There is a very famous couplet in Meng Jiangnv’s temple in Shanhaiguan: “The sea is going down and down, and the floating clouds will grow up and down.” The name of the story is Chinatown, but Chinatown is only the final climax of the film. What happened. The deeper meaning behind it should be that the film expresses Lao Zhuang’s philosophy about the human world—human beings follow the earth, the earth follows the sky, the heavens follow the Tao, and the Tao follows the natural world. This is like the ebb and flow of the tide in the sea, changing rapidly but with its own laws.
At the beginning of the film, it explained the absurdity in Los Angeles, the United States: During the drought, a drunk and a minister of the Ministry of Water Resources and Energy were drowned, so the film laughed at himself: "Such things only happen in Los Angeles." In this era of Los Angeles, the struggle for power is full of darkness. At a time when water resources are extremely scarce, it is still for the sake of individuals and officials' desire to pour tons of freshwater resources into the sea. When the river bed has dried up, the evil in human nature continues to flow. And in the final ending, this evil fell into a cycle, just like the so-called: those who hold salaries for everyone have been frozen to death in the wind and snow. Those who opened the way for freedom have died of thorns. The evil in the world cannot be completely eliminated as long as someone is there. Ebb and flow, the salty and deep tide remains unchanged.
The appearance of the actor Jack first solved the problem of a family derailment and comforted Karl: "When you are right, you are right. Then you are right this time." Then when the fake Mrs. Morey appeared on the scene, He first suggested: "Please go home and forget all these things, Let sleeping dog lie! You'd better not know anything." Jack's life experience was learned from working as a policeman in Chinatown. Opening one eye more than one can be said to have obvious Chinese cultural roots and unique Chinese wisdom, but at the same time it is also the fundamental reason for the indifference of the spectator's psychology. In the film, there is a ridicule of Chinese sex: "The Chinese will do it for a while, then stop, read the book of Confucius and come back, do it for a while." This is the "Tao" that is free and uncontested. realm. The tragic character of Jack is that he understands this truth, because he has tried his best to protect his cherished things but it is counterproductive. But he is arrogant and has a unique heroism in his heart. Being entangled as an outsider, his accumulated professional experience and absolute self-confidence led him to act recklessly. Still did not understand the cause and effect of the whole thing, he rushed into the chaos of the family. And also, meeting Noah privately, calling the police when they don’t understand the real situation, etc. His determination and persistence made things more complicated every time, so in the end a tragedy happened in Chinatown. He lost his beloved woman again. So he sighed: As little as possible, do nothing as much as possible. Doing nothing is better than acting recklessly.
Murray said, the place where the tidal puddle's life originated. But Noah said, I am rich, but I want the future. The reason why Noah murdered Murray was because Murray looked at the failures in the past and looked down to the ground now. Noah is just the opposite, for future wealth and self-interest. The name Noah comes from the "Bible · Old Testament", but there is a gap of opposition between the two. In the Bible, Noah is a representative of "good" and advises people to stop their sins as much as possible. So God chose their family and built Noah's Ark, flooding the world, purifying the world and starting a new cycle. And Noah's Ark is pinned with hope and expectation for the future. But Noah finally cursed his descendants to be slaves because his son covered him naked. From this point of view, Noah Knos's moral character is in complete contrast with Noah. He is completely with the bloody suppression and violence that are permeated in the Old Testament of the Bible. Noah Knos seems to be the master in this game world in Los Angeles. He can buy the police station, rape his 15-year-old daughter, and control his granddaughter and daughter. The future world established by Noah's Ark is innocent and pure. The future world Noah Knos wants to build here is a dark, money-built world. He doesn't care what he loses, but he cares that he can grasp what he can control and stretch out his disgusting clutches. In his eyes, there is no affection but only benefits. And Murray's perseverance to his wife seemed commendable and noble.
The images and metaphors of fish frequently appearing in the film. The beginning of the film talked about tuna and flying fish, and when Noah and Jack were eating fish together, Noah carefully watched the fish on Jack's plate and the sea fish club with reading glasses. Fish in culture means reincarnation and sexual desire. And when Noah stared at the fish in Jack's plate, he gave a stop-motion shot of the fish's eyes. Noah's boundless desires saw his desire for a daughter/granddaughter through the eyes of this fish. The fish's ability to multiply is very strong, which also secretly insinuates the irony of the Sea Fish Club's use of the old man as the owner of their land and the feelings about the cycle of life and death.
And in the end, the tide ebb and flow. My fate in Chinatown is destined to be irresistible. The tide washed up on the beach on the shore, leaving behind a beautiful foam struggling hard.
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