Although "Going through fire and water" entered the final competition for the best picture at this year's Oscars, but due to the blinking of the other films, this masterpiece with western American literature and art has no choice but to be ignored. In terms of expression, it is more like "No Country for Old Men" directed by the Coen brothers in 2007, which uses the genre characteristics of American Westerns to tell stories.
Then Western films have a special significance for the history of Hollywood films. First of all, it belongs to a unique type of film, which is an epic apotheosis about the American development of the West. The film is mostly based on Western literature and folklore, and the literature The imaginative range of language is combined with the hallucinatory range of the cinematic picture. Later, with the improvement of the public’s viewing level, the stereotyped model of Western films was deified, and it would not always be a true portrayal of American history. It could even be given a more complex plot. However, the spirit of Western films has not changed. Its existence is to create an ideal moral code to reflect the national character and spiritual inclination of Americans.
For Westerns, "Going Through Fire and Water" is actually set according to the routines of Western films. First of all, there must be policemen and bandits, and there must be horses. Of course, the horses are replaced by carts here; secondly, the character setting must need to "live without a fixed place, and be a home in the world", which is a bit like nomads, and their solution The way of the problem must be "gun fire", and most importantly, the Western must have a tragic core.
In terms of character setting, younger brother Toby (played by Chris Pine) and older brother Tanner (played by Ben Foster) are like two sides of a person, one is restrained and rational, the other is uninhibited. It stands to reason that they are The personality difference between water and fire is almost impossible to blend, but in fact, the bond between them can well maintain the relationship between them, blood is thicker than water, and they seem to be one twin. Among them, brother Tanner is definitely a highlight of the film. His existence seems to maximize the "resistance spirit" of "violating violence" in the western film, especially in the end, alone, holding a long gun and confronting the police in a shootout At the end of the scene, it can be said to be heroic and valiant. In the end, even himself arrogantly said to himself: "I am the king of the plain!" Of course, in the end, Tanner's ending was also very tragic. . Brother Tanner is like a satellite around his younger brother Toby, and his duty is to protect his younger brother, and even put his life in the end.
Compared with his older brother Tanner's emotional and perceptual thinking, his younger brother Toby seems to be quite shrewd, taking advantage of the word, and mercenary. From the point of view of the cause, everything was done by his younger brother Toby alone. He considered himself and his descendants carefully, but he did not plan a trajectory for his older brother Tanner. In the end, even brother Tanner sacrificed to save him from evacuating. Later, it was obvious that the younger brother Toby himself was only a driver of money, and he had no energy to care for his emotions.
Cop Marcus (Jeff Bridges) is fatally a factor in the ambivalence of the entire Western. In the whole film, he plays the stubborn faction who maintains the original order. One of the main themes of Western films is that an old order has been destroyed, in which those who maintain this order and those who destroy this order have been fighting, and finally restored to a new order and balance.
Going back to this film, it has always been difficult to use one sentence to explain what David Mackenzie wants to tell us through "Going through fire and water"? As his younger brother Toby said at the end of the film, poverty is a hereditary infectious disease that is passed down from generation to generation. Therefore, the description of "Going through fire and water" only focuses on the problem of the gap between the rich and the poor in the United States: in terms of education, the problem of teachers' treatment has caused the general education in the United States to be managed by sheep. If a better elite education is needed, it is difficult for the average American family to afford the expensive additional education expenses. The lack of educational resources has led to the United States, a country with a clear division of labor, can only engage in low-income jobs, and any generation will not be able to get out of this endless cycle.
Of course, the above is a bit far-fetched. In the film, it also gives us a hereditary reason for poverty: the infinite strife of the people at the bottom by the financial institutions of Wall Street. The film also uses the words of money launderers for the brothers to succinctly illustrate the nature of this conflict: "They are only willing to lend the least amount in order to keep your mother poor while the income is guaranteed." In American society, big financial institutions control the whereabouts of money, and the poor are destined to live in the game set by financial institutions, so this is a conventional social order.
