Wise men build cities, and filmmakers like to build cities. Jiang Wen made a Beijing city in "Evil Doesn't Suppress Righteousness", and Li Ang made Lawrence City in "Riding with the Devil".
In Jiang Wen’s Beijing city, you can see Peng Yuyan running on the roof with bare buttocks. From then on, this "Beijing city" will continue to develop, whether traveling or continuing to make movies; while Li Ang first bought a city and built a new one on the ground. Building, the city of Lawrence was created, and finally burned.
The Lawrence City Massacre in Kansas City was burned and looted for 4 hours. At least 143 men were killed. Many of them were dragged out of their homes and shot in front of their families. The victims ranged from 14 to 90 years old. Years old. This massacre also became the largest attack on civilians in the history of the American Civil War.
Ang Lee has done a lot of research on this, and this is a part he really wants to show. Of course, this movie tells more than just a "tragedy" or "slaughter."
Imagine that you just attended a friend’s wedding yesterday, and today you are about to leave with a gun. Fortunately, your home was burned down by the fire and none of your family members were shot. A bullet was exploded on the unarmed old head and fell in front of you; imagine a few-year-old child, after experiencing the death of his parents, picked up a gun and shot at others expressionlessly, letting other people’s blood rush; imagine, Ben He is a Young Master Pian, who talked about poetry and marriage yesterday, but today he can only live in a temporary hole, and I don’t know where his feet will go next...
War ruthlessly destroys everything you built with your own hands. As long as your life has not stopped, it will force you to face the cruelty you never expected in life, which is even more difficult for a minor. of.
The people who fought in this story were not enemies they had never met but neighbors.
The story is about two "outsiders", Jack Roedel (Jack Roedel), a small German with less distinctive personality, and Daniel Holt (Daniel Holt), a black slave. The liberation of the slaves, the thinking in the war, and the growth of the self run through it. Jack is like going through an adventure squeezed by the war, and he can't help but have no time to react.
The North-South Civil War occurred between 1861 and 1865. When the war ended, Jack was less than 20 years old.
He did not obey his father, but joined the Southern Partisans with his good friend Jack Burchas, under the banner of Quintry, and fought in guerrillas on the border of Kansas and Missouri for three years. The fighting became more and more sloppy, and the war became an excuse to burn and kill. During this period, Jack released his acquaintance in the Northern Army camp, and his father who supported the Northern Army could not escape death; he lost a finger and a close friend.
The friendship he grew up with Daniel has become a strong support and dependence on each other. Daniel initially accompany the "friend and master" George to fight together. After George's death, he began the real "freedom" road.
People’s attitudes towards blacks have changed, whether it’s from Su Li’s attitude towards Daniel, from blacks not being invited, to whites and blacks eating at the same table, Ang Lee uses these details to gradually signal the changes in race relations. **At the end of the film, Daniel continued his journey of finding his mother and parted with Jack until they called each other’s full names to show respect. Daniel got rid of the last trace of the "black slave" as a "free" Individual existence.
Movies will have the shadow of the director himself . Jiang Wen's "The Evil Doesn't Suppress Righteousness" can see his arrogance and innocence, Chen Kaige's "The Legend of Cat Demon" can see his deliberateness and romance, and this "Riding with the Devil" can see Li Ang's warmth and warmth. exquisite.
Jack is such a delicate and gentle person. At a young age, he has to hold a butcher knife, and he is pushed to the bullet by the war before he can react. He tried hard to do some "right" things, to be a "kind" person, and to get results that he could not bear. A young man who has been reading during the war, and a young man who read letters for everyone during the war, with his own independence, is slowly integrating into the collective. And he never stopped thinking about the absurdity of war and the absurdity of mankind. He grew up with the wheels of the war. He raised a gun to threaten his former guerrilla companion Maxson to leave. For the war, he was tired of killing 15 people: "Whether it is right or wrong, that's it."* *what happend? At this point in the movie, the director has already presented the war and everything it brings, and the next conclusion is left to the audience. **
Some people say that Peng Yuyan's performance is that a big boy is innocent and not old, and some people say that it is a hormone that follows the wind.
Ang Lee also knows that Wen Tun's delicate growth path is not a popular type. Different directors will have different choices and persistence.
Sometimes, if the director is more capricious, he may lose a little more audience. At present, it seems that Jiang Wen, who seems to "do not suppress the evil," is much luckier than Li Ang, who is "riding with the devil."
Friends who have watched "The Evil Does Not Suppress Righteousness" can not only see the difference between the "boy images" in the two films, but also the directors' understanding of war, and the directors' understanding of the vulnerable groups who are wrapped up in the war. The shaping and attitude of "female". Even in detail, even if you look at the relationship between men and women or sex scenes, **you can see which subject the presented image serves. **
Needless to say, you can see it.
Ang Lee has never stopped thinking about "self-creation" and "audience." "Riding with the Devil" Li Ang called it the only "film that didn't hit a hit." The editing of this film caused Ang Lee to suffer at the time, but after compromise, he still did not win the favor of the public. Even though at that time, "Time" Weekly "The New Yorker" and some film critics in the UK called this film a "masterpiece", and some commented that "Ang Lee abandoned the Cliches about war", but the audience reacted mediocrely and were unwilling to do so. Pay the bill. Released in 1999, the cost rose from 24 million U.S. dollars to the last 38 million U.S. dollars . The final box office was dismal: 635,000 U.S. dollars .
Box office and ratings have never been an absolute factor in evaluating a movie. Ang Lee integrates his thoughts on war, story, and history into the movie. He made this choice. **He chose to tell the story from the perspective of marginalized people. Germans, blacks and women. He chose to use the bitter growth of a young boy to blend with war. He chose a different narrative style from Hollywood. **
When most people look at something from a single point of view, the "mainstream culture" that is formed will be devoid of individual thinking, and will most likely restrict individual actions. **At this time, it is especially necessary for some people to jump out of this vicious circle and put forward different views on things from another angle. **
The audience also "can't understand". Ang Lee said that this movie made him unable to feel the pulse of the audience, saying: ""Riding with the Devil" has always been a fan of me. I still don't understand why it is so complicated. The audience can’t understand it, and even the professors will be a little confused after watching it..." From the movie "The Wedding Banquet" with the highest return on investment, to the film that lost the most miserable year, Ang Lee, who was under heavy pressure, has since made the famous film. The global "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon".
Teacher Jiang Wen would say, "He will understand one day. When he comes back to think about it the day he understands, Jiang is really worthy of me."
Well, wait and see.
Ang Lee’s experience reminds us:
You should stay vigilant and look at the world outside the mainstream. I don’t know which day the mainstream thought will cut you off, kidnapped you, kidnapped you, and can’t move like a war.
【Finish. 】
Text丨BY Yueming Figure丨Video Screenshots/Network
This article was originally published on the public account of "Sugar Cinema" (WeChat ID: BrilliantFilms). Welcome to follow and open a new movie world for the first time.
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