吞咽

Two 2019 feature debuts from aspiring filmmakers that hold fast our zeitgeist by putting a female character in the dead center. Kitty Green’s THE ASSISTANT is exclusively lensed from our titular heroine’s perspective to cast a startling light on a salient social issue in the wake of the notorious Weinstein effect; meanwhile, Carlo Mirabella-Davis’ SWALLOW, doggedly builds up a reductive dissection of a young, gravid bride’s eerie disintegration, by dint of uncomfortable body horror tropes to reify her pica affliction.

Adhering to her technique developed as a documentarian, Green adopts an uncharacteristic angle to tackle her unsavory subject matter. In THE ASSISTANT, Garner plays Jane, a junior assistant in an unspecified NYC film production company, and the film takes place during her overlong working hours on a hectic Monday. We watch her being picked up by a limousine to work long before daybreak, and follow her in clerical drudgery, see the big shots from her peripheral vision and hear things only within her earshot. By doing that, Green risks narrative clarity and leaves the scandalous skinny in connotation or off-screen, consequently the film rather invites an immediate revisit to suss the implications of every casual dialogue and throwaway joke, and for better to piece together what is going on.

Green’s strategy, not audience-friendly, but totally chimes in with Jane’s grunt-level existence in the company, but felicitously, do we really need to see those sordid goings-on with our own eyes? We shall all be thankful to Green for being so considerate in her approach, because such a canker, condoned systemically by the industry and beyond is better limned as this immaterial, omnipresent force of vileness, penetrating every couch and behind every closed doors in every office and hotel room, it is everywhere therefore it must be put paid to.

Carrying the entire film on her slender shoulders, Garner exhibits strenuous stamina and restrained body language as the doormat (Jane is a sponge absorbent of the negative outpourings of the boss’ wife) and the dogsbody (she is virtually invisible in front of her superiors and other colleagues), even the two male assistants callously exploit her newness (only being there for 5 weeks), or maybe also because she is a she, and let her bear the brunt of blame and verbal abuse. Yet, in her position, she has no right to say otherwise.

Jane aspires to be a producer, and she knows all too well that she must pay her dues and turn a blind eye on the seedy matters, if she wants to make it. But on the off chance when that actually happens, she will have already become one of the silent connivers in that toxic working environment (implied by the unseen boss’s sinister motivation). Moreover, she should considered herself lucky, according to the head of Human Resources (Macfadyen), simply because “you are not his type”, it’s all so reassuring! Macfadyen has that peculiar air of faux-earnestness, mixed with veiled hubris, to express the warped normalcy as if it is the most commonplace words to utter, whereas Garner is so utterly disconcerted and anguished in her botched worm-will-turn rebel, their exchange is the crescendo of this gritty film.

Incredibly, THE ASSISTANT plays up the working place’s drabness, impersonality and functional symmetry to keep us absorbed with its coded message. However, SWALLOW is so stunning on the eye level, the young couple, Hunter and Richie Conrad (Bennett and Stowell) are gorgeous, their affluent, minimalistic upstate NYC residence with a killer view, is often filtered through prismatic hues to emphasize the magic power of money.

But what happens inside is far less majestic, Hunter, hailed from a lower class, is maladaptive to her new ascendancy as the cinderella, who has a bun in the oven and develops an anomalous appetite for inedible things (including some small sharp objects, those swallow scenes are fastidiously arranged, and not for the squeamish). Does she subconsciously want to lose the baby? and why is that? A thought never occurs to our prince charm Richie, instead, his family hires a burly minder Luay (Nakli), a Syrian immigrant, to keep an eye on her minute by minute to forestall any self-inflict harm, solely for the safety of their precious progeny.

If the plot is piled up with unmitigated clichés (cruel, senseless rich people, good-hearted immigrants, a fable of perfect family of origin, the psychological manipulation of negging and nonpology, the list goes on and on…) and Mirabella-Davis might be a lousy fabulist, what gives vitality to SWALLOW, besides Katelin Arizmendi’s stylish cinematography, is Bennett’s metamorphic performance. A frail flower distressed by her parentage (the cat will be let out of the bag later) and conjugal negligence, Bennett, who looks like a poor girl’s Jennifer Lawrence, grandly inhabits Hunter’s compulsion, disorientation and exasperation with such astonishing finesses, one cannot take eyes off her. Even when we cannot relate to Hunter’s weird condition, we are compulsively intrigued by Bennett’s nuanced delivery and delicate mannerism, hoping some deus ex machina can materialize to save her.

