Author | Cherries don't drive
A European and American film and television enthusiast who often forgets to check in and order takeaway
In the past few days, the name Zhang Yuhuan detonated a hot search on the Internet- an unjust case that spanned 9778 days was finally rehabilitated 27 years later.
Many of my friends may not know the shocking extent of this case back then. After all, 27 years ago, most people, like me, were not born yet.
When two boys from the same village disappeared that year, Zhang Yuhuan was identified as the murderer because of a piece of hemp rope and a wound on his hand. According to Zhang Yuhuan, after he had not touched the child and was inexplicably identified as a suspect, the investigators used punches, kicks, and wolfhound bites to extract confessions . Since then, it has been 27 years.
During these years, he had only a fourth-grade education in elementary school, and he wrote more than 1,000 letters to complain about.
The day when Zhang Yuhuan saw the sun again was praised by many netizens as a miracle. But the damage caused to him and his family in these 27 years is hard to make up. As his former wife Song Xiaonv said in an interview: "He owes me a hug."
A simple sentence contains the separation of the couple and the separation of flesh and blood in 27 years. What is endless is the self-knowledge of all things in the world.
This sense of insignificance of individuals and small families in front of the state apparatus coincides with a series that went online earlier this year- Defending Jacob (2020).
"Defense of Jacob" is based on the best-selling crime novel "The Truth That Never Is There" tells the story of the happy and harmonious family of three who fell into chaos because their son Jacob was accused of killing classmates...
The film brought together the "American Team" Chris Evens (Chris Evens), "Miss Downton" Michelle Dockery (Michelle Dockery) and other fairy squads, and it was rated 9.0 when it first started. Off . Although the score dropped slightly afterwards, it remained at a relatively high level of 8.2 until the end of the play, which is gratifying.
So, why does this suspenseful crime drama with such a high reputation convince the audience?
Acting Online’s first collaboration
The story of "Defense of Jacob" is not complicated. A murder case occurred in a small town known as the nation's safe. Jakob, the son of Andy (Chris Evans) and Laurie (Michel Dockry), a teacher at the local children's rescue center, was found to be suspected of committing the crime. The two people who did not believe that the child was the perpetrator began to "cleanse" their son .
The acting skills of these two stars can be proven in previous works. But the "layered performance" that Chris and Michelle showed us in this play still amazed the audience who had already been convinced by them. And the cooperation between the two has a special and wonderful chemical reaction.
To say that this kind of chemical reaction is the most intuitive manifestation, we can explore a scene of the bail court. After the two followed the lawyer's advice and walked into the court with expressionless faces, Laurie turned to Andy for comfort. Andy just held her shoulder gently and helped her into the courtroom. People can't help but think that this scene may have been temporarily added by two actors themselves. Because the whole picture doesn't look like it was pre-designed, the two people are even almost out of the picture.
The important thing is that these tiny movements between the two male and female protagonists have a great sense of communication, which makes it easy for the audience to convince the audience that this is a couple who have been married for more than ten years.
Of course, superb and natural acting skills do not only exist between rival plays starring men and women. In fact, stunning moments of performance abound throughout the show. When the family met with a lawyer, the relationship of trust between the three people and the estrangement caused by the murder repeatedly handed over the family of three. These two complex emotions are fully expressed in the eye contact back and forth. Or, when Laurie went to see a psychiatrist, from restlessness, to trying to calm her mind, to the ultimate pouring of all doubts and grievances, the progressive emotions were portrayed in a few close-ups of her eyes. Incisively and vividly.
The game between justice and morality
Except for the impeccable performances of the actors, the concept and layout of the whole series are considered to be excellent.
This "Defense of Jacob" is not like an ordinary crime drama, focusing on the process of case detection. The screenwriter of this play, Mark Bomback, puts the focus of the story on the impact of the murder on a family, and launched a discussion and contemplation between the judicial system and human relations and morals .
As the screenwriter himself said: "This is not a crime story, but a family story. It just happens to involve criminal elements."
As a senior prosecutor, Andy knew that his son Jacob would be acquitted because of insufficient evidence. But at the same time, he also knew that even if the judge found his son not guilty, he would not be able to stop people's rumors. He has even predicted that the media and public opinion will use the so-called "family genetic violence gene" as a gimmick. Therefore, when he found the knife in his son's drawer, he chose to take the initiative to destroy the physical evidence.
As a law enforcement officer , he is determined to defend the truth. But at this time, he was just a helpless father who wanted to protect his son . Andy draws a bottom line in his heart: Believe that his son Jacob did not kill. So he guarded this bottom line and didn't waver a step further. This is not only defending and protecting his own son, but also the self-salvation of a desperate father.
Andy's dual identities as a legal practitioner and an ordinary father always overlap during the progression of the plot, allowing us to see the complex mood of an adult when facing the difficult situation of the opposition between emotion and law. Such character setting and detailed description make this play not a black-and-white preaching work, but exposes the deeper contradictions of human nature.
What you are willing to believe is the truth
People's perception of whether Jacob killed someone or not depends to a large extent on what they know, and the order and manner in which this information is presented to people. As stated in the original novel "The Truth That Never Had" in "Defense of Jacob":
"The truth is not only the accumulation of facts, but also involves the interpretation of facts and the attitude of how to treat them."
Before there is any factual evidence, mass media reports have pushed the Andy family to the forefront. In the media, Jacob was described as a cold-blooded murderer who killed his classmates. Public opinion has sentenced the family to death.
"The prejudice of the human heart is an insurmountable mountain." This line in "Defense of Jacob" hit the nail on the head.
Media reports, hearsay of others, subjective assumptions and prejudices of the people, even the rigidity of the judicial system... These external factors will influence the truth, and eventually the true truth may be hidden and concealed.
What is disappointing is that the truth will always be buried due to various factors, but human prejudice will never disappear. Visible malice, and his parents helped Jacob resist. How to deal with invisible malice?
Fortunately, we live in a society where the legal system is becoming more and more perfect; what is worthy of vigilance is that we are living in an era where the threshold of online violence is extremely low.
From Jacob, who was maliciously bombarded in the play, to Zhang Yuhuan, who was convicted of "unclear facts and insufficient evidence" in real life, perhaps it is worth enlightening us to think: the power of public opinion is becoming stronger Under circumstances, should we be more cautious in our words and deeds? In a society with increasingly complex information, should we strive not to be a mob and retain the ability to independently analyze and judge the truth?
*This article is exclusively published by cinewoo. The content only represents the author's point of view and does not represent the position of this official account. Unauthorized reprint is not allowed.
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