Adapted from the novel by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedou, the film unfolds a grand and gorgeous historical picture. When the Red Shirts stormed into the city of Palermo in Sicily, the war scene in the distance resembled an oil painting. The unification of Italy has brought about epoch-making changes. The protagonist of the film, Prince Salina, stood in front of the historical trend and said helplessly: "We were once lions and leopards, but we were replaced by wolves and dogs." Such a sigh is The helplessness to the irresistible historical trend is also the memory of the past glory. We might as well take the heart of a villain as a master. Giuseppe and Visconti do not have the mentality of sour grapes. The former nobles were lions and leopards, and the bourgeoisie replaced them with wolves and dogs. In the film, Carrogello, the representative of the emerging bourgeoisie, is greedy for making money, and it corresponds to the extraordinary character of Prince Salina.
If the aristocratic morality that Nietzsche has always advocated really exists, then the Prince Salina in the film may be the last aristocrat who adheres to this fine tradition. The character of Prince Salina is portrayed perfectly in the film. As the master of a prominent family, he did not rest on his laurels, nor did he when the red shirts of Gallipoli rolled in with the sound of guns. Fear, he understands that the change of the times is unstoppable, so he does not resist the arrival of the revolution, because he understands that the unification of Italy is the general trend. As smart as he is, he helped his nephew Don Credy, the son of a run-down aristocrat, to speculate on the revolution, and facilitated the marriage of Carrogello's daughter and Don Credi, a political marriage of money and door-to-door exchange. Although he hates characters like Carrogello so much, he will still compromise in the face of the times, because it is his responsibility to protect his family.
Although Prince Salina had a helpless and clever compromise to the current situation, he still persisted at the key point. When Turin sent an envoy to invite him to participate in the parliament, he declined the invitation and still recommended the upstart character Carlo. jello. Although he understands that what he rejects is new trends and new forces, he prefers to stick to his final position rather than go along with the trend, which we call the solar term of the nobility. When he scolded the ecstatic Italian royal officer at the ball, the sobriety and dignity from beginning to end could really be read in this old aristocrat.
Another young aristocrat in the film, Don Credy, is the opposite of Prince Salina. Although he holds the title of earl, due to the decline of the family, he can only become a proletarian in the end. He has the same profit-seeking nature as the bourgeois upstart Carrogello, so he speculated on the revolution and joined the red shirts of Gallipoli, because it allowed him to see a way to make himself rise. And when Gallipoli finally handed over the fruits of victory to the Kingdom of Sardinia, Tangcredi defected to the Royal Army, and instead ridiculed the Red Shirts he had participated in. Perhaps it is the background of family decline that makes Don Credi more eager to get ahead. Driven by utilitarianism, he can only be a wolf or a dog in the end, and he has no relationship with nobility.
In fact, the aristocratic morality pursued by Nietzsche has always been just an ancient totem, out of reach. In the long years of the feudal system, this kind of best thing is actually slowly losing. Couldn't find it on him. In the change that the capitalist system is gradually replacing the feudal system, those descendants of the lost nobles cannot help but miss the good and noble life of the past, but in Italy such a change has never been complete, and the old has not been completely smashed. The new stage also seems to have both sides, and the cuts are constantly being rationalized and chaotic. The image of Prince Salina is Visconti and Giuseppe's infatuation with the beautiful past. They can't go back to the past, let alone overthrow it. They can only keep Prince Salina in front of the wave of Italian change. With the most perfect dignity and nobility.
The ball was centered on the Duke of Salina, and completed the transition and handover of eras and classes through undercurrents and mirror images full of metaphors. The sentimental reminiscence that runs through the whole film has an unprecedented explosion at the dance. It's not hard to see Visconti's projection of self-pity for the Duke of Salina, as well as his remorse for the old days.
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