Eventually, Mirabella-Davis grants Hunter a touching closure (Denis O’Hare’s brilliant cameo is exactly what the doctor ordered, he can proficiently pull off a complicated emotional range in meager minutes, though on paper, the reconciliation is still a mawkish cliché) and the final shot statically looking at a lady’s room with people come and go writ large the film's emboldened stance: pro-life and pro-woman.

When all is said and done, both THE ASSISTANT and SWALLOW are promising works well wrought by their emergent creators, together, they paint a vivid picture of the wrongs (in the working place or in one’s own home) inflicted upon women by faulty, haughty, selfish men, but they are not just reproachful to the stronger sex, their artistry underlies more hope in women’s resilience, Jane might walk the plank the next day, she can at least have peace with herself and knows better of her goals, as for Hunter, starts anew and puts aside a failed marriage, together with her psychogenic malady, scrumptious comestibles are beckoning and cinderella can get stuffed!

referential entries: Darren Aronofsky’s MOTHER! (2017, 6.6/10); Cory Finley’s THOROUGHBRED (2017, 6.5/10); Leigh Whannell’s THE INVISIBLE MAN (2020, 6.9/10).

Title: The Assistant

Year: 2019

Country: USA

Language: English, Mandarin

Genre: Drama

Director/Screenwriter: Kitty Green

Music: Tamar-kali

Cinematography: Michael Latham

Editing: Kitty Green, Blair McClendon

Cast:

Julia Garner

Matthew Macfadyen

Noah Robbins

Jon Orsini

Kristine Froseth

Dagmara Dominczyk

Alexander Chaplin

Purva Bedi

Juliana Canfield

Makenzie Leigh

Patrick Wilson

Rating: 7.4/10

Title: Swallow

Year: 2019

Country: USA, France

Language: English, Arabic

Genre: Drama, Mystery

Director/Screenwriter: Carlo Mirabella-Davis

Music: Nathan Halpern

Cinematography: Katelin Arizmendi

Editing: Joe Murphy

Cast:

Haley Bennett

Austin Stowell

Elizabeth Marvel

David Rasche

Denis O’Hare

Luna Lauren Velez

Laith Nakli

Babak Tafti

Zabryna Guevara

Rating: 6.9/10

刷微博看到了这部异食癖患者的精神世界《吞咽》

小手飞快地找到了资源

咋说呢 中规中矩 基本没有快进 就想看看她都吃了点啥 小朋友们不要看 生理上会引起极大不适 不要学习

剧情啊 虽说是在男权一味控制下女主不得不找点方式舒压 可干点啥不好 非要吞咽点奇奇怪怪的东西 最后又拐到了原生家庭童年阴影 感觉有点脱节 后半段有点垮掉了 但女主的颜和画面色彩还是🉑️以的！！！

不幸的身世使得Hunt一直在寻找我是谁，认定我是被社会抛弃的孩子。遇到了“完美”先生所获得的一切，劝解自己“我应该很幸福”，但这样的生活越发使得她脱离安全感，如何使得丈夫爱她，如何不犯错，强大的自卑和缺乏安全感折磨着她。直到发现了“吞咽异物”所带来的安全感，当冰冷尖锐的金属触碰舌头时带来的强大结合感，让她瞬时感受到“被拥抱”“真实存在感”以及隐含的“无所不能”，以及“控制欲”。那一瞬的快感让她保持一天很好的自我存在感和安全感。最后在与生父的探讨“找寻自我”中真正地释放了自己。有人批评了最后女厕所的镜头，我却觉得非常好，最后她还是回到了属于她的世界，一个平凡的阶层，一个并没有那么体面的场合，她只是芸芸众生中不起眼的女孩。

关于女人与家宅，没有比《让娜·迪尔曼》更好的颂歌了。在阿克曼的镜头里，迪尔曼每天重复同样的事情，她丝毫不感到厌倦。不妨说，她乐在其中。操持家庭，与其说是女人的职责，不如说是天分。她们为家而生。

