Collapse, crisis, unemployment, crime, confidence and inner pain
are narrated at the beginning of the film: "At the beginning of the new century, a country collapsed, the total unemployment rate exceeded 15%, 10 million people lost their jobs, and 800,000 students Boycott of the school system, rising juvenile delinquency rates... Adults have lost confidence and are afraid of teenagers..." At the beginning of 2000, although three years had passed since the Asian Financial Crisis, the aftermath of the Asian Financial Crisis still did not subside, and the economy was depressed. Unemployment has skyrocketed, the youth employment problem has not been effectively solved, and social pressure has increased accordingly. The opening remarks of the film tell us that the shock caused by the economic crisis not only affects one level, but covers the entire society. Just like a butterfly in South America flapping its wings can trigger a storm on the other side of the world. What comes is not only the economic downturn, but also the frustration of the confidence of the whole society and the depression of personal confidence.
So much so that the mother of Qiyuan Qiuye, one of the protagonists of the film, ran away from home when he was in the third and fourth grade of elementary school. When he was in high school, his father hanged himself. This seems to imply the painful and complicated state of mind of this middle-aged man who can't bear social pressure. He can only get rid of his inability to do anything in the real society, but he has a strong sense of unwillingness. In the adult world, his death can only show the reality of his incompetence. He hopes that his son can cheer up, because only in this way can he win in reality.
The film opens with such a foreshadowing, and its symbolism is greater than all. If we put the perspective back to Japan, it is not difficult to understand that in Japan, a fast-paced and high-intensity country, the pressure of reality makes the forced actions through inner torment, in fact, it is more revealing the cruel reality of reality. one side. Including Qiu Ye's dream at the back of the film, his father kept seeking job opportunities, but was constantly rejected, and he vented his anger on the restaurant waiter who frequently asked him if he wanted to order, which further highlights the reality that the film intends to reflect: inner It is complex and in constant struggle, and the final outcome is always a personal helpless act.
Girls, smiles, reports, what people are after is psychological security. The
excited female anchor is reporting news events with her sweet voice, and the hero of the news is the girl who finally wins the game. Crazy reporters, short guns and long cannons were aimed in the face of the girl being escorted by the army. In the end, the surviving girl still had the blood of her classmates on her body, and she was holding her beloved doll in her hand, but her smile was so strange that it made people shudder. What kind of smile is this, making the audience feel so startling.
People are always good at exploiting the pain of others to create their own happiness. As with every heart-pounding game, there is only one victor, and the others are victims. Bystanders will undoubtedly get what they need and satisfy their desires. There are always two sides in the human heart, wandering between gain and loss, indecisive. When you can't implement it yourself, you are more willing to pretend your wishes to others, and use this to gain a sense of psychological security. Perhaps it is because of this that adults are afraid of children, and it is because of this that people are suspicious of each other, so everyone lacks a sense of security.
Kitano, Teacher, Father, Characters of Multiple Characters
Takeshi Kitano, known as Japan's "Master of Violence", plays the role of a teacher in the film. It seems that director Fukasaku wants to hide the violence, blood and cruelty of the film through his real identity of Takeshi Kitano. Kitano sat quietly on the teacher's desk by himself, with a bowed head and a slightly curved back, as well as "No class today, because we don't want to. All the students in Class B" Yu Blackboard's message to him reflects the The rebellious and flamboyant side of the youth generation is a challenge to the system, but also a hint of personality release and a desire for freedom. Kitano's mood at the moment is helpless, and even more helpless, just like Qiuye's father, he has no way to change this reality.
The bloody opening comes from the assassination of a teacher by a student named Guoxin. When Kitano walked out of the classroom, Guoxin rushed out and stabbed the teacher in the thigh. After being stabbed by Guoxin, Kitano got up from the ground and walked to the faucet to wash off the blood on his hands. His expression was blank, as if he had no pain. I feel like I'm not surprised by such a thing. The arrangement of this complex seems a bit abrupt, but the cause and effect are explained in the later story. Kitano once advised him not to go to school because of his poor national letter. I don't know if this can be regarded as a kind of insinuation of the traditional education system. In the common people's concept, teachers are always placed in a high position, and the fate of students seems to be controlled by teachers. The stabbing of Kitano seems to be a process with cause and effect, but it reveals the possibility of hidden and suppressed psychological outbreaks.
In the film, Kitano's role is not only a teacher, but also a father. He has a daughter, but his daughter does not appear in the film from beginning to end, and the connection to it is the dialogue with her daughter through the mobile phone. Judging from the film, Kitano's heart is actually lonely, he can't communicate with his daughter, but he wants to show his tender fatherly side. This scene is shown in the scene where Nakagawa goes to pick up Qiuya in the latter part of the film. Kitano, who was originally indifferent, handed the umbrella to Nakagawa. "Don't catch a cold" feels like an elder's care for the younger generation, but such a line appears in Here, however, is a little more critical. People are always reluctant to show their true side, obviously their hearts are full of love, but they lock themselves deep, because of reality, or fear of reality, everyone has their own understanding.
In addition, at the end of the film, Kitano is standing on the podium in the empty playground and exercising by himself. Does he want to go back to school to be with his students, or just want to share his life with his students? Beautiful, all this is unknown. In the end, Kitano's ending was a tragic death, and until his death, he did not resolve his daughter's misunderstanding of him. With the sound of a gunshot, his mobile phone was broken, and his desire to communicate with his daughter was completely destroyed. It's gone, and there's no chance anymore, because he's dead.
Youth, group photos, and yellowing photos are not just
the protagonists of the nostalgic film who made a collective appearance at the beginning. This is a group photo of all the students of Class B, Grade 3 of Shiroam Academy. How cruel it is to start with a yellowed group photo and end with 98% of people dead. The photo is also missing two transfer students, one is Kawada Shogo, a survivor of the previous game, and the other is Kiriyama Kazuo, who is eager to stimulate the game.
In the photo, everyone is full of youthful vigor and dreams of life, but who would have thought that in such a harmonious atmosphere, when the camera turned, the classmates would kill each other, and surviving would be their only reason. Indeed, the yellowed photos are not just nostalgic, but more of a contradiction between two scenarios, highlighting the huge contrast between ideal and reality, telling the suffering and confusion of choice. This is life, yesterday is never the same as today, and tomorrow is full of more unknowns.
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