What impressed me most about "Black Book" is that Alice walked through the victor's parade after the war, and witnessed crazy people wantonly insulting women who were close to their enemies. This may be the deepest theme involved in "Black": good and evil are not so easy to distinguish. Likewise, Menz's inexplicable execution without trial, and Hans, who really betrayed the Resistance, was treated as a war hero—all extensions of this theme. But "Black Book" also stops there. It has a very clear moral judgment - after watching this movie, you can clearly distinguish between good and evil. Justice is not non-existent, but only obscured, not to mention finally achieved: after laying up all kinds of suspense, the story finally takes a turn, with Hans, who was a villain, being private as the end of the whole incident - in a certain To a certain extent, "Black Book" can only be a successful commercial film.
I've seen some people comment that Alice is a character that's more assertive and has more love and hate than Wang Jiazhi - it's not just a matter of character setting, but Alice, like the whole movie she's in, is driven by a very strong established morality Supported, she may be forced into trouble, but never doubts or fears her actions—even when she falls in love with a German officer. There is no real hesitation in a movie like this.
If "Black Book" is a film about the contest between good and evil, "Lust and Caution" is not aimed at this at all. First of all, the film's perspective on war is different. "Black Book" persistently depicts tragic scenes. Alice's family was slaughtered and members of the resistance organization were tortured and forced to confess, all of which can easily arouse the resentment of bitterness and hatred, but the war in Lust, Caution is desolate. Including the clubs in Hongkou District, the Japanese soldiers burst into tears while having fun. This war not only destroyed innocent people. It destroyed everyone.
If "Black Book" is still considered a special agent film, "Lust and Caution" just used the war as a background. The story it actually tells is that Wang Jiazhi, a woman, acted out a play with her own life. The brightest and most glorious moment of her life was playing another woman who didn't exist. She is too obsessed with this nihilistic role, plunged into all her desires, even love, and even life, but in the end she has to face the abyss of death with her real flesh and blood. There is only existential tragedy, not moral judgment.
Also during the war, the relationship between Wang Jiazhi and Mr. Yi was not as idealized as the love between Alice and Menz, and they could lay down their lives to save them when their lives were on the line. Wang Jiazhi and Mr. Yi are more like mortals. They have the weakness of mortals. They cuddle with each other because of weakness and fear. They are forced to go on stage and locked in their roles. They have to finish the tricks, but this does not affect At the moment when they finished singing, it seemed like a lifetime away, and they burst into tears.
Ang Lee and Verhoeven had different orientations and pursuits from the very beginning. "Black Book" is like his hero Menz. Although he is a German military officer, it fully meets the moral expectations of the audience - patriotism, Love your dead wife and children, and do everything possible for the resistance groups out of humanitarianism. The audience accepts him as Alice fell in love with him, without the need to struggle. "Lust and Caution" is like Mr. Yi. The director did not intend to avoid his cruelty from the beginning, and was willing to offend the established morality of the audience. However, if you can put aside the gaze of the condescending ruling for a moment, you can feel the tenderness in this film. A trickle and an empty sadness.
View more about Black Book reviews
