When I first heard about this movie, it was translated as Miracle Hot Air Balloon. So when I look at the introduction, I know that this is a story about a group of people who made a successful hot air balloon smuggling. I don't think this translation is very good, because this is to tell you blatantly that they succeeded in smuggling... This greatly reduces the effect of many deliberately confusing scenes in the film. There were times when I thought, it's over, they're going to get caught, they're going to fail, but then I thought, no, this movie is called Miracle Balloon, and they're going to make it...
It's a really simple story. For a better life, the two families decided to smuggle from the oppressive and backward East Germany to the free and advanced West Germany in a hot air balloon. However, there is a problem here... I was not very clear about the difference between East and West Germany at first, so I didn't quite understand why they had to smuggle to West Germany, not all of them anyway... Later, I checked Baidu while watching. , only to understand the necessity of this kind of smuggling. I think this can be done better in the movie. Not only this movie, many movies assume that the audience has a very good understanding of the knowledge involved in the film, so the part of preparing knowledge for the plot development is skipped, which makes the audience like me who don't know it a little bit confused all of a sudden mind...
But I'm amazed how a story so simple, with such twists and turns, can make such an exciting two hour long film... I found the director's control of the pacing to be very admirable, as I said in the title As written, the pacing of the film is right at the tipping point of procrastination and gripping. The progress of the whole film is like a buffer bar when the network speed is a little bit bad. When you feel a little bit unable to wait, suddenly there is a sudden rush of acceleration... and then there is another period of waiting, another period of acceleration, another period of waiting, and another period of waiting. A period of acceleration, like squeezing toothpaste like this, is simply addicting...not too tense or too loose.
So I think this film also gave us an inspiration. The storyline doesn't necessarily need a lot of messy branches, we just need to grab a sufficiently attractive trunk when writing the story, and then add some branches and leaves to the trunk when there is spare capacity. Like this movie, its biggest thrill is the idea of "smuggling in a hot air balloon", I mean, smuggling in a hot air balloon! ! These few words alone are enough to support more than half of the desire to watch the movie... The whole film only revolves around the two key words of hot air balloon and smuggling, rewriting the life-and-death pursuit of the protagonist and the police, In addition, a few small points that make people suspect that it may be bad, such as the relationship between the eldest son and the neighbor's daughter... Several times I was afraid that the eldest son would hurt the two families because of his emotions. The lines are well written, keeping people worrying without overpowering them.
From the point of view of the film, it is actually very interesting. At first, the protagonists tried to smuggle with fearless pursuit of freedom, but when they failed once, it was almost fear that prompted them to smuggle again, because they had already exposed their legs. If they didn't rush, it might be true would die in East Germany.
Then the question arises, is it the pursuit of freedom, the desire for life, or the fear of death that ultimately drives them to succeed?
I prefer the last one.
There are many stories about the pursuit of freedom in film and television works, and their protagonists are great, but for those characters, it is difficult to resonate with me other than admiration. We have to admit that in real life, not many people actually live for "freedom", at least not me. Because of the country in which we exist, in this era, it does not create a particularly strong sense of captivity. There is no upper limit to freedom, but there is a lower limit to this thing. As long as our life circumstances reach this lower limit, no one will feel excluded from freedom.
And the desire to live? Actually it's fine. As far as I'm concerned, I can live a good life, and I'm not so embarrassed that I can't eat the last meal, so I don't care about cravings.
However, fear, which is common to all living beings...not necessarily fear of death, there are many things we can fear. Fear of being behind, fear of not being good enough, fear of not looking forward to the future, fear of getting old, fear of death of family members... Fear is the source of modern anxiety. So I admire the selection of this film. He didn't simply choose an exciting story to describe, but chose a perfect subject with a sense of excitement and resonance...
Sometimes I feel that my life is the same as the East Germans in the film, and I can actually make do with it. Occasionally I feel itchy when I think of a better West Germany on the other side, but because of all kinds of constraints, I don't have the guts to do it. But if once, like the protagonist's family, a fatal flaw is revealed, and you have to fight with all your strength, maybe it will really succeed. But we have to think clearly that real life is not about making movies. If we fail, we will really fall from hundreds or thousands of kilometers without crossing the line.
How to choose? A desperate fight without leaving any way out, or a cautious life?
To write a novel, I choose the former; to live, I am afraid I have to choose the latter.
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