在杜拉斯的笔下，家由女人维系着。“由女人创造出来供人安居其中的家屋，这就是所谓乌托邦的所在”。她发出感慨：“女人就是家。她过去是，现在仍然是。”虽然这一直是“一种深受限制难以忍受的情况下踏在死亡的绳索上跳舞”。（《物质生活》）

现在，我们见证越来越多的女人逃离家庭。不为工作，仅仅因为家成了囚牢。她们仍然爱家，并视其为履行妻子与母亲的责任所在。但随着现代化的进程，一场隐形的精神危机正在中产阶级家庭主妇身上发生。

危险早已悄然埋伏在冰冷的现代主义建筑中，精准的自动化操作在减少女性在家宅中劳作的同时，也逐渐取消了家宅之于她们的意义。倘若这还属于其次，那么更为严重的则是日复一日酿造的厌倦与无聊。

如果说因为天性，两性之间的相处终归会转入平淡，家宅及其自身具有的情感意义才是让女人安居家中的动力所在，那么一旦这层意义被取消，家宅就会变成禁锢天性的规训之地：男人把女人监禁在了家中。

卡罗尔（《安然无恙》）不会想到发生在自己身上的诡异症状——流鼻血、眩晕、无法呼吸……——乃是由家宅引起。她有一个公认的“幸福”家庭：住在美国郊外的豪宅中，家庭美满，衣食无忧。但问题就在这儿，现代社会为中产阶级贡献了隐形弃妇。

亨特（《吞咽》）与卡罗尔有类似的家庭，原因应该为人所羡慕。但慢慢地，她发现自己患上了一种奇怪的疾病：她会经常抑制不住自己吞食异物，并从中得到快感。医学上称此为“异食症”。

两位女性的致病因被不约而同地归结于外部世界。卡罗尔面对一个被化学分子污染的世界，最后她被送去一家与世隔绝的疗养院修养；亨特是因为她的原生家庭——她是母亲被父亲强奸后产生的罪证。

但显然，求助于外因一方面出于对观众理解力的讨巧，另一方面男导演似乎在潜意识中回避了女性的精神病症正是由他们所属的性别导致。被“禁锢”在家的贵妇面对着无止境的空虚，自我价值的无法得到实现。

家宅于是变成了一处精神病院。这可不是揭示什么深层现状，而是现实本身。卡罗尔和亨特均听从家庭成员的建议，接受治疗。但也有另外一种出路——选择逃离。

这不再是“娜拉出走”的故事，而是卷土重来。艾米（《消失的爱人》）为失败的婚姻策划了精心的报复：制造一场失踪案，通过留下蛛丝马迹让丈夫的行径暴露于公众，从而进行一场变相的“情感教育”。结果，她不仅制服了丈夫，而且“荣归”旧宅。

丝莉亚（《隐形人》）因为不堪忍受男友的虐待同样逃离了家宅，她继续面临着男友致命的报复和精神虐待。她以妥协的姿态回到了家宅，不过暗中，设计计谋让男友毙命（电影中未能解释明白的点）并抽身而退，从而获得胜利。

“过去的情况就是这样。过去，不论我站在哪一方，不论处在世界历史哪一个世纪，我所见到的女人无不是处在一种深受限制难以忍受的情况下踏在死亡的绳索上跳舞。”忍受，还是反抗？是摆在当代女性面前的难题。

《吞咽》这部片的迷人之处在于贯彻始终的隐喻，更多的不在于故事线索，而在于镜头语言。比如最初羊的镜头、女主人公的名字“Hunter”、居住的建筑物、颜色的使用。

电影试图表达的是女主人公重新夺回自己生活的“掌握权”，或者说是一直未曾获得，首次得到的“掌握权”。

电影里，女主人公一直都没有生活的掌控权。丈夫看上去给与了她许多自由，她每日打发闲暇时光，做饭等丈夫归家。想在泳池旁边种花，要征得丈夫同意；给丈夫熨烫领带，却不小心烫坏了；聚会时被要求说起某件趣事，又因无人感兴趣而被迫中断；即便在家里也无法估计丈夫的妈妈什么时候会冲上门。其中最为“失控”的事情是，她怀孕了。

