To be fair, it's not entirely appropriate to give this film too much conscious Xingtai stamp. In addition to the two major themes of era background and love with a broken sleeve, cultural differences are also prominently displayed: on the issue of dealing with life and death, on the issue of spirituality or materialism, on the issue of indulgence and abstinence, on the face and inner On the matter, the Japanese guards and the British prisoners of war were almost diametrically opposed worldviews. The only one who can understand both value systems is the one mentioned in the title. Fortunately, among the main characters, Mr. Lawrence finally survived, which makes the end of the story a little brighter: he is the one who sees the most, and gradually begins to see clearly, but does not claim to be absolutely right. . After all, between the east and the west, many things cannot be understood with just a few foreign languages. Just like Jack Celliers' nickname "Strafer Jack" in North Africa (strike machine Jack?), it is difficult for Lawrence to find an equivalent. I came to explain to Yonoi what it means, and the gyo (practice practice?) in Japanese, which is said to be used to punish "spiritual laziness", also puzzled the British guys with a height of two feet.
Of course, on some issues, different cultural circles will have the same value orientation, just like the relationship between Ryu Sakamoto and David Bowie in the film, no matter where they are placed, they must be marked with a taboo color. .
In the court scene not long after the opening, Yonoi was killed by Jack Celliers (JC for short) almost at first sight, not because of the buddy Yushu’s radiance, but also because of the independence and unruly in JC’s aura: he was captured and held captive. To be upright and upright, it is quite incredible for the Japanese who always hold the word "shame" in their hearts. This is not to say that British and American people are shameless. The key point is that Japanese-style "shame" is more of an external manifestation of an individual's fragile psychology. To put it bluntly, it is a sense of inferiority, which is why it is like suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder. Any chance to tell others that "our body is relatively sorry, but it can't prevent us from being tall in spirit". Like a carefully trimmed potted plant, Genojing accidentally bumped into a tall tree growing vigorously in the wild, and was immediately moved by it, which is reasonable.
Afterwards, he kept people under the knife, and it seemed like a ghost sent him back to his own land. On the one hand, he took good care of him and cared about him, on the other hand, he kept telling himself that he must hold on to it-this kind of 180 The mental state of schizophrenia, even for the Japanese, cannot be maintained for a long time, and it is only a matter of time before the final collapse of the psychological defense line. Yonoi tried to show his masculinity and determination by studying kendo and shouting loudly, which just brought out the silver-free weakness in his heart. What's worse, using the way to face death to crush desire cannot make him. The person involved becomes a god, but falls sharply in the other direction.
Sure enough, after meditating, there was a farce of killing chickens to warn the monkeys, which directly caused the deaths of Korean guard Kim Ben and Dutch prisoner De Jong. Yoyoi did this to intimidate the leader of the British army who always refused to provide technical cooperation, but he did not rule out punishing others to stifle some of the buds in his heart, but he didn't know that doing so was actually cutting his own way, which was equivalent to his own neck. Put on the rope.
Immediately afterwards, Captain Yonoi announced that the British and Japanese would come together to "practice" and would not eat for 48 hours to show that they had few desires. This kind of chicken-and-duck command will naturally have no effect. Surprisingly, JC secretly brought a lot of steamed buns for everyone on the grounds of paying homage to the deceased, using safflower as a cover. Despite the lack of explanation, there is only one possibility for the origin of the steamed buns - this is the practice of opening up to a loved one in private, a typical Eastern standard. However, when it comes to how to correctly grasp the yin and yang sides of things, Westerners always seem to be stuck. JC didn't take this favor, and took away a bunch of steamed buns. It is estimated that he also picked up a radio, which completely ruined the matter - the same thing, whether it was carried out under the table or in the Putting it on the table under the watchful eyes of the public is actually a world of difference. JC put Shi Yejing on the fire, it doesn't matter, but it will inevitably drag others into the water: there are only two suspects, in order to save you, you have to blame him, the unfortunate Comrade Lawrence has become an inevitable scapegoat . In the eyes of the British army boss who holds the traditional sense of honor and does not let go, Yonoi is deliberately trying to withdraw his position as the leader of the eldest brother, and Lawrence may be part of this plan. .
