A new movie. It is about the experience of Bernard Garrett, a black man. He was a shoe shiner, then he opened a company in Houston, then operated real estate, then became a banker, then worked in prison for three years, and then made movies.
The film describes the leadership of the American President Johnson in the 1960s who belonged to the civil war and the layman. At the time when the Vietnam War was struggling, domestically, with a swipe of a pen, the famous civil rights bill was signed, which denied racial discrimination in law. This made the century-long struggle of black Americans finally come to fruition. However, the law alone is not enough, and the inertia of racial discrimination is still strong. In the film, the old white woman was immediately furious when she saw the black man decorating her house; in Bernard’s home in Texas, a black shoe boy claimed to “serve only white people”; when Bernard and Joe When you stepped into the bank they bought, they drew amazement from the surrounding customers, and everyone paid their attention to them as if they were watching two monsters. The story described in the film unfolds in this context.
This is the story of Bernard and his friend Joel successfully running real estate in Los Angeles. The two of them have very different personalities. Bernard is unsmiling, focusing on professional knowledge, a bit like a man of science and engineering. And Joel has been mixed up for a long time, knowing all kinds of unspoken rules about the underworld and the white way. The two of them are a perfect match. Joel's analysis of Bernard is: "I know that you are both smart and ambitious, and you are also an angry person, but you didn't show it. This kind of anger couldn't be better. It motivates yourself and avoids becoming a victim. Target of attack." With this ambition and anger, they succeeded in the relatively enlightened Los Angeles. However, as Joel said: "People will change when they have money." Bernard began to swell, thinking of developing his own career in Texas, which was the most racially discriminatory at the time, and was battered. The fat senator was very clear about the reason: "It was only after you decided to disrupt the social order in Texas that you fell to this point." Anti-racism is to disrupt social order, which was a normal logic in the United States at the time. Up.
When it comes to racial discrimination, this is already an old topic. Joel in the film said: "Just knowing this is enough to show the darkest side of human nature." It is true. There has been a history of black slave trade in the United States, and those black slaves have been abused and tortured by white slave owners. Even after Lincoln issued the "Proclamation for the Emancipation of the Negro Slaves," there were no slaves, but most blacks were still only able to do inferior and despised jobs. The superiority of white people makes them look down on these lowly-born blacks by nature. Not only in the United States, but the Indian caste system and Hitler's pure-bred Aryan theory all reflect the darkness of human nature. Here, although there is no discrimination against skin color, isn't that kind of cultural discrimination and regional discrimination also everywhere?
Speaking of the root cause, my view is that people are born with a character, that is, to look at the world and others based on the "I" standard. Any skin color, physical appearance, personality, and behavior that are different from "I" will have a faint discomfort, which is generalized, and this gradually develops into discrimination and confrontation against others against other races. Discrimination by individuals has developed into discrimination by society. In the film, the real estate agent, Barker, also feels a little inferior because his customers regard him as a "cunning Irishman", and Bernard is also accused by his wife because his wife Younia can impersonate a cleaner but he absolutely can't. "I'm a woman, am I? What is the difference between telling you this to a white man, as a black man, don’t mind being trampled on dignity?" It can be seen that people have this discriminatory concept deep in their souls. . The elimination of this concept will await the progress of society and the improvement of people's rationality. The world we live in is colorful and in various shapes. In human society, despite the different skin colors and different living environments, they are all conscious and thoughtful creatures, and they are all people with one nose and two eyes. No one can claim to be noble and superior to others. Before God, human beings are the subjects of his old man. In the event of a catastrophe, those who can board Noah's Ark may not be white people, let alone business elites and political leaders.
In the film, Bernard said in court: "The United States Declaration of Independence states: All people are born equal. It advocates the establishment of a harmonious society where everyone can be protected by the law on an equal basis. This is a great goal. But our heart I know that for many people, this is a lie! Why do you insist that a certain race be excluded from the American dream?" At this time, Martin Luther King was also stating "I have a dream." Today, the status quo in the United States has slightly changed. People are afraid to publicly express racial discrimination. However, the despicable consciousness hidden in the bones of white people is still secretly surging. The road to rational enlightenment is still a long one.
Before going to prison, Bernard said to his wife Yunya: "We two black people shouldn't have bought a Texas bank so early." Yunya said, "Maybe it is the right choice for you to buy now." This Ling Bo Nader was puzzled. Younia went on to say: "Look at your achievements today. Someone should let everything be seen. Only in this way can we make a change." Yes, all fairness and justice are achieved, and a group of pioneers must overcome obstacles and create a new one. No one has crossed the road before. Use your meager power to resist those seemingly powerful evils. Even though they were covered with scars and suffered defeat. They still deserve the admiration and respect of people.
The story of the film is very strong, and the narration is also very smooth. In the use of the lens, it is remarkable. For example, when Matthew was in the bar, the waitress happened to be a former classmate of Matthew. At this time, the lens uses a shallow focal length, Matthew is true, and the hostess is imaginary behind. While we saw Matthew sitting there quietly thinking hard, we also dimly saw the waitress in the distance hesitating whether to talk to Matthew, first rubbing her hands, and then putting her hands together, seeming to have made up her mind. , So he walked up to talk to Matthew. This kind of lens narrative method, on the contrary, attracts the audience more than the long focal length. Because in the eyes of the audience, what is more concerned about is not static things, but dynamic performance. This is also the place where the editor wants the audience to pay attention.
My score: 7.5.
Let's repeat it again: this is not a film review, but a personal impression.
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