"In the Name of the Father": In the Name of Truth, Courage, and Family

Jaylon 2022-03-21 09:01:42

At the 38th minute of the film, a shudder suddenly passed through my heart, I took a deep breath, and I could hardly watch it any longer. In the dimly lit cell, the police officers' crazy and rude threats and intimidation of the suspects and the unmarked torture to extract confessions seemed to bring me back to the time when I was reading Mr. Zheng Nian's memoirs of the Cultural Revolution: Life and Death in Shanghai: Terrible, despicable, but helpless ; In addition to sympathy for the suffering people and hatred for the perpetrators, there is only disappointment with that period of history and humanity.

After procrastinating for a week, I watched the whole film with the principle of always watching movies. The film is based on true events - Guildford Four, a notorious scandal in the history of British justice known for its rationality. The background of the film is Belfast, Ireland in the early 1970s. The war was raging, the smoke of gunpowder continued, and the turmoil against the English government led by the Northern Irish Republican Army (IRA: Provisional Irish Republican Army) continued one after another. Gerry (Gerry Conlon) is an idle young Irish street youth. Because he didn't study well, he was sent to his aunt's house in London by his father, hoping that he would stay away from the strife in his hometown and experience in the big city. When he arrived in London, he still roamed the streets, playing games with a group of hippie friends. Soon, there was a terrorist bombing in a London pub, the Guildford Pub. Prior to this, the Northern Irish Republican Army had committed several terrorist bombings in the United Kingdom, resulting in the death of many innocent people and arousing the indignation of the British people. So the judiciary passed a bill: Internment without trial. That is, for suspected terrorists, the police can detain them for 7 days without reason. Between the two neighbors who were originally a strip of water, the national hatred is raging at this moment.

By accident, Gary and three hippie friends are arrested for the bombing. Exactly why he was wrongfully imprisoned, I can't remember exactly when I just read it. Maybe they roamed not far from where it happened, maybe just because they were Irish, the charges were unfounded, and the whole point of the film was just that Gary was wronged, not how he was wronged. Then there are some unsightly scenes in the torture room mentioned above. The policemen eager to make meritorious deeds to please the British people will do whatever they can to get Gary to plead guilty. They pinched his testicle and threatened to assassinate his father... Extremely, finally succumbed to a trick, a successful cross. Gary's father is very affectionate with the calf, and he is willing to go to prison to be with him for the sake of his beloved son. The judge sentenced Gary and other direct offenders to 30 years in prison, and his father and aunt's family were sentenced to 14 years in prison as "accomplices in making bombs". Fifteen years later, Gary was rehabilitated, but his old father was already in prison. He continued to fight against the entire judicial system for the innocence of his family. This is where In the Name of the Father came from.

【Human Relations】
I have seen a lot of prison-themed works, such as "The Shawshank Redemption", "Miracle in the Green Mile", "A Walk on the Dead Row", "Silence of the Lambs"... Some film critics compared this film to "The Shawshank Redemption". As a film work, both of them have reached a high artistic level in terms of shooting techniques, but the shock brought by the authenticity and historical sense of "In the Name of the Father" is undoubtedly stronger. Watching "The Shawshank Redemption", we cheered and praised: hope can bring life, and justice will eventually triumph over evil. But watching "In the Name of the Father", even if Gary is finally acquitted, I can't cheer for the long-awaited justice and unsatisfactory peace, I just feel extremely heavy and desolate. Because the former is just another best-selling work by Stephen King, while the latter is a historical tragedy written by Gerry Conlon and others with real blood and tears. Fifteen years in prison had wiped out his youth. His father suffered an unjust injustice and died in prison. His aunt and his family were implicated and lost their freedom. , how can it be calculated? How to turn back time, bring the dead back to life, and heal the wounds of loved ones? Such a painful and tragic disaster, even if it has happened for many years, even if it is separated from the screen, even if the Chinese and Western countries are foreign, I still do not have the courage to stand by, let alone imagine that things are impermanent, what should I do if that great misfortune happens to me. Chinese people value filial piety, and blood relatives are the most important. Can't raise relatives, can't honor relatives, on the contrary, parents are burdened with fear and fear for themselves, and they can't die well. Although Gary was a direct victim of this case, in the face of his parents and relatives who were more innocent than him, did he ever regret that his words and deeds caused harm to the whole family? From this point of view, no matter whether the film itself has taken care of this issue, at least the title of "In the Name of the Father" is still somewhat sincere.

【truth】
In China's thousands of years of rule of man history, there are many such unjust, false and wrongful convictions. In ancient times, it goes without saying that if you accidentally offend Tianwei, a single crime of deceiving the king could lead to the whole family being slaughtered, and the nine clans being executed in a row. The so-called parental officials are also mostly powerful officials. "The yamen is open, and there is no reason to come in without money." Especially during the chaotic Cultural Revolution, this kind of crazy violence can be said to have reached its peak. From the beginning of the land reform to the Red Guards forcibly breaking into the old houses and building the new, how are the violent enforcers authorized by the state apparatus different from the thieves of the past? In fact, the robbers are more happy, and the most unbearable are those who rob people's money and pretend to save people's disasters. The political power struggle within the high-level, but it is the Shengdou common people who suffer. Husbands and wives were forced to divorce, their children also drew a line, relatives and friends turned against each other, many families fell apart, and many human relationships were destroyed.

