Cashback

Cashback《愛情回水》
Director: Sean Ellis
Actors: Sean Biggerstaff, Emilia Fox


一名失戀後墮入無眠狀態的藝術系學生(Ben Willis)，平白多出來了八小時，便到Sainsbury超市打工換取現金。

幻想如脫彊之馬，猶如時間能在自己掌控之間。片中主角多次把時空凝住，自身遊走在這個凝滯了的空間，為漂亮的女士寬衣解帶並且盡情素描起來。有時畫面也進入了慢鏡制式，表達主角渴望把女主角的美態片段咀嚼細味，耐何他只能發揮幻想把時間流逝的速度放慢，卻無法把畫面倒回頭(rewind)。

時間究竟孰客觀抑或孰主觀？一向令我疑惑不斷。這部影片卻是正中下懷，活現出我向來嚮往的境界。導演以簡約俐落的格調，巧妙自如地拿捏調控不同片段的步速快慢(speed of movement) - 甚至讓畫面停滯以達至時刻停頓的效果，凝聚出鮮明又超現實的視覺效果，委實令人讚歎。

這是一齣充滿美感的電影。儘管片中充滿裸露鏡頭，表達的並非低俗色情，而是把女性的優雅美態以欣賞藝術的手法呈現。

本人最為回味的一幕，莫過於女友破口責罵的慢鏡，男主角一副挨罵的模樣；然而，伴隨沒有尖銳的罵聲，有的卻是主角「無聲」的獨白，思索與質疑愛的存在；畫面與聲音分途的處理，可謂相映成趣。同樣的手法在影片中共出現過兩回。這或許是不少男女爭執時的寫照。

最後，本片之獨白皆妙語，不容錯過。以下摘錄了一些精粹：

(Ben Willis): It take approximately 500 lbs to crush a human skull. But the human emotion is a much more delicate thing.
(Ben Willis): Once upon a time, I wanted to know what love was. Love is there if you want it to be. You just have to see that it's wrapped in beauty and hidden away in between the seconds of your life. If you don't stop for a minute, you might miss it.
(Ben Willis): She caught the wrong second of a two-second story.
(Ben Willis): Within this frozen world I'm able to walk freely and unnoticed. Nobody would even know that time has stopped. And when it started back up again, the invisible join would be seamless except for a slight shudder. Not unlike the feeling of somebody walking over your grave.