He just went to a better world.
Regardless of the story idea or the effect of the film, "Happy Lazzaro" is a rare work in recent years. Lazaro is like a mirror, his simplicity and kindness, and the purity of his "superhuman nature" reflect a lot, such as human nature, world sentiment, the passage of time and so on. But obviously, the director's intention is not limited to discussing these. From a further perspective, it is the love and killing of human nature and divinity, as well as the decades of vicissitudes of Italian society. In order to better understand the film, I intend to discuss the film from the following ten aspects.
One, who is Lazaro
On the farm, Lazaro was a barely-there presence. Because of his honesty and timid words and deeds, everyone yelled at him. As long as the people around him said anything casually, he would do whatever he wanted, and he would help whatever he wanted, such an honest child. Unlike some people who help others for the sake of something, like rewards, promotion, good popularity, good reputation, etc., but Lazaro doesn't want anything. His help is purely conscious and unconscious behavior, not intentional.
He never says "no", never looks sad, always has a demented "honest" look, in fact he doesn't have many friends, and when he's alone, he likes to cook in a little corner away from the crowd Coffee, I like to stare at the air in a daze, even if the rainstorm comes, I will not hide... This reminds me of Xu Sanduo in "Soldier Assault", who are full of "insensitive" people. However, people who are full of "insensitive power" often have some virtues that others are not easily aware of, and often have incredible power. For example, Xu Sanduo can do 333 abdominal wraps in one breath, and Lazaro is even more amazing, he can resist the passage of time.
Lazaro is a young man whose "heart of a child" has not yet been extinguished. This is not unrelated to the environment in which he lives. In that isolated farm, time passes slowly and interpersonal relationships are simple. As a tenant farmer, Lazaro does not need to think, but only needs to work constantly. Therefore, he thinks less and is not as complicated as the outside world, and his nature like to be close to nature makes him naturally purer than others. When watching the movie, I naturally think of a song "Nature Boy" by David Bowie. , Lazaro is the "son of nature". In this turbid world where fame and fortune are sought, his "heart of a child" is the rarest and most precious thing in the world.
It's a pity that people don't know the "heart of a child", and they don't know how to respect and cherish it, so whenever Lazaro appears, people always look unhappy, as if they have eaten fly shit. Everyone made fun of him when he had a high fever, and was unwilling to allocate a bed for him to rest. People can only understand him as a kind-hearted "fool" and "idiot", and then take advantage of him without any scruples, but never feel that he is valuable and rare. This is the paradox of human nature. Therefore, in the legend, Jesus was finally betrayed and misunderstood by the world, and he even used his own death to atone for the sins of the world. From the beginning to the end, human beings have been living in ignorance and ignorance. They will not realize their sins and ugliness. If a holy and beautiful person suddenly appears around them, they will only instinctively reject and hate them, but they don’t know it. repentance.
Second, time and existence
In the middle of the story, Lazaro suddenly fell off a cliff. At the same time, the marquise's deception was exposed, and all the deceived peasants fled the farm. It was at this time that the world moved forward for decades at once. When Lazaro wakes up from the coma, the world is no longer what it used to be.
This passage is probably the most bizarre and most magically realist part of "Lazaro of Happiness." Of course, this is a deliberate passage by the creator, from which we can glimpse the relentless passage of time in the world, and can also explain why Lazaro suddenly became "divine" later. The beauty of this fall from the cliff suddenly brought "Happy Lazzaro" to an otherworldly situation, and even the movie itself has a classic and unique temperament.
A person's long sleep does not wake up, and when he suddenly wakes up, the world is already different. This kind of story setting is involved in many classic texts in the West, such as Virginia Woolf's "Orlando", Bram W. Stoker's Dracula and more. And the scene of Lazaro falling off the cliff is not unique to the movie. An accident caused a man to stop growing, and he was gifted with supernatural powers. In Günter Grass' "The Tin Drum", this technique has been used. In "The Tin Drum", the little boy accidentally fell from the stairs, and then stopped growing, and has the talent to crack rocks with sound. The novel was made into a movie, and it also won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. The actor David Bennett, who played the little boy in the film, also made a cameo in the film. Zarro yelled at the investor who yelled "You two are clowns".
