Have you ever had such moments and moments:
In the crowded shuttle, you lost your focus and direction for an instant, don’t know where you should go, don’t know where you are; at a carnival party, in a noisy KTV , Crowds and smiling faces, but strongly feel that you are a person, an individual that cannot be integrated with the environment; have you felt it very strongly, the feeling of being in water: weightlessness, floating, freedom and suffocation coexist, Every inch of the body is wrapped up, but every inch of the body is just as helpless and helpless; are you also confused? Life is like a group of colorful lights and shadows, and there is a mist of vain in front of you. Clear the place, but the place that you can look back to, you can see clearly but you can’t go back anyway; have you ever got the thing you want most, but the moment you get it, it seems empty and lost everything; will you Sometimes knowing that you have no reason to be unhappy, but bursts of uncontrollable sadness spread from the bottom of your heart; have you ever asked yourself in a low voice what you want most and who you are; do you have, I have doubted the meaning of all of this; are you on the way, and have been looking for it.
If you have had such moments and moments, you must watch "Knights of the Holy Grail".
The holy grail knight, the tarot card face, means to make a decision between feelings and actions, and to learn the fusion of water and fire. He acted with inspiration, or inspired by action. He learned to analyze the difference between imagination and fantasy, from meaningless dreams that evade reality, and the ability to produce action and growth, to understand the difference in life ideas.
The whole film is the long journey of the Holy Grail Knight himself. The film is the usual style of director Terrance Malick. The main line of the story is vaguely present in the huge consciousness spliced with fragmented images and whispered confessions. Intentional choices and emotions dominate the entire film. The gorgeous photography, the vastly different metropolis and nature, the cutting-edge editing, and the in and out of reality and memories all make the whole film jump and make it difficult to capture. So after reading it, there are more people complaining than admirers. Most people think that the director Malik is acting for too long. His literary style has transcended the realm of public understanding. The collage of the stream of consciousness makes people lose the main idea in the picture. The plot of the story seems to disappear in reality and In the confusion of true and false dreams, all the elements are mixed together and rush towards the viewer, like a ball of colorful wool, jumping, but unable to catch it.
However, he is familiar with Heidegger, graduated from the Department of Philosophy at Harvard, and Malick, a top student in the Department of Philosophy at Oxford, is not really to pretend to be forced. I am alone". He wants to walk among the masses, try to answer or ask the question that has troubled each of us, analyze self, question existence: Where is the only truth in life, what I want, in the vast darkness , Where is the road to truth?
The search for this answer is called "Englightenment" in the West. The Buddhists seek great enlightenment, and Wang Yangming spent his entire life pursuing the "Dao". The ultimate answer to this kind of life should exist beyond national boundaries, culture, and individuals. As the protagonist Christian Bale said in the press conference, Malik is actually by our side, you see, he is there.
This is a deep-seated philosophical question. I really want to explain it. How can a 118-minute film be enough? But Malik still tried to accommodate as many elements as possible in a short period of time.
What is the answer? Success and money are obviously not. This is the starting point of the protagonist's role. He already has these, but he is still looking for it. Looks are not, beauty is not, and sex is not. The beauties who appear in the protagonist's life like a revolving lantern in the film have good looks and hot figures. They represent the temptation of the world, or the lust for a while, or the illusion of the material world. In short, it is not the answer.
People in a confused state want to seek help from the outside world, and these help have appeared one by one. Their origin, their relatives and family, they can only explain the past, to a certain extent, explain the present, but they cannot guide the future. The elder who asks for help, but the elder said, you think that when you reach a certain age in your life, all the answers will become clear naturally, but there is no. Yoga and Buddhism. Wilderness and ocean. The power of religion and nature is not the answer.
We always hope that the emergence of true love will solve all problems. Like in "Interstellar", love is an eternal existence that has passed through all space and time. But it's not even true love. The ex-wife (Cate Blanchett) who has been quiet for years is not, and the new lover (Nicole Kidman) who is stable in the world is not.
What is the answer.
I think Malik may not try to answer this grand philosophical proposition. He just faithfully recorded the process of his own search, and hoped that those who were also searching would feel similar pain and happiness.
If "The Tree of Life" was a ritual to philosophy, then "The Knight of the Holy Grail" was Malik's mumbling diary. The commemoration of philosophy has the power to promote oneself and others, so that viewers will have a strong resonance and empathy; but just a diary of oneself, it becomes a tribute to oneself, the past or the future.
Therefore, for this diary, as onlookers, we are destined to be unable to participate in the whole process. We can only find déjà vu in a certain segment, or in a certain segment, more intensely melt into the same emotion and situation. But there is no second Malik in this world, so I am afraid that no one will fully understand every paragraph of this film.
Movies are the best way to communicate with the director. After watching "Knights of the Holy Grail", you may be able to better understand why director Malik is reluctant to appear in front of the media. Because his film is already a naked confession: look, you want to know everything about me, I have told you, my confusion, my unhappiness, my grumpy father, my brother who committed suicide, my wife , My love, my loyalty to philosophy. I have analyzed myself to the point where no piece of armor is left. So, do you still have questions to ask?
If you are a diehard director of Terrence Malik and want to have an in-depth conversation with him, then, watch "The Knights of the Holy Grail". This private in-depth conversation will make you more than touched: it turns out We have had the same confusion about life, even if it is only part of the sub-set, it is spiritual comfort, because if philosophers and filmmakers are still so confused, then ordinary us, can we hide in the mist with peace of mind and live it, no Ask the meaning.
But if you don’t love him, then, although the diary can also be beautifully written, as a consumer product of the mass media, the film "Knight of the Holy Grail" may have lost the "universal standard" that the director originally wanted to pursue. "The universal truth. Too many people can only stand on the periphery of the story, watch the screen and listen to the music, and read the tags from the tarot cards.
Do you, like me, understand the beginning, but don't understand the end.
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