In 2018, the German film "Counterfeit Captain" was released. This film tells the story of an ordinary private soldier Willi Herrod who accidentally obtained a captain's uniform. He was also controlled by the uniform and eventually fell into a human nature. abyss. Now, there is another movie that once again presents the same situation before us. This is the Polish movie "The Eucharist".
The protagonist of the film is a 20-year-old boy named Daniel. Because of robbery and accidental murder, he spent his adolescence in the juvenile prison, and while serving his sentence in the juvenile prison, he also had a problem with Christianity. She became very interested, and even came up with the idea of applying for the seminary. However, a person like him with a serious criminal record could not have this opportunity. After being released on parole, Father Thomas of the juvenile office introduced him to a timber factory to make a living, but Daniel, who yearned for freedom, didn’t want to work in a depressed timber factory. He stayed there, so he slipped to the town near the lumber mill, but what he didn't expect was that he himself became the priest of the local church because of a lie and a priest's uniform that he carried with him, and also took over this parish. Faced with such a situation, Daniel could only go under the alias of Father Thomas and bite the bullet, and his appearance also made this small town filled with sadness and tears slowly change. Just as Daniel's status in the hearts of the people in the town was getting higher and higher, his identity was suddenly revealed, so this young man once again moved towards his unknown destiny.
To some extent, "Fake Captain" and "Christian Eucharist" have a very similar story structure. The protagonists are both teenagers in adolescence. They also face difficulties and also have a new one because of a piece of clothing. Identity, it’s just that Willi Herod in "Counterfeit Captain" acquired the status of an officer symbolizing power and desire, while Daniel in "The Eucharist" acquired a symbol of salvation and fraternity. As a priest, one can kill people in a fair manner, and the other can save others in a fair manner. It is quite interesting to compare the two movies.
In fact, this kind of story in which one's character and destiny is transformed by acquiring a new identity, we have seen in many previous movies, and nothing is new, especially in comedy movies, and in those movies. In the movie, the protagonist’s identity is even more exaggerated. For example, in "Fake God", the protagonist has directly experienced the addiction of being a god, but why "Fake Captain" and "Christian Eucharist" can still give people very different How do you feel? "Counterfeit Captain" is easier to understand. After all, the cruel thing that the protagonist falls into the abyss of human nature to the end is still rare in the movie; while "The Eucharist" is not so easy to understand. Why is the story of a thousand times still favored by the Oscar jury this time? In my opinion, the answer lies at the end of this movie.
It stands to reason that the normal development of this kind of story should be in accordance with "The protagonist is in trouble in life-accidentally acquires a new identity-the new identity prompts the protagonist to change internally-the protagonist's identity is exposed-the protagonist is once again in trouble in life-the protagonist is imprisoned by his previous identity Inspired by his experience-the protagonist gets a good ending.” However, in the "Christ Eucharist", the development of the story has changed in the second half. After the protagonist once again fell into a difficult life, he did not He didn't rise again, but fell into pain and confusion, and finally showed us an open ending that is unpredictable. This kind of storytelling method that does not follow the routine is very new, but in my opinion, this is not grandstanding, but a kind of extraordinarily truthfulness.
We can think about it carefully. If Daniel is a middle-aged uncle who has served decades of imprisonment for more than half a hundred years, then this story will have no problem in the context of "changing status and getting salvation", but the protagonist of this movie He is a teenager who is only 20 years old. For all of us who have experienced the age of 20, everyone can understand that it is impossible for a person to be qualitative at this time. This is what a person is most free and the most free. At the age of rebellion, you can't expect a teenager to be faithful to his faith and obtain his own salvation at such a young stage.
Therefore, when the whole movie came to an abrupt end in the confusion of Daniel's face full of blood, I thought it was an just right arrangement. Where to go in the future, Daniel doesn't know, we don't know either.
This movie keeps me thinking about a question, that is, can a piece of clothing really change a person? The answer seems to be yes, and this is the case for most of the time in this movie. We can see that the priestly uniform and the title of "acting priest" have brought changes to Daniel, making him transform from fooling things in the beginning to saving all living beings wholeheartedly and working hard to bridge the division of the town. , To heal the sadness of the town. But in the end, Daniel fell into the darkness again. Neither the dress nor the goodness could save him. He became a fierce "thug" again. In this way, it seems that a piece of clothing and an identity can't change a person.
In fact, it is the person's heart that can really change a person. Clothes and identity are just external stimuli, which are helpful to a person’s change, but they are not decisive. What can really make a person fundamentally change is his own heart. Only one person’s heart is enough. Only with his firmness and determination can he make a real transformation, come out of the mud and not be stained, and clear and unyielding. But this kind of inner change requires a certain life experience, so that a person has sufficient experience and the ability to control his emotions, before it can happen when the external situation is stimulated. For Daniel, this stimulation is obviously too much. early.
Finally, I would like to talk about a very interesting detail in this film, and that is the use of light. Pay close attention to us and you can see that in the first half of the film, Daniel hosted several activities in the church. In these shots, the light from the church windows is always sufficient and soft. At this time, Daniel is stepping step by step. Moving in the direction of "good", so the light in the lens is very bright and warm, and Daniel's whole person is also covered by this light, as if bathed in holy light.
However, at the end of the film, when Daniel stood in the church for the last time, the light from above turned into the light from the side. Therefore, Daniel always had half of his face in the light and the other half in the picture. The face is in the dark. This is a very clever arrangement in my opinion. The language of the lens shows us that Daniel is once again lost in confusion, becoming a contradictory image of even an angel and a devil, which makes the character's heart The confusion and entanglement are more intuitively displayed.
As a person without faith, I have an attitude of "respect and stay away" as to whether God exists or not. I think the film "Christian Eucharist" is not about the question of whether God exists or not. I think this movie What I really want to say is: No matter whether it is God or someone else, no one can save you, and it is yourself that can save you.
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