Because of this accidental fall from a cliff, the boundaries of time and space were broken, and the vision and pattern of the film were instantly opened. Lazaro came from the past to the present, and he still looks young. In the rush of time, we have also seen great changes in the people around us. The farmers of those farms have begun to take root in the city, but they are living a low-level life. They are no longer simple or kind, and they are intriguing and cheating. Become more like a "city man", and the young marquis who briefly met Lazaro in the countryside has become a loafing "liar" in the passage of time. The Pian Pian teenager became a greasy fat uncle. The change from the countryside to the city, as well as the time difference, left the simple Lazaro at a loss. But he still has the "heart of a child" in his heart as always, wandering in the urban jungle like a ghost, searching in this place that does not belong to him.
3. From Humanity to Divinity
In "Happy Lazzaro", there are three kinds of people who are more representative of human society. Lazzaro, the peasants around him, and the Marchioness. These three types of people represent the three levels of human beings. Relatively speaking, the "good" side of Lazaro is more prominent, and there is a rare "divine" in him, exuding a holy spirit from the inside out. The natural breath is like a clear stream that washes people's hearts. Unlike ordinary people who are full of desires, he is born with an indifferent nature. In his eyes, survival is like a journey that is easy to meet, regardless of purpose and meaning. Everyone deserves to be treated kindly, so he is always so content and "naive". After falling off the cliff, Lazaro was more divine than before, and the "human nature" was not obvious in him. Several shots are revealing this information, in addition to the appearance of eternal youth, he can take away the music of the church, and the holy beam cast between the trees, all indicate that he is no longer a mortal.
Like most people, the peasants of the farms have "human nature" that has the absolute upper hand. They are selfish and fussy and will exclude others, but overall they are not too bad. There are many such people in our lives, so it is not difficult for us to understand the mentality of these people. And when "human nature" faces "divine nature", it is natural to kneel on the ground, so we see that when Lazaro came to the present and appeared in front of the world again, his former companion Antonia was greatly horrified, Excited enough to suddenly bow down to him.
The Marquise is the villain in the movie. She cheated and exploited the peasants from the very beginning, and she was full of big truths. She made a living by bullying others, and she was familiar with the law of "the strong eat the weak". Such a twisted soul lives in the demon-ridden body.
If the "human nature" and "beast nature" of the people around him are not so obvious, Lazaro's "divine nature" will not be reflected; There is a scene in the movie, Lazaro's young partner Antonia finally embarked on the road of defrauding to make a living, and also let Lazaro join in to deceive good passers-by, but when Lazaro and her voted, she Unbelievably, she said that she didn't want to cooperate with Lazaro anymore, because her "human nature" and "divine nature" were in a fierce confrontation. As long as Lazaro was present, her willingness and depravity would undoubtedly be revealed. In order to make herself no longer condemned by her conscience, she did not dare to "do evil" with Lazaro again.
Fourth, from rural to urban
In "Happy Lazzaro", the change of time and space is almost a cliff-like jump. The vertical time is from decades ago to decades later, and the horizontal space is spread from the countryside to the city. It can be said that, The decades of social changes in Italy have been projected in the film. And if it is just a straightforward description of these changes, it may be boring, so the director created the character of Lazaro, who acts as a link between nature and industry, and also reflects the vast difference between the countryside and the city.