Therefore, if this judicial accident happened in China, it may not have caused the same sensation in the Western world that year. The shocking thing is that such a heinous case happened in the British island country, which has always been regarded as the education of rationality and democracy. Driven by the bad roots of human nature, the law enforcers represented by Mr. Dixon were able to swear "What I say will be nothing but truth" while pressing the Bible in court when they appeared in court. ; In order to quell public anger, the judiciary found Gary, a group of scapegoats, and in order to maintain a fair image of the judiciary, they unfairly concealed the truth; the people, jurors and even judges who were swayed by ethnic hatred at the time all agreed that Gary was guilty. Fifteen years later, the same people will march and demonstrate to return him to his innocence... If the laws of the world are no longer just and strict, and even the laws of God are no longer morally binding on people's hearts, then where is the justice and the truth? What else is there in this world for us to rely on and believe in?

More than ten years of imprisonment are equally dark and lengthy in the film, and the sun is not seen until the end. When Mrs. Pierce finally did not hesitate to offend the judge and defended "Gerry's sins only because he was born Irish", I seemed to be in the righteous court in front of the screen, listening to her wonderful The defense couldn't help but feel blood boiling and trembling all over. The truth may be artificially concealed, but the truth can never be erased.

Because of his righteousness, he was able to be magnificent. The justice made a final decision, and he was injustice for 15 years.
Will you read this statement that you took from him on the 3rd of November, 1974? A statement, my lord, can vindicate all these people- all of these innocent people. Someone ordered that these people be used as scapegoats by a nation that was begging for blood, in return for the innocent blood spilled on the streets of London. And by God you got your blood Mr. Dixon! You got the blood of Giuseppe Conlon, you got the life blood of Carol Richardson, and you've got 15 years of blood, sweat, and pain for my client and his only crime was being Irish, and being in the wrong place and the wrong time.

[Courage]
This film is full of suffering, but also full of courage. The narrative is a consistent British style. The language of the camera is calm and restrained. It does not intend to instill certain emotions in the audience. It just tries to restore the facts as objectively as possible, allowing us to feel and reflect on our own. Often times, it is more moving to be quiet.

Gary was only 21 when he was in prison, and I can't forget the horrified look on his face when he heard he was sentenced to 30 years in prison. The ignorant young man was forced to grow up under the cruel reality. The price was painful, but after all, he paid, experienced, and came out alive. It is a kind of courage.

Gary's father, Giuseppe, is one of the most touching characters. Although he was old and sick, he was imprisoned for his son and worked hard for Zhaoxue, and eventually died in prison. If religious belief has any sanctity and dignity in this case, it is all through this weak but determined Catholic. The only time he lost his courage was before he died, because he was worried that the old wife and weak daughter would no longer be taken care of.

Lawyer Mrs. Peirce is undoubtedly a woman with extraordinary wisdom and courage. This kind of injustice and falsehood involving the interests of high-level people, who dares to overturn the case without a conscience to be the mouthpiece of the people? And 12 years after the film was released (2005), Prime Minister Blair personally apologized and compensated the four on behalf of the national government. This is of course also a kind of valuable courage.

There are all kinds of painful and terrible things in the world, and one day it is really going to be a disaster, so I can only bear it with the courage to slaughter. It is said that the only way to die is to die, but it is actually more difficult to live than to die. If one can endure unbearably and suffer, instead of giving up and dying, then "tolerance" itself is a sublime of human nature.

[Remaining words]
I watched "In the Name of the Father", also starring Daniel Day-Lewis, because of revisiting "The Age of Innocence". Lewis is indeed a good actor. In the same year, he can be dignified among the silver spoons of New York high society in "The Age of Innocence", or he can be transformed into a comical and pathetic prisoner full of foul language in "In the Name of the Father". In addition, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the female lawyer was actually played by Emma Thompson, so beautiful.

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Extended Reading
  • Teagan 2022-03-23 09:01:41

    They're fuching goverment. Just for this sentence, fight to the end. Not to fight and express dissatisfaction, but to learn to survive in adversity. The film is based on the colonial background of Northern Ireland, which is not well known to Chinese audiences, and depicts an unjust case. As the title of the film, the father's love is great, and it brings tears to my eyes. The films of vindication are always so enjoyable, from "Mysterious Eyes", "Suspicious Clouds", to "Nine Pins".

  • Abelardo 2022-03-23 09:01:41

    Saw a Daniel Day-Lewis show. ★★★★

In the Name of the Father quotes

  • [after his case is dismissed, and the guards try to escort him out]

    Gerry Conlon: I'm a free man, and I'm going out the front door.

  • Gerry Conlon: That was a good day's work, McAndrew. A good day's work.

    Joe McAndrew: Get away from me.

    Gerry Conlon: You're not looking me in the eye when you're speaking to me. You see, I know how to look at people without blinking as well. In all my god-forsaken life I have never known what it was like to want to kill somebody until now. You're a brave man, Joe. A brave man.