back aspects, and connects the two stories through the clever melting points of the design, making the second godfather more full in the plot narrative, the techniques are more diverse, and the characters are also comparable.
On the one hand, De Niro plays the young Vito who shows the "entrepreneurial history" of the previous generation of godfathers; on the other hand, Mike, played by Pacino, modernizes the mafia as the new generation of godfathers, unabashedly showing the inner world of the second generation of mafia leaders.
Coppola had unprecedented courage and confidence to make a movie that was expected to be greater than "The Godfather".
The truth is, he also managed to accomplish this nearly impossible task: "The Godfather 2" won six Academy Awards, including best film and best adapted screenplay at the same time.
03. Pulp Fiction
Pulp Fiction（1994）
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Starring: Uma Thurman / Samuel Jackson / John Travolta / Tim Rose / Bruce Willis
This film integrates a variety of film genres such as film noir and gangster movies, and director Quentin Tarantino has concocted a strange movie full of wonders by combining popular culture such as his favorite characters, plots, dialogue, props, and songs according to his own preferences.
Starting with this film, independent films began to gain full recognition from mainstream films. "Pulp Fiction" won the global box office of $200 million at a cost of $8 million. "Pulp fiction" refers to the kind of novels with simple content and simple binding.
In 1935, Alain Lane of the United Kingdom created the "Penguin" edition of popular literature, which was often produced after various discarded newspapers and books were mixed into pulp. Quentin uses this name to suggest that his films are many other films and literary works
The fragments are mixed together. He made all serious things— violence, sex, politics, war as easy to swallow as fast food.
With Pulp Fiction, he has made himself a postmodern film hero. Several of the incidents that happened in "Pulp Fiction" are related to the underworld. But these few things are not related in themselves, and there is no connection between each story. Pulp Fiction thoroughly glorifies or stylizes violence.
It makes the audience realize that at this moment, you are watching the movie is entertainment. Quentin seems to want to tell us that life in the 20th century is rapidly evolving, fast and changeable and worthless, that there is no reason and justice in life or death, and that the film is nothing more than trivia and jokes, a "pulp novel."
05. The Golden Three
The Good, the Bad, the Ugly(1966)
Director: Seljo Leon
Starring: Clint Eastwood/ Eri Wallach / Lee Van Cliff
When you have to shoot, shoot, don't talk.
When you have to shoot, you should raise your gun and shoot, no nonsense.
Accompanied by uplifting but somewhat absurd theme music and oil painting watercolor-like opening animation, the masterpiece of Western Master Sergio Leon kicks off.
Sure enough, it is the consistent style of Westerns, with a slow pace and a detailed narrative, and there is a feeling of watching a story when watching the film. The characters of the three main characters, the good, the wicked and the ugly, are extremely delicate.
The trio's final duel takes place in an empty cemetery. Three Western cowboys with almost the same marksmanship but different ways of thinking and means, who will fall and who will survive?
For the audience, the film is classic precisely because of its brilliant, logical and black humor. The historical themes of the Civil War are brilliantly integrated into the film. "I've never seen so many people die meaninglessly."
If the bad guy who died at the gun of the good guy died for that large sum of property, then what did these nameless people who died on the battlefield do?
The film depicts in a serious manner the process of three cowboys snatching the treasure. Although the three are called good, bad, and ugly, the three have exactly the same purpose.
Although the good man did not kill the ugly man in the end, his victory trick was not elegant. Bad guys kill innocents indiscriminately but they are honest and trustworthy. And although the ugly people see the wind and make the rudder, they are forced by life to be helpless. Maybe good people will only survive in Western movies and novels, not in this society that is incompatible with romanticism.
06. Twelve Angry Men
Directed by: Sidney Lumet
Writers: Reginald Ross
Starring: Henry Fonda / Lee Cobb
It's now your duty to sit down and try and separate the factsfrom the fancy.
Now all you need to do is sit back and strip reality from imagination.
Life is in their hands-Death is on their minds.
They have in their hands the power to decide life and death
From the beginning to the end of this film, 12 jurors plus a bailiff, a judge, and a criminal suspect, it is impossible to have a rich and exciting plot, a gorgeous big scene, if you look at the set alone, it is simply monotonous; due to the long shooting age, the actors are just right, or black and white, even if you will still watch it, unconsciously to the end.
The subtlety of "Twelve Angry Men" is that the plot and theme are expressed only with lines, body language and expressions throughout, and under the interpretation of 12 outstanding actors and more outstanding screenwriters and directors, each character appears on the screen so vividly, including their background and personality.
The film appears to be a jury discussing and deciding on a murder, but in fact contains the jurors' own stories.
I don't know when the original intention of knowing the boy's father-killing case has been forgotten by the audience, which seems to be no longer important, after all, it has completely shown 12 different lives, shown a completely different legal system, remembered a word called reasonable doubt, and showed the power of language and logic.
Different from the current blockbuster and commercial movies, no male and female love, no explosive car skills, no shooting, no fighting, this film is truly worth remembering the classic.
07. Schindler's list
Schindler's List（1993）
Director: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Liam Neeson / Ben Kingsley / Ralph Fiennes
The film won 7 Oscars——— Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, Best Editing, and Best Music.
