There is never a bad weed or a bad person - "Les Miserables"
Today, let's talk about the movie "Les Miserables".
The title of the film is Les misérables (2019), alias Lonely City Tears (Hong Kong).
This film is director Raj Leigh's debut feature film. The film focuses on the real problems of French society. It won 11 nominations at the 45th French Caesar Film Awards in 2020, and successfully won the Best Picture Award and the Academy Award at the same time. Nominated for Best International Film, Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film, Cannes Palme d'Or nomination and a series of honors.
Based on his own real experience, Raj Li compiled the violent law enforcement by the French police in the neighborhood, reflecting the tragic world of contemporary France.
Let's talk about the director first. Raj Leigh, a black director, was born in Mali, West Africa in 1978. He is a descendant of Malian immigrants and grew up in Montfimer (area 93), a suburb of Paris, France.
He filmed the French riots in 2005, which later formed his short documentary 365 jours à Clichy-Montfermeil (365 jours à Clichy-Montfermeil, 2006). In 2011, he posted another video of police brutality on the Internet. After the announcement, the police were suspended, and he himself was punished for his speech, sentenced to six months in prison and fined.
The 2005 riots in France were the largest and longest-running social crisis since the "May storm" of 1968. Due to the mishandling of the French government, the unrest spread across the country in a short period of time, and spread to Germany and Belgium. In the end, the government eased the crisis by imposing a state of emergency.
The French riots and the director's own experience have become the biggest creative source of this film.
Using the lens as a gun, Raj Leigh was nominated for the Clermont-Ferron Film Festival in 2017 with the feature short film "Les Miserables" and was nominated for the best short film at the 2018 French César Awards. On the basis of the short film, it was expanded into a debut feature film, and it became an instant hit with multiple awards.
In Area 93, where the film takes place, more than a hundred years ago, in 1862 Victor Hugo published his famous novel "Les Miserables". The novel reflects the tragic experience of the poor people under heavy pressure, and profoundly exposes and criticizes the French feudal autocratic society in the 19th century. The people at the bottom class can only be slaughtered by others, and there is no way for them to ascend, and there is no chance for change.
More than a hundred years later, the situation has not improved. The film "Les Miserables" captures the confusion of the lower-class people by reflecting the multi-ethnic and multi-religious society. There is neither a way out nor the will to find a way out.
The camera focuses on the 93rd district in northern Paris, where there are not only indigenous people but also various illegal immigrants. Black gangs, gypsies, Muslims, and drug cartels have their own spheres of influence here. Different religious beliefs and living habits are different. The leaders of the forces maintained a delicate balance with the local police.
The law does not have much power in this land, and only strong power is the bargaining chip to speak and act. Gangs rely on a large number of people, and it makes sense to have more big muscular men. The police rely on firearms, and bullets are the truth. In addition, do not consider any moral, legal.
The newly arrived black policeman Stephen was full of anticipation after joining the film police team. He fantasized that he could use the knowledge he had learned to contribute to the community building. What he was thinking about was the lofty values in his mind.
However, the captain's various behaviors challenge Stephen's three views all the time. There seemed to be thugs and violent police everywhere. Whatever you say or do, you have to show your fists.
Immediately afterwards, all the theft cases pushed the story to a climax. The wild child who was used to the wild made stealing chickens and dogs as a daily routine, but unexpectedly stabbed the big basket. Multi-ethnic conflicts are like an oversized dynamite barrel, which will explode at the next point of this fuse. Seeing that the big riot was about to be staged again, the film came to an abrupt end, leaving the audience with endless imagination.
It doesn't matter if there is a conflict, the key is how to resolve the conflict.
As Hugo said in Les Misérables: "Remember this, my friends, there are never bad weeds or bad people, only bad growers."
Without the courage and determination of a strong man to break his wrist and overthrow the whole unreasonable system, it would be impossible to fundamentally solve the problem. On the surface, District 93 seems to be a multi-ethnic and multi-religious issue, but it is actually a class conflict.
A bad system can make good people bad, and a good system can make good people good.
Capitalism is mercenary, and without monetary interests, they will not have any touches. This is their institutional disadvantage.
Renovating District 93, eradicating gangsterism and evil, etc. are harmful to the capitalists. They can't have the motivation to solve the problem at all. At most, it will be a headache, a big riot, and open zero for the people at the bottom. The yuan purchase activity, the emotional directional blasting, will not change in the slightest.
Watching the sharp contradictions between the French ruling class and the ruled class in the film, you will feel the obvious different results brought about by the differences in the system. The police and the masses of both capitalist and socialist countries are all in one, one is rioting for dozens of days, relying on the implementation of a state of emergency to suppress, the other is to control the sudden epidemic in a short period of time, becoming the most beautiful boy in the world.
It seems that the new policeman Stephen does not understand the art of ruling, but in fact the whole system is rotten to the core. Whether it is a policy of appeasement or a policy of empathy, it is essentially a cure for the symptoms rather than the root cause. Because once the root cause is cured, it has to overthrow itself. How is this possible. In the final analysis, it is still necessary to strengthen the four self-confidences, so that the scenery here can be unique.
"My friends
remember this
never bad weed or bad people
Only bad growers"
--Victor Hugo, "Les Miserables"
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