SHADOW PLAY黑色當道
Film noir gets reinvented with an oddball conspiracy and an artful dreamscape. By KEVIN MA一個古怪的陰謀與洋溢夢幻文藝氣息的故事為黑色電影帶來新鮮感。撰文：馬樂民
TWO FILMS ONBOARD
this month offer a twist on the film-noir genre and challenge conventional film narratives.
After his critically acclaimed horror hit It Follows, director David Robert Mitchell returns with Under the Silver Lake. Set in Los Angeles – the backdrop to neo-noir greats such as
The Long Goodbye, Chinatown and LA Confidential – the film follows a slacker (Andrew Garfield) who becomes an amateur sleuth to search for his missing neighbour. This is when he begins to see hidden codes and subliminal messages everywhere, leading him to explore a wider conspiracy.
Evoking David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive, the offbeat, LA-set neo-noir, Under the Silver Lake is a psychedelic love letter to the genre, filled with surreal imagery and oddball characters. Though it’s set in contemporary times, Mitchell tips his hat to past classics with the use of vintage props and an orchestral score by the composer Disasterpeace. Not everyone will be satisfied with the destination, but the fun of Mitchell’s film is in the detours.
Meanwhile, Long Day’s Journey into Night is the second film by Bi Gan, who became an instant star on the film festival circuit with Kaili Blues in 2016. Like his debut, Long Day’s Journey is another mystery set in the director’s hometown of Kaili in China’s Guizhou province. Huang Jue stars as a man who returns to his hometown and searches for a lost love ( Tang Wei). Like Under the Silver Lake, Bi’s take on neo-noir sees his hero come across eccentric characters and dangerous situations. However, unlike Mitchell, Bi maintains a sense of mystery rather than landing on answers.
Blending past, present, reality and dreamscape into a hypnotic voyage, Long Day’s Journey is a film that defies traditional narratives. It puts viewers on a languid journey filled with gorgeous visuals and ambiguity, meant to be experienced rather than understood. Despite a lack of clear answers, the film is worth seeing purely for its centrepiece: an audacious 60-minute take that travels through and above Kaili. It’s gimmicky – but undeniably also a jaw-dropping filmmaking feat.
兩部電影分別為黑色電影這個類型帶來獨特新意，挑戰傳統電影敘事手法。
導演David Robert Mitchell
繼叫好又叫座的前作《鬼上你的床》之後，再次執導《Under the Silver Lake》。本片故事以洛杉磯為背景，多部出色的新黑色電影亦以這座城市為背景，例如《撲朔迷離》、《唐人街》及《幕後嫌疑犯》等。電影的主角（ Andrew Garfield 飾）遊手好閒，為了追尋失蹤鄰居的下落，最後變成業餘偵探。在調查的過程中，他開始發現隱藏的密碼及難以被人察覺的訊息遍佈各處，並由此逐步陷入一個更龐大的陰謀中。
《Under the Silver Lake》是一部不落俗套的新黑色電影，可說是寫給新黑色電影的迷幻情書，片中充滿超現實的影像和言行古怪的人物，令人想起 David Lynch 同樣以洛杉磯為背景的《失憶大道》。雖然本片故事以現代時空為背景， Mitchell 卻運用老舊的道具以及大量由作曲家Disasterpeace
創作的管弦音樂作配樂，藉此向新黑色電影經典致意。故事的結局並非人人滿意，不過本片的趣味全在細節之中。
另外，於2016年憑首作《路邊野餐》於多個電影節內一鳴驚人的導演畢贛，推出第二部作品《地球最後的夜晚》。本片一如前作，是以導演的家鄉貴州省凱里市為背景的懸疑片。黃覺飾演一名回到故鄉尋找昔日舊愛（湯唯飾）的男子，就像《Under the Silver Lake》的主角一樣，碰到不少言行古怪的人物及多次身陷險境。可是，畢贛跟 Mitchell在處理上卻有分別，前者在片中一直保持一分懸疑感，但後者則要設法找出答案。
《地球最後的夜晚》糅合過去與現在、現實與夢境，打破傳統敘事手法，組成一段疑幻疑真的尋人之旅。電影中充滿悅目動人但意義曖昧不明的影像，旨在讓觀眾享受一種恍兮惚兮的觀影經驗，而非對故事內容尋根究底。雖然片中並沒有提供什麼清晰的答案，但光是看鏡頭在凱里市上天入地、全長60分鐘的大膽長鏡頭，就已經值回票價。這當然是在賣弄技巧，不過卻手法高明，令人歎為觀止。