A British boy born in Shanghai, the colonists gave him an innate sense of superiority, bossing the servants, alienating and fearful of the locals. When Japan attacked Shanghai in an all-round way and the colony fell, he lost contact with his parents and became a prisoner of war. Noble life collapsed since then. What unfolded in front of an ignorant boy was endless cruelty, and he had to face it alone.
From the very beginning, everyone said "My dad is a diplomat", "My dad knows who and so", "Let my dad give you a reward", to learning to raise his hands to surrender, even kneeling and begging for mercy in Japanese. His self-esteem vanished, and his awareness and ability to survive reached a peak. To judge his character? He is a victim himself, and it is not easy to live. How can he who grows savagely know what is right and what is wrong?
The boy was obsessed with fighter jets since he was a child, and forged a friendship with the young pilots in the Japanese military camp. When the Japanese pilot finished his farewell drink and boarded the fighter plane, he sang the carols of the church in the past - this was his respect for the fighter jets and the soldiers who were about to go into battle. He had no concept of right or wrong.
When the young Japanese pilot was shot and parachuted out, he found that his British friend happily wanted to share a mango with him, but was misunderstood by the nearby U.S. military and shot to death. The British teenager who had no concept of right and wrong went crazy. His pure friendship was killed by an adult who seemed to be his own. A small piece of warmth in his heart was trampled and destroyed, and he became even colder.
Since losing the protection of his parents, he has spent every second in confusion, hunger, bloodshed, and snatch. Those tiny warmth, just rising, were taken away before he could warm his heart. What else does he have? What else can you expect? So much so that when he finally found his parents, when his parents hugged him tightly and burst into tears, he was expressionless and his eyes were empty and powerless.
The film is too depressing and too dark. Although the picture is always filtered by warm tones, this in turn enhances the contrast and deepens the brutality. The tone of the film is vehemently anti-war—look at the displaced people, look at the twisted look of a boy desperately trying to survive. The little boy in the film is the author JGBallard's growth experience. He grew up as a writer, and his works are mostly violent and absurd. From the last eyes of the little boy in the film, we can imagine his later life.
The film does not attempt to assess the merits of the warring parties, but instead focuses on the brutality of the war for most individuals, those who fought and their families, no matter which side they were on. For the emotional Chinese audience, some angles of the film may seem unacceptable, but this is where the inspiration comes from, and it awakens others to have a different perspective.
Imagine if the Japanese had not invaded Shanghai, and if the boy had continued to grow up happily in the colony, he might have simply become a superior British gentleman.
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