In 1890-1924, when he died at the age of 34, the Frenchman Louis De Luc was like a beam of light from a movie projector. Although it was fleeting, he still made a “lightning drift” in the world film industry.
Everybody knows Louis Vuitton. But when it comes to Louis De Luc, little is known. In fact, this Louis really has nothing to do with Louis in the fashion world, but it does not prevent him from opening up in his short life: he has left a rich legacy in the three fields of film criticism, film theory and film creation. .
After watching the movie “Road to Fan”
Louis Druck is a great god in the film industry, but he was originally a black fan of film art.
In 1895, the French Lumière brothers invented the film. However, Drucker was dismissive of this new entertainment method pioneered by his compatriots. He felt that this kind of activity photography, which was similar to juggling, was at best a new vulgar entertainment method. “It is another way for capitalists to make money. Kind of technical means”. When he was a literary and art reporter, he even thought that film was “unfavorable art that violates morality.”
Later, when World War I broke out, Druck fell in love with a Belgian actress named Eva Francis. The latter often took Druck to the movies. Coupled with the influence of some friends, Druck gradually abandoned his prejudices and realized that film is a great new art.
After watching “Deception” filmed by American director De Miller, he was deeply stimulated and began to comprehensively examine the industrial development and artistic standards of French, Italian and American films at that time, and then formed a series of important theories about film itself Achievements, such as the “triple attributes of industry, communication and art” of film.
He founded the world’s first fan club in 1919—the new term “cinéphilie” (not “fans”) was born. He also advised film distributors and theater managers to pay special attention to the quality of movie posters and improve the theater environment as much as possible.
Drucker’s “Three Degrees of Life”
Richard Thaler, the 2017 Nobel Prize winner in economics, said at a university graduation ceremony: “There is nothing more rational than choosing a career based on interest.” Is Druck out of interest or Lu Xun’s “deep thinking” “Awakened”, he entered the new professional track from the media, and it is now untestable. Drucker has many labels in his life, but the brightest one is still a “movie art theory critic”-to find what he is interested in, continue to invest time and resources, and make it to the extreme, he is a “successful person.”
Martin Luther King once suggested that work should have length—this is what you depend on to be better throughout your life; work should also have breadth—it should touch many others; work should also have height—it should allow You serve an ideal and satisfy the soul’s desire for justice. With regard to the strategic and tactical comments and operations of the film industry and film aesthetics, Drueck has these “three degrees” at the same time.
Druck took the lead in starting a huge French impressionist-avant-garde film art movement. The difference is that he did not devote too much to film art like other French artists; on the contrary, he acted like a calm and sober film industry economist from beginning to end, using his unique perspective to scalpel the film industry. The attributes are thoroughly analyzed.
“Vagrant Girl” stills
In 1895, the French Lumière brothers invented the film
He believes that film can achieve “the perfect combination of art and trade” at the same time.
In the eyes of Drucker, although the form of film is very new, it can be completely transformed into a “cultural/spiritual intercontinental ballistic strategic nuclear missile”: once it breaks out, its market potential will bring impact and “cultural radiation” to all countries in the world. , They are all unprecedented—who won’t buy things that are both profitable and enjoyable? ! From this, he believes that film can achieve “the perfect combination of art and trade” at the same time. It is precisely because of this that he does not criticize pure commercial film directors such as Gao Meng and Pat, but kindly reminds them that their films lack a sense of commerciality, or that they need to further explore the “big taste” of the public. He even took out the German film “Dr. Caligari’s Cabin” without “patriotism”, taking this as an example to point out: “Original films are more commercial than some mediocre’commercial films.’ Success.”
Commercial Trader of Early Films
To this day, people in the world are still arguing and arguing about the appropriate proportion of film artistry and commerciality. And Druck believes that the commerciality of the film is not only harmless to the artistry, but also has important value in itself. To this end, Drucker took up his level as a literary journalist and described it vividly: “In a movie, the meaning of commercial elements, such as a gesture or an expression, is much more than a single sentence, no matter how it spreads. Speed is still in terms of the clarity of transmission. There is no doubt that commerciality captures the most magical aspect of the film-it does not require the audience to need brain preparation like reading a book, it can move all audiences in the theater at the same time in an instant.”
Drucker also compared the famous Chaplin, saying that as long as he wants to, he can use only a name, a grimace, and a smile to instantly conquer the global audience with commercial elements. Drucker also laughed at the leaders of the warring nations who participated in World War I, thinking that they did not know how to use the huge propaganda and mobilization power of the film. Of course, this point of view was “used” by France’s mortal enemy, the mustache head of the “Third Reich” in World War II.
Drucker took the lead in strictly distinguishing film reviews from film advertisements and film gossip news.
As a pioneer of professional film reviews in the world, Druck took the lead in strictly distinguishing film reviews from film advertisements and film gossip news. His main battlefield was the French newspapers at the time and the magazines such as “Movies” he founded. In his view, film is “the only real modern art”. It is not only “the crystallization of modern technology and human ideals”, but also “meeting almost all the emotional needs of mankind with its unique beauty.”
“Flood” and “Fever” stills
“Flood” and “Fever” stills
Recognizing this point shows that Drucker has gone a long way in the theoretical circle of the film industry.
Tap the charm of movies
Drucker screamed that the director should tell stories he knows and personally experienced. The script should be fresh and modern, “preferably about the working class”, such as “Let real farmers play the role of farmers”, “Let “Heroes in life appearing as heroes in stories” and so on-do you think it is quite similar to the theory of “Let the people who can hear the gun make decisions” that Ren Zhengfei said today?
In Drucker’s works, the most frequent keywords are: sincere, authentic, original, natural, simple, fresh, daily, modern, inner, and calm. In particular, “sincerity” and “truth” seem to be simple, but to this day, they still shine brightly in the work policies of big-name directors.
The charm of the movie lies not only in the true restoration and recording, but also in the wonderful integration of the entire story elements. Drucker pointed out that details, simplification, movement, and precision, together with all film elements, construct a “unified field” of “harmony”. If this is lacking, the movie will be destined to become a flawed and godless beauty.
In addition to carrying out the “top-level design” of the eagle-strike-sky-style film industry, De Luc also tirelessly leaped down to engage in “fine polishing” like a fish flying shallowly. In the last 5 years of his life, as a screenwriter, director and producer, he used “Festivals in Spain”, “Silence”, “Fanatics”, “Wandering Girl”, “Flood” and many other titles to be hailed as “French Impressionists – The films represented by the “avant-garde” have practiced their own film industry theory and French film aesthetics, and created the impressionism and naturalism creation tradition of French films.
To commemorate the film sage who died young, in 1937, France set up the “Louis De Luc” film award.
In the music for “One Second”, the lyrics written are very intriguing: a person on the way home, he sees the Yellow River is very long, he sees the Great Wall is very long, and the flowers in his ears accompany him back to his hometown… …
I believe that “the flower in the ear” has accompanied Dluc back to his hometown.
