Milos Foreman (1932.02.18-2018.04.13)
When I first watched " Flying Over the Crazy Asylum ", I remembered the Chief, and since then I became interested in the movies of Indian and Latin American . I also remembered Jack Nicholson , who played McMurphy, and fell in love with his crazy and exterior performance, but I didn't remember the director Milos Foreman. It was not until I watched "The Love of Blonde" and "Fireman" that I suddenly realized that I had been in front of a treasure waiting to be opened.
In China, Forman 's works seem to be more familiar than his name, and what is less well-known is that this "Hollywood director" who is famous for films such as "Flying Over the Crazy Asylum", "HTML Mozart's Biography " and "Sex Book Tycoon" is actually an exiled director of Czech . He was once one of the leading figures of the Czech New Wave and the most internationally renowned director among the Czech New Wave directors.
1. The young Czech Republic
In 1932, Forman was born in Czechoslovakia . During World War II , both parents died and were raised by his uncles. At the age of 19, he entered the Prague Film Academy. In 1963, he filmed his feature film debut "Black Peter", and then he filmed films such as "Blonde Love" and "Fireman's Ball". With the blessing of the Czech New Wave film creation environment in the 1960s, Forman ushered in the peak of his career and became a rising star in the international film industry.
"Blonde's Love" movie poster (Czech Republic)
"Blonde's Love" is a very concise story, telling the story of the heroine from waiting for love to falling into love, and then to shattering love dreams. The theme is also very simple - women's pursuit of love and resistance to traditional concepts. Such works sound like a boring thing, but Foreman gives this dull script a high degree of infectiousness.
"The Love of Blonde" movie stills
His grasp of the characters' psychology is delicate and meticulous, his imagination when waiting, his emotions when first encounters, his suspicion when interacting, his shyness when affection is strong, his panic when falling in love, and his sadness after separation, etc. Every emotion is real and vivid, and every minute is precisely controlled, allowing the audience to see the image of a girl who is close to life and restores life.
"The Love of Blonde" movie stills
At the same time, Foreman also took a lot of effort in composition and mirror movement. The film uses black and white images, with loose composition and clean background, and the visual effect is very enjoyable. The naked lens and the close-up of the expressions of the heroine not only lack lust, but also has a clean beauty. In this short-lived love story about the blonde, the audience peeks at the transition of the times and the liberation of women.
"Firefighter's Balm" movie poster (Czech Republic)
Another new wave classic "Firefighter's Balm" by Foreman sees the symptoms of the entire society from a small group of firefighters. Unlike the style of "Blonde's Love", "Fireman's Ball" does not create a sense of documentary, but boldly conducts personalized form exploration. The film has many sexual metaphors and descriptions. At the same time, from the characterization to the plot, it is full of absurd and ridiculous humor. It is really surprising that these two equally excellent but very different films will be produced by the same director in just two years.
"Fireman's Balloon" movie stills
But similarly, the storyline of "Fireman's Balloon" is as simple as the one. In order to award honors to the seriously ill members, the old firefighters in the fire brigade decided to hold a dance, but made endless jokes at the dance. Every step they took was deviating from the original plan.
"Fireman's Ball" movie stills
cheerful orchestral occupy the background sound, the scene is lively and crowded and messy, and there are constant quarrels of all sizes, making the dance party mixed with unhappiness while playing and joy, and carnival and fury seem to be separated by a thread. All kinds of funny plots also constitute the film's extremely ironic connotation, which accuses the rules of formalism under the guidance of power and the resulting deformed collective cohesion. The last carnival is a carnival on the dark side of human nature. The joy of onlookers is built on the real pain of others, and the insatiable, indifference and hypocrisy of human nature are invisible.
"Fireman's Ball" movie stills
There is no doubt that Foreman is a wise film master. He has sharp insight into life, but his films are not sharp, but gentle, with plain and sincere emotions, gradually entering people's hearts. Even for tragedy , the sadness will not be too strong, it will only be like a small needle prick, which is unforgettable. During the Czech New Wave, Forman often participated in script creation. He focused on small and extremely ordinary things that happened in his calm life, and used a glimpse of the big picture to create creative and profound Czech films.
