Eephus

Different from "Money Ball" which tells the story of a professional game with a big cast, this low-budget independent production presents 300% of the details of an amateur baseball game: good weather, late teammates, the referee's majesty, the execution of tactics, low-level mistakes, constant trash talk on and off the field, teammates who have to leave due to family matters, serious data recorders who must pick up the ball hit out of the field, the few spectators who know and don't know about baseball, and the indispensable beer... Thanks to the creative team, who not only know baseball, but also grew up with baseball, allowing the audience to feel the culture and unique PASSION of this sport.

We are older, out of shape, and running slower, but these do not affect the experience of every participant at all. We can still slide and dive for victory. Even as a substitute, sitting on the bench for a whole day, until nightfall, when we have the last at-bat, we are still excited and serious to win the last point for the team. The perfect display of team spirit is indispensable.

Only one family of one player from both teams showed up. The two children were silent the whole day without cheering, and the wife was anxious to go home as soon as it got dark. "Why was there only one family?" There was no direct answer to this question, and the answer was self-evident in the film: everyone might want to enjoy this farewell day well and attentively. The family members might not understand the heaviness and purity of this, and at most leave behind a sentence "A man remains a boy until he dies."

There is always a time to meet and part, there always comes a day when we have to say goodbye to the court that has accompanied us and the teammates who have fought side by side. We don't want to face the moment of separation and retirement, so we use car lights to illuminate the court into romantic stripes, and everyone works together to finish the last dance, saying goodbye to the venue, teammates and ourselves on the court in a very ceremonial way. The fireworks that are not in the frame must be beautiful, but the glory and tears shining on each of our faces are even more brilliant.

Life is too complicated and difficult. We just want to stay with our pure passion a little longer, one more day, one more minute, one more second.

At the end of the film, the piano melody of Tom Waits' song "OI'55" 1, 2, 3, 4 sounded. I can only say: too good, too killer, too exciting...

I got up late in the morning and rushed to watch the first movie of the morning, which was still from Omnes, the latest work "Eephus".

If I have been exploring little by little these days, gradually going deeper into the world they created, then today I have reached a small peak. The scenery is unique.

This is my favorite movie in the whole series. It made me cry.

The movie shows a baseball game. A baseball game without any highlights or even a few slightly exciting moments. Twenty or so middle-aged and elderly men played the game on a baseball field in a park that was about to be converted into a school.

"Is there anything more beautiful than the sunset shining on a fat guy stealing second base?"

The sun sets. The light fades. The game continues.

Once again, I confirmed the necessity of watching movies in theaters. In addition to the big screen, there is also this kind of immersion in complete darkness, where you can clearly feel the changes in light, from day to dusk to night. Only in this way can you be in it.

When the old men found that it was too dark to see the ball being thrown or falling, they came up with a plan: they drove their cars around the court, turned on the lights, and continued the game. In a stubborn manner.

In the end I couldn't tell who won.

As the author said, baseball is a sport without time limits, and can be played forever. Just like when we were kids, we hoped that the game time with our friends would never end. Here, time stretches infinitely and collapses into a world of its own.

I found that although they are all young artists born in the 1990s, the themes of their creations often revolve around disappearance and nostalgia, looking back with a sentimental attitude to the era without digital technology and the Internet when people would focus on certain things. Come to think of it, real smartphones have never appeared in any movie. Except for the one shot during the epidemic.

I wrote nonsense again/it was too long/I made up my own terminology

I don't understand the rules of baseball.

+, one of the few films I have seen so far that clearly applies the auditory design concept of "using the recording studio as a musical instrument". The sound in the picture is clear and centered, while the interfering or atmospheric sounds outside the picture often break in in a mono format or swing between the left and right channels, emphasizing the rich layers of the space outside the picture. This is exactly the opposite of the idea of ​​"Lonely Afternoon": Serra visually abandons the space outside the field to maintain the purity of the bullfighting sport inside the field, and the voices of the audience outside the picture are diluted into "random sounds" without a clear position and direction due to the invisible sound source; while Carson Lund's voice-over is a secret invading spell that participates in baseball games all the time, one from the deep breath of the forest outside the field, and the other from the arrival of the night like a chronic suicide. The arrival of Halloween, the end of the season, and the renovation plan of the field are a priori curses, and the boredom and absent-mindedness of the players are clear evidence of the curse.

Many visually distracted and out of focus but auditorily lush audiovisual design segments remind people of Elephant, but the difference is that Elephant aims to present the horror of the ghost's spell outside the screen, while the spell in High Arc Slow Ball is closer to nostalgia or homesickness. It is more like an attempt to isolate a virtual and flowing emotional expression space from the sound branches constructed by the characters' ridicule and abuse on the black humor base of the rugby game in Army Field Hospital, so that the strange sound of the wind can shuttle through it - a (type) movie with negative centrifugal force. *Btw: The stable and smooth game time does build a stable context like a genre movie, but it can only form a relative correction under the condition of the existence of eccentric movement. *

Of course, we can also put aside the metaphysical speculation and simply think that the film itself is not exploring any profound issues, but just wants to present a baseball game with an alternative temperament. There is a perhaps inaccurate analogy: it can be considered that the temperament it pursues is the temperament that the Beatles accidentally tinkered with when they were recording "A Day in the Life" in the studio, that is, the sense of disorder in life (but the centrifugal force of this song is so positive/violent that it is enough to completely subvert and abolish the balance movement and complete the reconstruction of order).

