"A Serious Man", the Chinese translation is called "serious man" (hereinafter referred to as S male), the serious here has the meaning of obeying the rules, the S man in the play is a law-abiding university mathematics professor, a devout Jewish believer, said He is religious because he believes in the truth, in the certainty of life, and as long as he lives faithfully according to the teachings, he will get the results he deserves. But the film begins with a conflict - the conflict between believing in the "certainty" of life and the "uncertainty" in the mathematics he teaches. The film does not start with the protagonist's story, but uses a 4:3 screen (there is an old sense here) to tell a fable-like story. It is about a man who came back from work and mentioned to his wife that he met a kind-hearted person to help him on the way back. But the wife seems to have heard that the good-hearted person passed away three years ago, and thinks that it is the devil who came to the door. Following the quarrel between the husband and wife, a "kind-hearted person" knocked on the door... It was a kind old man who came in, and the man began to be suspicious, asking the old man for confirmation while greeting. But the wife said nothing and stuck the ice poke on the old man's chest. The man sees something bad! He was killed, but the old man's kindness and his wife's unchanging face still made him "uncertain". In the end, the old man stumbled out of the house, and his wife firmly closed the door, leaving behind a confused man.
The main feature of the film tells the story of the Jewish man S and his son who is not serious and will be baptized. S man encountered many "uncertain" things in his peaceful life, which he believed to be "certain" according to the rules. Uncertain families, uncertain careers, uncertain health, uncertain debts, uncertain brothers, uncertain neighbors and so on. Let him keep looking for the rabbi (the teacher in Judaism) for the answer, but he still can't get "sure". When he finally did the first unserious thing in his life, everything was "determined" in the dark...
The sub-line of the film is the son of S man. The son who is not serious is about to be baptized in Judaism, which means that he will also lead a serious life like his father. Finally, when he was taught by the ultimate rabbi after baptism, when the rabbi asked, "What do you do when the truth is discovered lies, and all hope is destroyed?" Getting complacent with a "sure" once...
The director's careful arrangement has always been one of my favorite things about a movie. For example, an old fable-style story introduced at the beginning has actually summed up the theme of the film, and what follows is just its reality. In addition, the inner impulses of the father and son are also skillfully expressed through the people around them. S man's co-worker who is hesitant to talk, abusive and slightly racist neighbors, and sexually suggestive female neighbors. The foul-mouthed classmates around the son, the rebellious adult sister, the powerful and violent classmates, etc. Of course, there are still many details in the film waiting for you to slowly discover.
After watching this film, I feel both confused and enlightened. As for what is inspired, it varies from person to person.
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