When I pressed the play button, I felt the strange lens feeling at first. It is said that the director insisted on shooting with 35mm film. Unexpectedly, after a slow foreshadowing, I finally found it to be a masterpiece, just like Ang Lee's "Lust and Caution", which is full of all kinds of metaphors. Of course, each has its own eyes, but I believe in how I feel about the details of the movie. As said in Lust and Caution, if you pay attention, nothing is trivial. Spoilers below.
In fact, many film critics have mentioned that this "Murder at the Royal Hotel" alludes to various events in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s, including Kennedy, the Vietnam War, the Manson family cult case, the Black Civil Rights Movement, and the Watergate Incident. A tribute to the black suspense crime films of the 1960s, I personally think that the director is - intentionally or unconsciously - telling the current America, and a very important thing - the choice of values.
There are 7 rooms and 7 characters, representing 7 kinds of people and 7 kinds of values. The past, present and final outcome of the seven people arranged by the screenwriter represent the competition of seven values.
Let's look at the agent first. He is quite positive, and his glib expression actually has a sense of justice. But it is such a person, the first to receive the box lunch. Personally, I think this is an expression of a revolutionary determination - being a good Mr. is no good, the usual American theme values of taking care of your family and maintaining the original sense of kindness and justice (and to a certain extent, represent the US government. ), it’s time to change it, if you don’t change it, you will be accidentally injured.
The second recipient of the lunch box is an extreme feminist. This character looks very rational and brave. When he was a child, he was oppressed by his family. After finding his sister, he stayed in the cult to take care of her. After seeing the nature of the cult, he insisted on tying his sister to escape, as if representing a Awakened power. But this kind of power made her shoot the people who might have helped her, and in the end she was killed by the cult leader. This excessive awakening seems to insinuate all kinds of political correctness in the United States today: some oppressed and damaged people, relying on their own petty fights to fight for their rights, often cannot find a way out, and even become indistinguishable between friends and foes. Shoot yourself in the foot.
The third box lunch was very satisfying. The cult leader and his little brothers were swept away in a storm by the soldiers. A movie review next door said it well, isn't the role of Brother Hammer the current Hollywood establishment and the liberal gang? Dressed up, flouting the existing system, thinking of starting a new one? It doesn't work, you're playing the old trick, it's just a different guise, and you'll be killed in the end.
The fourth one who received the box lunch was a little girl, and she was also the public fooled by liberalism. Resisting family oppression, stabbed Lao Tzu directly, and then was confused by the childish tricks of the cult leader. When the old sister was killed, there was a big close-up, how could it be such a stupid word? The black girl's "no" also expressed the sorrow of the director: Children, please wake up.
The fifth box lunch is the most ceremonial and meaningful. Soldiers who were conflicted and wanted to repent, but were hurt by the public after they went berserk. But it doesn't matter, the priest forgives you on behalf of God, and your ability to hurt people has been reflected in value. Killing so many people and witnessing so much darkness doesn't matter, and finally back in the arms of your God, you're still a good boy.
In the end, the priest and the black girl survived. They had a bad time at first, but they finally walked out of hell together. The role of the priest is the most complex. In the first few lines of the robbery, he made it clear that he just wanted to grab some money, he didn't want anyone to die, and he was kind to the new accomplice with obvious problems. When the police came, he asked his brother to take his little accomplices to go first, and then led the police away after he broke, but he didn't expect his brother to be trapped in the end. He rebelled against both the existing system and the liberalism of the cult leader. In the end, God unfolded a soldier's confession, which not only allowed the soldier to die in peace, but also allowed the priest to sublimate. Truly remembering one's own name becomes a real power to represent God. After all, Americans generally believe in God, and the values that should be returned should be returned.
What about the black girl who survived? It represents another possibility for the public - getting used to seeing the existing system, seeing through liberalism, not resisting violently, sitting and listening to the wind and rain, singing the praises of God. However, this girl also has a strong side. She knows that she is a singer and keeps practicing at any time. There are several paragraphs in the movie, and she can show her professional level at any time. The American people should do the same, be calm, have professionalism, bury their heads in work, and be their own "toiling masses".
So far, the selection of values in the movie has been completed, the belief in God + the hardworking public. There are ten years of scene switching in the movie, and there are also in reality. Ten years ago, in 2008, the subprime mortgage crisis broke out, and governments around the world worked together to overcome the difficulties.
Ten years later, the U.S. stock market has once again embarked on a bear market journey, but looking at the world, the United Kingdom is leaving the European Union, the United States is building a wall, and Sino-US trade frictions continue. The division of American values that Trump represented and intensified intensified. How much to eat and how much to eat and the choice of values are often determined objectively and practically, and the American people have really encountered bad times.
View more about Bad Times at the El Royale reviews
