At the 70th Cannes Film Festival in May 2017, "Square" defeated "No Love", "120 Strikes Per Minute", "Out of Nowhere" and other masterpieces to win the Palme d'Or.
On January 23, 2018, "Square" and "Ordinary Woman", "No Love to Lie", "Body and Spirit" and "Humiliation" were nominated for the 90th Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, which proves the importance of this film in the eyes of academics. .
Christian, the protagonist of the movie, is the curator of the museum. He is planning an exhibition called "Square" to stimulate the altruism of visitors and awaken their sense of responsibility to the next generation.
"Square" not only represents a box, but also means the boundaries of behavior, in this box people will take care of each other and help each other.
At this moment, his mobile wallet was unfortunately stolen, and his subsequent reaction made things worse;
On the other side, the museum’s media agent released a viral video without his knowledge, causing him to fall into a whirlpool of public opinion.
With multiple things intertwined, Christian's heart is already on the verge of collapse.
Beside the "square", there is a slogan: Inside the square is a sanctuary of care and trust. Within its boundaries, we share equal rights and obligations.
This is exactly the purpose and original intention of Christian's "Square" exhibition.
However, he could not really accept the ideas he admired.
Some people called for the help of the tramp on the side of the road, but he ignored it;
The woman called for help, he stood by and waited until others asked him to help.
He wrote threatening letters to the entire apartment, causing the boy to be framed;
The boy gave him many opportunities to save the situation, but he did not act;
He slept with a female reporter, but afterwards he was cautious and conscientious;
The cleaner destroyed the artwork. He said that he should not notify the insurance company and deal with it by himself;
Even the trivial things about arrogance can be contended for a long time.
As the female reporter said: You really think of yourself too much.
We can see from this that Christian has a hypocritical, philosophical, sleek, and sophisticated character. He loves face and can't let go of his figure. As a result, he complicates simple things and makes things worse.
If he does not write a threatening letter, but knocks on the door of the apartment to ask questions, although he may not be able to retrieve his mobile phone, he will certainly not frame the boy;
Without the boy’s reply, he can devote himself to work, strictly control viral videos, and will not be blamed by netizens, and will not resign;
He didn't frame the boy, he didn't need to apologize to the boy's parents, and he wouldn't miss the call of the female reporter.
He did not dare to knock on the door and ask questions one by one, and chose to write threatening letters without showing up, which led to the boy being framed; he was too busy dealing with the boy’s reply and had no time to pay attention to the release of the viral video; and because he was busy apologizing to the boy’s parents, he missed the female reporter He took care of his face and missed the best time to apologize. When he came to the apartment again, the boy had moved. This incident will become the brand of his life. He will follow him all his life until he steps into the grave. The opportunity to forgive yourself.
Writing a threatening letter is the root of all evil and the beginning of a mistake. It triggers a chain reaction like a butterfly effect, causing Christian to make a mistake and make a mistake.
The reason why he didn't dare to knock on the door and ask questions one by one was because he felt that he was half a public figure, and many people knew him. In other words, it was his identity, status, image, and face that harmed him.
And it is after his resignation, he can ignore the image of the boy's contact rummage in the garbage, the message to the boy's parents, and the courage to return to the apartment to apologize to the boy. Although the boy has moved away, he can finally get rid of his disguise and be himself, no longer need to care about what others think of him.
In short, it is: the heights are so cold, the no official is light.
In fact, society is a huge "square". Within the square, you are bound by various constraints and have to pay attention to your words and deeds, but in many cases this will make things worse; you can get freedom if you get out of the square.
The more culture, identity, and status people are, the more they are in the square.
Throughout the movie, you will find that many people are of the same kind as Christian.
Museums and media agencies are constrained by traffic, and they choose to take risks in order to increase their popularity;
The subordinates were restrained by face and kept saying that they wanted to send letters to Christian, but they temporarily repented;
The subordinates and Christian were restrained by their identities, and were harassed by the Speeding Party and did not ask for explanations;
The host is constrained by his image, even if someone swears in the audience, he is embarrassed to stop it;
The guests at the banquet are undoubtedly the most typical example. When no one does anything to the "orangutan", he is embarrassed to do it to the "orangutan". When everyone did it, they became embarrassed and didn't do it again, so they played the "orangutan" with everyone.