Paper can never hold fire. More and more people are aware of the fact that the local chief has different feelings for a certain prisoner. The first person to notice was Yonoi's orderly. This gentleman attempted to assassinate JC late at night, and later took the blame; when JC fled with Lawrence, he collided with Yonoi, who came to visit him. The former sergeant, played by Takeshi Kitano, came to hear the wind and planned to execute the two prison escapers, but Yonoi turned around and blocked the muzzle of the gun - which was equivalent to showing his orientation to all the guards. But there must be an end to this matter, so there is a decision that surprises Lawrence. Yonoi and Sergeant Yuan put the crime of possession of radios on him, an innocent man, and intend to sentence him to death. Comrade Lao experienced it for a long time, and finally came to his senses. The Japanese-style handling of daring love is carried out in accordance with the following principles: if something goes wrong, the first important thing is that someone is punished for it. As for whether the punishment object is really guilty, it doesn't really matter. In the final analysis, in order to maintain the sense of order of the whole system, the right and wrong of individuals can be ignored. In despair, Lawrence sent a Biao. He rushed over and overturned the table where the tablets were placed. He blurted out a line that can only be said by British actors. They made you like this!
According to this trend, Comrade Lawrence is definitely a dead end. But on the hot Christmas night, a wonderful thing happened: I don't know if it was because of drinking too much, the oily-faced sergeant proclaimed himself Santa Claus in a different way, claiming that JC and Lawrence were both let go. People really can't just look at the appearance. The former sergeant was born in the countryside, and his character is brutal and vulgar, but he is definitely not stupid. He knew that his boss liked JC, and he also knew that Lawrence was shot while lying down, and his grievance was pressing on Dou E, so he had to do something in private without disturbing the cards. When Sergeant Yuan reported the situation to Captain Shinoi the next day, it was a standard version of Zhou Yu hitting Huang Gai: The radio was not taken by JC, and Lawrence was also innocent. I'm really angry, I've already killed him. As for why I didn't report it until now, it's because I drank a little too much on Christmas Eve last night - I'm really wrong on this point, and I'm willing to be punished. With such a good step, Captain Yonoi naturally went down the slope. Of course, he still had to reprimand him on the surface: as punishment, he will be locked up for a few days, and you are not allowed to drink during the period. It is worth mentioning that there is a detail here: when the reward is open and punished, Yonoi handed the former Sergeant a cigarette, and the latter accepted it religiously and put it in his pocket. The film has a close-up of this cigarette, which is clearly printed with the chrysanthemum pattern representing the royal family, combined with the previous scene of Lawrence's hair Biao, I don't know if it means anything.
Big things have turned into small things, but this happy ending is destined to be as short-lived as the tranquility before the storm. However, before the most moving scene of the film is staged, there is still some foreshadowing work to be done. The first is the central contradiction of the scene: Genojing asked the British side to provide a list of technicians who were good at using weapons and explosives, while the leader of the British prisoners of war was always unwilling to kneel, and at the same time, he was determined not to give up the leader of the prisoners. Take the top spot, which makes Yonoi move with murderous intentions. The question is, once the original commander is cut, who will take his place? Taking into account both rank and popularity, the answer can only be Jack Celliers. In a sense, Yonoi is clearing the way for JC's superior position, but objectively it is equal to trapping JC in injustice.
The second foreshadowing is Yonoi's psychological knot. According to his statement to Lawrence, he belonged to the same faction as the group of young officers who launched the 226 mutiny. And many of his old associates were executed afterwards - he was the lone man of that faction, and he owed his group his life. At the same time, his emotional orientation has long exiled him to the fringes of collective values: a desperate desire to integrate into the tribe he belongs to, but he is always worried that his secrets will be discovered, and he will be despised and abandoned by the entire tribe. Ironically, the one who can understand this struggle best is his enemy, JC.
