-Reality and Freedom
The film The French Captain's Woman, adapted from john fowles's best-selling novel of the same name published in 1969, is a typical work in British cultural reflection films. The film tells a love story that happened in the Victorian era more than 100 years ago, and tells this sad old story with the eyes and mood of modern people in the twentieth century. The film shows the emotional confusion and choice between men and women in two different times through staggered time and space. The main clue of the film is to show the love story of a pair of Victorian Sarah and noble young Charles, while the other clue reflects the feelings of two actors Anna and Mike when shooting the main clue story.
Victorian era is a closed and conservative era with traditional hierarchical concept. Sarah is a well-educated poor woman who loves painting, but her background and social background at that time determined her social status, and she was not allowed to show her artistic talent or have the freedom to love and think. The film presents a ruthless and hierarchical Victorian era. "French captain's woman" is a contemptuous name given to her by the locals in Lyme town where she lives. She fell in love with a French lieutenant who came to town to heal, and later left the French lieutenant who was proved to be a playboy by herself. So she was despised by the people of Lyme Town.
Charles is a young gentleman. He came to Lyme Town from London to inspect the geological conditions. Standing on the breakwater, he was deeply attracted by this slightly melancholy and mysterious independent woman in black, and Sarah also noticed Charles' enthusiasm, sincerity and distinctive vulgar talk. They are attracted to each other and involved in the whirlpool of love. When the story came to light, Sarah was fired and lost her job as a waitress for Mrs. Portney, while Charles was forced to sign an insulting confession when she broke off her engagement with a rich local girl.
What happened next was unexpected: in the hotel, Charles found that Sarah was still a pure woman; After a one-night fling, Sarah left without saying goodbye and never heard from again. It was not until three years later that Sarah sent a message to Charles, who was exhausted physically and mentally, that he and she relived their dream of honeymoon on a sunny and calm lake. At that time, Sarah had just found a job as a tutor. Sarah's seemingly mysterious and disobedient behavior just shows her unremitting struggle for love and freedom. Strive for the right of free love in the struggle against the dull and harsh secular atmosphere; In the love relationship with the French lieutenant, women still maintain their precious self-esteem and free personality. What she pursues is the perfect unity of free desire, independent personality and moral laws and regulations in love. In the film, Sarah always expresses Sarah's depressed, contradictory, aloof and indifferent personality with dim tones. In the scene of Sarah and Charles dating in the Woods, those dense and gloomy trees invisibly give the audience a strong pressure. The director skillfully used this scene, which not only showed the ancient feudal conservative social environment, but also achieved a strong visual impact. At the end of the story, when Sarah appeared in the camera again, her tone was bright. The change of hue also implies that Sarah's life has completely changed. After three years of marriage and separation from Charles, Sarah seems to have been reborn. She gained real freedom, pursued art without any burden and bondage, and found her lost true love. Sarah and Charles meet again, and the boat passes under a dark bridge arch. As the ship gradually moved away from the camera, the picture became brighter and brighter. It reflects that Sarah really got rid of the pain and bondage, and the tortured lover got the hard-won love after rebirth.
The film contrasts the moral standards of19th century with the freedom and liberation of modern love-the mystery and emotional repression of Victorian women are in sharp contrast with the emotional autonomy of modern women. In modern stories, the colors of films are mostly bright, which highlights the autonomy of modern women and forms a sharp contrast with the characters in the stories. At the end of the film, after playing the role of Sarah, Anna re-examined her feelings with Mike and chose to leave Mike. The most dramatic scene was in the last scene, when Mike opened the window to make a final reservation for Anna, the blurted out "Sarah" immediately released the audience from their disgust at Mike's betrayal of his wife's feelings. When the camera gives Mike a close-up freeze-frame, the audience can know from his expression whether his relationship with Anna stems from deep love or the so-called "too deep into the play". Perhaps each other's hearts have been baptized and reborn at this time.
The original novel has two endings. First, Charles forgave Sarah for hurting him. The other is that he left. However, both endings are used in the film. In the Victorian love story, the first ending is adopted, while in the modern story, the second ending is adopted. By comparing the independent consciousness of women in the two eras, the film is more dramatic, and the creator "The French Captain's Woman" is highlighted as a classic of British "cultural reflection films" in the 1980s. For the sake of women's self-esteem, ordinary Victorian women would rather lie about the accusation of infidelity; Modern actresses have an affair with the hero while filming. When the play was over, she also took the initiative to end the show. "I left quietly, just as I came gently." Don't even want to bring a cloud to the horizon. ...
In Victorian times, love and ideals may not be free and repressed, but in modern times, people can be completely independent. You can choose the person you love, marry him, or choose the life and career you want. Just like Anna, she is a typical modern woman. She chose to be an actress. She can live like a couple with Mike for acting. At the end of the play, she feels that people are separated and she is in the play. Sarah fought for her freedom, and her bravery cannot be ignored. From her, we can vaguely see the values of people in that era. She is called "the French captain's woman". Only by looking at the sea can she get the peace she wants. That is, her special temperament attracted Charles, and his sympathy for Sarah gradually turned into love. In this process, he had an obvious ideological struggle, and finally decided to give up the partner he once thought was the most suitable for him and choose to be with Sarah. This may have something in common with the real Mike. He is addicted to his feelings with Sarah in the play. We will wonder, if Anna has not left or turned around, will Mike give up his original choice to be with her like Charles in the play? There is no answer to this hypothesis. Because Anna knows how to choose, drama is just a drama after all, and passion does not mean eternity. After distinguishing reality, she left smartly, without nostalgia. ...
Charles may be confused, he sympathizes with Sarah, or he may have fallen in love; Sarah may wonder whether Charles is the man she has been pursuing, whether he dares to pursue his love as he pursues himself, and whether he is unworthy of relying on himself like the former French lieutenant. Mike may be confused about who Anna and Sarah are, whether they are the same, and whether they all have happy endings with themselves in and out of the play, but in reality he can really give up everything and family; Anna may also be confused about whether she and Mike are in love or passion, which is more important, body or soul, and what is more self-satisfied. Finally, she was not confused. While Mike was still immersed in the play, she had already pulled away.
The film ends with a modern story and echoes the film that begins with a group of stories, so as to achieve the effect of mutual correspondence inside and outside the play. The whole film uses montage many times to achieve the effect of natural transition through time-space transformation, and vividly describes and shows the content of the story. The simultaneous comparison of the two clues leads the audience to think about whether there can be a balance between moral standards and freedom of love in society, and at the same time makes the film more dramatic. In addition, the sharp contrast before and after the tone of the film is more conducive to expressing the content of the story from the side, and the audience can also grasp the changes of emotions.