So real, so painful, so charming (spoiler)

Brooke 2022-12-22 23:19:46

My favorite Leonard Cohen's theme song Never Mind, the opening song is mainly in red and white, the avatars of each character are not fully presented, all are just silhouettes.
I like the ending of it, not pretentious, not offering false sunshine, not giving you a little bit of fluke: yes, the world is so cruel, and some people are just so unlucky. One of the four protagonists was beaten to death in the back; one was stabbed and then thrown into the vast desert, with a flock of crows waiting behind every step he took; one was hunted in the woods without even sending out his last words. ; The only heroine had to go far to South America. But if you ask me who's ending is my favorite, it's Ray's. Although Paul was regarded as a hero after his death, he was troubled by his own past and sexual orientation all his life. He was a person suppressed by ideas, even a slave, and the final cause of death was partly because he could not let go of his homosexuality. Frank was actually the closest to his goal, but in the end he lost in a suit. "I didn't wear a decent suit until I was thirty-eight years old." What he couldn't let go of was the 45-year struggle in his life. When his wife persuaded him to give up, the tone of his answer reminded me of the investors who were "locked up". Frank was locked up by the wealth he once owned until the day he died. He is the smartest of the four. He has the cunning and greed of a businessman. never satisfied. As for Ani, what has all this changed for her? She fell in love with a man, and then lost him, and the day she left South America, she was still burdened with the burden of grievances for her companions. But Ray, let go of his obsession. Ray's image has always been of the angry type, who lashes out at the little things, buries himself in spirits and drugs at the slightest setback, and his life is unsustainably chaotic before the story really begins. His roar after learning that he had killed the wrong person: "So I sold my soul for nothing." is really touching. After smoking a pack of cocaine, smoking two packs of cigarettes, finishing a bottle of spirits, and smashing a glass case full of models covered with his son with his bare hands, he gave up his fight against fate. He knows that he is not fit to be a father, nor can he be a good father. He is not even sure if he can live his own life well, and how can he take care of his children independently? Since he can't change himself, there is no need to force others. He let go of his unwillingness, and let go of the only fetters that real life has on him.
When Ray leaned against the tree before he was knocked down and looked up at the sky for the last time, the sun, the leaves, the stones, the whole world slowed down, and the brilliant California sunshine shone on his face through the green branches and leaves of the century-old tree, so clear , so bright, so alive, and he was about to die. I believe that at that moment his heart must have been peaceful, his eyes were so peaceful, even his breathing became slow, and his turbulent life finally had a definite answer.
At the moment when the camera switched to the sky, I suddenly remembered the title of Ma Jiahui's book: "It is not bad to die here".

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Extended Reading

The Western Book of the Dead quotes

  • Ray Velcoro: I welcome judgement.

  • Ray Velcoro: I used to want to be an astronaut. But astronauts don't even go to the moon anymore.