"The Butterfly Effect", a classic film produced in 2004, used two non famous directors to shoot a suspense sci-fi type movie that can be loaded into the history of the film. More importantly, the film's profound connotation and highly reflective ending in the context of suspense sci-fi themes make this film a model of coexistence of art and business. The film is based on the life of the male protagonist Evan. Evan once had a bad childhood, because he made a big mistake and made his childhood full of unbearable memories. In fact, he just vaguely remembers a terrible situation that has been entangled in his normal life. Evan accepted the advice of the psychologist and recorded the trivial life in the notebook, but occasionally found that he returned to the past through the notebook.
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At this time, he clearly remembers that he had done so many wrong things in his childhood. He fantasizes to use the current consciousness to sneak into the body of childhood to make up for the harm that all kinds of faults bring to people. However, his repeated changes in time and space can only incur more and more inevitable in the real world. Everything is like a butterfly effect, and it takes a whole body to move, and eventually it is unable to return to heaven. The film uses a loop-back structure to explore a topic about destiny. The powerlessness of the film's protagonist shows the inability of fate in many people's hearts, because it clarifies the truth of life. Just like the life of the protagonist Evan, Evan hopes that his childhood can be smooth and the girl accompanied with him. Many people want life to be in control, and the world is proud of it, but the cruel reality is that the essence of life is impermanent. Evan in the film could not release himself into a man-made disaster, and he suffered the pain of disability, thus changing the trajectory of his life, so he went into fantasy to seek the ending he longed for.
If he was not naughty at that time, would the ending be better? If it didn't happen that day, would it be the ending he want now? This is the butterfly effect. The unfortunate life is similar. Because an accident has caused a drastic change in the trajectory of life. Everyone’s life will always have a moment, regretting what he was doing at the time and regretting if he did not encounter it. Therefore, Evan is constantly trying to return to a certain point in the past, and then come back again, but how can the real life be able to do again? The Butterfly Effect uses a sophisticated narrative structure to show Evan’s helplessness and powerlessness.
This reminds me of another excellent film, "Run Lola Run (1998)", which also talks about the butterfly effect, and also wants to show the impermanence of fate. Compared with "Run Lola Run (1998)", "The Butterfly Effect" is more successful in narrative and screenwriter inserts an unsolved suspense in the loopback structure, using notepad as the carrier of the shuttle time and space to enhance the overall sci-fi feeling of the film. And the ending is the finishing touch of the whole film. Evan finally fights the fate back to the mother's placenta. There are many movie themes about the impermanence of fate, but it is clear that the fate brought by this movie is impermanent, and the unrecoverable and profound imagery is presented to the audience through image deconstruction. The director photographed the constant encounters of the same person again and again. Evan returned to the different time points again and again, and hoped to come back again, and all these efforts were ultimately a dream. On another level, the film is also reminding people while stinging people. If this is the case, then accept the fate of the arrangement. Being brave life and don't ask if.
My Score is 9.3/10
Movie URL: https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/1954-the-butterfly-effect?language=en-US
Critic: AAA