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.
有真的被戳中情怀的部分，也有实在乏味的老设定。但最后一部分还是让人心软了……
#BJIFF2021
有关肯尼思·布拉纳童年时代的一些松散回忆，共和军，宗教斗争和小家庭的彷徨和挣扎，但无论是对于历史情境的还原还是对各个人物心思的描写都不太精彩甚至有些潦草，和目前领跑的《犬之力》相比实在太平庸，不太看好这部的奥斯卡前景。
30/8/2021 @ 英皇iSquare [summeriff]。算是近年山田洋次的失手之作吧。雖然好幾段有被感動到，但老實說年輕組和現代組兩段的割裂感太大了，而且真的談到電影有關的情節比想像中少。個人覺得尾段用自己方式去講Save the Cinema，可能才是山田洋次在經過後疫情時代最想拍的東西吧。
3.5。电影就是一帧一帧单独看来有点无聊的画面、连在一起就有别样力量的东西。女儿读到“老婆、淑子、我的小淑子”我就哭了，好温情啊。片尾还致敬了因为疫情过世中途退出拍摄的志村健先生。电影人和爱电影人统一的梦想“在观影中死去”。
2021北影节第一场。关于疫情入侵生活的书写，都显得如此真实自然。人生的况味啊，果然还是山田洋次的细密温情啊
永远都能接受山田洋次的温情戏法，他总能拍出良善与真心，因为他懂得如何去刺痛良善与真心。把疫情与影院关闭轻描揉进一场戏里，都比那些大张旗鼓的抗疫煽情片要动人得多。
“虽然我赌博酗酒借高利贷但拿了编剧奖（感觉一半还是孙子功劳）我仍是个好男人”，这种情节下谈电影情怀真的没太被煽到，有用迷影梗做喜剧点，最后眼泪掉给了白框里面的志村桑，以后再也看不到他主持的志村动物园了QAQ
永远都能接受山田洋次的温情戏法，他总能拍出良善与真心，因为他懂得如何去刺痛良善与真心。把疫情与影院关闭轻描揉进一场戏里，都比那些大张旗鼓的抗疫煽情片要动人得多。
可以说叙事等同于没有。没有叙事动力，只是情怀的堆砌。
沉迷于自我感动的导演让人只想把基顿的福尔摩斯二世再看一遍。景子演得不错，声音非常有韵味，永野太像小遥了，日本人喜欢的演员几乎都是一个模版。
还是有触动到我的，尤其是前些天看了大岛渚和今村昌平的随笔，他们就是那个时代背景成长的。北川景子真好看。
打咩虽好，如果淑子嫁的是放映师（对男主略有微词……
比起「開羅紫玫瑰」水平差了很多，但是很難忍心對關於cinema的電影打差評，永遠都會被感動哭的吧。
结局有点草草收场。
依旧是山田洋次式的家庭空间、女性出走/逃离与最终抚慰式的又多少有点一厢情愿的和解的答案，不过难得的是第一次看到有人而且是年纪这么大的导演，如此直接甚而是有点笨拙地探讨新冠时代的观影体验以及电影和影院空间之于人的意义，只不过最终从银幕里伸出的电影之手，没有真正表现出电影的力量，和很多个角色的肢体表达一样，是过于漫画式的。
…无法原谅…电影也救不了…我不喜欢这个故事
我对任何关于创作过程的电影都兴趣十足，本片对电影的热爱是浓烈的，其他的嘛，一般般，框架不错，部分色调很舒服，整体略仓促，导致节奏和结构不太行。宫本信子仍有伊丹十三电影中的熟悉感。
一个尘封的剧本，一部电影的诞生，徐徐展开了一个老人的一生。正是这一个个单调无味的镜头组接在一起，才赋予了电影神灵般的魔力。大银幕看昭和时期的永野芽郁和菅田将晖，难得一见的福利。松竹100周年的献礼片，全球首映，延续了山田洋次一贯温情喜剧的风格。疫情期间，也要看电影看到死，并且一定要去电影院看电影。剧本所讲情节我第一时间想到绫濑遥主演的《今夜浪漫剧场》（BJIFF·Day1·Scene4）【中国电影资料馆】
密密麻麻的分镜剧本
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