Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2018)
Cast: Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell, Abbie Cornish, Caleb Landry Jones, Peter Dinklage, Lucas Hedges
Written and directed by Martin McDonagh
Sometimes someone thinks that something is either black or white. That is true for certain things and circumstances. However, most of the time, the most touching part in movie is actually not between the bad guy and the good people. But the grey one, their neither white or black part in human nature. No one on earth is either black or white, we are combined and complex, which is the most beautiful thing. It is this grey part in human nature makes everyone different and meaningful.
Return to our main theme, Three Billboards. When I am watching this movie, my tears come down along my cheek. Everyone in this movie is built up and everyone has a growth from the beginning to the end. You can feel their miserable, their pain and they have no alternatives but keep going. Cause “pain demands to be felt”.
At first, I thought Mildred is kinda losing her temper and having no control of her feeling, which is irrational. Cause her daughter is raped while dying, that is really a hard reality to be admitted and of course deserving time to restore to the original condition. She drilled a hole in big fat Geoffrey’s big fat thumbnails, she puts up those billboards said “how come chief willoughby?” “and still no arrests” “raped while dying”.
For Mildred, she need a explanation and she never give up until gets what she wants. So, stubborn and tough guy is kinda the most outstanding part of her when I first saw this movie at first. But when I keep watching, it seems like everything is not that easy to just conclude in a single word. The director includes a lot of details to build up every actor's personality.
Sometimes, when we see something, we may not understand its purpose, but we feel it. Just like this scene, although the audiences don't know why Mildred helped this little, fucking bug. But we feel her kindness. This is the detail the directer buried on purpose and will be paid off through the whole movie.
Although Chief Willoughby Keeps pushing her up, and getting her into the corner. When Willoughby coughs blood, at this scene, there is no dead daughter, there is no case, there is only friendless and care. So the audiences can see Mildred is of course desperate to find out the killer but she is also a human who has happiness, kindness and most important kindness. Although at the beginning, the director shaped Mildred as a tough guy but the when she helped the bug, it has already foreshadowed her inner kind-hearted. That is what to show but not to tell.
That's the part makes me tear through the whole movie. Crying is the facial expression to show sadness, but when she saw a deer and say "you are not her" is much more power and stronger than cry. She makes the audiences to get into the character and it is sour. We won't remember she talking black to the Chief or being kinda asshole. Right now, right here, she is just a mother who misses her child.
ya, I think this is the most part for Mildred.
For Dixon, I wanna say he is absolutely a most typical example for a bad guy turns into good people. Dixon is really really dummy. Maybe you will say he is just facial like, but let me tell you he is just inner and outside truly sweet stupid.
He is totally a asshole at first. Ya, I believe. Caring only himself and no one else. No responsibility or kindness and keeps torching black folks.
But if everything is what you thought, well there is no need to watch a movie. He started to change or influenced by the death of the Chief Willoughby. When he reads the letter Willoughby left for him, Willoughby know he is a good man and what needed to become a good cop is love. Dixon is such a dumb, he punched and thrower the ending boy out of the window to let his steam out just because Willoughby died. He is straight forward and without consideration. He even saved Angeles's case during the fire instead of just going out of the fire building. Who on earth goddamn know they are actually enemy before.
And when he hear someone talking about fucking a girl about nine month ago, he thinks it is angeles. So he got punched and beaten like hell just to get a facial tissue from that guy to test the DNA. Ya, Dixon, you are a good man.
When Dixon and Mildred get together, nothing seems like getting a change, but everything has changed. Through the fucking whole thing, Dixon knows what is love and Mildred knows what is let it go.
The End
Nothing on earth is absolutely solid, human being is no exception. You didn't come to this world alone, cause your mother was here and you didn't go away alone, cause your lover was here. So it seems like we naturally is not lonely part, there is always someone who is with us, just like Angeles and Mildred, so it is destined that we are not that tough and we are neither that soft. We are combination, it is not neither black nor white. It is just not.
