1. Albrecht's death can be regarded as the most poignant death I have ever seen. This delicate young man looked at his best friend across the ice, shook his head slightly, and then slowly sank into his darkness and end. In that scene, the youth's illusory beauty and the coldness of the entire world are heartbreakingly intertwined, and it has never been able to dissipate in the audience's memory. The destruction of beautiful things is even more traumatic. Albrecht's death was his own choice. He chose to commit suicide to escape the control of his father's country. He used death in exchange for the purity of his soul and inner peace. But the initiator of his death was the Nazi policy of extermination. Although Albrecht's death can be said to be the inevitable ending of a good soul in that era, it was Albrecht's choice to place his soul and body under the ice. It was an act that was completely unplanned. If the Nazis hadn't crossed the ice. Severe training, this teenager may be smeared with blood, and will not disappear in the purest form like this.
The shock of Albrecht's death lies in his purity and beauty. This purity is reflected by the dark background and cruel people against him. This is the contrast. We have seen the contrast between the indifferent attitude of the instructor and Friedrich's anxiousness. These are the positive and negative aspects of the different attitudes towards the disappearance of beauty. The pure soul and the dark river water, the pure white snow scene and the dark reality, the objects in the scene can contain a certain sense of contrast and insinuation, so it is just a strand of hair that floats in the ice water of this young man. Can affect our inner pain.
2. I think it is definitely the most painful thing in the world for Friedrich to witness Albrecht's death but not be able to save him. This makes people think of the scuffles and hugs in the previous bathroom (the location can’t really understand...). I guess Friedrich already knew the choice of his best friend at that time. He blamed him for giving up the child selfishly. Thought, blame him for abandoning himself and choosing to die, but it is more of a reluctance and retention of the most important person in this life. But while he was fighting, he also knew that there was nothing to stop the shattering of the youth whose soul was as pure as water. All he could do was hug this fragile soul tightly and vent all his pain through hoarse crying. Coming out, I believe there is only love and reluctance in the world of Friedrich and Albrecht at this moment.
How did they feel when they faced each other across the ice? Friedrich is the only existence that Albrecht is reluctant to bear in this world. Letting Friedrich witness his own death is definitely not what Albrecht hopes for, let alone let him give up the opportunity to save himself, which for Friedrich is equivalent to killing himself with his own hands. But Albrecht can only choose this way, the darkness of this world forces him to give up the last bit of warmth. He looked at Friedrich on the ice, his heart gradually became peaceful, and only the apology and gratitude to this close friend were left: I'm sorry I left you first, thank you for being the last light in the world.
For Friedrich, his heart will never return to peace. The best friend just disappeared a little bit, but he couldn't save him. His pain was unimaginable. This can be seen from his screaming and crying to the deformed expression. He loves this friend, but he must see his friend disappear and leave his life forever. The hands facing each other across the ice were the last and deepest soul collision between these two affectionate brothers.
In this scene, the performances of these two actors are indeed quite outstanding. Friedrich's painful shouts and actions, Albrecht's beautiful beauty and peaceful expression, turned this death into a heavy hammer, shattering the darkness, It shook the audience's tears.
3. Many people interpret the relationship between Albrecht and Friedrich as same-sex love, but I even regard them as a deeper understanding than friendship.
Compared with the other young trainees, Friedrich was less influenced by militarism, and although he admired officers and yearned for success, these were all based on his humanity as an ordinary person, and it was precisely because His honesty and kindness have made Albrecht's only best friend in the short life of Albrecht, who has been growing up in a harsh and cold environment. For Albrecht, Friedrich is a person who communicates with his own soul, and only this person can understand and share his purity. It can be said that Friedrich is a person who has truly entered Albrecht's desperate heart after repeated trials, although whether to use They still had conflicts on their fists, but in the end he also awakened his best friend with his own death.
For Friedrich, Albrecht was the first person to help him in the military academy, the only person whose soul remained pure, but the most involuntary. Albrech's kindness and benevolence is the most common place between him and Friedrich, and it is also the spiritual bond that connects them.
There must be a tacit understanding between the two of them. The conversation that seemed to be reprimanding was actually a conversation between two connected souls. Albrech's silence could let Friedrich know his decision. At that time, although it was Friedrich's grieving and angry accusation, it was also at the same time. The farewell between these two best friends, how much pain and reluctance was contained in that embrace.
For Albrech, the most painful time may be the dispute and hug in the bathroom. At this time, he conveyed the decision to end everything to his best friends. This was the last time he expressed his little love for the world. At the time, guilt and reluctance must have occupied his heart, coupled with the great torture of the dark reality to him, the pain of this beautiful teenager at this moment is indescribable.
And Friedrich's most painful time must be when Albrech sinks to the bottom, and what can Albrech be more painful than watching the one he loves disappear in front of him! He didn’t want Albrech to die like this, but he couldn’t let his best friend live in pain, so he stopped saving Albrech. Those feelings accumulated over time were passed on to his best friends in his life with this last connection, and he used his pain to give his best friends the ultimate peace.
Albrech was not happy all his life, but he finally let Friedrich wake up and let go of his fists. He guarded his soul while maintaining the purity of another person. It was precisely in this way that his death became more tragic. And great. Although these two teenagers can no longer travel far with each other on the road of life, their friendship will never dissipate.
Although the whole film is accusing the Nazis of cruelty and indifference, I paid more attention to these two teenagers. Their beauty and kindness deeply shocked me. I think I will always remember the scene of the black-haired boy falling in the lake, and the heart-wrenching tears of the blond boy.
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