To briefly talk about the story behind the story of "Snow Country Train", Mason, the second in command of the train, was originally a male character, but due to the addition of Tilda Swinton, Bong Joon-ho decided to change the gender of the character. The actors of Curtis and Wilford should have been It was Jack Gyllenhaal and Dustin Hoffman, but due to scheduling issues, the two role players were also replaced by Chris Evans and Ed Harris. One of the most interesting is Tilda Swinton, who imitated Margaret Thatcher in the film, which can be regarded as a little spoof.
The whole film admires me the most is the setting of the theme, political: Doomsday dictatorship, brainwashing revolution. The
reason why I chose these two sets of vocabulary to illustrate the political nature of the film is based on the setting of the plot, which is also the most superficial level of the film. mean. A train, three, six or nine passengers, unequal treatment. According to these details, there is a kind of charm of "Water Margin". After eighteen years of darkness in the last car, the overwhelmed passengers rise up. From the perspective of this plot alone, it is slightly thin, because there are too many movies on this subject, Steve McQueen "Hunger." Ken Lodge's "The Wind Blows Wheat Waves" F. Gary Gray's "Law Abiding Citizens" Although the story settings are different, they are all rebellious due to various reasons. But Feng Junhao's cleverness lies in putting this kind of group resistance in a confined space, that is, a small pattern of resistance, which makes the movie more interesting.
The role played by Tilda Swinton in this film can be defined as a spokesperson, a leader of public opinion, and the meaning of her existence is to rule the people at the end of the carriage ideologically, and maintain the peace of the entire train by preaching the non-existent truth, goodness and beauty. . However, her brainwashing of the passengers in the last carriage was unsuccessful. One year is okay and two years are okay, but in the seventeen years, her lie will eventually be exposed. Once the people under dictatorship or high-handed politics find a gap in resistance, they will do their best. Adapted from George Orwell’s famous sci-fi prophecy novel "1984", there are also such scenes. Godard’s film "Alpha City" also assumes a political environment. Therefore, Feng Junhao does not consider the overall theme of the film. It is not original, but uses this background to tell the story that I want to tell. Putting the background of the story in a train, dilutes the imitation trace of the theme.
Dystopia:
Perpetual motion engine The inspiration for the perpetual motion engine should come from the perpetual motion machine. The appearance of the perpetual motion machine is directly related to the three words Utopia. The setting of this film is dystopia, and dystopia is the negative rational society. In an ideal society, material civilization overflows and is higher than spiritual civilization. However, because it is a utopia, it is almost perfect. However, in this perfect society, the human spirit does not have real freedom in a highly developed technological society. . In this film, the train is running continuously with the support of the perpetual engine. There is an independent circulation system in the train. Each carriage has a different setting. Passengers can get enough food without work. An idealized society. Because it is not true, it needs to be broken. The passengers at the end of the train happen to be dystopians, and their resistance is not pure, but also for delicious food and a comfortable living environment, so they can only call it dystopia. Egoist.
The luxury of upper class passengers, the sacrifice of friends who resisted together, the death of spiritual support and soul leader... all these are reasons for dystopia. Feng Junhao’s design reminds me of Stendhal’s "Red and Black" on the first few pages of the book. There is an explanation of "red and black" in the first few pages of the book. Red refers to its special way to resist the paracortical degree. The petty bourgeois traitor (Julian), Hei, refers to the dark forces including the reactionary church, the aristocracy and the bourgeoisie. But the character design in the movie does not seem to be so clear. Among the insurgents, Curtis and Nangong Minxiu represent two types of people in the same class. Although they are resisting the same, they have different goals.
Order:
The people on the train inside and outside the system can be said to live under the same system, and this system comes from the dictator of the train-Wilford. Among the insurgents, Curtis does not understand the dark history of the train. His attitude is obvious, very front, but he loves the tail. The purpose of his revolution is to overthrow the front. In essence, Curtis is like the bloody knowledge of the revolution. Molecules, full of idealism, life in the tail makes him feel the existence and meaning of life, perhaps some people's vitality needs to be detonated through offensive and counterattack, Curtis is a typical example.
But Nangong Minxiu wanted to break this system. What he resisted was not the front section, not the tail end, but the entire train. He wanted to get freedom by breaking away from the train, while Curtis wanted to change the train through the internal revolution of the train. system. The personality settings of Nangong Minxiu and Curtis happen to represent the two types of people who are now chanting democracy. One type of people emigrate overseas with the purpose of pursuing democracy, thinking that they are standing in an international position, so that they can criticize wanton. On the other hand, people in the other category strive for democracy through their own thoughts and actions. Although humble, they are fanatical and moving.
The behaviors of the characters are very cleverly set, but overall, they are still too rigid and flat, and most of the characters have no personality. They are just a living organism in the group. After completing the things that should be done, life can scratch the full stop. No way to leave a deep impression in the hearts of the audience.
Dictatorship: Doomsday Dictatorship
The movie "The Last Dictatorship" starring Whitaker left a deep impression in my heart. The notice of Ugandan President Andy Amin and the brainwashing of the people are clearly visible in "Snow Country Train". Why didn't Amin immediately kill those who resisted him, but to spread this information through assassinations, public opinion, etc. The purpose is the necessity of this information. In "Snow Country Train", Wildford is unwilling to kill the passengers at the end because these passengers are necessary to survive. On the train, the dictator Wildford hypnotizes the people by disseminating information about the perpetual engine and completes his own notification. Perpetual engine is the ultimate dream of technological development, just like communism is the ultimate form of human society. Everyone praises it, praises it, and admires it, but only Wildford knows the truth in the former, and only Marx knows the truth in the latter. .
The inevitability of dictatorship provides a breeding ground for resistance, and the reason is also very good. Bong Joon Ho is striving to make the story more perfect, giving credibility to every behavior of the characters, and often this perfect trace of striving for perfection is too much. obvious. The behaviors and lines of the characters are always too exaggerated. In fact, many behaviors do not need to be explained again with words, because the plot of the whole movie is still relatively simple, except for metaphors, there is no obscurity. "Snow Country Train" itself is two extreme societies, an extremely extravagant upper class society and an extremely oppressed bottom class, while the oppressive interpretation of the bottom class is too simple and insufficiently persuasive. Therefore, in this movie, the space is so closed and the class is so clear, all metaphors have become superficial manifestations.
Conclusion:
As a sci-fi movie, "Snow Country Train" has no sense of sci-fi at all except for the sci-fi nature of the train itself. From the construction of the world to the cramped end, this is explained. The movie itself also carries the coldness and darkness of comics, but this does not explain Bong Joon Ho's ability, but only represents his ambition to enter Hollywood. Compared with his previous movies, this movie is full of too many bugs and imitations. The problem of order emphasized in the movie. The final answer is that no order is also a kind of order. All good and evil, human nature, religion, belief, Reason will be confused at a certain moment, and what is left is the American-style self-spirit and the Korean-style belief in freedom.
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