When you think of France, you think of Paris, and when you think of Paris, you think of iron. Then you think of the banter of France's habitual surrender and the evaluation of the "revolutionary testing ground" in middle school history textbooks. There have been too many flags flying on this land, too many slogans have been chanted, too much doctrine has been pursued, and too much blood has been shed for the previous ones.
When watching this film, my first reaction was not sympathy, nor thinking, but fear. One is the fear of unsolvable violence and disorder; the other is the fear of discovering its own flammable properties under the raging flames.
At the beginning of the film, Little Issa followed the crowd, cheering for the French team’s goal and victory, waving the flags of France and part of the French colonies, singing the Marseilles, and it seemed that everyone thought they were one of the Gallic roosters. The elements were moved. After an hour, the trio of detectives drove around and shouted "Long live France" to the people on the street. The passers-by replied, "Fuck you! In fact, these passers-by are just the people who shouted "Long live France". There is no way, national honor cannot be eaten. For the people here, winning the championship is a group dream. After waking up from the dream, they will naturally return to real life-the 93 districts of poverty and chaos.
Such places are found all over the world. In such places, the authority of the government is as weak as the paint on the walls, and it will peel off in large pieces even without wind or rain; in such places, there is a set of things that outsiders don’t understand, even if they do. The law of survival is also incomprehensible; in such a place, white and black, and black and black sometimes cooperate and sometimes confront each other, but in most cases they will jointly maintain a fragile balance; in such a place, there are groups of barbaric growth and painful survival Teenager.
I have always held the theory of "human nature evil". This evil is not an evil evil, but a kind of "evil" produced by animal instincts that do not conform to current social norms and values. For example: many children like to torture and kill insects, and some even like to torture small animals, scalding them with boiling water, smashing them with stones, and throwing them down from high altitude. This is because they don’t know the damage they can cause. On the other hand, it’s the primitive pleasure brought about by the dominance and killing of animal instincts. Just like cats kill rodents and birds not all for eating, they may just feel that "Fun". When a child grows up and is educated, the concept that life is equal will come into being, and no longer do this behavior for a long time. Of course, it is more because of the shame that people generate under social supervision. So there is no such shame, and people who still love this behavior after adulthood are called "perverted" by us. (Criminal law expert Teacher Luo once told us: There are two kinds of pleasure, one is to give up dignity, and the other is to get dignity. You should abandon the former and pursue the latter. I think it’s right.) So when we When encountering a bear child, we should say "I hate this bear child, but I also pity him for having incompetent parents like you," A septic tank was built into the rough house."
Children need to be treated as children, they need to be educated and guided. But the 93 area in the film is precisely a place where children are not treated as children. Little Issa stole the chicken and was arrested in the police station. The guardian beat him violently in front of a group of police, but no one came up to stop him. It seemed that everyone regarded him as normal. Here are the gangsters who bully the market, the criminals who sell drugs, the brotherhoods who have "reconstructed" and the black policemen who have embarrassed them. Even without the camera, we can imagine: the teachers in school are perfunctory and the parents in the family are busy with work. So do children really need education and guidance? No, they need. Salah, the leader of the Lao Mu Brotherhood who lives in a restaurant, saw this, so there was a member of the Brotherhood who educates the children in the film, and he also got the result-the little boy who filmed the police violence video met The first thing that comes to mind when it's dangerous is him. Even though this child doesn't seem to be very patient in the education of the Brotherhood, he is still the first person who can provide help, guidance, and shelter. These children do not receive good social, school, and family education, but instead get a "persuade" education mixed with religious ideas and cruel jungle education. '
As mentioned earlier, the various forces here tacitly maintain a fragile balance together, because they are adults, they know how to exchange interests, and they know how to capture their own interests under this balance.
But some people don't understand, because they haven't had time to learn, or they haven't learned yet.
