true voice

Carolyn 2022-01-25 08:08:00

In Taiwan's second-round cinemas, there is a marketing strategy of "one ticket for two films" or even "one ticket for three films". I think the movie theaters in mainland China are like this too. It's interesting to see how cinemas combine and bundle different films.

For example, Avatar and Su Qier (it really does matter). The movie theater probably thought "all 3D movies" to match it like this. I think this combination is a combination of two injuries. Avatar felt that he was taken advantage of by the hitchhiker, and Su Qier felt that he was placed on an asymmetrical battlefield. To be like "IP Man 2" and "Iron Man 2", that kind of catching and fighting is worthwhile. It is a pity that unless the cinema has only one screening hall, it will never put the two strong together and let the fans take all.

But there are also a few second-round theaters, such as Taipei's Jiajialailai, because the boss himself is a movie fan, and the combination they launch is always amazing, such as "The Road" with "The Book of Eli". I saw this single combination in the newspaper, and I was amazed at first, applauded again and again, and admired the boss very much. Then on a second thought, he was very worried for the fans.

Although these two films are both "doomsday films" on the surface, they both involve cannibalism, and both have carts. The road films that travel far and wide and search for the other side are also similar in color to religious films, but they are completely opposite in their bones. "The Book of Eli" belongs to the common people in the Midwest of the United States, and "The Road" belongs to the intellectuals of the East Coast of the United States. The two films each reflect the current state of mind and worldview of some Americans, but they are incompatible with each other. The most important difference is, clearly, belief.

Did you notice it? "The Road", the only named character in the film, actually calls himself "Eli" (original spelled "Ely"). In the novel, this old man is an old man of unknown origin. He said a Hebrew proverb that I remember: "There is no God and we are his prophets." The father in the story said, "If he (son) is not the word of God God never spoke."

The purpose of "The Book of Eli" is roughly: "There IS God and I am his true prophet." tit for tat. The voices of demonstrations and protests were faintly discernible.

I think that any ordinary movie fan, who has watched these two films in a row, will always face his own heart and ask some fundamental questions about "life" after such a powerful collision. Suppose the end of the world comes, or if the chaotic scene recorded in the history books repeats itself. At this time, the national government disappears, parents and wives are separated, men are afraid of being eaten by other men, and women and children are afraid of being raped and then eaten. Once survival and self-preservation have become a luxury, then how should people live? What can people live on?

What I believe is the truth, the truth. It is better to be able to understand the world and people's hearts truthfully than to be eaten raw.

Are you still carrying The Fire?

View more about The Road reviews

Extended Reading

The Road quotes

  • [first lines]

    Wife: What's happening? Why are you taking a bath?

    The Man: I'm not.

  • The Man: [gleefully to boy] What do you want for breakfast?