I want to focus on analyzing a few clips. These clips give people of different identities in the same position a comparison, and through repetition, they explain the content of the film at multiple levels.
The first clip: In the 10th minute, General Milo was invited to use binoculars to watch the Ante Heights that was about to be attacked when he was inspecting the trench. General Milo was looking at the strategic target Ant Heights "with binoculars" and did not see the wounded soldiers behind him. Kubrick probably used this shot to symbolize Milo (Tier 1 A) thinking about the high ground in his life (General George used promotion to tempt Milo to accept this impossible mission), his vision Confined to a very small area (telescope field of view), the casualties of soldiers cannot be noticed. The inability to complete the task of Ante Heights may also symbolize the inaccessibility of this life height (actually the height of desire), and it is impossible to reach. The anti-war meaning of this clip is obvious - the general disregards the life and death of the soldiers for glory; another meaning is that each of us will pursue the so-called "new peak of life" (George's words to Milo symbolize the glory of each of us When the - Belonging to "others" (time, emotions, etc.), and sadly the pursuit of goals is so meaningless (ant, ant).
Second snippet: dax refuses, and then accepts the task. As mentioned above, the reason for dax's refusal is basically Milo's repetition, which testifies to the unreasonableness of the task. But why accept unreasonable tasks? Not only military orders (because in this film they all have the process and power to choose whether to accept or not), but also because they were all kidnapped in the name of glory. (Repeat 1: Colonel Dax and General Milo have different identities, but weakness in the face of the temptation of honor (getting or avoiding losing it) puts them in the same position in two different conversations).
The third segment: the court debate, fully demonstrated the absurdity and powerlessness. A detail: in the 53rd minute, the rigor and rigidity of the sergeants walking in line, the seriousness of discipline in the military court; and a medium shot that followed: Milo was indifferent on the only sofa next to him, playing with his legs and playing with his fingers. comparison. In addition, dax's excellent final statement: "These people you call cowards (referring to the innocent three soldiers) are not "stains on the French flag" (general, etc.), and this makeshift court and you will The verdict is the one made, I hope you will show mercy." You can say the strongest voice on the anti-war level.
Fourth segment: There is a scene about cockroaches in the film. In the cell, Paris (one of the three soldiers) saw the cockroach crawling across the table and said, "Tomorrow it will be closer to my wife and children than I will be to them. Tomorrow it will be alive and I will be dead. It's gone." At this time, ferol (the other) slapped the cockroach to death and said, "Now you are stronger than it." The three soldiers who are about to be executed are stronger than cockroaches. In fact, they have more "power" than cockroaches and can decide the life and death of cockroaches, just as in the army, their lives are also controlled by others. In fact, it is inferred that their situation is no different from that of cockroaches. Here we have the second repetition (repetition 2: the cockroach symbolizes the soldier in the court, and the soldier symbolizes the general in the court) and the third repetition (repetition 3: the cockroach and the soldier face a common fate— The coming death is in the same situation as Dax and Milo faced the glory in the first repetition - there is no power to fight back.) If you look carefully, there is a desire to be suppressed before being buried. Because due to the difference in status, the consequences of the failure of the soldiers and the failure of the officers are more serious, and no matter who fails, it is always the soldier (the one without honor) who dies. This seems to be a little defense for glory: glory stands in front of death, and it is a protective garment between the glorious and death. But as the film progresses, we discover that this is not the case.
The fifth segment: Colonel Dax asked the company commander: Did you have a personal grudge against Paris for choosing Paris to be the one to die? The company commander denied (in fact, yes, paris knew the secret that the company commander killed the soldier by mistake and escaped). Dax then asked: Then why did you choose paris to be the one to die? The company commander said: There is no way, I always have to choose one. Dax said: Then, you will lead the execution tomorrow. The company commander refused (with a distressed, disturbed expression). Dax then repeated the original words of the company commander: There is no way, I always have to choose one. (Repeat 4) The
sixth segment: A grand guard of honor accompanied by deep drums, three soldiers walking towards the end of the road of glory, three bare wooden trunks, that is death. They were tied to a wooden trunk, and one of them was called Paris, and after the soldiers took the order of the general, they shot at Paris, in the name of patriotism, in the name of the French flag, and the capital of France was called Paris. On the way to glory, one of them kept crying while hugging the pastor beside him, but even God couldn't save those who were deeply trapped in the name of glory. Then, amid the sound of gunfire and drums, three soldiers died.
The seventh segment: Milo has dinner with George, and Dax is invited by George. Immediately after George announced the results of Dax's previous report on Milo to save innocent soldiers, Milo faced a court-martial. George smiled at Milo: "You don't know how happy I was when I heard the news." Because of this, George could shirk his responsibility to tempt Milo to send troops. Milo stood up angrily and said his last words in the film: "You're taking advantage of me, I'm the most innocent person here. You don't know what you stabbed in the back - yes, one, Soldier (word by word)" is a sacred scene with a serious expression. If you only look at the ending, you will be mistaken for Milo's innocence. Kubrick shot this scene entirely with Milo as the accuser of justice, and it achieves the best irony. His accusation against George was what the soldiers did not say about him. Using Milo's mouth to say this sentence, Milo faced George as helpless as the soldiers faced him. On the road of glory, glory could not give him any protection. Dax is going to chant the three soldiers in the court debate. The past record is the same as Glory was stopped and invalidated by a judge. It also expresses the moral of the film: on the road of glory, any past glory can not protect the people who walk on the road, the world is absurd, a war can be staged over a lunch, and a person can be sentenced in an instant. destiny. Glory already attained, whether within war (soldier) or outside of war (general), does not prevent the path of glory from reaching its inevitable end, which is death. The pursuit of glory only accelerates the process. (Repeat 5)
In this film, Kubrick conveyed not only the anti-war sonorous voice, but also the ironic and glorious sneer, as well as the doubts and questions about the meaning and purpose of life. Are the lives of countless people just charging towards a humble highland called Ant? Is the highland in the name of ants and the road in the name of glory the whole life of every soldier? Is it the whole of our lives?
There is no answer.
But at the end of the film, Kubrick tries to inquire: a German girl captured by the French soldiers sings a German ballad - The Faithful Hussar, with laughter Gradually subsided, resonating with every soldier. On the battlefield of life, everyone is his own soldier. Although life is absurd, he must be loyal to himself. War is absurd, and we can oppose war; life is absurd, but we cannot oppose life. Kind of like the ending of The Seven Deadly Sins: "Ernest Hemingway once wrote,'the world is a fine place and worth fighting for.'I agree with the second part."
——"Hemingway once said this:" The world is beautiful and worth our hard work. "I agree with the second half of the sentence."
The last sentence of the film is that a soldier comes to report a new deployment order to Dax, who answers with a light smile: "Give them some more time..." It's
not just anti-war. The film was shot at a time when existentialist philosophy was predominant in the West, and this may also be Kubrick's answer to the absurdity of existence.
Existentialism says: The world is absurd.
Hemingway said: It is worth our hard work.
dax said: give them (us) a little more time...
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