Author: Artist
Many of today's films concerned with people with disabilities in society often choose a sad and sad emotional tone, showing the strength of people with disabilities in a strong contrast between the bleak process but the bright results. Most of these themes appear in public welfare films, trying to inspire people and call on people to pay attention to the lives of the disabled, and directors and screenwriters have tried their best to create an image of a disabled person who is at the bottom of society but is kind enough, and then strives to obtain a happy life.
The Korean film "My First-Class Brother", as a commercial comedy film released in 2019, completely broke the framework of this tragic narrative, which can be seen through the artistic design in the movie poster, the poster uses a bright and colorful color, in the blue background, Shin Ha-kyun and Lee Kwang-so played by the disabled brothers, are laughing, with a comedy art form, to present a positive and happy state of life.
Wan Jia mentioned in "A Preliminary Study on the Embodiment of Visual Communication Art in Film Poster Design": "The content of film posters integrates the functions of words, pictures and various visual symbols, and expresses various connotations such as storyline, value orientation, and ideological concepts in the film with those very obscure and difficult to understand film information through methods that the viewer can perceive. ”
<h1>Characters in the film: physically handicapped and intellectually handicapped people in real-life cases</h1>
"My First-Class Brother" is based on the real experiences of the physically handicapped Choi Seung-kyu and the intellectually handicapped Park Jong-yeol. The older brother Se-ho (Shin Ha-kyun) is paralyzed and can only move above the neck; the younger brother Dong-joo (Lee Kwang-so) has an intellectual disability, and despite having a big man, he needs to be taught to say and do anything. And because the two children are physically or intellectually disabled, no one is willing to adopt, the two people have been living in the welfare home until they are twenty or thirty years old, becoming the "boss" and "child head" in the welfare home, living with the help of a priest.
After the death of the priest, the welfare home was taken care of by Se-hwa, but the government ultimately failed to allow the disabled to run the welfare home, forcibly transferring the children who were still young in the welfare home, leaving only Se-hwa and Higashihisa to accompany them.
Every day, Dongjiu was responsible for his and his brother's living problems — including brushing his teeth, washing his face, eating, and even going to the toilet and sleeping and turning over. In the process, Sega reviews his brother's name, address, and other basic life information. Two people can make up for each other's shortcomings perfectly, one uses the brain, the other contributes. This kind of compensation accumulates over time, you can fully understand each other's life needs, such as the younger brother in the film will always put a straw in the bag for the brother to drink drinks; the brother knows that the younger brother loves to eat instant noodles, clip up a large mouthful, whisper "good hot", blow a blow, and then suck it into the stomach.
Until Dongjiu's mother came to her and loudly accused Sehe of making Dongjiu "serve" himself. The mother finds a lawyer and turns the way of life of Sega in court, insisting that Sega is using her son, refusing to let her son live with Sega, and proposing to take Higashihisa away.
<h1>The action design in the film: the physically handicapped express emotions through facial expressions, and the intelligently disabled express emotions through uncoordinated body language</h1>
In South Korea, Lee Kwang-so, as a resident guest of "being favored by the god of variety", many people watch this movie with the purpose of watching Lee Kwang-so play the mentally retarded. I have to say that Lee Kwang-so's interpretation is really wonderful. A slightly overly slender, slightly uncoordinated body is particularly suitable for playing an intellectually handicapped child. Guang Su's long arms, long legs, and big hands and feet are very convenient to interpret the frequent hand-to-hand chaos of an intellectually disabled person.
And because of this,
Contrary to lee kwang-so's physical movements, Shin Ha-kyun plays a paralyzed character, and all his emotional expressions can only be conveyed to the audience through facial expressions. For example, when he thinks of some fresh idea, he will raise his whole face and show a look of joy; when his brother does something that makes people cry and laugh, he expresses disdain in his mouth, but with a smile in his eyes, showing a helpless but happy look; and when night falls, lying flat on the bed, he always looks directly at the ceiling, slowly thinking about all kinds of things, and his eyes are full of melancholy.
The acting skills of the two actors are one in action, the other in the demeanor, each specialized, and the details are in place, which is especially evident in the confrontation in the courtroom. The younger brother was novel, dazed but full of fear about what was happening in front of him, and stiffly wanted to look back at his brother but was stopped by the judge. When the judge asked the younger brother to point out the people who wanted to live together, the younger brother understood the brother's hardships with his unclear thinking, and finally went against his brother's wishes, as if struggling with the air, pulling the corners of his mouth, but firmly holding up his finger in the direction of his mother, no matter how his brother shouted and did not move. The brother went from incomprehension to rage to a pain that could not be relieved, so that the rich layers of emotions could only be expressed through the part above the neck. He turned desperately, trying to look at the opposing lawyer, the green tendons of his neck protruding, and the facial muscles taking on a twisted shape due to excessive force. In this way, the two try their best to present to the audience the complex psychological state of the brothers in the face of choices in the life they rely on each other.
