A thin-faced man faces the camera, muttering to let everyone in the room go out, as if to say something or think something alone. And what he said is the narration of the movie, the subtext of the protagonist's heart. The camera cuts to the teachers who are being interviewed. Although they do not explain to the audience what questions they are answering, from their words, it can be inferred that the question is: "Why are you in the teaching profession?" And from the answers of these teachers It can be seen that most of them did not think that teaching would be regarded as a lifelong career. The footage of these interviews and the footage of the chalk animation are cross-played. On the one hand, the animation lists the names of the film crew through the program, and on the other hand, the cartoons inside suggest that this is destined to be a very depressing story. For example, there is a picture of a pair of hands. Lying on the railing like a prison, until it was pinched into a funnel, and the funnel flowed very quickly...
It was still the thin man, walking alone on the street next to the red brick wall.
This man is Henry Bacht (played by Adrien Brody), who came to the community school as a substitute teacher because of a teacher's illness. And his profession is
Substitute teacher, he never wanted to be a full-time teacher. So he kept changing schools. When Henry went to class for the first time, the student Marcus humiliated Henry with swear words, but Henry did not respond. Later, because Marcus humiliated the fat girl Meredith, Henry kicked Marcus out of the classroom. Then began to assign small class assignments - write a small composition, when Henry began to say the composition requirements, the black student Jerry interrupted because he did not have a pen and paper, and there were a lot of swear words in the language, but Henry did not respond and kept talking Finish what you have to say. Jerry rushed to the podium angrily, grabbed Henry's briefcase and smashed it to the door. At this time Henry said: "That bag, I don't have any feeling, he is empty, and I will not be hurt by you. I understand that you are angry now, and I used to be very angry. I understand that you have no reason to be angry with me. , because, I'm one of the very few people who gives you a chance..." After class, Meredith asked Henry why only Marcus was allowed to go out and not Jerry, and Henry explained it, meaning they were insulting He can but cannot insult his students. Meredith asked him again: "Do you really mind that they are rude to you?" "Maybe I'm used to it..." Henry said. Henry returned to the office after class just to see an unreasonable parent with her child shouting in the office, among which the student spit on the face of the female teacher Madison (Christina Hendricks), And Madison didn't say a word. Madison and Henry greeted each other after school. Madison said that he was used to this, and they began to have a good impression of each other. I will not say more about their temporary and weak feelings.
A confused old man locked himself in the bathroom and kept shouting the name "Patricia". Henry rushed to the hospital, knocked on the door and said, "Grandpa, I'm Henry." But the old man still said, "Patricia." Henry said, "No, I'm Henry, Grandpa, open the door, I'm Henry..." The old man walked out of the bathroom, saw Henry's eyes light up, and said with some overjoyed: "Baby, I take you as your mother." From this, it can be seen that "Patricia" is Henry's mother's name, which is the old man's daughter. name, I'm not talking nonsense. After Grandpa Fu fell asleep, Henry turned over the diary on the table, it was empty. Henry left the ward and rushed in front of the nurse who was taking care of his grandfather. He criticized the nurse for his dereliction of duty in a blaming and threatening tone, which contained a lot of swear words, and felt like he was going to kill the nurse. The nurse was too frightened to speak.
Lee was sitting on the bus with tears streaming down his face (that's the picture on the teaser poster). Behind a pair of women's legs kneeling on the ground, it is a young prostitute named Erika (Sami
Gayle ornaments) is "working" on the bus, this scene also has another layer of meaning. Erica asked the "employer" in the car for money, but was slapped instead. At this time, Henry got off the bus at the stop, and Erica also got off the bus. After getting out of the car, he followed Henry all the time, trying to make a fortune from Henry, but Henry didn't buy it, and was even a little angry.
When I went to see my grandfather again, my grandfather said, "Your mother is here today." Henry ignored the grandfather's words, and then the grandfather said, "Why have you been so selfish since you were a child?" Henry's expression became more and more ugly, and he didn't even want to see his grandfather. face up. The camera cuts continuously to a red video scene, which is constantly interspersed in the first part of the film. The video shows Henry as a child, as well as his mother smoking a cigarette, and the secret...
Henry got off the bus, but he didn't expect to meet Erica, they were standing on the street with their backs against the red brick wall. Erica said that she was hungry and asked Henry to give her ten dollars. Henry did not agree, but took her home. Get her something to eat, help her wipe the wound, and let her get a good night's sleep.
