A Long Walk into Mind

Release Date：Nov/18/2016

Genre：Drama/War

Director：Ang Lee

Cast：Joe Alwyn、Kristen Stewart、Vin Diesel

Viola's Rating：5.8

Do you know anyone who has served in the military and fought in a battle? If the answer is yes, you are the target audience of Taiwanese Oscar winning director Ang Lee when making “Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk”.

Following the camera, the audience is taken by this 19-year-old Billy Lynn’s thoughts to experience and recall what he encountered when he was at the war zone. Billy Lynn is brought home for a victory tour after a distressing Iraq battle. Through flashbacks, the feature film shows what really happened to Lynn’s squad—comparing with the realities of war with the US’ perceptions.

First of all, as a Taiwanese, I can’t be not supporting to such an amazing fellow citizen, Ang Lee. He’s not only good at storytelling, but also appreciating new actors and actresses. With a brilliant success filming “Life of Pi”, Lee believes that it’ll be a trend using 120 fps with a mix of 3D and 4K resolution. Therefore, “Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk” is no doubt technically groundbreaking.

Even though everyone who watched a 4K resolution version is satisfied with the effect and film as a whole, the ticket price is more than double the usual due to the first tab opportunity to try the brand new technology. Moviegoers might consider this as a matter of which form to watch. However, without the 4K resolution version, the viewing experience might be a little bit dizzy which will totally decrease the entertaining function it’s supposed to provide. Otherwise, 4K resolution should be crystal clear since it’s meant to be similar to what we see in person.

Other than the technical attributes, the storyline itself is trying to aware the society how severe post traumatic stress disorder can be, especially after a battle. Compared to some other soldiers in the flick, Billy Lynn’s symptoms are rather lax, but it’s frightening enough that the audience may need to take a breath after Lynn steadies himself from his flashbacks.

Many shots are made with Billy Lynn’s first person perspective, so moviegoers can truly understand why such a short halftime walk is so long. Besides, there are more than just war memories in the motion picture. Female and sex are always the top two conversation materials in the army, and in “Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk”, they’re used to not only emphasize this characteristic, but also remind the audience that Lynn is just a 19-year-old “boy” whose sister is eager to see him back home safe.

Although “Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk” was directed by Oscar winning director, Ang Lee, it wasn’t critically acclaimed for its aim to arouse the awareness of war horror is not deep enough for most people. However, with the attempt utilizing revolutionary technology, it should not be called a bad movie no matter what. At least the picture walks into your mind in some way.