Burton's Thomas Beckett was handsome in the excommunication scene (couldn't have been better for the sonorous and vicious lines). His eyes are always up for grabs. The scene where he is finally stabbed to death in front of the altar is also beautiful. The tomb statue with its eyes closed and calm demeanor is also beautiful. Other than that, he was more interesting before the transition. As a Saxon after being conquered by the Normans (please abandon the real events in history and follow the script), he seems to have accepted the reality without any ideological struggle (in fact, the era ruled by Henry II was far from the black Almost a hundred years have passed since the Battle of Stings, and of course diehards like Brother John with narrow national hatreds believe there will always be), with knowledge and talent in the service of the descendants of William the Conqueror, in the Norman dynasty He was like a fish in water and rose step by step, and was deeply favored by the king. He was entrusted with the important task of governing the country, and promoted him to be the de facto executive head of one person under ten thousand people: the former minister and the minister of the seal (Lord Chancellor). In his private life outside of political life, the king regarded him as an accomplice who could talk about anything and do evil, and do all kinds of unethical and unethical things either with him or in front of him. If the king were a fool who had nothing but fun, he could easily have been a powerful minister and a minister (in some people's eyes he was already), but Henry II happened to be not a dumb and incompetent prince. Lord of the world (actually he was the founding lord of the Anjou Dynasty or the Plantagenet Dynasty). Judging from the fact that Beckett dealt with such a difficult master as Henry II in the early stage, but completely covered the other side, he was really a very forgiving and nihilistic person. Innocent people exchanged for a noble lady who loved her, and did not show much grief and shock when she heard the news of the lady's suicide Instead, he protected and contained him: there seemed to be no evil in this world that could offend him, and no good that could move him, just emptiness. So he didn't care about the king's rudeness and kindness, and he didn't care about the jealousy of other ministers and bishops. The only thing that troubled him was: what glory is there in this world that he deserves to sacrifice and defend?
Such a state of nothingness was broken when the king offered him the high position of Archbishop of Canterbury. The king aims to use (he believes) Beckett, who is absolutely loyal to himself, to indirectly control the Church of England. Because Beckett is absolutely loyal, he will definitely not oppose him like the previous archbishop and become a constraint on the monarchy after he takes the position of Archbishop of Canterbury. . He trusted Beckett so much without the slightest qualms or doubts that a whim drove him to make such a big decision. Interestingly, at this time, Beckett seemed to have a premonition and asked him to take back his order. The first reason was that he was not a priest, but a deacon. The king responded with sneer, this is too simple, you can be ordained first. priest, then ordained archbishop. Beckett made a sincere second request, and his words had already hinted at an impending split, but the stubborn king did not notice and did not agree, and forced Beckett to return to England that night (they were on the sea crossing to fight against France). en route). The wood is done. When the camera resumes, we see Beckett selling his possessions and giving away his clothes, claiming to be following the teachings of the Gospels (“If you will be perfect, go and sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will There is treasure in the sky, and you have to follow me.”) Because the previous Beckett was in a state of nothingness, from here onwards, his thoughts and actions were incomprehensible. Is there any mystery and power in the position of the Archbishop of Canterbury? Can the person sitting in this position immediately feel God and throw himself at him in an instant? Or because Beckett has been looking for a certain kind of glory that can make him truly committed, so his empty mind is easier to be stationed by some kind of force... (Well, please make up your own mind how Thomas Beckett is here The critical moment completes the thought change to St. Thomas Beckett) In
any case, Thomas Beckett, who became the Archbishop of Canterbury, quickly abandoned his king without any ideological struggle, devoted himself to God, and took up the church on his shoulders Mission: He finally found the glory worth dedicating to and defending with his life, the glory of God. The tragedy of abuse of heart and body thus opened the curtain. And the king who followed the route of the disciples and the logic of rogue robbers throughout the article did not change his character as a rogue robber when facing his former minister and minister of seal, and shot himself in the foot with a stone and gave his family to him. God, and then began the sad and doomed fate of robbing people with God.