The third, but also the most important link, is the lump in JC's heart. It turns out that JC, who seems to be free and unruly, is also a person deeply troubled by his own past. When he was young, in order to be on the side of the majority, he betrayed his younger brother, who was an octave child: knowing that the senior students would unite to publicly humiliate his brother today, JC chose the ostrich policy and huddled in the laboratory It's pretending to be deaf inside - his brother is right, JC is deeply ashamed of having such a male-female family member. JC told Lawrence that his brother never sang again, and what about himself? In his 30s, single, middle-class, and successful in his career, he's nothing but labels. So when the war broke out, he was actively involved—with an indescribable sense of release. This is probably the biggest attraction for civilians in the early days of war: no matter how bad the past is, it can be washed away by the torrent of the times; it feels like suddenly becoming a glittering scale on a golden dragon instead of being a The flea who was bent over by right and wrong.
To sum up, there is the shocking scene later: in front of everyone on both sides of the enemy, JC branded his own kiss on the left and right cheeks of Yonoi, which brought mutual relief for the two, at the price of JC s life. This self-destructive behavior of moths to flames is actually closer to Japanese aesthetic habits. But if you think about it carefully, this situation is both public and private. If you want to have both, unless you sacrifice yourself, there is really no second way to go. JC preserves his allegiance to his group in a way of showing forbidden love - he has not betrayed anyone. Because of this, after JC was buried in the loess, the sentimental Yonoi secretly cut off a strand of his hair and stored it, but it was still a standard military salute in the final farewell ceremony.
The end of the film is the finishing touch. Four years later, the war ended (the Japanese-style victory would not last long), and Genoi and Sergeant Hara were executed one after another. Comrade Lawrence came to visit the former Sergeant the night before he faced the firing squad. The feng shui turns, the identities of prisoners and guards back then are completely reversed, and the language they use to talk has also changed from Japanese to English (it's hard to imagine that the former sergeant could read and learn foreign languages). A few words here are quite overtones:
Yuan: (execution) is tomorrow.
Lawrence: If it's up to me, I'll release you and let you go back to your hometown.
Yuan: Thank you, I am not afraid of death. I just don't get it, I'm no different from the crimes other soldiers have committed (ie: why do you have to pick me?).
Lawrence: You are the chosen victim of people who think they are absolutely right, just as you and Captain Yonoi thought you were absolutely right (fifty boards each). The truth is, no one in the world is absolutely right.
Before parting, the two recalled that special Christmas Eve four years ago. The rules of the East sometimes appear to be chaotic and unprincipled, but there is also subtle accommodation and generosity; the rules of the Westerners, of course, are in line with human nature, but once they are implemented, they are rigid and ruthless. Lawrence was imprisoned that year, which seemed to be a fatal thing. Sergeant Yuan only drank a few more glasses of sake, and immediately gave it as if he was okay. Times are changing, but today, on Lawrence's side, it is absolutely impossible. Can't help but sigh: instead of picking up a knife and gun, you can chop me, I chop you, it is better to stay drunk like this back then, and it is best never to wake up.
Finally, let's mention the theme song "Forbidden Color". A rough inspection found that from Sakamoto Ryuichi to Richard Clayderman, there are dozens of versions, most of which are naturally painless and sloppy, with all kinds of entanglements in the original song. and struggle is not manifested. The most uncomfortable of them all is Hikaru Utada's version, with an unnervingly relaxed rhythm, as if a pair of young lovers separated from Tokyo and New York are flirting on the phone. It's not that my uncle is on the line. This kind of adaptation is like going to the cinema to watch other people starve to death after a full meal. It always seems not kind enough.
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