<h1>Aesthetic design in the film: rich narrative patterns and narrative structures</h1>
Rich narrative mode
In the second half of the film, the film uses cross-montages, while depicting the beautiful scene of the younger brother returning home to reunite with his mother, while portraying the pain of the brother's life alone, which enhances the viewing of the film and also brings a lot of visual impact to the viewer. The two narrative lines alternate, on the one hand, making the audience indulge in it, feeling that although the younger brother has left his brother, he has habitually prepared everything for his brother in the process of living with his mother, on the other hand, he is also living an embarrassing life without his brother's care. From this, the film leads to a grand issue about family affection.
Perfect narrative rhythm
"The narrative rhythm of the film is a kind of flow that can be perceived by the audience by the creator using various carefully arranged means of expression, such as speed, movement, stillness, length and length, and strength and weakness, which is intended to enhance comedic conflicts and highlight the emotional state of the characters."
The narrative rhythm of the film is divided into inside and outside. Among them, the internal rhythm is mainly contained in the plot narrative of the story, such as the familiar character emotions, actions, etc., which are not easy to be perceived by the viewer, and can only be reflected in the film as a whole.
The external rhythm is mainly the external means of expression of the film, usually in the artistic design, such as structural editing, picture composition, sound special effects, etc., which are easy to be perceived by the audience, and the internal rhythm and the external rhythm are interdependent.
In "My First Brother", there is a perfect narrative rhythm, which is impressive. For example, when Miken, a female number one who works part-time at a swimming pool, went to the cinema with Se-hwa and Dong-ku to watch a movie, she looked at Se-hwa's brand-new shoes and said, "It's not just that you can't walk, but even if you can walk, you're wronged to stand still." This sentence perfectly grasps the rhythm of the film, MeiXian is trapped by life like her disabled brothers, and is also trying to find a new direction, and then in the process of volunteering together, Mei Xian gradually found the courage to face life.
<h1>The film highlights the basic narrative logic of Korean ethical films, successfully shaping humanity through small characters</h1>
Korean films have always been good at unfolding the plot with the family as a narrative unit, and can well contain warmth, humor and deep meaning. The film also does a good job of balancing comedic forms with deep themes. As mentioned at the beginning, the tone of the film is very different from other films about people with disabilities, but fundamentally because these two disabled people are by no means the integrity and kindness that the general audience expects.
His brother Sega uses his physical flaws to gain sympathy and reap the benefits. When his brother failed to register for the swimming competition, he first played the "feeling card", and after being rejected, he directly took the wheelchair and deliberately fell to the ground, encouraging passers-by to take pictures and say that the disabled were bullied, and finally the officials were forced to helplessly register their brothers. The brother will also use the school to require students to carry out the "volunteer" entry, charge students to take photos of "volunteers", and issue the final increase according to each other's academic qualifications and requirements.
As for the intellectually handicapped brother, the film strives to show his funny and cute side. How he likes to eat ramen and how he doesn't like others to take care of his brother is vividly expressed through some vivid and funny little expressions. The younger brother will lie down at night and pat the brother in the air, this small action may be to express gratitude or love for the brother's company, or perhaps because his family treated him like this before he was abandoned. But in any case, the younger brother is a cute character with a wonderful and beautiful little world.
In addition to the special roles of the brothers, the film also challenges the audience's perception of family ethics. Shihe complained bitterly, "Can a loved one take care of him?" Dong jiu was abandoned by his mother by the pool when he was very young, and his mother lied to him: "Swim over, and your mother will come back", and then his mother never appeared again, and Sehe has lived in endless hope for his mother ever since. When the mother remarried, she regretted her abandonment of her son with great sorrow and assured the judge: "He is my son, and I will take good care of him." "Abandoning or taking care of it may be a choice that the mother has to make due to the living conditions, but such a commitment based on blood relations undoubtedly gives the audience a great impact."
<h1>To sum up :</h1>
When the priest of the welfare home was still alive, he gave up the eulogy that should have been read at the officiating of a wedding, and chose to say: "In fact, people's hearts are the same, and love will not be eternal." But with a heart that accepts the other person's mistakes and endures, that love will be eternal and unchanging. ”
In fact, there is no "weak" in the film "My First-Class Brother", the film presents to the audience in front of a great and vivid individual, the director fully excavates the inner world behind the characters, through clever plot preparation, so that the character's personality slowly appears and gradually full.
【Originality is not easy, plagiarism must be investigated】
About the Author: An "artist" who focuses on the study of art theory, welcome to follow me and learn about art!