參考了IMDB跟豆瓣上許多資料寫出來的....大大們不妨看看
Alice in the Cities Movie Review
From the title of the film, it seems that Alice is the main focus of the plot but in fact the film is about a man's search for one's lost self in a strange and alienating environment. Alice plays however a key role in the man's self-realization during their journey across New York and Amsterdam. The American society at the time was indeed a strange place even to people who were born and raised in it due to many historical, political and cultural events that happened around the time era. To get lost in a world of chaos is a terrible thing because it makes you become lonely, unable to see and communicate and most importantly unable to get a sense of realism and existence.
The Plot
As a road movie, the plot of this film quite simple and straightforward. Philip Phil Winter, a West-German journalist, has to write an article about America. He drives across California and writes nothing except he takes photos of random things. His publisher in New York is not pleased and Winter decides to return to Munich. At the airport he is told that all available flights are cancelled and in the same situation are a German woman named Lisa and her daughter Alice. They decide to wait and take a flight next afternoon to Amsterdam and go from there. Meanwhile, Winter goes to see his friend Angela and reveals his troubles of work. Despite Winter's unspoken intention to stay, Angela refuses to lay with him.
After staying for the night at Lisa and Alice's hotel room, Winter awakes only to find out that Lisa is gone to take care of her distressed boyfriend, leaving Alice with him. Following Lisa's plan, Winter and Alice fly to Amsterdam to wait for her there but she is late for the appointment. As a result, they start journeying across Amsterdam in hope of finding Alice's grandmother. During their search, Winter and Alice develop a complicated relationship in which Winter feels both burdened by and attached to Alice.
Feeling no longer concerned, Winter drops Alice off at a police station and goes to attend a rock concert only to return and picks her up again. Luckily, Alice discovers the address of her grandmother while in the police station and they decide to try their luck only to find out that Alice's grandmother does not live there anymore.
At this point a police officer approaches Winter and tells him of Lisa's whereabouts. Alice needs to take a train to Munich to her mother and she asks Winter to accompany her. The film ends with them riding the train back to Munich.
The Search for the Lost Self
As an European Winter arrives in America only to come to realize that The America he sees is a chaotic, alienating and maddening place, contrary to early immigrant tales, in which America is a land of freedom, opportunities and fortune. He loses his grip of reality and understanding; He sees things but knows not how to interpret; He listens to radio and watches TV only to become aggravated by the numbing commercials and news stories; He doubts his ability to write and resorts to photography as a better way to better capture the reality.
Even then, he is highly skeptical as he says to Angela "Waiting for a picture to develop, I often feel strangely ill at ease. I could hardly compare the finished picture with reality." It is apparent that all of Winter's symptoms are not strange to Winter as he tells Angela "...I lost touch with the world." and Angela replies "You did that long ago. You don't have to travel across America for that. You lose touch when you lose your sense of identity." This refers to the identity loss most German felt when the former Germany was divided between Capitalist and Communist rules. Seeing the America so different from what was expected resembles the shock Winter must have felt when the old Germany was molded into another model of Capitalism or Communism. The result: lost in understanding and interpretation.
Sometimes being lonely and isolated from the real world does not lead to the urge to socialize and look for company or sympathy. Sometimes you just isolate yourself even more and become even much lonelier. "Loneliness has followed me my whole life...I am God's lonely man." says Travis Bickle in the movie "Taxi Driver". He and Winter have much in common; Both are lost in the America in the 70s and both meet a girl that help them unleash their anxiety. Luckily for Winter, during his time spent with Alice, though he often times feels annoyed and burdened by her presence and requests, he pulls himself back from an objective observer of this whole absurdity to a human being that actually cares and feels. After he goes back for her at the police station, he finally realizes it is not the search but the time he spends with Alice that matters to him.
During the later part of the film, Winter is seen picking up his pen and notebook again and scribbling. The bed-time story he tells Alice reveals his transformation. A little boy(Winter himself) runs off from mother (everything he is similar with) to chase a horseman (a German knight - a symbol of virtue and truth that Winter is cultured in) on a modern highway (America). The horseman disappears but a truck driver comes along (Alice) and the boy journeys happily with her until they reach the seashore at which moment the boy thinks of his mother again (regains his lost self).
Therefore, it is difficult to say the connection between Winter and Alice is anything similar to romantic love or attachment. It is different from "Leon" where Leon and Mathilda both love each other for the other's loss and things they can provide. Alice to Winter is more of a beacon that shows him way to reality while Winter to Alice is no more than a father-like figure to depend on in absence of her mother, just like the woman from the beach says "You(Winter) act like you really were her father."
America in the 70s
The reason why Winter feels so clueless, alienated and strange about the America society is a result of various events that took place around that time era. The war against Vietnam drew to a close with the US sacrificing the lives of many young men and a substantial amount of money but earning hardly a victory of a seemingly doubtful cause. In spite of Nixon's effort, crime rate increased. With the enactment of the Immigration Act of 1965, previously European-favored immigration policies were altered and in came a influx of people from Third World. at the same time, the Feminist movement was pushing the government for more legal equalities and privileges. Sex was on the loose and homosexuality was also voicing for its interests.
The Apollo program had only started to prove capitalism's superiority before Nixon shook his hand with Chairman Mao in 1972.
All of these events created an aura of illusion, distrust and pessimism in the air of the 70s US. These element were often seen in the screenplays at the time such as "Taxi Driver", "Dog day Afternoon", "The Deer Hunter" and etc. Many people were confused and some refused to follow like the Hippies. Others, like Winter and Travis, simply became lost, alienated, isolated and mad. Fortunately for Winter, he regains his lost self with the help from Alice and homecoming but Travis' way out on the other end is not quite peaceful. Either way, the distressful and depressant vibe of the 70s US is always a mirror that can reflect the newer eras ahead of us, in which computer science, biotechnology and information-network are advancing exponentially. There will be thousands of people just like Winter, Sonny and Travis repeating the same old histories.
HD中字