We should all have experienced this kind of social change. The urban-rural duality pattern caused farmers to flock to the cities. After decades of turbulent progress, industrialization took place in the ancient country. Naturally, it was inevitably polluted. Traditional concepts have also suffered an unprecedented impact, the small-scale peasant economy is no longer the mainstream, and people's desire for money is unprecedentedly high... These are all faintly reflected in "Happy Lazzaro". Lazaro and his peasant friends, whether in an isolated "Xanadu" or in an economically developed industrial society, are always at the bottom of the food chain, exploited and oppressed. No matter how you look at it, Lazaro and his peasant friends don't look like urbanites. Even though they live in the city, they still retain the nature of peasants and float around on the edge of the city. When they left the countryside and came to the city, they were like fish out of water. They didn't know any survival skills except stealing, kidnapping, and cheating. What they yearned for most was the rural life. Even in the corner of the city, they were still willing to dig in the soil. Wild vegetables, because that makes them feel friendly. This kind of situation is like a migrant worker who comes to work in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. You can say where you make a living, but you never dare to say that you are from there. Because your roots are still in the countryside, the city is just a place to make money and make a living, and the sense of wandering without roots goes hand in hand.
It can be seen that the attitude of the creators is neutral. In their eyes, the city is messy and vulgar, but they do not think that the countryside is necessarily better than the city, but at least it can give farmers a sense of belonging. At the beginning of the film, the subordinates of the marquise, who was saddled, were full of emotion when they first came to the countryside, and kept praising the good air in the countryside. But this kind of "rural goodness" is based on slavery. There is no equality and freedom, and peasants have to get permission from the marquise even to enter the city. Later, there was no slavery, but there was no substantial freedom and happiness in exchange. The peasants were still displaced in the cities. So at this time they began to miss rural life again. It can be said that the attitude of farmers towards urban and rural areas is contradictory, and the attitude of creators to urban and rural areas is also contradictory. Perhaps, there is no absolute freedom in this world, only the place where you feel at ease can be called home.
5. Deception and being deceived
In "Happy Lazzaro", the main creator made a big joke to the audience at the beginning. The rural life that seems to be at sunrise and sunset, and those happy farmers who talk and laugh, are actually a big lie. It wasn't until the middle of the movie, after Lazaro fell off the cliff, that the police searching for the young marquis arrived that this elaborate lie was exposed.
The debts peasants owed to the Marquis family were all out of thin air, and it was a fantasy that there were still enslaved tenant farmers in a contract-system society. The marquise deceived all the peasants, making them think that the world has not progressed, and let their children and grandchildren work for themselves, exploiting them and exploiting them to make profits for their own entertainment. However, the Marquis is different from ordinary oppressors. She has a complete set of "governance concepts", and her brainwashing skills can be said to be the pinnacle, which can be seen from the fact that farmers have been working for her for decades without pay. In life, she is a successful woman with culture and quality. She smiles at everyone, and even teaches the children of farmers, saying "to be a servant of God" and "hard work and humility are virtues".
It seems that these behaviors are not unique to this countess. From ancient times to the present, from abroad to domestic, isn't this what the ruling class is best at? First, I will instill in you some "tall" principles of life, and teach you to be a kind and obedient little sheep. When you are stupefied and convinced, then raise your butcher's knife and slaughter it arbitrarily. I remember that in the war of Japanese aggression against China, the first thing we did was to establish the so-called "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere" to teach Chinese children the "reasons" that the Japanese wanted you to know. In the Yugoslav film "Underground", in order to make the underground people obey the management, the ruling class broadcasts some false information all day long, making people mistakenly believe that the world has not moved forward, and it is still decades old. In this world woven by lies, The sky is always shrouded in lies and the truth cannot penetrate, so no one thinks or knows how to resist.
6. Modern "Animal Farm"
The first half of "Happy Lazzaro" has been about rural life, and the second half has gradually come to the city. While watching, I naturally thought of George Orwell's famous work Animal Farm. In that story, which can be called a cautionary fable, animals are enslaved by humans all day long. One day they wake up and drive the farmers away to become masters of their own homes, but the final result is a new round of enslavement, which is still a minority of animals. In enjoyment, most animals are exploited in hard work. It seems to be talking about animals, but in fact it is talking about the human condition.
"These people, like animals, give them freedom, and they realize the fate of being enslaved; if you let them keep working, they won't know it." This is the "governance motto" of the Marquise, although she is not a good person, But her few words revealed the truth. As a bystander, she saw everyone's oppression of Lazaro, the so-called weak oppression of the weaker, she said, "They are all oppressed and exploited, but they don't know how to resist, but instead go to oppress more than themselves. weak people."
