Part 1: Patriotism is a sanctuary for rascals
The background of the story is during the First World War, the story takes place in the French troops, and the content of the story may be a raid that was too ordinary to be more ordinary in all the battles of the First World War. Facing the temptation of promotion, General Milo was initially resistant to the tasks assigned to him by his superiors. He detoured and contested with his superiors, "I will not sacrifice my troops to complete the impossible attacking ants. Yau, they may all be killed by the German mortars.” Almost, I think the main line of the movie should fall into: General Miro’s unreasonable arrangement of not yielding to his superiors and then the confrontation was unsuccessful, and he launched a surprise attack and eventually the entire army was annihilated. in the clichéd plot.
Perhaps this is the uniqueness of Kubrick, never fall into the stereotype, never cover up human nature, what is revealed is human nature, human nature is used to be revealed, and then repeatedly reminded.
At this moment, Milo still issued an order to Captain Dax to attack the anthill with all his strength. For him, the order is like a mountain, and it is the duty of a soldier to obey the order. Facing this absurd order, Dax suggested to Milo to cancel the battle, which became a complaint and long-windedness that Milo couldn't even consider, but the classic "patriotism is the sanctuary of rogues" came into being. Come is the scepter and guise of power, which is still in use today. Milo's patrol from the trenches to the end, in order to make the soldiers who dare not rush out of the trenches to die in vain, and when he informs the artillery unit to attack his own soldiers, pushes the film to a small climax, and the ugliness of human nature is gradually torn from the hypocritical skin. Breaking out of the siege is far more logical than attacking the anthill. In the end, Dax's troops suffered heavy casualties and were forced to retreat to the trenches, but what was unexpected was that Milo had already prepared more vicious means to face the scarred Dax and his soldiers. them. At this point the movie enters the second part.
Part 2: Life can't compete with power either
At this moment, Milo asked Dax to find three hapless men among the soldiers who participated in the battle to bear the charge of "detrimental to the national interest by cowardice". In the end, the three scapegoats selected by "selection", "drawing lots" and "leader selection" were born so easily. For them, they were the soldiers who rushed to the farthest front line, because they fought heroically to kill the enemy. Soldiers who have been awarded many times are honest and brave soldiers who dare to expose the crimes of their superiors. It is ridiculous that they will be sent to all the arranged "formal" military courts, no indictments, no defenders, although Colonel Dax tried their best to defend them, but in the end it seems to be futile, still they are. will be sent to execution. They are nothing more than tools for those in power to achieve their own purposes, and are as meaningless as ants.
Part 3: No Surprise Endings
The soldier facing the death sentence never imagined that he would die at the hands of his own people, and bear the trumped-up charges and hate Jiuquan. At the end of time, the author also thinks that there will be a perfect finale of the templated movie, there will be people who will be left under the knife, there will be a big BOOS awakening, and there will be a personal hero with the protagonist halo to reverse the plot. However, just like fate, Kubrick will only use his artistic expression to push the cruelty of reality to a more intense and impactful presentation. Soldiers are shot, lives are teased and forgotten. Colonel Dax's anger and disappointment were finally redeemed by the singing of a German prisoner.
Human nature is unpredictable, regardless of nationality and era
Kubrick conveyed to us his exploration and understanding of human nature through movies. After watching his movies, we suddenly realized that some movie scenes are in the background of another era, another group of protagonists and supporting roles, and another "battle" with In the same way the real, bloody show is played out, all in the name of honor and justice. In fact, it seems that it is rare to see films with a little more than 100 minutes, so it highlights Kubrick's director's logic and narrative skills. Rather than surprise, I probably prefer the realism of his films, allowing me to travel through time and space to find resonance with the real world.
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