Meredith likes to take pictures and paint, she always takes pictures of various people on campus, including Henry...
Student Raven likes to abuse animals, he killed another cat this time and was caught by Henry In the office of Doris (played by Lucy Liu), although Doris is worried about these children, she seems very helpless. Henry asked Raven: "How do you feel?" "Can't break free, like that cat." Raven said, and raised the corner of his mouth...
Henry came home and saw Erica "returning to the old business" , Henry angrily asked the employer who wanted to escape: "Did you pay?" The employer took out the money and handed it to Henry, who slapped him
Go: "Why give Lao Tzu money? Was that my mouth just now?" The employer hurriedly put the money in Eric and got out of Henry's house. Erica begs Henry's forgiveness and promises that she will never do it again. Henry suppressed his anger and said that what she wanted to do had nothing to do with him, but not in her own house. Henry suggested that Erica go get her blood checked to see if she has AIDS.
On the other hand, Meredith was hurt by his father's words again... The
classmates gradually fell in love with Henry and would listen to his lectures carefully, especially Meris...
And Madison and Henry seemed to be a step closer, two They ate dinner together...
Erica bought some things, prepared dinner and waited for Henry to come back... Henry, who came back
very late, explained to Erica that he was going to dinner with a female colleague. And explain to Rebecca, don't expect anything from him, one day, Erica will still have to leave
... The
camera starts to turn to each family, the principal's, the teacher's, all of them are full of cracks...
Errie Ka made breakfast for Henry, and the two came to the hospital. Henry sat in the corridor, waiting for Erica to finish drawing blood. Recalling the scene at the hospital asking if my grandfather was still writing a diary, my
grandfather said that he had stopped writing and that he had no memory and could no longer think. After Erica drew blood, the two went to the supermarket to buy something, Henry gave Erica a book, and Erica gave Henry a ring.
Doris, who was devastated by her students, approached Charlie to talk...
Henry rushed to the hospital, Erica had been in grandpa's ward all day, and grandpa still said: "Your mother came to accompany me today..." The red video was interspersed again. Grandpa said, "Patricia said you've forgiven me, right?" "Dad, what do you want me to forgive?" "That's what I've done" "You're all there to take care of me, You've always been so caring about me." "Then why are you afraid of me?" "No, I'm not afraid of you, Dad." Henry continued, "I know that sometimes you always mix things up, and you'll think you've never done it before. Feeling guilty for making a mistake." Henry's eyes filled with tears. Grandpa said, "So it wasn't me who hurt you?" "Dad, it wasn't you." "I really hope I didn't hurt you, Patricia, I have always loved you." "Dad, as long as you prepare Well, you can leave at any time, you know, it doesn't matter."
After walking out of the hospital, Aretha asked about Henry's condition. From Henry's answer, it can be known that Henry's mother committed suicide by swallowing sleeping pills when he was 7 years old. , Grandpa
collapsed a little after seeing it . Although Henry didn't say it himself, through the video, we can see that his mother left a tape for Henry, and the little Henry hid the tape in his pocket. As for what was said on the tape, I'll talk about it later. After that, little Henry listened to his mother's words very much - lock the door.
Meredith came to the classroom. Henry was the only one in the classroom. She gave Henry the painted picture and wanted to talk to Henry and expressed her love for Henry. She asked Henry to hug her. Henry was a little embarrassed. Wanting to shirk, Meredith was hurt by his shirk. Madison, who just came to Henry, saw that Henry seemed to be touching Meredith, and Meredith rushed out of the classroom crying. Madison asked, "What did you do? You hugged her." "What are you insinuating about?!" Henry asked rhetorically. The red video and the grandfather shouting "Patricia" on the hospital bed continued... "Do you think I'm a fucking pervert, do you mean that? She needs to find someone to chat with." "You Why do you touch her?" "I didn't touch her! I'm not some perverted old man! Is that what you think of me?! Do you think I'm such a person?! I just want to help her!" Henry grabbed something and rushed out classroom. Leaving a puzzled Madison...
Grandpa left... (Finally...)