"Flying Over the Crazy Asylum" won the Oscar for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Adapted Screenplay
2, Exiles who went to Hollywood
1968, the Soviet troops stationed in Prague , the Czech New Wave was interrupted due to the political environment, a large number of film workers fled the Czech Republic, Forman went into exile to France, and later went to the United States to develop. As an exile director (or immigrant director, Foreman obtained American nationality in 1975), Foreman integrated his film style with Hollywood, and found out the Hollywood film market and environment, and soon gained foothold and industry recognition. His first feature film in Hollywood was "Escape Home", which won the jury award at the Cannes Film Festival in the same year; "Flying Over the Crazy Asylum" in 1975 shines at the Oscars, winning Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Adapted Screenplay.
"Flying Over the Crazy Asylum" movie poster (USA)
For mainstream audiences, "Flying Over the Crazy Asylum" is almost Foreman's tag. The film is adapted from the novel of the same name by American writer Ken Kercy. The novel was created in the 1960s when the social changes in the United States were in the 1960s. The young people called the "Beat Generation" held high the banner of liberation. The hippies actively participated in political protests and called for "love, freedom and peace". Various equal rights movements were even more enthusiastic. There were also ideas and concepts such as sexual liberation that marked personal freedom, which were all hitting the existing American environment. It is in this turbulent context that the author published "Flying Over the Crazy Asylum", using the protagonist McMurphy's words and deeds to express his resistance to national power and his pursuit of freedom.
"Flying Over the Crazy Asylum" work photo
Foreman, who came to Hollywood, seems to have less space to show his personality in scripts. The films he shoots are mostly based on literary works, especially biography, and rarely creates scripts by himself. Most of the works that Foreman filmed in Hollywood have achieved dual success in reputation and box office. Although he lost a certain amount of room for expression in the script, he has put a lot of effort into actors and performances. On the one hand, he always maintains his precise and delicate character control ability, which encourages actors to restore their roles as perfectly as possible. On the other hand, he likes to use non-professional actors in the crew to balance performance and life.
"Flying Over the Crazy Asylum" movie stills
When talking about the shooting of "Flying Over the Crazy Asylum", he once said: "What I did is to select a real patient for each actor, and then I said to the actor, 'I don't care what disease he has, what the disease is called, or whether it can be cured, you just need to observe their behavior, how they walk, how they speak, How their eyes move, imitate all this, and add it to your performance, is enough. ’”
2000, Foreman won the Silver Bear Award at the Berlin Film Festival Silver Bear Award for Best Director
"Flying Over the Asylum" just like Foreman's previous film works, allowing the audience to see vivid and real characters. His ability to control characters also allowed him to show excellent talents in the shooting of biopics. In 1985, "The Legend of Mozart" won eight Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, etc.; in 2000, he won the Silver Bear Award at the Berlin Film Festival Silver Bear Award for another biopic "Men on the Moon". The absurd and humorous comedy style he showed during the Czech New Wave is also presented in his Hollywood work. "The Man on the Moon" uses the method of play in the play. Jim Carrey 's exaggerated performance and slightly farceful story make the film extremely absurd, and it reminds people of the interesting and bold Foreman during the New Wave period.
"The Man on the Moon" movie stills
Conclusion
"Flying Over the Crazy Asylum" is a masterpiece, but it is definitely not the only entrance to know Foreman. From Czech Republic to Hollywood, Forman has integrated into a new shooting environment, but he has been accused of "abandoning the spirit of the Czech New Wave." However, no matter what paradigm changes in Foreman's works in form and style, he always writes resistance for the oppressed with a kind of human affection of loving all living beings. His films have a gentle and powerful force, connected to life, giving setbacks, retaining hope, and hitting the heart, and then slowly precipitating in a corner of the individual's heart. Perhaps it is precisely because his persistence in "resistance" and "freedom" fits the values that Hollywood films have always advocated that Foreman, who came to Hollywood from the Czech Republic, did not show his discomfort in the ideological and film creation environment.
"The Legend of Mozart" movie stills
Another opposite, his insight into "people" prompts him to analyze the most unique and real side of each character, and combine it with the actor's restructure. This in-depth and sensitiveness to individual personality is commendable and one of the important reasons why his works are so charming.
After 60 years of film, Milos Forman has not left many films, but the quality of his works has always been at a high level. Entering Forman's film world, it is like knowing a gentle but principled scholar, and he has surprises from time to time.
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