"God, let us pray, let us fulfill this justice...Are you watching what we are doing? This is all for nothing."——Excerpt from the film "Beasts of no nation" (无界之兽)
I want to be Agu in When these words surfaced in the continuous memories, perhaps it was full of despair.
In the end of the film, when Agu rushed towards the "normal" children who were playing in the water on the beach and planned to join them, I did not see any peace and tranquility from his jumping back, but on the contrary only the general Everything about me is deeply hidden in my inner fear and indifference. After experiencing the impact of a pleasant life being instantaneously shattered, and then deeply involved in the spiritual discomfort brought about by the war, the trauma caused by these ups and downs, dizzying tragedies is enough to make an adult crazy, forget it. Is impossible. Agu paid for the fragmentation of the bonfire deep in the heart of hope for the future before dragging his tired body to a decent end. What one thinks is hope is shattered one after another, and the experience and feelings of the change of identity in the process from the victim to the perpetrator, to the perpetrator, and then to the survivor are condensed into a person's spiritual life. Therefore, when the people in the asylum tried to open Agu’s heart, they were indifferently rejected. A person who has gone through great sufferings will no longer be emotionally moved by anything. He sees the world in the cold, but now he only yearns for peace. Happy Sunshine, unwilling to mention those past events. At this moment, it is also a sign that he has grown into an "Old man".
All qualitative changes are indispensable for the process of quantitative change. Agu's growth as a carefree boy has also been lured step by step to return to human nature-violence and killing. As early as Golding's "Lord of the Flies" book, a group of teenagers who were left on the tinkering were the protagonists, proving that the collapse of civilized social order in people's minds and the awakening of beasts in humans require only a few conflicts and chaos. Is enough to achieve. Agu in "Beasts Without Borders" is also in the hatred of himself and his surrounding NDF (local defense combat forces), his enthusiasm for war, and the commandant who is full of passion and speech ability enough to gather people together ( Commander), these three elements together created Agu's surrender to violence, moving from light to darkness, awakening the beast in his heart. As in Christianity, human beings are born with original sins, and they are born with aggressive animality. This is not only reflected in past wars, but also in today's society: open and secret battles in officialdom, defeating others at work The sense of accomplishment we have gained is our love of violent games...and Agu just returns to his nature at the right time. As a person, this is a return to innocence, an expression of growth, and a step towards Agu from "Baby" to "Adult".
And one of the characters I have to mention in the film is the core character of NDF as Commandant. He mobilized the passions of his subordinates through speeches on the legitimization of NDF actions, so that they can join the battlefield for the "wealth", "peace", and "right to speak" that they believe in. They also open up a path for their own cause by the way; He planned all kinds of war rituals to confuse people's thoughts, obscure their concepts, and wash away all distracting thoughts from their minds. In the sound of shouting "Victory", pull the trigger at the "enemy" designated by Commandant. Young soldiers who have not yet civilized their minds will easily receive this kind of brainwashing education, allowing them to devote themselves to the pleasure of violence, attacking and plundering everything they see. This horrible cohesion can't help but make people think of the French film "The Wave." The same speech ability, discipline, collective mobilization and some "rituals" have awakened the seemingly unresurrected fascist concept among the higher education students. . The destructive power brought about by dictatorship is shocking to the heavens. He obliterated all personal thoughts and led people to follow the dictator and his war arbitrarily.
In addition, I have to mention the director's selection and control of the screen. Most of the story in the whole film takes place in clear daylight, and the scenes are mostly in green forests or jungles. Even if there is a war in the city, most of the buildings are white all over, and the smoke of the war is as clean as white fog. The solid color surrounds the scene. The tone of the film's picture is a symbol of light. This kind of reflection makes me feel that "all evils happen in broad daylight" in my mind when watching the film. The bright colors also add to the legitimacy of Agu's organization after joining the NDF, but their ignorance of the social order and indiscriminate slaughter, this vicious behavior, unintentionally makes it difficult for people to notice. Perhaps this sense of picture is like the world in the eyes of young Agu: all the distinctions between good and evil are in a fuzzy stage, and thoughts can easily be taken away. This way of presentation and the Ugandan dictator's brutality and final outcome implied by the director's extensive use of yellow, a symbol of dilapidation and poverty in "The Last Dictatorship," each have their own unique implications. From this point of view, the application of coloring in the film screen can also play a key role in the viewing effect, allowing the audience to appreciate the protagonist’s heart, and the understanding of the film’s story can also be achieved. Deeper resonance.
From "Young" to "Old", although psychological growth cannot be observed with the naked eye, it can have the most profound impact on us. The return of animality is a young age when we have shed our deciduous teeth and grow sharp fangs, and after going through the bloody storm, people often yearn for peace without controversy. Perhaps the stage of growth is a process from physical growth to spiritual growth. I think that only when a person is mentally dead, when the unconscious brain drives just a walking dead, that person is truly old and dead.
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