Ang Lee said before, "Now some people will think that I made an anti-war film. This is not my original intention. What I want to tell is about the soldiers." But to be disrespectful, I think Ang Lee has brought these soldiers to life. It turned into a group of grumpy women, making the original theme shallow, and making the plot that should have felt pain seem weightless.
The plot of the story is actually very simple. The process of 19-year-old US Private Lynn's heroic rescue of his comrades in a battle in Iraq was filmed by the camera. After it was broadcast on TV, he and his comrades became heroes and were given special leave. Back home to watch a football game and perform a halftime show with The Destiny. And the whole film is in the stadium and the battlefield, or in Lynn's eyes and mind constantly interspersed with flashbacks, showing the psychological trauma of Lynn and other American soldiers caused by the war, as well as their return to China, because of the encounter The secondary injury suffered by being despised, misunderstood, and entertained.
This is actually a good theme. Through people who have experienced war, facing the cruelty of war, facing external incomprehension, and subtle changes in inner emotions, it shows the impact and changes brought by war to human nature, as well as the impact of war on human nature. And thinking about the meaning of the military, etc., but unfortunately, this story was not told well by Ang Lee, and even told a little bit, which made Lin En and others questioning, but seemed a little sensitive and neurotic.
I can understand what Lynn said: "It feels really weird, someone came to praise you for the worst day of your life", when your own pain becomes someone else's celebration, this feeling must be mixed, I think Lynn's mood and Bei Dao's verse should be the same: "In the era of no heroes, I just want to be a person." However, let’s think about it again, if you have experienced the worst day in your life, and no one even comes to praise, what kind of feeling does it feel? I understand that what Ang Lee wants to express is that Lynn and his comrades are being entertained and consumed, but can Ang Lee tell us what is the correct attitude of this society towards Lynns?
The film also said: "People are so forgetful, two weeks in Hollywood is like two years", but this is not only true for these soldiers, "relatives or sadness, others have also sung", this is the normal state of life. ! We can't always live the rest of our lives without admiration or grief for one person or group? Although it is a bit cruel, sometimes forgetting is also the instinct of human survival. Lynn and the others feel angry and miserable because they are misunderstood and despised by others, but people are so much like fish drinking water, they know each other well, it is impossible for everyone to understand you, and it is impossible for everyone to care about you. Even if you are a hero, you cannot let the whole world understand you, love you, and value you. Your heart-breaking pain may be just a smile from others. Everyone has their own concerns and everyone has their own position. If you desire to be understood, what you should do is not to feel sorry for yourself, but to communicate with people in the right way and tell what you think. Of course, as a soldier, we can understand these thoughts because of post-traumatic stress, but as a film, it may not be very convincing to explain that this society is sick only through the perspective of patients.
For the team owner only willing to bid $5,500, and only willing to invite Lynn and his squad leader, instead of all eight of their soldiers to make the movie, I think this is just a businessman's interest calculation. Nothing wrong with that. After all, people want to make movies, not documentaries, people want to make money, not obligated to do publicity for you. You feel that your value is undervalued, or you are being used, of course you can choose to refuse, but this has nothing to do with the noble and the humble, it is just a business failure.
If the film is technically overblown, then thematically, it is a bit overkill. Although advanced technology was used, "Billy Lynn's Halftime Battle" only captured some small emotions, which seemed too trivial, light, and conceptual, making what Ang Lee might want to express become obscure. It even distorts justice, turning a state machine into a heroic myth of personal tragedy, and at the same time creating a good story that the people are chasing for heroic mythology and telling them blind. Ang Lee tried his best to show the sense of isolation and alienation between the Lynns and the society, but because of the lack of plot and emotion, the audience had a sense of isolation and alienation from the film. We must understand one thing: the premise of understanding is understanding.
In my opinion, movies are more of a technology than an art. The pictures are realistic, not as realistic as the stories, and the stories are not as realistic as the human nature. So don't blame me for Director Ang Lee, he paid so much for us, but I was not moved. Of course, fans of the technology stream can still watch this film, and I would like to thank Ang Lee for bringing more possibilities to the future of the film.
The 120-frame "Billy Lynn" is here, will the new version of "Meat Futon" be far behind? I am looking forward to this.
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