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http://www.artblog.cn/U/joshuawang/archives/2007/36389.html
There are two things this year to make Christianity in South Korea has received more attention. One is the hostage crisis in Afghanistan, and the other is the film that was crowned as a queen at the 60th Cannes Film Festival.
Piano teacher Shin Ai’s husband who had an extramarital affair was killed in a car accident. She did not want to accept the fact that her deceased husband had an extramarital affair. She took her son to leave Seoul to her husband’s hometown, a small city called "Miyang". Settling on the ground seems to be a continuation of marriage and the meaning of life, or a kind of bondage? Then, her son's teacher knew that she was planning to invest in real estate, and kidnapped and killed the child. At this point, a person's suffering and all the imaginable meanings are already tolerable or intolerable.
In recent years, the Christianity of Korean film and television has gradually become stronger, and "sin" and "love" have become the two most distinctive themes. For example, "The Scarlet Letter" quotes the story of Eve, describing the sinking in sin; the love and forgiveness in "Dae Jang Geum" and the sense of mission in life are also obviously separated from the Confucian atmosphere, and the Danish business card "Babette's The Feast has a comparison; Kim Kidd's "The Girl of Samaria" uses Jesus' famous parable of "The Good Samaritan" to set off the life struggle of a prostitute. But it was not until Lee Cangdong's "Miyang" that mainstream Korean movies began to encounter Christianity in a sharp way.
Shen Ai's hopelessness, bitterness, and loss made life fall into another intolerable abyss. Until accidentally walked into a church and wept loudly among believers and hymns. As soon as the camera turned, Shen Ai laughed in the movie for the first time. She went from thinking that a Christian "you are so pitiful" to happily saying that I now believe that "in every ray of sunshine, there is the Lord's will." One day on the road, she saw the murderer's daughter being beaten on a street corner. She hesitated for a moment and drove away. When Shin-ae went home to recite the Lord’s Prayer "Forgive us our debts, just as we forgave people's debts", she was so moved, she decided to visit the prison to tell her murderer and enemy that God's love made her forgive him.
The film turned abruptly at this time. Across the glass wall, the murderer said calmly, thank God, he has forgiven my sins, and I have become a Christian. Shen Ai froze and fainted in the sun as soon as she got out of prison. The resentment of her life was then further aroused. Her questioning of life is no longer "Why should I encounter these pains", but "I haven't forgiven him yet, why should God forgive him?"
Jeon Do-yeon, the heroine who plays Shin Ae, has won the only international actress for a Korean film in the past 20 years with two life scenarios of peace, joy and hysteria. The object of Shen Ai's resentment turned from suffering to faith. She screamed deliberately in the church. She replaced the hymns of the preaching meeting with pop music "It's all fake." She tempted the pastor. She threw stones at the homes of believers who gathered to pray for her late at night until she committed suicide by cutting her wrists. This film is questioning the secularization of the Korean church, accusing it of "cheap gospel" that has not brought real salvation to many Christians? In the last shot, Shen Ai came home from the mental hospital and cut her head in the house. The shot was frozen in a corner by her feet, a corner that was broken but shining with sunlight. I remember the pastor’s wife preaching the gospel to her in the shop, saying that every ray of sunshine has God’s love. Shen Ai ran to a corner with strong light, turned his head and asked, what's in here.
The last shot continues the problem. The scripture says, "The sun shines on good people, but also bad people." So a broken corner, even if it is illuminated by the sun. For Shin Ai at this time, what if the sun rises as usual tomorrow. I just happened to see an interview with Li Cangdong in the magazine, the title was "I Don't Believe in Happiness".
Regarding forgiveness, during the religious revival of South Korea in the past half century, there have been two similar famous stories, which constitute the background of the time for questioning and discussing in this movie. An example was the murder of a wealthy Korean widow and only child in the 1960s. After struggling, she went to the court to request the release of the murderer and expressed her willingness to accept him as her son. She also wrote to ask the president for an amnesty. In the end, the murderer was pardoned, which shocked Korean society for a while. At that time, US President Johnson also wrote to this lady, calling her the greatest woman in the world. Another example was in the early 90s. North Korean female agent Kim Hyun Hee was ordered to blow up Korean Air Flight 858 on November 28, 1987 in order to sabotage the Seoul Olympics. All 115 people on board were killed. Jin Hyun Hee repented and confessed in prison. After being sentenced to death, the priest in prison took her to the Lord and baptized her. In April 1990, President Lu Taiyu delivered a national television speech announcing an amnesty for the 26-year-old female terrorist.
Without this series of forgiveness and reconciliation, it would be difficult to have today's Korean society. What the director wants to question is that it is not these true testimonies that have updated Korean history; it is the repentance of a sinner and the forgiveness of a victim. Is it really that easy? It is often said that the Bible teaches that people can be saved if they have faith. This is too light. But a letter is easier said than done, or you can try it. The story of Shen Ai shows the difficulty of redemption. It is so difficult that no one's efforts can do anything.
Lin Yutang once said in his autobiography that there are three types of Christians, one who regrets sin and desires to be free from conscience. One needs comfort and escape because of pain. There is another, they understand what they believe, and then they truly trust the one they believe. Mr. Lin said that the first two can be the beginning of faith, but none of them are true faith.
In this movie, the murderer who faces the victim without regret is the first type. Jesus said that the Holy Spirit came to make the world "blame itself for sin, righteousness, and judgment." Peace without true repentance, not true peace, but just a spiritual massage and a sauna for the soul. And Shen Ai seems to be the second kind. She uses forgiveness as a platform to overcome suffering in front of the forgiven. Therefore, when the other party said that he also believed in God, it was tantamount to shattering her self-righteous illusion and causing her to fall into the valley of resentment from the heart of forgiveness.
Because in the same way, forgiveness without true repentance is not forgiveness, but superior arrogance. Jesus told a parable, a man owed ten million taels of silver, and the master forgave him. He went out and met a companion who owed him ten taels of silver, but cruelly put him in prison. The so-called forgiveness is to admit that the ten thousand taels you owe have been forgiven, so you are willing to forgive the ten taels owed by others. The so-called forgiveness is to see God's grace, so take the initiative to give up the right to deal with the wrong party. The so-called forgiveness is to rely on the support of faith to overcome the situation and choose not to live in the past. So every day can be the beginning of a new life, and every ray of sunshine can be interesting.
I remember that in a husband and wife group last year, there were three questions. First, who taught you the most about forgiveness when you were a kid? Secondly, when I was young, I remembered the experience of saying "I was wrong" the most; thirdly, in real life, who is your role model for forgiving? Poor, my answer is no. Except for "a knife on the head of forbearance", I have never known what true forgiveness is since I was young.
Dostoevsky said that it was never suffering that caused me to suffer, but whether I was worthy of it. If I meet a Shinai, I won’t say, come, follow me and say a prayer, and you will be saved. I would say that praise has always come from the valley of the shadow of death, and faith has always fallen in the wilderness of loneliness.
Are you ready?
2007-10-24
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