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East West - Mikhalkov's Lonely Russia
"The Barber of Siberia" is Russia The work of the famous director Mikhalkov at the end of the last century, the director tells the sad love story of a young American woman and a Russian sergeant through an epic expression. The hilarious and humorous passages with a tear-jerking sad ending show the perseverance and charm of the Russian nation. It is said that after the film was released, the Russians could not help watching the big production over and over again. It can be said that the film is a hymn about Russia, a tribute to the Russians. However, it is not only a propaganda film about Russia, but also the most successful commercial film in Russia at the end of the last century.
The tsar, the sergeant, the military parade, the solemn reflection in the water of the Columbus Cathedral; the lady, the general, the street fighting, the endless boreal coniferous forest in Siberia. Viewers are all amazed by such a beautiful scenery, and are all saddened by such love. However, such a movie full of gimmicks is no longer a Russian movie in the traditional sense. Rather than a Russian movie, it is a framing Hollywood productions in Russia.
However, is the real Russia shown in the film? A commenter wrote: "The Russia in Mirkov's film is not the Russia that once existed and existed, but the Russia of the author's fantasy, made up of the emperor with white horses, drinks with caviar, sweets with bagels, and meat festivals. Russia with fireworks." Director Mikhalkov did not deny this in the slightest. He openly admitted: what he showed was a vibrant, beautiful Russia. It is for this purpose that Mikhalkov used all resources and used all means to construct a dream about Russia. And this dream belongs not only to Mikhalkov, but also to the re-emerging Russian nation. In the dream, the lingering love of men and women, the collision of Eastern and Western cultures, intertwined and melted into one furnace. People are willing to indulge in dreams and not wake up.
1. The Holy Goddess
There are mainly two female characters in this film. One is Jane, a young woman who came from the United States to do public relations for the inventor. The screenwriter gave her the following positioning: elegant in temperament, charming in charm, vicissitudes of life and sophistication, warmth is of course indispensable , while business interests always occupy the first place in life. However, this veteran on the wind and moon field is inconceivably in love with the young Russian sergeant Andrei Tolstoy. Tolstoy did not hesitate to give up his future for Jane's sake. The violin bow whips the general, when he knows Jane's unusual background, he still does not change his original intention, and finally ends up being sent to the fate of Siberia. And Jane, who arrived in Siberia ten years later, learned that Tolstoy was married, she chose not to see Tolstoy and left alone. Tolstoy watched Jane disappear into the forests of Siberia.
Jane, succumbed to fate and lived a seemingly beautiful life, but made a shameless living (fraud), and when she wanted to get rid of the arrangement of fate and truly love someone, it ended in tragedy. Jane's experience seems to be the exact opposite of Tess in Hardy's writings. Tess does not succumb to fate, and her life is extremely difficult. In the end, she succumbs to fate and marries Yale, who she does not love. However, Tess gets more than Jane. sad life. The character of Jane, to a certain extent, is a parody of Tess. Jane's life trajectory is opposite to that of Tess, and what does she get? Married a crazy old inventor, gave birth to a lover's illegitimate child, and died in the memory of his lover. This is a figure that pays homage to Hardy's tragic fatalism. Yet just as Hardy called Tess "a pure woman," director Mikhalkov did not cast Jane as a contemptible whore, but as an articulate communicator, a kind of To a certain extent, she is still a kind woman who knows how to advance and retreat. She did not break Tolstoy's peaceful life in Siberia, but left silently, raising her and Tolstoy's illegitimate child alone, but locked her strong love for Tolstoy in her heart. Leave only a distant back of the lover.
Jane's choice shows: love, that is, to give happiness to the one you love.
The other is Dunyasha, Tolstoy's maid, she has been silently in love with Tolstoy, after Tolstoy was assigned, she resolutely gave up life in Moscow and accompanied Tolstoy to Siberia. Hard days. Dunyasha embodies a typical character of the Russian nation: tolerant of suffering and tenacious support with the love of the Virgin. From Dunyasha, we can see the figure of many female characters in Russian literature: Tonia, daughter of the postmaster, Sonia, Raskolnikov's sister, Tonia, Paul's first love, Tonia, ten The wives of the Februaryists... This ruddy-faced, sturdy-bodied Russian lower-class girl in the film has to be reminiscent of Chernyshevsky's famous definition of "beauty"—beauty is life. There is a line in the film that says: "Russian courage is not only about winning, but more about tenacity and patience. Tenacity plus patience means victory." And she was jealous, but she was not depressed because of Tolstoy's neglect of her. No matter Tolstoy's status as a non-commissioned officer or a prisoner, she always guarded her lover's side. She may not have elegant conversation, outstanding Appearance. But she accompanied Tolstoy through hardships with tenacity and patience. As the saying goes: marry a wife to gain virtue. Perhaps it is the industriousness, loyalty, and especially hard work of the "Duniyashas" that maintain and inherit the historical and cultural spirit of the Russian nation, and it is their tenacity and patience that makes Russia continue to grow. Emerge from trouble.