When the farm was closed by the police, the female liar was brought to justice, the farmers were displaced, and the desired freedom and happy life did not come. On the contrary, many farmers have embarked on the criminal path of stealing, robbing and defrauding. From a distance, the entire city and even the entire society is a large "animal farm", and the fate of being enslaved still exists. The most ironic place is here, from the countryside to the city, from the small farm to the big society, if the farm life is like Orwell's "Animal Farm Country Edition", then the city life is the "Animal Farm" Urban Edition" , all in all, no matter where the farmer goes, whether the liar is brought to justice or not, the "animal farm" is always there. That is not a one-time encounter, but the "law of the jungle" that has existed everywhere since ancient times. Orwell's "Animal Farm" is definitely not just about telling the story of a farm, nor about what happened to some animals and farmers, but to present the general truth of the entire human society, which is related to everyone's survival dilemma. .
Seven, ridiculous dreams
There is an interlude in the movie, a fast-paced pop song singing "Dream". This song appears twice in the movie, once in the countryside, the young master of the marquis deliberately kept away from his mother when he was young, and tried to use a "fake kidnapping" to blackmail his mother for ransom. He lived in a hidden cave in the wild of Lazaro and often brought Listening to the song alone with headphones, Lazaro is next to him, the expression on his face is very cute, it seems that he understands the lyrics but he doesn't understand. The second time was when Lazaro came to the city and heard the song on TV in the slums. Everyone else was talking, but he was the only one who listened to the song in a trance and thought. I guess he missed the young master Marquis, the "half" brother.
In fact, this song is still very "positive energy". The lyrics are talking about dreams from beginning to end, encouraging people to pursue their dreams bravely. If it appeared in an inspirational film, I might be a little excited, but in " In Happy Lazzaro, I just felt sarcastic. Because in this story structure, where is there any dream to speak of? Only the rich can talk about their dreams, and the icing on the cake is the icing on the cake. What dreams can the poor talk about extravagantly? Aside from making a living or making a living, in a world where the rich rule everything, it's not bad to be alive. The young marquis should have had dreams. He once said to Lazaro, "Let's become ancient knights, resist oppression and exploitation together, and create a new world." However, in the end, he was just a loser, After his mother went bankrupt, he had nothing, but lived as a walking dead. And Lazaro may not know what a dream is from beginning to end. For him, these words are too new.
Dreams are not a cure-all. In a cold world, in addition to deception and being deceived, in addition to exploiting and being exploited, coupled with the greed and selfishness of human nature everywhere, and those vicissitudes of life, the world is full of all kinds of absurdities... all of this, and dreams There is no half-wool relationship. The irony is that the more ruthless the world, the more like to put forward some "positive energy" words such as "dream" and "happiness", implying hard work and the like, but in fact it is not cheating. Dreams are beautiful, of course, but appearing in a twisted and cruel world is like a joke. People don't talk about dreams because they are difficult to achieve, and once they are said, they appear insincere, and the dreams, love, and love in those lyrics, why do they all sound like a mirror.
Eight, the lone wolf
From beginning to end, there is one creature that appears repeatedly in the film, and that is the wolf. In isolated valleys, wolves come and go from time to time, and farmers' chickens and ducks are always plagued by disasters, and farmers keep them at a distance. After Lazaro fell off the cliff, it was a wolf who woke him up from the coma. When the wolf reappeared at the end, it stared at Lazaro from the air, and it seemed to be able to predict Lazaro. Luo's fate was the same. When Lazaro was beaten to death by the crowd, he quietly left the crowd and plunged into the urban jungle with endless traffic.
