why cry? I don't know, but this reminds me of a radio show where I was a teacher of green monsters. I said that when I watched Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina", there was a passage where Levin met at a political event. One neighbor and two landlords started chatting, and I cried while reading. The green demon teacher said, why are you crying? I thought about it and said, probably because that very ordinary conversation is full of helplessness and difficulties in life, which people usually don't notice. But Tolstoy noticed it, took it to heart, and wrote it down. I thought at the time that if Tolstoy could understand the landlord, he would probably understand me. Watching Billy Lynn's story has such a similar feeling. The camera is actually the director's gaze. What kind of person a director is, determines what he can see and what can be seen by the audience. When I watched "Billy Lynn", I felt Ang Lee's gaze, he could really see the world of our little minds, the embarrassment and pain in our hearts that are unspeakable and unclear at all, Difficult, confused. He really sees it all. Not only did I see Billy's heart with him, but I also felt that my heart was seen. All my grievances and embarrassments that I couldn't express, without a word, he understood everything. This look was too tender, so I cried. like a child.
The story of the little soldier Billy Lynn is not complicated. We have all heard of the theoretical term "war trauma", but I am afraid that no one can really empathize with it. During the Wenchuan Earthquake, I learned a piece of psychological knowledge. Don't casually say "I can understand your feelings" to those who have experienced hardships, because you can't. Also don't say "I know how you feel" to them because you can't. Billy returned to his homeland from a distant enemy country. He used to be an unremarkable boy from an ordinary family, and his heart may be lonely. But he's now a household hero throughout America, he's finally seen, everyone knows his name, but his loneliness doesn't go away, it swells up and becomes something as big as his fame. Honor, love, money... passed him one by one in just a few hours, but he felt more and more lonely, everyone felt that they understood him, they praised him, evaluated him, defined him , Everyone sees him standing in front of him, but no one can really understand his feelings, everyone is looking at him, but no one can see him, his sadness is so great. (Writing this sentence, I really want to have a funny picture to match our absurd life). In his own words, people are praising you for the worst day of your life, and it really feels like...
seeing is compassion, being seen is comforting. It's not easy to see, couples who share the same bed, parents and children who love each other deeply, classmates, friends, colleagues, people who live with you every day, but can't see each other, walking in this world, around They are all discerning people, but they are like invisible people, and their hearts are extremely lonely. Many people say that Ang Lee's attitude in this movie is very vague, or even has no attitude. I think he certainly has his attitude, but arguing about Ang Lee's attitude is not a very important thing to me. Watching a movie sometimes requires not only brains, but also hearts. In many cases, what you need is to feel and experience, rather than to think and speculate logically. Some people can only use their brains, not their hearts, and not be able to feel and experience, either by nature, or by various learning and training the day after tomorrow. This is amazing. It is absolutely impossible to reach a consensus by the discussion method of logical thinking. If someone's heart is closed and his eyes are closed, he can't feel or see. There's really no way to force it.
Going back to the question about 120 frames mentioned at the beginning of the article, is such a story worth shooting to see 120 frames? My answer is, it's worth it. In the future, we will see many big movies exploring the universe shot with 120 frames. We will have the opportunity to watch them in the future, and we can see that various visual effects will emerge one after another. But the inner world of an ordinary person is as important as the entire universe, and everyone who thinks that each of us deserves to be seen in this way, maybe only Ang Lee, such movies, may be in the future for a long time For a while, there was only this one.
Soldier Billy Lynn finally made his choice, saying goodbye to his sister that he might die a virgin. This day is actually a very important moment in his life for him. It is also a moment of spiritual insight often mentioned in literature. This short story is very similar to Joyce's novel. At the beginning of the story, as a bystander, I hoped that Billy would make the choice to stay. What's so rare about this, shouldn't it be a natural thing, he is a fighting hero, has enough legitimate reasons to leave the army, loves his sister, and is holding on to him hard, the new girl may develop a beautiful love, He can sell his story to Hollywood for a sum of money, his good image makes it easy for him to find a decent job, and the most important thing is to be able to live in a peaceful world, he is not a family and a country The young man, after experiencing this short day, already knows the meaninglessness and nothingness of war. So why did he choose to go back to the war?
Because his loneliness is too great, and his sadness is too great. It seems that the elephant in the room is so big that no one around him can see it. My sister loves him very much. A psychiatrist, but what can a psychiatrist help him? Others are hell, Sartre said. Well, for Billy Lynn, if it wasn't for his teammates and the captain's company by his side, this day could be said to be a huge hell composed of all those who praised him, paid attention to him but didn't understand him. So, at the end of the movie, he goes back to his teammates and goes back to the war, and that's not a choice for honor and for the country. That was the only choice he, a survivor, could make. Because in this world, the motherland is no longer home, and Iraq is even less likely to be. At this time, Billy, the only decision he can make is to return to the armored vehicle and return to his team. Only in the heart of Lynn's soldiers can they feel their true connection to the world, and they can feel that they are truly seen and understood. Although the boys are not very good at speaking, it is the only way to cherish each other and go on with each other. This is the only light that the lonely boy can see in the vast sea, and he can only try his best to swim to it. Yes, we are desperate to seize the little bit of light and warmth in the world, because we are not only lonely, but also vulnerable. Just like Wang Jiazhi's last choice, it was because of fragility.
Maybe one day, Billy Lynn will be able to return to his hometown alive, but he probably also knows that at this moment, he stepped out to bid farewell to his hometown parents and his old life. He will never come back. Maybe, from the first day he was a soldier, he has been unable to come back. If he pushes forward, maybe from the day his sister had a car accident, there will be today's results. That's why the dead captain told him that this is fate. Sudden car accidents, flash floods, such things are of course destiny, but many times in life, when you are faced with a choice, you think you can finally choose your own destiny this time. destiny choice. Even if everything never happened and I gave you a hundred more chances, you would still make the same choice back then, under the circumstances at that time, even though you may regret it after the incident, and you may feel that if you have another chance, you will definitely choose another one. An answer, but it is not, it is also fate. At the end of the movie, Billy understands and accepts it, so he goes, it has nothing to do with patriotism or anti-war, it has nothing to do with the fate of a little soldier named Billy Wynn. As a regular viewer, I saw and was seen, and that's ok.
After the movie, I walked on the street for a while, and I kept thinking of Rilke's poem: Whoever is lonely at this moment will always be alone. I would like to add: Whoever bids farewell to their hometown at this time will be wandering forever. If loneliness is also a kind of destiny, then we can only accept it, can't we? But I love you, accompany my friend quietly with eyes in loneliness, thank you for seeing me, I want to tell you that I see you too.
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