Contact the sequel of this film "Winter Lion", we know that the family of the Plantagenet Dynasty and the family of the Cape Dynasty can be said to be intertwined with grievances and grievances. If the two are brought together to watch the show, then this The repertoire in the family can be described as wonderful and intricate. We know that the mighty queen of King Henry II of England, Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine, was originally the original wife of King Louis VII of France. She gave birth to two daughters to Louis VII, but to Henry II at least three son (by default Richard the Lionheart, Geoffrey Count of Brittany and John the Lost King are all born to Eleanor). We know that after Henry II fell out with Beckett, our dear archbishop went to France to take shelter. We also know that Beckett once studied in universities and seminaries in Paris and other places for a long time, and the French king has always been keen on academic development (Philip II, the son of Louis VII, is a typical example, he built Paris into the first medieval city. school), so it is difficult to guarantee that these two people did not meet early. We also know the relationship between Richard the Lionheart and Philip II: they not only formed an alliance and mutual benefit to fight against Henry II, but also immediately turned against each other after making Henry II angry, and the struggle continued until Richard died unexpectedly. The struggle continued into Lost John. In "Beckett" Henry II competes with God for Archbishop Beckett, in "Winter Lion" Philip II will run to turn against his son Richard I; in "Beckett" Henry II loves and does not love Tortured in between, he will go to war with his wife and children in "The Lion in Winter," exhausted and bitterly disappointed by his own sons (the shadow of St. Beckett still lingers). Henry II in these two films is played by O'Toole alone.
Beginning with that evil smile on the left corner of the mouth when he takes off his shirt in front of Beckett's sarcophagus (preparing for a penitential flogging) in the opening scene, and continues to the last scene where hands are pressed on the folded hands of Beckett's tomb, saying "God's Has the glory been washed away? Are you satisfied now, Thomas?" Then he turned his face with a smile that was half-sad and half-joyed, his lips trembled invisibly, and his Henry II was indescribable. O'Toole's performances always have a subtle needle-like neuroticism, and maybe his body language, his movements, and his tone of speech are sometimes exaggerated (absurd, unscrupulous, and urchin-like), but his inner The way his pain is revealed is extremely subtle, and he uses his wild performances to cover up the real emotions, so the people in the play will be as incomprehensible to them as the audience: too easy and straightforward emotions are difficult to convince others, and they appear cheap. Perhaps Beckett couldn't love him from the bottom of his heart, because his seemingly fiery emotions had no connotation and were too straightforward, so they seemed cheap... Just like a child who is willing to accompany him and treat him well Like people have a strong sense of dependence, Beckett may be used to being dependent on his prince, but not really love him (I don't think Henry II in the film has anything worthy of his love, otherwise, God from a heart It's so easy to steal another heart there. But then again, even between two people who love each other, there can be no complete equal love, there will always be one who gives more than the other, bear more). For people in the theater, arrogant performance is a way to maintain dignity, as Henry II repeatedly emphasized, "I am the king", the king rules, the king gives orders, the king only asks and does not beg, the king has the dignity of a king , No matter how painful it is, he should not beg for giving, let alone alms. Therefore, for those pains and tortures, we saw that he performed extremely exaggerated, enthusiastic, and intense performances, but he was still able to forcefully take measures against Beckett, frame him, beat him, exile him, and finally instigate people to kill him intentionally or unintentionally. . Those heart-piercing emotional expressions are no more credible and powerful than the invisible trembling of the lips. For the audience, this contrasting movement and stillness creates a taut dramatic tension. He will definitely be interesting to play the perverted tyrants of ancient Rome (writing this, I remembered that Tiberius in "Caligula" was not played by him!)
The direction of the play and the historical record are roughly the same, and the trigger is a jurisdictional battle for a priestly crime case. This is a trivial piece in the picture scroll of the long struggle for monarchy and clergy in the Middle Ages. God's to God, Caesar's to Caesar. The church belongs to the church, and the king belongs to the king. Since the crime of priests was involved, it should belong to the jurisdiction of the church court, and the king and his nobles should not be overridden. The new Archbishop of Canterbury argues, drawing the king's resentment. Henry deeply felt that he had been betrayed and hurt: not long ago, he was still looking forward to Canterbury, just to get a little bit of news, but what he expected was cold diplomatic rhetoric. He thought that his best friend, who was going to help him control the Church of England, caught him by surprise. He rode alone from the palace to Canterbury for four hours to get an explanation from Beckett. Beckett's answer was to take off Lord Chancellor's Three Lions Ring and return it to him. Desperate Henry said, "I will learn to be alone". His revenge was swift and decisive, and he was accused of accusing Beckett of greed for ink during his tenure as Minister of State. Beckett had no choice but to flee, fleeing to the other side of the strait, trying to go to Rome through the protection of the French King, and complain to the Pope in person. He was warmly received by Louis VII. In short, after going back and forth, Henry, who stayed in England, couldn't stand the toss, so he had to compromise and welcome Beckett back (it is reported that Beckett repeatedly displayed the artifact of excommunication to retaliate when he was abroad and during his return to China...). The reunion scene on the beach is another sensational passage. "You're getting old..." "You're getting old..." The dialogue at the beginning is simply embarrassing. And I think Louis VII here is too "amiable" to watch the show (it shouldn't be, his wife was taken away by the king opposite, and the huge Duchy of Aquitaine was also dowry to England)...
Beckett The last words uttered at the time of his martyrdom were: Poor Henry...
very meaningful.
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