The way Di Renjie pointed out - reconciliation with the usurper

Compared with Wu Zetian in other film and television dramas, Wu Zetian in this movie may be closer to the truth of history. She is a wise monarch. She has achieved a lot in the eight years in power, and the common people have received more benefits than the previous dynasty. According to Di Renjie's words in prison, the world is fairly peaceful. She is knowledgeable and meritocracy, and dares to use former political enemies to handle cases for herself. But at the same time she is also a ruler with an illegitimate source of power. Wu Zetian himself said that they (opponents) just don't see women as emperors. She should actually know that they opposed her not only because she was a woman, but the main reason was probably that this was the world of the Li family, and she was taken away without a single shot. There are many people who are unconvinced, and people who ask, "Take a look at this domain, who is in the world?"
The fate of extreme opponents is unfortunate. For example, those who are as stupid as princes openly enter the market, recruit soldiers and horses, win people’s hearts, and finally die very funny; there are also those who work hard, endure humiliation and bear heavy burdens, and those who fantasize with them, such as Shatuo, also die in the end.
On their side are Wu Zetian's loyal guardians, the typical representative is Shangguan Jing'er, according to the vulgar words of the imperial doctor, she is a dog of the Demon Empress. Shangguan Jinger is a severe patient of Stockholm Syndrome. Mingming expected the tragic fate after he was used up, but he was still willing to smash his master's body to smithereens. Her fate seemed to be better, dying in the arms of her admirers. The movie interprets this kind of foolish loyalty to the dictator as a homosexual complex, which is really embarrassing.
Di Renjie, who was once imprisoned as Wu Zetian's opponent, was reinstated and was on an equal footing with Wu Zetian when she first met. It's a meaningful gesture, it's a conversational gesture. At this time, I already knew that this is not a simple suspense film. It hides a certain political philosophy of the filmmaker, and the former opponent should have a dialogue with the object he opposed. Considering the real politics, it is not difficult to know what Tsui Hark is referring to. Dialogue means reconciliation. In the movie, the usurper can reconcile with her former opponent because of her generosity and wisdom, the ability of the opponent she needs, and the symbol of Taoism held by the opponent. . Is it just this reconciliation that is reliable? At the end of the movie, the subtitles show that Wu Zetian returned power to Li because she wanted to fulfill her promise to Di Renjie. I find it absurd to subtitle this pure fiction, and it pretty much wipes out the little bit of goodwill I've built up for the film. It tells me that this film has no way to face reality and no way to face history. Like many commercial films, it's just a pale and uninteresting pornography.

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