Warning, this article contains mild spoilers, please be careful.
Friendly reminder, this film seriously affects sleep, and it is recommended to watch it during the day.
"El hoyo" Hunger Platform, English name "The Platform" is a Spanish thriller film. Even so, the concept of the film determines that it is also a dystopian film with philosophical depth.
Like all films with open endings, this one can be understood in multiple ways. There is an interpretation that the author agrees with: In the end, the pudding sent by the male protagonist with his life is the first part. The chefs on the 0th floor found the plate with a hair in it. They mistakenly thought that the people below did not eat the pudding because it contained A root of hair, but did not realize what kind of tragic story happened among these 666 people.
There are many excellent movie reviews on the Internet about this movie, so I won't repeat it here. I would like to sort out with you some of the "deep words" that have popped up in my mind while watching the movie.
"Dystopia"
Dystopia ( Dystopia or Anti-Utopia ) comes from the Greek, literally means "bad place."
Two great philosophers contributed etymologically to dystopia: one was the use of cacotopia in 1818 by the English philosopher, jurist, and social reformer Jeremy Bentham (whom we shall see shortly) The term means "the imaginary place where the worst governments are." Another, British philosopher and economist John Stuart Mill is the earliest known person to use the word dystopia, according to the Oxford English Dictionary.
Dystopia is an unpopular and frightening hypothetical society, the exact opposite of the ideal society, the ultimate form of an extremely bad society. Dystopias are often characterized by anti-humanity, totalitarian governments, ecological disasters, or other socially catastrophic declines. Most dystopian artworks are set in future stories or take place in fictional settings, and reflect on real-world issues related to the environment, politics, economics, religion, psychology, ethics, science and technology, etc. .
The famous dystopian trilogy in literature is:
George Orwell's "1984", Huxley's "Brave New World" and Russian writer Zamyatin's "We".
"Others is Hell" in "Confinement"
"Huisclos" confinement, English "No Exit", is an existentialist drama created by French philosopher Jean Paul Sartre in 1944.
The original title is a photographic term in French, but it refers to discussions that take place in private. This is an indoor drama composed of three dialogues. The scene "Mysterious Room" is a satyr hell, and the punishment is: three dead people are forced to be locked in a room, torture each other with words and form deformed Triangle relation. This is where Sartre's most famous quote, "The Other Is Hell", comes from.
Recently, friends who are squatting at home may have a new understanding of "confinement", a word that is not common in life.
The Panopticon and Discipline
Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) expressed for the first time the principle of "utilitarianism" in "Principles of Morality and Legislation". Bentham was a radical social reformer in practice, he opposed absolute monarchy, advocated universal suffrage, and was one of the first to support animal rights. He was also one of the most influential classical liberals, influencing later thinkers, including John Stewart Mill and political leaders such as Robert Owen (the exponent of utopian socialism).
Jeremy Bentham first proposed the Panopticon in 1791.
The etymology of the panopticon is inspired by the Greek mythology of the hundred-eyed giant Argus Panoptes, which means "hundred-eyed, all-seeing". The Panopticon is an institutional building and control system designed to allow a single security guard to monitor all prisoners in the institution, without the prisoners being able to know whether they are being watched or not. The Panopticon building consists of a rotunda with a tower-shaped examination room in the center. The agency's staff can observe prisoners from the center.
Although it is not actually possible for a guard to observe all prisoners' cells at once, the inability of prisoners to know when they are being watched means that the panopticon can implement the principle of "prisoner self-management", in which prisoners are forced to effectively regulate their behavior, which also Make the Panopticon a psychological building. Bentham thought the basic plan was equally applicable to hospitals, schools, nursing homes, and shelters, but he devoted most of his energy to developing a design for a "panoramic" prison that would minimize the cost of prison management and reduce public costs. burden, which is conducive to the maximization of the total social benefit.
The Panopticon was brought to the attention of the French philosopher Michel Foucault in the mid-1970s.
Foucault sees the circular prison as a metaphor for discipline and punishment in modern society, discipline is a technique to ensure order in human complexity, its ultimate purpose is to remain submissive and practical in the system, and the discipline society that originated in the 18th century has replaced the former. modern king society. Therefore, the Panopticon should not be understood only as a building, but as a mechanism of power and a political technique. PS, the architectural form of the Panopticon still exists today.
Redemption and Mission
Let's go back to the plot of the movie, the male protagonist is the only one who is in prison with a book.
Don Quijote de la Mancha is an anti-knight novel written by Spanish writer Cervantes. The background of the story is an era when there were no knights for a long time. The protagonist Don Quixote fantasized that he was a knight, so he did all kinds of unbelievable actions, such as fighting against windmills. He is seen by some as a hero of faith, hatred of oppression, and freedom of freedom, and by others as a model of indulging in fantasy and detaching from reality.
The famous opening line of the book: "There is a place in Mancha, not to mention the name of the place, where a nobleman lived not long ago. A nobleman like him has a spear on the spear stand, an ancient leather shield, a Skinny horse and a harrier."
Prophet, Virgin and Messiah:
At the end of the movie, through the tireless inspiration of the female prison officer, the male protagonist finally obeyed the call of his heart, and like Don Quixote, led his entourage to the downward path of fighting against "knowing the impossible". trip. At this time, I remembered the structure of the altar triptych. The female prison officer represents the Virgin, the male protagonist is reborn as the Messiah, and the black wise man is the prophet. It also echoes the Catholic complex in Spanish culture, adding another layer of regional cultural connotation to the film.
At the end of the article, I recommend a new media art work "The Panopticon" from German new media artist GolemKlonVIII.
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