Story summary:

Films participating in the 2024 Cannes Film Festival. In the 1990s, in a small town in Massachusetts, the stadium carrying countless memories of local residents was about to be demolished to build a new school (it was the venue for the town's adult men's amateur baseball team). Upon hearing the news, the players of the two teams in the town decided to play their last game on the stadium: the game lasted from the afternoon to the evening, during which the players not only competed on the field, but also had relaxed exchanges and competitions. Everyone was trying to extend this game and try to seize this time that belonged to them.

Viewers are complaining:

The film's narrative is very distinctive: the director uses a slow and soothing rhythm, just like the name of the film "High Arc Slow Ball" (originally refers to a rare pitching method in baseball games, that is, a curve ball with a very slow speed and a lot of topspin, which is difficult to hit). It does not pursue fast-paced excitement, but uses delicate lens language to show every detail in the game and the emotional changes of the characters. The film does not deliberately set up tense and exciting plot conflicts, but advances the story in a natural and smooth way. For example, the players chat casually during breaks, from discussing game strategies to complaining about daily work. These seemingly trivial conversations not only enrich the characters, but also let the audience feel the real breath of life. The director also cleverly used linear narrative, in conjunction with the progress of the game, to unfold the story in an orderly manner, allowing the audience to immerse themselves in the atmosphere created by the film and savor the emotions in it.

Although the film does not have big stars, the actors' outstanding performances make the characters come alive. Each actor seems to have truly integrated into the role, showing their own characteristics to the fullest. Take Franny for example. As a super fan, he carefully records the details of every game, and his dedication to this sport is deep in his bones. The interaction between the players is also very natural. Their quarrels and jokes on the court are full of real life, making the audience feel as if they are in the baseball league of this small town, and feel the joys and sorrows of the game with them.

I like the nostalgic tone in the film. Photographer Greg Tango's lens captures the beautiful scenery of New England in autumn, from the dew on the grass in the early morning sparkling in the sun to the afterglow of the sunset shining on the court in the evening. The whole picture is filled with a faint sadness and nostalgia. The film's shooting of the surrounding environment of the court is also very detailed. From the mountains in the distance to the trees nearby, each element constitutes a part of the picture, creating a unique atmosphere for the film. For example, when the players are playing on the court, the camera switches to the woods beside the court, and the golden leaves fall in the wind. This scene not only adds to the beauty of the picture, but also further strengthens the nostalgic theme of the film.

In summary, this film is suitable for viewers who like warm narratives and have a keen sense of life details. If you are a nostalgic person who likes to recall the good old days, then the depiction of the past years in this film will definitely make you empathize. People who like to observe life and feel the ordinary beauty in life can also find fun in the film, which shows the living conditions and emotional world of ordinary people. Of course, baseball fans can't miss this movie, its detailed depiction of baseball and its interpretation of the spirit of baseball can make them resonate strongly.

What this film presents is perhaps more of a "concern" without a precise topic: the interweaving colors of goose yellow, orange, red and grass and green impact the background of the tree-lined forest, a group of mostly middle-aged and elderly men, in other words, men who are already old in the sport of baseball, unable to do their best, frustrated and breathless; a former professional baseball player, no thanks needed, just to please himself - obsessed with watching and recording for a long time, became a referee whose decision was unquestionable the night before the stadium was demolished, staring intently, and did not leave for a long time after the game, unwilling to accept and face the demolition of the stadium and the decline of baseball civilization and a generation, just like the beautiful and regular cloud shapes in the film, blown away by the wind at sunset; the substitutes who had no chance to play did not complain; the direction of the baseball that could not be seen clearly in the dark night shifted and gathered in the sky, a sky full of stars brighter than fake diamonds; the crowd dispersed in silence, and the farewell fireworks that had been prepared for a long time were reflected in the empty preparation seat, he only made the excuse that it was casual.

I kept waiting for that handsome guy with black curly hair, a thin beard and a determined face, who was suspected to be Mexican, to throw a high-arcing slow ball, but it never happened, because there was no focus, no need for a protagonist, just a narration, and nothing seemed to happen. It was meaningless, and the aftertaste was very long.

Finally, we saw and understood how slow and touching the outward expression of the full strength of a group of adults who had no "have to" was. It was a high-arcing slow ball that lingered in the air. In fact, we all wanted to keep hitting it.

I remember that I was the 11th substitute player in the baseball and softball team in elementary school. I had a lot of fun playing baseball. I even won the championship in the national competition. My best friends and the boy I liked were on the team. The boy always hit beautiful home runs. I was in charge of the right field at that time. I was nearsighted by 200 to 300 degrees, but I felt that wearing glasses was not good-looking, so I didn't wear them if I couldn't see the ball. After so much training, I only successfully caught a ball once in the game. I had a lot of fun playing baseball.