Henry called the youth support center and took Erica away... (cry to death in this paragraph)
Meredith made some cakes with smiling faces and sold them at the school, and the display boards next to them were covered with their own photography works . Henry apologized to Meredith in the past and wanted to buy a cake,
he pointed to the only one with a dark green painted face, Meredith said that the unique one was reserved for himself. After Henry took the other cake, he looked back at Meredith after not walking very far. At this time, she had almost finished eating the bitter face cake in her hand, and then fell to the ground. Meredith committed suicide...In the
empty classroom, Henry said to Madison behind him: "Today, I have a feeling, I am insignificant. You should not be here, I am not here, you can see me, but you All I saw
was the body."
Henry came to visit Erica at the youth support center, and the two embraced with tears in their eyes... (the only gratifying part)
I almost spoiled the entire movie in sequence. , This is indeed a bit immoral, but fortunately this movie does not require us to guess what the plot is. If you want to watch the movie but haven't watched it yet, just watch it here, the following is the real spoiler...
Through my underlined and yellow characters, I can summarize a few points:
1. Henry's most painful thing, It is also the reason why he has been reluctant to open his heart to get along with others: his grandfather is his father. Grandpa raped his young mother when he was young, and then gave birth to Henry. Grandpa's love for his mother has been mixed with sexual elements. The mother was raped again and again and finally committed suicide. And left Henry with a tape. The mother may have told Henry the truth in the tape, but I don't think my mother told the truth. She just told Henry to be careful with his grandfather or something, so he told him to lock the door. After all, Henry was still young at that time, and telling him the truth would affect his growth.
2. Henry only fired two and a half times. The film shows Henry's calm side from the beginning, no matter what anyone says about him, he doesn't get angry. As he told Meredith, he was used to it. He had no "parents" as a child, and there must have been many classmates who humiliated Henry. The first time he got angry was at the nurse. Due to the negligence of the nurse, Henry always had to run to the hospital. This was something he would rather do. Once he saw his grandfather or father, he would be better off dying once. That half time was to Erica's employer at home. This was mainly due to Erica's disappointment, sadness, and anger for wanting to kill her employer. The last time he was angry with Edison after being misunderstood, because he didn't want others to think that he was as inhuman and perverted as his grandfather. So when he is misunderstood, he will collapse to the extreme.
3. Grandpa never felt any guilt towards Henry. He didn't have much feelings for Henry. He always regarded Henry as Patricia, and even a lot of what he said to Henry was actually said to Patricia. The last conversation in the hospital seemed to be Henry speaking to his grandfather in the tone of a mother, but it was actually the last time Henry spoke to his father as a son.
4. Henry knew the truth through the videotape, his grandfather's words and his diary.
5. There are many themes of the film: school, education, youth issues, family ethics, women's disadvantaged issues, etc. The first three issues, whether it is the United States or China or other countries, have become sensitive topics, but the specific situation is different. The United States cannot control the children, and China is the official death of the children. The latter two are linked together. The film shows the unfairness of this society to women in many places. Meredith, Erica, and Patricia are all victims.
6. Most of the shots in this film are close-ups, and sometimes only the face is shot.
7. Two of Brody's films are my favorites: "The Pianist" and "Transcendence", in which he played the character in the first and the soul in the latter.
8. This is the second time I've seen Christina Hendricks outside of "Mad Men," and she's prettier here.
9. Why did Henry have a crush on Edison but not Doris? Because Edison is a little bit more detached than Doris, and Doris is the kind of character that represents most people.
10. Meredith's death was largely caused by the defects of the family, lack of parental care, lack of support and affirmation led to negative thoughts, insecurity, escapism.
11. Personally, I think the literal translation of this film is better than the Taiwanese translation as "human teacher".
Let's end with the end of the film, Henry reads a passage from Edgar Allan Poe's "The Fall of Usher" in the ruined classroom:
During the whole of a dull, dark soundless day
that autumn was dull,
In the autumn of that year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in heaven
I had
been passing alone on the horse's
back
Through the Singularly, dreary tract in the country
through the gloomy, exotic country lands
and at length found myself, as the shades of the evening drew on
finally, as night fell slowly within
the view of melancholy House of Usher
The cold scene of the House of Usher unfolded before my eyes I
know not how it was
But with the first glimpse of the building, a sense of insufferable gloom pervaded my spirit
I
looked upon the scene before me the simple landscape features of the domain
I looked at the sparse landscape around the mansion On
the bleak walls, on the white trunks of decayed trees With the utter depression souls There was an
iciness A sinking. A sickening of the heart
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