讀後心得

The main character of "Enola," Maggie Madison, won the Oscar for Best Actress for her outstanding performance. After the pandemic, American independent films faced funding and theatrical release difficulties, but director Sean Beck insisted on filming with a low budget and amateur actors, giving a voice to society's marginalized individuals. His eighth feature film, "Enola," won four awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Editing, becoming a benchmark in the industry. The film tells the story of the life changes of a young Russian-American sex worker, Enola, blending luxurious scenes with dark humor, ultimately leaving a heart-wrenching conclusion.

The main character of "Enola," Maggie Madison (second from the right), plays a glamorous dancer and delivers an outstanding performance, winning the Oscar for Best Actress at this year's awards.

The market for independent films in the United States has undergone significant changes after the pandemic, with funding becoming increasingly difficult and opportunities for theatrical releases noticeably declining, leading to an overall shrinkage of box office revenues and causing concern among industry professionals. Despite facing a challenging situation, American independent film director Sean Bake has maintained a low-cost, streamlined team and a practice of casting amateur actors, using his work to give a voice to marginalized individuals in society. This year, he won four major awards at the Oscars for "Enola," including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Editing, setting an unparalleled benchmark for the industry.

Sean Bake, 54, was introduced to movies at a young age, watching various monster-themed films with his mother at the community library. He grew up watching "Star Wars," "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," along with "RoboCop" and "Die Hard" during high school. At that time, he did not understand the studio system and dreamed of one day directing Hollywood commercial films. After being accepted to New York University, he became familiar with the works of directors like Spike Lee, Jim Jarmusch, and Richard Linklater, which led him to start watching a lot of independent films. For him, New York City was like a large film education institution where he frequently visited the Museum of Modern Art, Lincoln Center, and the Film Archive, as well as being a regular at various art-house cinemas. He gradually fell in love with films that do not rely on special effects but tell stories about humanity, laying the foundation for his future directing career.

The award-winning film "Enola" is Sean Bake's eighth feature film, depicting the life of a young Russian-American sex worker named Enola, whose life changes after meeting the son of a Russian billionaire. The film initially immerses the audience in the luxurious gentlemen's clubs of Manhattan, the expansive waterfront mansions of Brooklyn, and the sparkling dreamland of Las Vegas. Just when the story seems to develop into a romantic plot, a key dramatic twist leads to a fast-paced chase filled with dark humor. By the end, the tone shifts again as Enola returns home, leaving a heartbreaking conclusion to the story, which earned the actress Maggie Madison an Oscar for her portrayal of Enola.