——A brief review of the movie "Underground"
Summary: Movies about war history have emerged in an endless stream in the history of movies, from "Battleship Potemkin" to "Gone with the Wind" to "Schindler's List", "The Founding of a Nation", etc. The creator's attitude towards history and war. On the whole, most of the creators face history with a serious, serious and reflective mentality, while the former Yugoslav director Emile Kusturica used absurd methods to bring war and history to Yugoslavia. Pain manifested, leading to an orgy of politics and war.
Keywords: history, war, movies, carnival, Yugoslavia
1. Characteristics of historical war films in the eyes of the public
As a form of cultural expression, movies all reflect a certain era, a certain value or a certain political point of view, and it is impossible for a film to exist completely separated from them. And historical war films, as the type of film that can best express the historical views of the country and creators, have shown a certain identity from a global perspective - remembering the history and healing the wounds. At the same time, with the advent of the era of hot weapons, modern warfare has greater, wider and faster destructive properties, so most of the films reflecting modern and contemporary warfare are painful and depressing. "Battleship Potemkin" filmed a grand war scene in the form of a national gift; "Gone with the Wind" combines women's independence with the independence of war nations; "Schindler's List" switches viewpoints to stand on the perpetrators The most direct way to reflect the history; "Blood Battle Hacksaw Ridge" shows the cruel side of the war to the audience in the most direct way; "Founding of the People's Republic of China" traces back how a party managed to build an independent country; "The Thirteen Hairpins of Jinling" By depicting the selfless brilliance of women, it illuminates the scenes of the whole nation working together during the Anti-Japanese War... Although these famous war films are not produced in the same country, most of them have a tense atmosphere, because they take human life and political seriousness. Elevated to the core of the work, all audiences will be silent and reflect along with the protagonist's story.
2. Carnival and Human Nature in "Underground"
"Underground" is different from most other war films, it gives people a carnival and lighthearted atmosphere, not about human beings (life) but about human nature.
Like "Arizona Dream", the actors' performances are very dramatic, and there are also a lot of symbolic settings. Natalie will not only fall into emotional whirlpools on the stage, but also externalize her inner desires with large-scale body movements, but also in her reality. She fell into multiple loves in the two scenes in which the black boy tied her with ropes. When she was young, she still accepted Hei Zai's marriage proposal under the favor of Nazi officer Frans, and quickly fell into the admiration and love for Marco within a few minutes of Hei Zai's departure; at Jovan's wedding Before and after, she was dissatisfied with Marco for concealing the truth and making trouble with Marco, but because Marco untied her clothes and poured alcohol on her, she fell into Marco's sexuality again. She kept swinging her body and rubbing her ankle with him Ke's collar, once again sinking into desire. The most symbolic setting is Marco's younger brother Ivan and the only monkey he rescued, Song Ni. Ivan is a bit stuttering. He is not good at words, so he is in the company of animals, but he is the "law enforcer" who finally killed his brother. His physical flaws and moral flaws are in contrast, so there is a film at the end of the future. And the summary words of history are spoken by him to the audience. Song Ni is a chimpanzee, the most human representative, it has the characteristics of a child - savage and innocent. It was rescued in the war, put the bomb in the weapon and detonated the basement battle, and when Ivan found it again many years later to be reunited with it, it was the same as the bombing scene at the beginning. Like an innocent child to Ivan stretched out his hands. Such a "giant baby" also exists in war, and it is also a kind of human nature. And the chaotic scene of animals and people at the beginning of the film also conveys to the audience a point of view: when the war comes, there is no civilization at all.
The history of Yugoslavia
Kusturica once said in an interview that the film style of "Underground" is not just his author's style, but has national characteristics. The war in Yugoslavia never stopped, as Mark said. This nation has adapted to the existence of war, so they will still eat every meal when the bomb hits, still have sex with loved ones, still hold parties and weddings, still play music... The spirit of it is vividly displayed in the last scene. Under the sun, green grass and rivers, a band playing cheerful music, Hei Zai and his wife held a wedding for their son and daughter-in-law. Marco and Natalie came together, Ivan can speak clearly, Beto is not disabled, everything is so beautiful. They kiss, hug, dance and party to the music. Use this form to remember history and national pain.
Although "Underground" is absurd and carnival, full of dark humor, it is very tragic. Theatrical stage and film shooting scene also became a very ironic formal symbol in the film. The Yugoslav country and nation died out, but its people chose to use beautiful fables to tell their children and grandchildren that the future can be expected, just like smiling and injured people propping up the sky for the younger generation, this kind of spirit is even more precious. Historical wars are painful, but we can still speak with a smile.
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