The story appears simple on the surface, but is revealed, especially after multiple viewings, as more multi-layered and textured than Cassavetes at his best. Ostensibly it concerns a 14-year old Catholic girl, Wynne (Agutter) growing up in this post-modern wasteland, who develops a crush on her much older adoptive brother (Marshall)- a crush which perversely deepens and grows into infatuation once she starts to believe he is the local sex killer. This is in itself an idea that makes you sit up and jolt, but as the narrative develops, it continues not necessarily along a linear path but in several confusing and fascinating directions: the family's history, (detailed effectively in chilling flashback during an improvised seance) is a chequered one, and has suffered at least one major relocation and upheaval in the last ten years. At the crux, however, it's the depiction of socialal changes that make I Start Counting so fascinating and elevate its language far beyond the confines of the standard horror film. The major subtext- that teenage girls were maturing more quickly than before, and developing full sexual and romantic appetites (even if in thought rather than deed) but were not possessed of enough discretion to make the right choices- was a step forward for a genre in which its young females had previously been portrayed as bimbo victims (Cover Girl Killer and The Night Caller spring to mind), but not one that all viewers would necessarily agree with. But most striking of all, and possibly the most enduring image which the viewer will take away with them, is of the masterful symbolism with which director Greene invests every shot. Every inch of the Kinch family's world- their house, their walls, their TV, Agutters underwear, bedroom furniture and toys, Sutcliffe's clothes, Marshalls van, the local Catholic church, their town centre, their record shop) - is painted a bright, scintillating white- a white which, by inference, is slowly becoming smudged and corrupted with the dirt of the outside world. White also symbolises, of course, purity and innocence (two qualities Catholic schoolgirls are supposed to hold dear), and it is into this world of innocence that the ever-present red bus (a symbol of violation and penetration), conducted by the lecherous yet similarly juvenile Simon Ward, makes regular journeys. The allegory is further expanded in one scene where Agutter believes she sees the Christ figure in church weeping blood: by the time we acknowledge it, its gone, but the seed has already been planted. Rarely in a genre production has the use of colour and background been so important or effective in creating a uniformity of mood. I Start Counting is as near-perfect an end to a decade as one could hope for, and exactly the kind of film people should be making now- which is, of course, exactly why they never will. A genre essential. by D.R.
疫情下的生活不易，很虐心很治愈的观影体验。“小变态”朱迪科默演技不得了，基本上是素颜出镜吧，几次情绪上的爆发太让人心疼。影片以小见大，细节做得非常真实可信，与《中国医生》完全相反的路子，更突出个人，小环境
从有疫情以来，看过的最棒的讲述新冠疫情的影视作品，导演有着非常成熟扎实的以平淡细节见真情的功底。看似平淡的生活，处处打动内心，我几乎从头哭到尾，可能曾经历过照顾垂危的亲人，感触特别深。Jodie comer的演技真的不错，在这部电影里看到了她还原自己的利物浦口音。什么时候我们歌颂医生的影视作品也能像这样深入真实的以小人物去探讨呢？这电影的摄影很有特点，都是中景之后特写，特写后还一直拉景别，一直拉伸到景别模糊，再慢慢回。挺大胆的。
文本仅限于黑白两色却能呈现出影像无法传达的内容，洪常秀采用最接近文本的视像风格，其所爆发的感染力却是精心生产的电影工业产品望尘莫及的，我想这也正是作者电影的魅力所在。洪常秀的表达相比以前（我看过的几部洪氏电影）变得直接很多。小说家与导演和诗人的对质是洪的创作宣言，而到结尾简直是再浅白不过（却令人感动万分的）示爱，镜头仿佛吻遍了金敏喜的全身看的人头皮发麻。
朱迪科默真的是个好演员 完全被她带入情境当中
“为什么不让这么好的演员去演商业电影”？(电影里的台词）感觉听到了一场真实的灵魂拷问，完全是一部洪尚秀的私欲电影啊，拍独立电影就是浪费时间吗？拍黑白就是刻意吗？最后作为摄影的洪尚秀和金敏喜的一场“婚礼”，满屏的秀恩爱直接溢出屏幕啊。
这部是洪常秀的大师课，他在很认真讲自己的电影概念：
敢于揭露社会弊端的电影，都是可以细品的好电影
隔三差五要看一下洪的电影，要让自己记住两件事，第一，导演的幸运往往在于他找到了自己的缪斯，并且也得到了对方给予的特权和青睐，第二，永远不要对影像有先入为主的臆断和猜想，重要的是去感受。
这是洪常秀最直接的一次表达爱意了吧，戏中戏的部分寥寥几个场景却迎面而来一股隽永美好，用小说家的电影、电影人的浪漫，去追求理想中的作品和女人。
个人评分8.2/10【A-】
一星给啾迪
还蛮奇妙的，今天一天先后看了洪的第一部电影《猪堕井的那天》，和最新的这部《小说家的电影》。前者在叙事手法和某几个镜头上让我想起杨德昌的《恐怖分子》，故事充满戏剧张力，但却充斥着男性视角下对女性的幻想与意淫，甚至残暴，实在喜欢不起来。而后者则充满了反思，没有强叙事，而是风轻云淡地拉扯出了爱、温柔与惺惺相惜。前者是洪早期电影的典型代表，而后者则是一脉相承于洪后期（遇见金敏喜后）的作品。两者之间的视角与风格形成极大的反差，不由得感叹金敏喜的魅力，爱情的魅力。
满分一百分，陈苏闽个人主观分，打分，三百分！！！！！！！！！！！
有多少人因为疫情逝去，又有多少人在创伤中挣扎。
NHS算是英国人的骄傲，Tory就是拿民众的命根子做了文章成为脱欧的政治筹码，欧盟医疗人力的减少导致NHS人员短缺更加恶化，the first wave of Covid-19 几乎让NHS无计可施
结尾面对镜头那段控诉我们就永远达不到。在生命这个最宏大的命题面前，任何粉饰与歌颂都显得无比愚蠢和虚伪。还是那句话，我们需要真实，需要真相，需要持续质疑的勇气。
一种异质感从头到尾作为一个模糊小说家立场的存在贯穿在电影中，背景的过曝，窗外第三人的凝视。小说家的焦点落在对演员的审视上，借由导演镜头的不断拉近，演员从画面的右边出现又快速消失在左边。直到小说家最后将视角交还给金敏喜，并退出了这个构建的审视，整个影像才展现出异常完满的和谐。啊，内心被情绪填满的感觉真是让人幸福。
Jodie又贡献了出色的演技，虽然不是粉但是很看好她越走越远。羡慕人家就是敢拍。
很喜欢探讨创作的部分，还有社交中的尴尬处境。Lincoln Center/Secret Screening
金敏喜在这部电影中更加迷人了，洪常秀这是在塑造他的缪斯。
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