In 1993, Spielberg led the film crew to Poland, and just as they were entering the Krakow Camp to prepare for camp, they suddenly received an urgent telegram from the National Jewish Association from New York: "Don't disturb the ghosts, let them rest in peace." Without a word, Spielberg left the film crew alone and flew straight to New York. Apologies were made to the "Jewish Association", whose humility and sincerity impressed all the members of the "Jewish Association".
The film, which exposed the horrific crimes of the German Nazis in the massacre of Jews, premiered on March 1, 1994, in Frankfurt, Germany, with the German President personally attending the premiere of the film.
Spielberg used documentary-style techniques, black and white photography as the main tone, showing the horrors of the German Nazis' crazy extermination of the Jews, and its tragic situation brought tears to people's eyes. While cleaning the Krakow ghetto, Schindler saw between the SA and the expelled Jews a little girl dressed in red who had been almost unharmed by atrocities and massacres, and only this little girl was in black and white photography.
In Schindler's eyes, the little girl is the highlight of the entire slaughter scene in black and white tones. Later, the girl reappeared: she was lying in a body carrier and was being taken to the crematorium. This image became the classic of this film.
Its deep connotation and artistic value far exceed that of film works in the general sense.
09. Batman Prequel 2: The Dark Knight
The Dark Knight（2008）
Directed by: Christopher Nolan
Starring: Christian Bell /Heath Ledger
You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.
Either you die like a hero or you live
"Joker" Heath Ledger's performance in the movie is really brilliant, really like a madman. We can't imagine or judge whether the scars on the Joker's face stem from the stories he told, the violence of his father since childhood, the betrayal of his lover, or something else.
The Joker chose to smile, perhaps the scar on his face, which he had given himself. He was a psychopath, and all his friends around him were mentally ill. These so-called paranoids, the mentally ill, cling to perfectionism about the world, cling to themselves.
When he lit up the money in the half room, it was true that such thinking was not comparable to ordinary people. Many times, the things you have painstakingly planned will never reach your hands, but if you do not pay attention to something, they come to you to abandon it, this is life, this is chaos, and chaos is indeed the most orderly.
The expected scene did not appear. The Joker said doubtfully, What about my fireworks? Then, again, justice triumphed over evil. At the end of the film, the child says, but he has never done anything bad.
In this world, only the child's vision is the most innocent, and only the child's judgment is the most true and sensitive.
Maybe Batman and the Joker are both one kind of people. And good and evil itself is like the front and back of the coin, you think that good and evil are far apart, the difference is very large, but in fact, they have always been closely linked,
They are born twins. About them, there was only one turn around.
09. Lord of the Rings 3: The Return of the King
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of theKing（2003）
Director: Peter Jackson
Starring: Hugo Mortson/ Elijah Wood / Sean Austin / Liv Taylor
Ian McLean/Orlando Bloom/Kate Blanchett
The Lord of the Rings trilogy was not filmed in parts like the Matrix series or the Harry Potter series, and the trilogy, in addition to the post-computer effects and polishing, was completed in one go in 14 months!
You may not be able to imagine that many scenes in the trilogy were filmed on the same day, or even at the same time, and in "The Return of the King", a certain camera switch between Frodo and Sam was actually separated by a year!
There are almost no blockbusters in Hollywood that try to do this, because once it starts it means great risk, but Peter Jackson still set this precedent for the first time, and everyone supports him to do so, because everyone is ready to bet their love of the original, their passion for the movie into the Lord of the Rings series, and it turns out that they did not take this risk in vain, people remember the Lord of the Rings series, and they remember the people behind this group of movies.
The Lord of the Rings series uses high-tech means to show magnificent scenes, where the amazing special effects of thousands of troops and horses are only to set off the theme that even small people can change the future, so that we who are accustomed to seeing the omnipotent nature of heroic characters finally experience a long-lost touch.
The film won 11 Oscar nominations and finally all the awards nominated – matching titanic Oscar nominations and awards. In addition, this is the first time in oscar history that the best film award has been awarded to a fantasy film.
10. Fly over the madhouse
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest（1975）
Director: Milos Foreman
Starring: Jack Nicholson / Louise Fletcher / Christopher Lloyd / Danny DeVito
But I tried, didn't I? God damm it!
At least I tried, right? Damn it!
Although the film is nothing more than an allegorical reconstruction of an old story, Flying Over the Madhouse is still a talented masterpiece.
Perhaps the most impressive line is But I tried, didn't I? The background of this line is: McMophile and his companions bet that he can move the marble sink and smash the window to escape. Everyone is deeply skeptical about this. The result, of course, was that McMurphy did not succeed. In the face of the ridicule of the crowd, he said the above classic line.
With the exception of McMurphy, most patients in psychiatric hospitals stay inside voluntarily and have no desire to get out. Only McMofey has the consciousness that he must rely on his own strength to fight, although unsuccessful, but worthy of his heart.
In the madhouse in the movie, there is always a kind of masked depression. When ordinary people inadvertently cast their eyes, the atmosphere seems to be harmonious, the light is soft, and soft music is played even when taking medicine.
Patients have full freedom to move around the hospital, play cards and smoke cigarettes. People who perform well even have the opportunity to go out accompanied by medical staff. But only McMurphy saw the hidden fragility of this seemingly perfect world of tranquility.
Director Forman's brilliance lies not only in his successful interpretation of the essence of the original novel, but in the fact that he presents a rebellious theme in classic Hollywood-style language, and the narrative level is perfectly combined with the metaphorical level.
The film won five Academy Awards at the 1975 Academy Awards.