Could it be said that the wolf is actually the incarnation of Lazaro's soul, or that Lazaro's spirituality is actually a wolf, and when he died, the wolf also left? In "Princess Mononoke", the incarnation of the mountain beast god is a divine deer. After the human shoots it, it is exchanged for disaster. That is nature's punishment for human beings. In the story of Gotham, Catwoman was originally a mortal. She was framed to fall to the ground and died. It was the black cat who woke her up, and she had a cat-like temperament since then.
It is really incredible to think about it. It is difficult for ordinary people to survive falling from a cliff, but Lazaro was not only unscathed, but also suddenly had divine power. The one who appeared beside him was a wolf. And in this paragraph, the voice-over is the story of "the saint and the wolf". The old wolf who lives in isolation meets the saint who is exhausted, but the wolf does not eat the saint, because it smells a smell, which is not the smell of man, but the smell of God. Although the main creator did not specify the specific identity of Lazaro, it is not difficult to guess his holy spirit and uniqueness. Let’s make a bold guess. Maybe he is the son of nature, or the incarnation of Jesus in the world, or he was bestowed by the beast god Blessed human... Maybe after he fell off the cliff, he had left the world, and what appeared in front of people was just a wolf incarnated as Lazaro, because it wanted to travel the world. But in any case, the wolf's meaning is a holy soul, it is not understood by people, it is hurt by the world, and it can only walk alone in the chaotic world.
Nine, Lazaro's happiness
The title of the movie is very confusing. It is estimated that people who haven't seen it thought it was a small and fresh style romance film (such as me), but in fact, after watching it, I found out that the title is the same as "American Beauty". is more ironic than literal, and is Lazaro happy or not?
In the eyes of the gods, the definition of happiness is different from that of mortals. Maybe the experience is happiness, maybe the moment of encounter is happiness. From this perspective, Lazaro can be described as happy. He also had a brief encounter with the young marquis, he also walked freely in the valleys and forests, and he was once in this world. . Wang Xiaobo once said, "When I live in the world, I just want to understand some truth and encounter some interesting things. If I can do what I want, my life will be a success." From this perspective, Lazaro seems to be a success. .
But from the point of view of us mortals, Lazaro is not happy at all, even miserable. First of all, no one treated him kindly and bullied him like a fool. Xu Sanduo said, "A fool is not sad, a fool is not sad", if Lazaro is a fool, then he will not be sad, and maybe he will feel happy. But I don't think Lazaro is a fool, he is just a generous, almost dumb, kind-hearted person. Every move, every word, and every word of others is in his eyes. He is not without human emotions, but he chooses to understand and comity, whether it is good or bad. And later, he did cry, because he saw the ruthlessness of the world, the marquis he had always trusted deceived him, even the gods abandoned him, and the poor were not allowed to listen to music in the church, so he wept.
Perhaps, Lazaro came to the world just to experience it. After the experience, it was time to say goodbye. His happiness came from nature, from hard work day after day, and from getting along with the people around him. And when he was in the countryside, he basically owned it, but when he came to the city, he almost had nothing, and for the first time in his life, he shed tears. So he ended up being a wolf again and started the long journey back to nature. Only there is his final destination.
Ten, where is Lazaro?
At the end, Lazaro was besieged to death by the crazy crowd. At this time, a wolf ran past him, running through the busy urban jungle, and the story came to an abrupt end. The wolf was gone, and so was Lazaro. It seems that this is the end, but is it really the end?
In Saint-Exupéry's "The Little Prince," the little prince travels through space, sees a complex world, meets different people and leaves, and is bitten by a poisonous snake after a brief encounter with a pilot in the desert After that, he went to another world. The last words he said were, "I'm tired and I'm going to sleep." A pure soul will not stay in a dirty world for a long time, not because this world does not allow it, but because of this The world does not deserve such a pure soul. People believe that the little prince is not dead, but just returned to his own planet and will be with his little rose forever.
Lazaro is not dead either, he just went where he should go, death just opened a door to another world for him, it is a place different from the earth, where there are dreamy mountains and rivers, There are magical plants, birds and beasts, lovely angels with wings, and music playing like the sound of nature... I would rather believe that he has gone to another world, where he will find love and happiness.
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