Some people live their whole lives to hope, but some people's ultimate goal of their lives is to destroy - self-destruction (even if he doesn't know it at first). Reason makes people try to avoid falling into any kind of sinking situation, but it cannot stop the fatal attraction of sinking to us - a subconscious yearning.
Loneliness - the deep loneliness caused by not being able to communicate with others and not being understood by others is actually the real source that led Ben to this road of no return, and alcohol is just a medium, an outlet and a sustenance. So I don't like the opening of the film introduction: "Ben is an alcoholic, so..." - this is his life, his choices, his helpless spiritual world, without anyone or any value The flag pointed at him.
This loneliness, this powerlessness and helplessness to face reality caused Ben's frustration and setbacks in many aspects of life, and made him feel the indifference of human feelings. He also tried his best to get out of this predicament, but unfortunately any efforts were in vain. For him, perhaps only alcohol can really numb and numb all the pains caused by reason in reality. Only by forgetting it can he temporarily calm down his emotions, so that he can re-examine this unreal world full of desire and despair with another tragic freedom. Las Vegas is the epitome of this world.
So, Ben burned all the memories of the past, sold all the property that could be cashed (except for a car), and came to Las Vegas from Los Angeles, which is chasing fame and fortune, to the flamboyant Las Vegas, with only one purpose: drink to death. You can feel heartache for his self-destructive behavior, or you can be moved by his courage to die, but I think this is actually more of an attitude, a desperate struggle. He wants to To use his own death - to die in this strange, depraved, and glitzy center that does not belong to him at all to prove his last personal dignity, to mock such a ridiculous and unfair real world.
However, he never expected (Is it Ben? Or me in front of the screen?), the prostitute Sera actually appeared in his journey of destruction, and the two wounded hearts came together so inadvertently, simple, pure, and even let I almost thought it was going to be a romantic mutual redemption next. However, looking back, in fact, this kind of acquaintance is no longer pure from the beginning, and it has long buried hidden dangers, and there is only one reason: money! It was money that single-handedly contributed to the "fate" between Ben and Sera. Why do you say that? Just think: Ben stopped Sera on the street and directly said that he wanted to chat with her, but he just needed her to be the object of the conversation once to solve the loneliness in front of him. How would Sera react? There is no doubt that she will throw a "crazy" at this "hypocritical and artificial" man, then give him another middle finger gracefully and turn away. If this is the case, no matter how close the two of them are, and no matter how much they yearn for spiritual comfort from each other, they will not be able to get together after all.
Ben knows this himself, because he has tried and failed countless times in bars, at bank counters, and he understands this insurmountable communication gap between people, so He could only put aside his one-sided fantasies and spend money to be a prostitute once—$500, which was a pretty generous deal—only then would Sera let go of her instinctual vigilance and walk with her.
In order to be able to talk to someone, you have to do this first, you have to buy it with money first, otherwise no one will believe you, how ridiculous and sad, how ironic a thing! ——I'm afraid this is one of the reasons why Ben is so desperate for this deformed world.
When Sera gave Ben a delicate and shiny jug as a token of love, Ben said, "It seems that I have finally met someone who can truly understand me!" Perhaps, as he said, Sera is indeed Ben's lifelong encounter. The one who understands him best among the people who arrive, but this understanding is not the same despair at first, Ben is, and Sera is not quite, although she agrees not to interfere with Ben's alcoholism and his original intention of dying, however. In her heart - I believe - there is still a glimmer of hope, not willing to stay in hell forever alone, so when Ben agrees to live with him she will create some small, simple The joy of life - she is trying to find an object to rely on for her emotions.
However, Ben is well aware of this. Although he said what he said before, he is still convinced that this kind of love is actually more based on some kind of sympathy. It's just another trick of fate. After all, he doesn't want to be involved in any emotional whirlpool anymore, and he doesn't want to bear any burden of worrying about gains and losses, so he has absolutely no intention to make any changes in his heart, really. False, false and true, since it can really solve the temporary loneliness, why not come together for the time being? As for the final outcome, it is simply impossible to talk about, and perhaps the only certainty is his own death.
So Ben sent earrings to Sera, but with one sentence, both sides fell into helplessness; so Ben did not hesitate to sleep with other prostitutes to make Sera see his decision and make her give up any hope of herself. And when Ben finally got the "Fuck off" from the angry Sera, I don't know if he really felt that so-called relief.
However, after Ben left, the movie showed me the cruelest side of Sera that was being carried out on Sera - what could be more cruel to her than being gang-raped, beaten by a few middle school students, and mercilessly swept out of the house by the landlord. Miserable? I feel that compared to the agony when she was deeply cut on her thigh by that perverted pimp boyfriend, now she is sitting on the street smoking a cigarette, wearing sunglasses to cover her eye injuries, not knowing where to go. It's even more sad and helpless-perhaps it was only now that Sera was completely desperate, and she really realized the reason why Ben was no longer attached to this world.
Ben called Sera anyway, wanting to see her again, but when Sera arrived at the hotel, Ben was already bedridden, twitching, and his eye sockets were sunken deeper than before. Facing a dying Ben, Sera finally understands what the true source of this love is, so the two fulfill their promise that "we will have a relationship eventually", and Ben "gets excited" about it, and he drinks another glass of wine , relieved the convulsions of the body, and then plunged into this last pleasure.
Early in the morning, the sun shines through the heavy curtains into the dim hotel room, reflecting Sera's beautiful profile, and Ben gets his wish, dying in Sera's tenderness and never being alone again.
"You are my angel!" Ben said to Sera.
"I knew he was going to die, but I fell in love with him, everything about him, and so did he," Sera said in the final monologue.
Fallen Angels - I think.
At the end of the film, when Ben's upgraded smile appeared, the choking in my throat finally became uncontrollable...
Everything is contained in this smile, and with the passing of this smile, there will be no more A trace remains...
Leaving Las Vegas - Should we stay away from despair, or should we stay away from despairing reality?
I have no idea……
(Later) I
also want to talk about the original novel of the same name of this movie. This is the only work of the author John O'Brien, and it is also the spiritual portrayal of his life. Just a few days before the novel was published, he suddenly committed suicide. Leave any last words.
What Ben chooses and what he stays away from, I'm sure John O'Brien is the same.
Art is often like this. After expressing what is in the heart, everything in reality can actually end. As for whether this is a tragedy after all, only the author himself knows.
Suicide is the last art of life!
- Kawabata Yasunari
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