A film full of innuendo and metaphor

Russel 2022-01-13 08:02:26

For such a film with profound themes, it is indeed a little overwhelming. However, since the spiritual crisis mentioned by the author is precisely me, and everyone has experienced or will experience it, I am afraid to discuss one or two things.

This is a discussion about spiritual crisis, about religious belief, about the power of self-saving and even about destiny.

Jack is a brilliant Oxford professor and a wise and knowledgeable writer. When a long-awaited female pen pal came to visit, he was completely behaving. He met challenges, met opponents, but also met love, but also suffered a loss of love. When this series of situations occurred, Hopkins had to face the second heaviest blow in his life and the most serious mental crisis.

Professor Jack, played by Hopkins, admits that he has gone through two choices, one is a boy's choice, and the other is a man's choice. Children choose safety, men choose pain. In fact, no matter what the gender is, we have all made such a choice. I am fortunate that I saw this movie after going through such a choice. Otherwise, if I go back 5 or 10 years, I am not sure if I am interested in watching this movie.

When he was nine years old, facing the death of his loved ones, he chose safety. In this sense, Jack was saved for the first time.

When he became an adult, he wrote beautiful fairy tales for his children. In the closet in the attic, the heavy fur was pushed aside, white light flashed, the dream world suddenly appeared, snowflakes and green trees appeared in front of the eyes. However, when the child with strong curiosity really opened the closet and pushed the door hard, it was useless. He was stunned to find that there was no such thing as a fantasy world. From this moment on, he grew up.

When I saw the child pushing the door in vain, I couldn't help being filled with painful compassion. Who doesn't have such a dream? Who has never thought that there will be extraterrestrials to save us, who has never imagined that there will be a spiritual world sheltering our suffering, but the fact is that there is no other shore, no heaven, and no external force to save us. Knowing this is very cruel, but it is an inevitable experience for everyone.

The death of his relatives made Jack choose religion from his dream. When Jack, who is brilliant and possesses a strong sense of autonomy, explained an eternal religious proposition with his eloquent ability: if God loves us, why does it make people suffer from suffering? Why didn't he stop? This difficult contradiction was originally the most powerful argument for atheists to attack religion. However, the determined Jack explained to the Christians with his eloquent talent that God wanted us to grow, so we felt pain. We are like portraits carved out of knives. When the knife is slashed across the face, we are shaped in the painful experience. The audience was moved to tears, and it is true to think about it, so that people who believe in abandon their doubts and have a firm belief in faith. Isn't it a kind of salvation?

However, in the face of a sharp-edged lover, Jack retreated steadily. His belief in talents and religion was challenged step by step until he was defeated by reality.

The lover was killed by the disease, but religion has lost its effectiveness. He had to face a real and cruel life. "God, I miss her too." When he loses control in front of the child and loses his voice, anyone will experience this kind of vertebral pain.

Jack said, if you will lose, why do you need to love? I have haunted this sentence for a long time. When I lost my dearest, the feeling of failure, decadence and despair was beyond name, and no force could do anything about it.

Therefore, I also deeply understand why so many people regard this film as a profound and great work-it records the most extensive life experience and the most common life dilemmas in the most plain style.

Finally, dreams are gone, religion is useless, time is the best healing machine. Pain is also a life experience that must be possessed and experienced. that is it.

Thank you director, thank you Hopkins, for giving us a great film!



View more about Shadowlands reviews

Extended Reading
  • Muriel 2022-03-20 09:02:26

    http://www.56.com/w97/play_album-aid-5061516_vid-NDY1NjM2NjA.html

  • Megane 2022-03-27 09:01:15

    Personal experience is everything. We read to know we are not alone. We love to know we are not alone. Rational knowledge is but the shadow of land of real experience.

Shadowlands quotes

  • Joy: Back where I come from, there's this quaint old custom. When a guy makes up his mind to marry a girl, he asks her. It's called proposing. Did I miss it?

  • Harry: Christopher can scoff, Jack, but I know how hard you've been praying; and now God is answering your prayers.

    C. S. Lewis: That's not why I pray, Harry. I pray because I can't help myself. I pray because I'm helpless. I pray because the need flows out of me all the time, waking and sleeping. It doesn't change God, it changes me.