Dunyasha's character is the Russian spirit that the director and all Russians hope and advocate.
At the end of the 20th century, Russians, with the tenacity of Dunyasha, saw the dawn of the rise of the nation after ten years of self-cultivation and gathering. Just as Alice was the source of Dante's life, "Duniasa" is the strength of the Russian nation's continuous advancement. Dunyasha is the beacon, the eternal goddess of holiness in the hearts of Russians.
2. Eastern and Western
director Mikhalkov depicted an ideal Russia, no matter the scenery or customs, and even the drunkards are so lovely. Such a Russia, facing itself, has the pride of the past and the confusion of the present. Facing the West, the mentality is extremely complicated.
The title of the film is "The Barber of Siberia", which seems to be taken from Beaumarchais' famous opera "The Barber of Seville". The difference is that the comedy of the "Sai" drama is more intense. The actor Tolstoy loves opera, and he is good at "The Marriage of Figaro", the companion piece of the official "Say" drama. In the movie, Tolstoy sang the famous "Marriage of Figaro" three times. The aria "You Don't Be a Lover" makes people feel that "The Barber of Siberia" should have some connection with Figaro, the Barber of Seville, played by Tolstoy. However, at the end of the film, people learn that, The so-called barber in Siberia is actually a monster-like lumberjack. From this, we can see the director's intention: the Russians should have absorbed the essence of Western culture, otherwise, how could Tolstoy be able to interpret Figaro so wonderfully? But at the same time, we should always be vigilant against the invasion of Western industrialism, and we should not allow monsters like the "Barber of Siberia" to wreak havoc on Russian soil.
Russia has always been short of world-class masters, whether the literary giants Pushkin and Tolstoy, the music master Tchaikovsky, or the economists Heckscher and Ohlin, who are comparable to Adam Smith and Keynes, are all enough. Make Russians proud. However, since the victory of World War II, Russia seems to have no figures worth showing off except for Kalanishkov, the father of the AK-47. Whether this is the scourge of autocratic centralization or the result of economic lag, no one can tell. Standing at the door of the new century, Mikhalkov used a book "The Barber of Siberia" to bring the Russians back to the glory days of the past and present, and used the tsar's mouth to put forward the slogan of perseverance and victory. One has to wonder if the film has any other political intentions.
The national emblem of Russia's double-headed eagle shows that Russia is staring at the west and the east at the other. However, such a feature can only bring embarrassment to Russia: it is obvious that China, Japan and India in the East will not regard Russia as the same kind; and the Western countries also have extremely complicated attitudes towards Russia. This "Barber of Siberia" tells people that Russians are still inclined towards Western civilization. For example, the Russian Grand Duke loves "The Marriage of Figaro", the generals of the military academy can speak French and German, and the geography teachers hired by the military academies teach in English. , talk about European geography... Then, how do Westerners treat Russians? The answer from the movie is: exploit. In order to get the patronage of the Grand Duke, the lunatic American inventor invited a professional fraudster from the United States to deceive the cute and mentally retarded general of the military school with the beauty of the book. In the end, the inventors got the money and the right to cut down the Siberian forests, leaving the generals with neither. The inventor drives his monstrous logging machine, laughs and rampages, and the Russians in Siberia have to run away. This plot has to ponder whether the inventors here intend to insinuate the Western countries: when they need Russia, they can laugh and give gifts, like slaves; when they grab Russia's interests, they can show off their power, like monsters.
The film is full of contrasts, where Russians think they belong to the West, while Westerners just covet Russian money and resources. The American young woman is luxurious and attractive, and she is indeed a fraudster; the Russian girl is rough and round, and can really accompany the host through suffering...
At the end of the twentieth century, Russia has been thinking about its relationship with the West. On the one hand, Russia considers itself a member of the Western world; On the other hand, Western countries believe that "you are a barbarian"; if Russia wants to join the West, it cannot, and can only "keep itself out of the way". The film shows this ambivalence in Russia.
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Mikhalkov is respectable. At a time when some directors are still using red cotton jackets and the big braids of village girls, trying to win the favor of Westerners; when they use big productions and boring lines, hoping to show their so-called philosophical thinking. Mikhalkov, however, showed the world a lively, lively, beautiful and glorious Russian nation with his skillful directing skills. This nation may have the shortcomings of alcoholism and fighting, but it is indeed full of hope. Perhaps Mikhalkov beautified Russia, but such a "main theme" movie is not disgusting or nauseous, but natural and smooth, fresh and natural. This is the really valuable "main theme"
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