I once read the words of Lewis B. Smedes, an American Christian writer, "To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you". Forgiveness is like freeing a prisoner, and then discovering that it is you who took a prisoner. In the movie, forgiveness is lost in the boy's life, replaced by a gap that allows public opinion to pass and cause harm. He forgives himself, but the people around him don't; he chooses to forget the past, but the past still sticks. The poster for the film reads, "They took his name so he could have a future" , "They gave him a new name and let him start his life again". But no matter what method is used to enrich the information behind the new name, it cannot change people's contempt for his past and the rejection of him based on the past. The most obvious human aspect aside, the film's themes can actually be unearthed socially. It is asking a question in society - juvenile delinquents, or expanded to the entire criminal group, after being released, as people around us, how should we view, treat them, accept or reject them. This is presumably a moral paradox that is often avoided. There are too many functional roles in supporting roles, and they exist for the protagonist, which ensures the integrity of the protagonist's character. In the film, the shadow of childhood and the elements of school violence are added in an appropriate amount to make a reasonable preparation for the accident that happened in the boy's childhood. When watching the end and rewinding to the beginning of the film, I saw him who was laughing with all his facial features after he was first released from prison. He was excited with tears in his eyes and observed him around him with novelty. In the end, the decision made in desperation left me sad. The boy's story reminded me of the life of an old man who was released from prison in "The Shawshank Redemption" and finally committed suicide because he couldn't integrate into society. The protagonist in "Song of the Barbarian" has not been in prison for so long, and his experience of not being able to integrate into society is naturally difficult to stand. The director's turn to turn the crisis event into the reveal of the boy's past is fitting and ingenious. It also reminds me of the British drama "Rebirth". In the play, the protagonist and others changed from zombies to human beings, and people in the whole town were conflicted about whether to accept them. In addition, Andrew Garfield's performance in this film is quite delicate. From the initial excitement to the final despair, the two endpoints and the middle process, the emotions are in place, and while empathizing, they also conquer me with details - this is the look and emotion that a released juvenile prisoner should have. His acting also made the boy's final decision heart-wrenching.
View more about Boy A reviews
