rationalist
Maria Braun is probably the most complex and unique character I've ever seen in a movie. In my opinion, she is a pure rationalist. This is not to say that she has no feelings and desires, on the contrary, Maria's feelings are warm and enduring. But her reason is stronger, strong enough to bring feelings and desires into the framework of reason. Reason allows feelings and desires to be satisfied, but reason is the arbiter and authority. Reason ruled her life until the moment before her end.
The most prominent manifestation of Maria's rationality is her attitude towards men. There are three important men in her life, her husband Herman, American military officer Bill and entrepreneur Oswald. Maria seemed to have a scale in her heart, weighing their weights clearly. She seemed to have another account book in her heart, and she remembered the results of the weighing clearly.
Maria liked Bill, thinking he was strong, brave, gentle, and always happy with him. Oswald held more weight in Maria's heart: he was handsome, a gentleman, and she had a deep dependence on Oswald. But Herman is Maria's true love. This love has passed through the flames of war, through the long years, and finally became rusty under the erosion of money and desire.
Maria's love for Herman is also extremely rational. There is a stark contrast here, that of Maria's mother. Maria's father left home in May 1941 and died on the battlefield five months later, and it took ten years for Mary to fall in love again. So Maria said with emotion:
It never seemed to me that my mother was a woman too.
Maria's mother saw that she went to the train station every day to find Herman, and thought her daughter was her own copy. She said:
Do you know why we are always attached to a man? Because you can only love one person. I don't understand how Maria could understand this at such a young age. She has her pride.
However, the slap in the face came too fast like a tornado. Just 15 minutes into the movie, Maria threw Herman's missing person notice under the rails and started looking for someone else.
Bill
Maria's new love is Bill, who is the poorest person in the film. He fell in love with Maria at first sight, and during the most difficult period after the war, Bill helped Maria's family through the famine. Although Maria rejected Bill's proposal, she became pregnant with Bill's child. If the two people develop smoothly, there will probably be a happy ending.
But everything was shattered by Herman's sudden return. Maria's heart immediately fell back to Herman, and Bill lost his life in the clash of the three.
Bill's death is a game worth pondering. Why did Maria kill Bill? Getting panicky at seeing Herman and Bill scuffle together? Or was Maria trying to protect her husband because Bill hurt Herman?
I don't think it is. This is a rational decision made in an instant after weighing the pros and cons. After Herman entered the door, he beat Maria, smoked, and tore the sheets, but never got angry at Bill. Bill clamped on Herman to calm him down. Then Herman was discouraged and almost fell on the bed, so that neither of them would be hurt. However, Maria suddenly attacked from behind, killing Bill with one blow.
Although Maria and Bill are happy together. But after Herman came back, Bill and Bill's children became the biggest obstacle to reuniting with Herman. So she chose to get rid of Bill, even at the cost of jail time, and soon after killing the child in her womb. Maria's rationality was cruel.
Oswald
Herman took the blame for Maria and went to jail. And Maria and Oswald met on the train, when there was a black American soldier messing around, like Bill incarnate. As the saying goes, "but seeing the new laugh, the old cry", in Maria's heart, Oswald was a higher existence than Bill.
The interaction with Oswald reflects another major feature of Maria's rationalism, which is the distinction between public and private. Maria is accustomed to treating people with dichotomies. For example, she once confronted Willie at the negotiating table, berating the other party's demands as extortion. Immediately after the meeting, go for drinks with Willie and discuss emotional issues. Maria herself said:
I am a capitalist's assistant by day, and a union spy by night.
The public-private distinction was most concentrated in attitudes to Oswald. The day after she and Oswald slept, there was a conversation that made their relationship clear:
Oswald: I'm here to see you, for a private visit
Maria: This is not a private residence, this is an office, in your company
Oswald: Well, the office is open from Saturday afternoon to Monday morning. Come with me to the countryside?
Maria: I'm so sorry, I want to see someone on Saturday
Oswald: You...
Maria: I am still me
Oswald: You were another person last night
Maria: I was Maria Braun last night and wanted to sleep with you. Today, I'm Maria Braun and I want to work for you
At different times and places, there were two Maria Brauns, one was Oswald's lover and the other was an employee of the textile factory owner. The two do not affect each other and can be switched freely. And Oswald was confused by Maria, saying "I'm old and a little dull" at one point, and then "I'm really like a schoolboy" at the same time. I can't tell if he is old or young...
This is not Maria's trick to manipulate Oswald, because she told Herman in prison about their relationship. Anyone with a normal mind should understand that this kind of thing cannot be said to her husband at all. However, Maria is too rational, she thinks others have the same way of thinking as her.
She even said to Herman:
Why can't he know that I slept with another man? If I said I love you, he would know too.
For Maria, "I love you" and "I slept with another man" are two completely different things. Since Herman couldn't be by her side, she could go and find a replacement. She even invited Oswald to her mother's birthday party, which was attended by the closest family members, and was treated like a husband at all.
Herman
Maria's rationality and frankness greatly hurt Herman's feelings. In the past, when Maria visited prison, the two of them always excitedly planned the future together. However, after knowing Oswald's existence, Herman's mood began to deteriorate.
Herman's unhappiness finally affected Maria, especially when Herman left without saying goodbye after being released from prison, which became an important turning point in Maria's life. Since then, she has become extremely irritable, either yelling or sneering at Oswald, family members, and colleagues. And Maria started smoking from then on. This seemingly inconspicuous little thing finally decided the fate of her and Herman.
We know at the end of the film that Herman disappeared because he and Oswald made an agreement that Herman would leave Maria after his release from prison until Oswald died. In this way, he and Maria could share Oswald's huge legacy equally.
From a rational point of view, it's a three-of-a-kind trick, with a distinctly Maria-like twist: Oswald was accompanied by Maria in his final days; Maria and Herman became rich; and the two have equal status.
Unfortunately, love is not a mathematical formula, nor is it a contract term. Maria always treats others rationally, but the rational agreement between the two men exhausts Maria's love for Herman.
Both Maria and Herman have said that they want to give all their property to each other, which is simply a blackened version of "The Gift of the Magi". In O'Henry's novel, Jim and Della sacrifice their most precious things in exchange for an unbreakable love. And Maria and Herman sacrificed their love for money they didn't care about. When they want to exchange money for love, they find that they are already overwhelmed.
This three-win rationally deal ended up being three emotional losses: Oswald only got a perverse Maria, the two often quarreled, and the relationship was on the verge of rupture, so he was not happy in his later years; Although Mann and Maria relived their dreams, they had a deep estrangement with each other, especially after the agreement was exposed, even if there was no accident, the only thing waiting for them was to break up; Already on the verge of collapse, ended his own life in the most irrational way.
For many things in life, rationality may be the best solution, which can ensure fairness and maximize interests, but it often does not work. Because the people around us are not rational, we ourselves are not fully rational, and most importantly, destiny is not rational.
Maria tries to plan her own life path through reason, but is often disturbed by fate: when she and Herman are newly married, they are separated due to war; when she and Bill are glued together, Herman unexpectedly returns ; When she and Herman finally got rid of all obstacles, an accident that was not an accident suddenly came.
Three weeks of love, half a day of marriage, 10 years in prison, 22 months of disappearance, and a second of ashes. This is the marital tragedy of Maria Braun.
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