During an avalanche, no snowflake feels responsible.
Filmed to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, the film is about the trial of the century for high-ranking Nazi official Adolf Eichmann.
How the film itself was shot, let's not say for the time being. For me, I think more about the word "banality of evil".
Baidu Encyclopedia defines "banal evil" as follows:
The English is The Banality of Evil, as a philosophical term, it refers to the crime without thought and responsibility under the ideological machine.
That is, we are familiar with the law of not blaming the crowd, looting, and a variant of Chinese-style crossing the road.
After watching this movie, the first thing that comes to mind is the recent incident of Chongqing bus falling into the water. There is a lot of discussion on the Internet. Although the driver and the woman who quarrels with the driver must bear the main responsibility, are the passengers who are indifferent to their tearing also responsible? As long as one person stands up to stop it during the dispute, this tragedy can be avoided.
In fact, Chinese people are not unfamiliar with such events. It's a tradition from ancient times to the present that each person sweeps the snow in front of the door and takes care of the frost on others' tiles. From the duck necks who watched the execution in Lu Xun's writings to the silent death of thousands of people in the face of dozens of Japanese people, the essence is similar. The reason for this is the poison left over from the ancient family society and imperial power.
So here comes the question. Is this silence, mediocrity and inaction good or bad? Is it right or wrong?
I am afraid that this alternative answer cannot be simply given. But what is certain is that you contributed, consciously or unconsciously, to the outcome, influencing the course of the eventual event, no matter how small.
The inscription on a German priest's inscription when he talked about the Holocaust by the Nazis is still thought-provoking.
"At first they killed trade unionists, but I didn't say anything because I wasn't a trade unionist; later they killed the Communist Party, and I didn't say anything, because I wasn't a Communist Party; then they killed Jews, but I didn't say anything because I wasn't Jewish; , they killed Catholics, and I remained silent because I was a Christian. In the end they were going to kill me, and there was no one to speak for me, because they killed everyone who could speak."
Going back to the film itself, director Leo has been trying to capture Eichmann's humanity, even a little bit, during the month-long trial. The result disappointed him. In the face of the bloody and cruel facts, the executioner always looked calm and his expression did not waver, as if these things had nothing to do with him. For a moment, there was a hint of mockery at the corner of his mouth. And he justified himself: I was just following the orders of my superiors, I didn't kill the Jews, and of course I didn't feel any guilt.
We can't help but ask: why? Arendt, author of "Eichmann in Jerusalem" gave the answer - Banality of Evil.
What about the inherent goodness of human nature? This can't help but frustrate us. In the film, there is a scene where the director angrily smashes the file in front of the monitor, cursing and begging Eichmann in the tribunal, "come on, do something."
come on do something
Leo tries to lead the world to think about what makes an ordinary person a person who can send hundreds of children to their deaths. Under certain circumstances, anyone may act fascist. That's right, the last sentence is a blow to the head, the environment shapes and transforms people. The evil deeds of the Nazi soldiers to kill Jews with poison gas are no different from the Japanese soldiers carrying knives in the Nanjing Massacre. They are both group madness.
"The Crowd" also expounds a similar reasoning. We outsiders look at those people who have been brainwashed by pyramid schemes, there are many doctors and social elites, and then hateful curse words are stupid. But you can guarantee that under the influence of that atmosphere, you will not fall? Frankly speaking, I have no confidence. But the bald cameraman in the film, crying and answering categorically, I won't. I doubt it.
Human nature is always the most complex, uncontrolled and irrational. The reason for the evil of mediocrity lies in blind obedience and lack of independent thinking. Once you fall into the abyss of evil, it is difficult to turn back. Then became numb and unkind. That said, it seems like mediocrity is wrong. Not quite.
The undeniable fact is that for the vast majority of us, it is mediocre. The ultimate solution not to be evil is that the system (environment) we are in is inherently good. All we can do is think a little bit more and not follow suit.
Obviously, the ultimate purpose of the public trial is not simply to achieve justice, but more to use history as a mirror to wake up the world and avoid the recurrence of tragedies. I think that's the greatest value of this movie.
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