The down-and-out brothers changed their fortunes by redeeming the farm, which was rich in oil storage and transportation, from the bank. Their strict plan is to rob the bank to get some money, then go to the casino in Oklahoma, where the Indians live, to launder the money, then redeem the farm and deposit it in the bank, in exchange for the child's future financial freedom, breaking the original shackles of order. This is a very beautiful irony, a mockery of Wall Street itself, and a mockery of the white descendants who invaded Indian territory.
At first, the plan of robbery and money laundering made by the younger brother was perfect, but unfortunately they never realized that the inclination of social resources is a violation of the rules. Once it comes out, it is impossible to pass peacefully! Brother Tanner has been a thief for many years. Like the old cowboy who dedicated the wonderful barrage in the restaurant, his heart is like a mirror. In this matter, someone must make sacrifices to save the other one, otherwise the robbery will be impartial there. But it can be said that the younger brother Toby is cowardly. His character weakness makes him unable to decide even when he takes the gun of an old cowboy. He is afraid of stepping into the old road of bank robbery again... Brother Tanner at this time I have already made up my mind to go to the meeting alone and go through fire and water.
From the previous conversation, we learned that the older brother Tanner was destined to solve his younger brother Toby from the beginning: when he was a child, his older brother Tanner accidentally killed his father who was suspected of committing domestic violence, while his younger brother was responsible for taking care of his seriously ill mother. It can be said that the older brother Tanner is an extremely charismatic person. Although his character is perverse, his love for his younger brother Toby is fiery and selfless. Without a word, Tanner robbed the bank again for the alimony owed by his brother, and also scolded the cunning woman who approached his brother Toby. What he has done is really unrelenting. It can be understood that his elder brother Tanner has played the role of father for his younger brother who has lacked fatherly love since childhood. As for the original intention of this feeling, it is really difficult to express! The night before the robbery plan left, the brothers were in front of the fence of their own farm, but they were as heartless as they were in childhood.
After robbing the last bank, the older brother Tanner did so openly about sacrificing himself to protect his younger brother Toby. When he was about to say goodbye, his brother Tanner replied with a cynical expression: "I love you". Sincerely, at this moment, he smiled very freely and fearlessly.
The old mounted policeman Marcus also has such a brotherly love line - a happy foe with Alberto, who travels in addition to the main storyline, on the road of chasing the murderer, in addition to being responsible for promoting the line of solving the case, another function of the two ——The daily life of confrontation with race, religion and politics brings us a bystander's perspective with a strong sense of substitution. As a man approaching retirement, the old mounted policeman has long lost his will to compete with the world. Over the years, he's fired race cannons and map cannons on old Indian/Mexican dudes, and he looks pretty unflattering. However, when the old man was shot in the head, he was furious, and immediately dragged the body back and shot back with revenge.
Especially in the end, the old mounted policeman Marcus was full of blood. After killing his brother Tanner, he overcame many difficulties and pursued the murderer reluctantly. It must be said that the old mounted policeman also has feelings! Until he heard what his younger brother said, he was completely confused: we each perform our duties, but we have never been able to give ourselves and our descendants a satisfactory answer! Is it due to human nature, or is it forced by the environment? It's like an infinite loop game with bugs. You can only watch the world in front of you gradually return from disorder to the previous social order, and the price to pay is the life of your brother.
The future is unpredictable. But human nature can be calculated in every period. In this movie, no one is the real winner, and money is the biggest initiator: Police Marcus wants to continue the investigation, but finds that the girl in the restaurant refuses to testify because he wants to take 200 yuan of tips as evidence younger brother. The Midland Bank, which was robbed, was unwilling to pursue it because the younger brother handed over the remaining money to their trust.
Everyone accuses money of the original sin in one suit, but no one ever stops chasing it. Maybe the westerns are describing the feelings between original sin and reality, and this moment is also extremely romantic!
View more about Hell or High Water reviews
