Sins in the American Pastoral Country is a drama film directed by Tom O'Haver and starring Ellen Page, Kathryn Keener, James Franco and others, and was released in Sweden on December 7, 2007. show.
Another movie "Juno" starring Ellen Page was also released in the same year and won the Best Original Screenplay Award at the 80th Academy Awards, but I won't go into details here .
The story of "Sin in the American Pastoral" is inspired by a real child abuse case that happened in Indiana, USA in 1965 . It's also the director's hometown , and much of the material in the film comes from court records.
Since the incident took place in the 1960s , public phone booths were not widely popularized at that time, but there were phone booths that did not fit this era in the film, but combined with the scene in the plot where Sylvia's sister went to the phone booth to make a phone call, the creators It is undoubtedly a trade-off made to add "dramatic conflict" to the film.
movie story
A pair of parents have been performing with the circus for a long time because of their work, so they had to foster their two daughters, Sylvia and Jenny , in a neighbor's house, Gertrude (hereinafter referred to as Gert ).
This neighbor is a single mother with 6 children . She gave birth to her eldest daughter Paula when she was a minor . Her mental state is also unstable and she is often irritable .
Once the sad eldest daughter Paula told Sylvia about her pregnancy . Because of an accident, the heroine accidentally told the secret, but Paula and her mother Gert " ly lied" .
Gert and the people around him also began to abuse Sylvia with this " lie ".
This event culminates in the tragic end of the teenage Sylvia .
In the process of watching the movie, because of the unabashed abuse scenes in the film, you will be unwilling to continue watching. In fact, the real situation is worse than what is shown in this film.
What is heartbreaking in the film is Sylvia's experience . She was supposed to be at a flowering age, but her " lie " led to a tragic fate that should not have happened later. The most important thing is Paul's inaction as a mother , the indifference of neighbors, the collective killing of individuals, and the neglect of family education.
Greater Evil: "Children's Innocent Appearance and Inner Ignorance Evil"
In court, the lawyers asked these young people the same question: "Then why did you abuse her?", and the answer was surprisingly consistent: "I don't know, sir." Such an answer is undoubtedly the most troublesome. These children are immersed in the joy of "justice" . Such behavior is not "justice" but "evil" . Such behavior should be punished by the law . In the end, these children also Self-eating .
The character analysis of the child abuser Gert is a typical single mother who has to raise six children and has a precedent for pregnancy when she was a minor . Unlike the general image of a mother, she has been in a depressed life for a long time , suffering from Mental illness , the screenwriter added a complex "humanity" to this character .
But this can't just because Gert lived such a poor life as a reason to have sympathy for the perpetrator , she also has to be punished by the law for her criminal behavior in the end.
After the film was released, it received widespread attention from all walks of life , and the public also jointly demanded a re-examination of the case, and the film eventually influenced the protection of children's rights by American legislation.
The price behind this is painful, young Sylvia will stay in her "carnival" , it will be a safe, no lie, full of sunshine " paradise" . She will sit on the "carousel" as usual , forever.
By: Dabei
WeChat public account: Dabei Theatre
Date: 2021/7/8
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