女主想在泳池边上种花

女主丈夫的妈妈自顾自地闯入，带来一本“快乐”的书

女主问丈夫：“我能让你快乐吗？”丈夫回答“当然啊”时女主小心翼翼的回答，显然她不想破坏现状生活的和谐。

最初知道自己怀孕的时候，女主并未展现快乐的模样。但她想让丈夫快乐，因而在丈夫面前她也展示出兴奋快乐的模样。但周围的人越是要求得多，她也开始走向不快乐，自此以“异食”为癖，因为这是她自己想做且能做的事情，只要她愿意，她就可以做到。她因此感到快乐。

而每当她接受更多外界的刺激，她就会更想要吞噬异物，试图感受/享受自己重新掌握生活的感觉。

随着异食癖被揭露，丈夫及丈夫家人未表达同情，他们不在意她这样做的原因，而是急切地希望女主能回到正常，为她增设保安、安排心理医生、设置新的食谱等...女主都一一遵循。但在丈夫的晚宴上，她发现所有的宾客都知道她异食的癖好，她感到一阵背叛，虽未认为这是一个秘密，但丈夫却将之稀松平常地说了出去。女主好不容易与心里医生建立了信任关系，又因听到心理医生将她的过往告诉丈夫而再受到背叛的打击。

“真的会有人不顾一切地包容和爱自己吗？”其实女主一直都不愿意相信会有这种无条件的爱，更多时候，她感觉她的存在本身就是个错误，因而她必须在源头重新确立她的自我的存在，也才有了后续系列的举动。

爱也许很浅薄，而自我需要常在。

：我不能回去

摘录一些喜欢的镜头：

1、被切碎的空间

即使在同一空间，也能通过光线、颜色将空间切分，擅用对比色，拉远人与人之间的距离。

女主/男主分列餐桌两端，与背景相对一明一暗

两个顺色空间（绿色/木色）

以镜子连接的两个空间（蓝色/粉色）实际上明明就是同一空间

丈夫、保安、女主分数三个不同空间

大部分美妙的空间镜头都出现在这座美丽的宅子里，被精心设计的镜头同时也是女主被精心“设计”的生活。

2、对比色

常见于红、绿、蓝三色的对比，中心构图+对比色，形成非常强烈的轻重对比。

女主坐在精致的家具之间，也如同布景的一份子。

红/绿/青

红/蓝

绿/红

3、顺色

女主的穿搭基本都是顺色搭配，但早期颜色更为鲜艳，后期颜色越来越淡。

女主的蓝色穿搭好看，眼影也是天蓝色的

丈夫家是淡色顺色系的，女主每次参加家庭聚会基本都会穿白色/米色/驼色

女主后期的服装颜色越来越淡，鲜艳的颜色越来越少。

心理医生穿着女主早期穿过的颜，可能是她喜爱的颜色

花裙子与花

4、情绪化的特写

一些考验演技的时刻。

红色珠子映衬的光

其实是想终结

一边流泪一边吃土

母亲没能选择堕胎/女主人公选择堕胎，前后的对比，女主也终于获得一点自我的选择权。

这个新片值得一看，可上★★★。似乎还是导演的处女作，加半星。海报容易让人联想到《生吃》，内容也有相近之处。用异食癖的故事来阐述女性主义，捍卫主张和争夺权益。同样是女性的成长蜕变，生吃的结局比较惊悚，吞咽显得略为意外且冷血。 生吃这种行为多少带有嗜血的快意，吞咽异物对于常人来说难以理解。尤其是尖锐的东西，刺痛和寒意就更为突出，是让人不安和恐惧的。它的作用却是给病人带来心理上的满足和平静，尤其是作为一个半“禁锢”在家中的女性，空荡奢豪的房间与孤独无助产生了强烈的压抑感。外人看起来幸福美满的家庭，孕妇，深宅大院，挣脱逃离，种种要素和《隐形人》又有异曲同工之妙。 矛盾铺垫得不足，针对性不够集中的问题存在。原生家庭的阴影，贫富悬殊的结合，都是异食癖的根源。但并不是没有尝试修复，一味地指责精英阶层的虚伪或者高傲，有点强人所难。可以代入那些嫁给或者入赘富贵的寒门，突破阶层的总是对应着代价。物质与精神上的鸿沟里，散发着小布尔乔亚的无病呻吟。尤其是当出现了善良的男性护工，一个曾经战乱中求活的人作为对衬，她的行为就越发的病态和缺乏说服力。 如此一来无情的结局并不觉得她是觉醒，反而是病情加重的符号。