"Riding with the Devil" was the most incomprehensible thing I saw in Ang Lee's movie, but until I understood Lee Ang's thoughts on this movie, I was attracted to it. He uses the Southerners, the defeated party in the Civil War in American history, as a starting point to tell. The main characters are the Germans and black slaves who were embarrassed in the war. He describes the meaning and thinking of the war brought to people from a diversified perspective.
He told us that the people on both sides of the war are not black and white, and there will be people like Jack. He is actually vacillating. He is not right or left. He himself is kind and unwilling to kill. He also loves the environment he lives in. Because his master was killed by the northerners, he wanted to avenge him and joined the Southern Army with his friends. Later, his friends were actually leading him. He also changed from a boy to a man, and he himself had to integrate into the murderer's. The team realizes self-worth in the group, and he himself is of German origin (a person who supports the north), this embarrassing identity.
There was also Daniel, a black slave who was supposed to be on the side of the northerners. He joined the southern army for the friend who was his master. According to historical records, there are many blacks in the southern army.
Therefore, in a real war, the people on both sides are not what we traditionally recognize. One side fights for their own interests on the other side, and then the righteous and progressive side wins, but who can see those struggling in the war? As for the people, they may be to realize their self-worth in the group, or to hate, or to "stand on the wrong side" for a good friend. Their participation in the war has nothing to do with the ideals.
Ang Lee’s thinking about this war is different from others. He respects historical facts and adds his own thinking to the film. He believes that even the southerners in the war, there are some people who are forward-looking about the future and foresee the new The world is coming, he arranged a melancholy southern father role in the film, and he conveyed the message of the coming of a new world in the great changes he suffered from the loss of his son.
People in wars are never right or wrong, and only the new world that comes after the war is the most meaningful.
In the end, the black slave Daniel and the German Jack both got their own freedom. They called each other by their names and respected each other. I think the meaning of war is that people change more quickly during the war.
(And I inexplicably like the feminine villain who likes to scalp in the movie. He is really amazing, beautiful and very suitable for the role of Danmei theme ☺)
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