This is to follow the trend and blindly follow the trend, and follow the same as everyone, avoiding being different from others and becoming "heterogeneous." Everyone is watching the excitement, and you become a "heterogeneous" when you do it. Everyone is playing the "orangutan", you become a "heterogeneous" without doing anything.
Many times they don't know what they want to do and what to do, but they just feel that they shouldn't be different from everyone else. They just follow what they are doing, losing the ability to think independently and the courage to stick to oneself.
This is not only a fictional part of the movie, but also a fact. Artists need to find a balance between business and art, filmmakers need to find a balance between word of mouth and box office, office workers need to find a balance between life and work... There are always things that restrain you and make you do things that you can't help yourself.
On the outside of the square, there are vulnerable groups, children, and animals.
Beggars have nothing to restrain themselves and dare to beg in an unfriendly tone;
Children do not have the troubles of status and status, and they dare to go to the apartment with their father; the "orangutan" can do whatever they want.
They have relative freedom, and they will pay the corresponding price: beggars who do not understand politeness will be insulted and ask you to pick out the onion by yourself; children who do not understand humanity and sophistication will be criticized and beaten; "orangutans" are not obedient. , Will be attacked by groups.
The change of the sun and the moon, if things go on like this, the result is that the beggar has to lay down his dignity in order to beg for food, and bow to his knees;
Children will grow up to be adults, and the corners will be flattened by society and become round like pebbles; "orangutans" have evolved into humans over tens of thousands of years.
Going into the square is a trend. Because society cannot accommodate people outside the square, there is an invisible force in the world that pushes them into the square. But once you walk into the square, it's hard to figure it out.
Therefore, the square is also a wall. People outside want to come in and people inside want to go out.
Christian inside the square is bound by his identity and longs for freedom, but after he really resigns and walks out of the square, he still needs to find a job again; the children outside the square are eager to grow up quickly, but when they really grow up , After entering the square, I still feel that I was the happiest when I was a child, but you can't go back to your childhood.
There is a fragment in the film: The reporter criticized Christian and the museum, saying that they are self-censoring and not free of speech.
Self-censorship means that before publishing a work, first self-identify whether it touches politics, morals, religion, etc., whether it will harm the interests of advertisers, etc., and then remove these parts before publishing the work, resulting in non-neutral and non-neutral reporting. True, incomplete, and untrustworthy.
We often criticize the fact that the press is not free. In fact, we can't achieve complete freedom ourselves. In the course of our lives, we gradually "learn" what to say, what not to say, what to do and what not to do, and we can no longer follow our own hearts.
Not only journalists may not have freedom of speech, people all over the world are facing this problem. For example, students can’t oppose teachers, employees can’t oppose bosses, subordinates can’t oppose leaders, soldiers can’t oppose generals... No one has stipulated this, but this has long been an experience. And common sense has long gone deep into the bone marrow and blood. If you don't do this, you will be considered "naive" and "ignorant". It's a bit scary to think about it carefully.
What is even more frightening is that there is not only one "square", but an infinite number of them.
The unemployed are outside the square, and those with a monthly income of 3,000 are inside the square;
Those with a monthly income of 3,000 are outside the square, and those with a monthly income of 10,000 are within the square;
Those with a monthly income of 10,000 are outside the square, and those with a monthly income of 100,000 are within the square;
Those with a monthly income of 100,000 are outside the square, and those with a monthly income of 1 million are within the square...
A person with a particularly high income may be outside the square in the field of sports and art; the leader in the field of sports and art may also be outside the square in the field of politics and business.
Even in addition to specific areas, the square can also represent abstract income, class, community, industry, as well as face, identity, image, dignity...
Squares are relative. The whole world is made up of countless squares, and we are both outside and within countless squares at the same time. We paint the ground as a prison, and are bound by the square rule all the time. Everyone within the square has his own troubles, and there is another trouble after solving this trouble.
As the saying goes, "the wall stands thousands of people, and the desireless is strong", the worldly people will walk out of this square and enter another square, and they will never be able to break away from the shackles of the square. Only if there is no worldly desire, can we reach the state of righteousness and awe-inspiring.
But how many people can really do this? Maybe only a master can do it.
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