Little Issa stole the lion from the circus. He offended one of the authorities here-the Gypsies. As a party of many forces, the Gypsies choose to "communication" through the traditional "normal" dialogue channels. They came to one of the leaders of the black-the mayor to ask for a lion, because someone saw that it was the lion who stole the lion. A black child. After a talk, the trio of police detectives arrived. As the most active party in maintaining stability, they mediated the conflict between the two parties and reached a consensus. After investigating, the trio of detectives went to the restaurant to seek help from Salah. After communicating with him, the new detective succeeded in obtaining the achievement of "Who am I where I am and what should I say". In the end, the police found little Isa and arrested him. Up to this point, things are still within a normal and controllable range, and this small society is still in a balance maintained by traditional forces.
Until the string of the black detective broke, he fired a shot at the escaped little Isa, and was photographed.
Why did he shoot, or why did he shoot? Of course, he made a mistake when he was busy and sprayed himself with pepper water, and the scene was chaotic and too nervous. These were the reasons, but it was the same as the role played by Little Issa in the subsequent riots. These are just the last straw. I think the deeper reason comes from the fact that he comes from an immigrant family (mother wearing ethnic costumes), he hates the evil people who squeeze the bottom (very poor relationship with the mayor), and he can and is willing to properly protect the interests of the bottom ( After communicating with the little Issa’s mother, I conducted a peaceful search at Issa’s house), but he is a policeman, an ordinary policeman. He can do too little and have to endure too much. The weak are born but want to bully the weak. Working to survive has brought him tremendous psychological pressure in life. This is what he said in the tavern in the second half: I don't know why, the pressure has been great recently.
When the pressure reaches the end, some things will naturally be broken.
This time it was Isa Jr. who broke.
Energy is conserved.
The pressure is too.
You are scolded by your boss for being late for work, you are scolded by your boss when you go home, your wife scolds your child for dirtying your clothes, your child is angry and kicked the family dog, the dog was kicked and hurt and overturned the antique vase/expensive hand you just bought To do / expensive out of shi's camera / freshly poured cold beer. So you are more stressed.
This is a small example that is not rigorous. But enough to explain the problem.
Part of the pressure of the black detective was transferred to Isa, who was shot (rubber bullet) and was in great physical pain and trance.
In this trance, he was taken to the circus, sent by one in power to another in power, paying the price for his offensive behavior-and sent to the lion.
He is incontinent.
In front of the most primitive and savage power, he was incontinent.
At this moment, he forgot the already fragile school and family education. At this time, his eyes were only the lion who chose to eat, and there was only the pain caused by the bullet. He recognized that this place is actually a jungle, and only those with minions can survive.
Coming out of the lion cage, the police said to Little Issa: You fell on your own injury, you know? Isa was silent. After the incident, he didn't look for anyone, but just sat in the garbage dump, on the roof.
The pressure of being knocked down, the pressure of being intimidated, the pressure of daily life, and the huge pressure are converging, and finally erupting and getting a response.
The trio of police detectives was led by the teenagers to the floor that was blocked up and down. The elevator broke down and the residents closed their doors. The old forces (mayor and drug dealers) who came to the rescue were defeated by more brutal and disorderly riot teenagers. They did not know how to maintain stability, balance, and the exchange of benefits. The pressure they suffered could not be reasonable and legal. Way of catharsis. At this point, violence and disorderly violence have become the last choice.
People who were knocked down by violence have become violent, and teenagers who have been intimidated by lions have become lions. They swallowed pink pigs and roosters, swallowed old and decadent rules and the people who made them.
At the end of the film, the confrontation between the little Issa holding a Molotov cocktail and the relatively truthful, good and beautiful rookie detective holding a pistol is actually a confrontation between disorderly violence and an orderly legal system. At this moment of extreme tension, the picture slowly turned black, the light gradually dimmed, and Issa's face gradually blurred. You will suddenly realize that Issa can actually be anyone, anyone who is overwhelmed by pressure.
Just like the young man who collapsed and cried after being stopped by the traffic police.
When everyone gathered at the restaurant to ask for a video memory card from Salah, the rookie detective asked Salah: Is violence useful? You have used violence before, but it didn't solve the problem. Salah replied: I recognize your goodness and give you the memory card, but you have to know that violence will still come.
Because no one can set obstacles to the lion.
Is violence useful? Maybe it's useless. But here, it is an inevitable choice with no solution.
I think this is what scares me.
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