To understand what it means, we must first talk about its plot.
On a summer morning in 1870, Sheriff Kane (Jali Cooper) and Amy (Grace Kelly) get married, and at the same time he resigns as the town sheriff, he 's successor will arrive in the town tomorrow. At this time, the railway station master brought a telegram to Kane: After being escorted to the state by the town court, Frank, who had been sentenced to hang by the town court, did not execute the death sentence, but commuted his sentence to life imprisonment, and now he has been pardoned. Arriving in town at 12 noon by train, Kane and everyone knew the purpose of the trip: revenge. At this point, his three highly skilled accomplices were already waiting for Frank to arrive at the train station.
Kane listened to everyone's advice and drove away, the carriage was not far away, and his sense of mission made him unable to continue. He said to his wife who persuaded him: I can't go! I can't go! His wife Amy was worried about her husband's safety and tried her best to stop it, but Kane made up her mind.
Kane returned to town, confidently preparing to assemble his men and deploy a defense against the bandits. The film starts from here, like the water temperature getting higher and higher, making people anxious.
The judge fled first. This is a shrewd old man who sees through the world. He said that if he changed his place, he would still be a judge, so why should he stay here and wait to die. The man who sentenced Frank to hang that year doesn't want to fight anymore.
Kane turns to Deputy Sheriff Harvey, who is holding a grudge for Kane's failure to recommend him as the new sheriff, and his mistress Helen, who has had a relationship with Kane in the past, and Harvey is also bitter about it. Now Kane came to him for help, and Harvey asked Kane to recommend him to be a successor before he would lend a helping hand. Kane refused, so Harvey gave up.
Kane went to bars and churches. Although people agreed that he was a competent and brave sheriff who managed the town safely, but this time, they believed that Kane leaving on his own was the best solution.
Kane looked for a friend, but the friend avoided him. He went to the former sheriff, who was already heartbroken. The only one who was willing to help also flinched when he heard that it was just the two of them to deal with the 4 thugs. Poor Kane, panicked, horrified, disappointed, helpless. Everyone, including himself, thought that this time they would die.
Kane's wife Amy thought that Kane refused to leave the town because of his old lover Helen, and came to persuade Helen to let Kane leave, but Helen thought that Amy didn't understand Kane at all, yes, he was not for Helen. When Helen heard that Amy was going to leave the town, she thought that as Kane's woman, she should pick up a gun and fight with Kane at this time. Amy believes in Quakerism, a religion that opposes any violence. Her brother and father died of violence. She said that when a bullet is thrown, there is no distinction between good and evil. Everything has a better solution, do you agree? The
town is silent, the long streets are silent, and people are hiding. Kane walked alone on the deserted street, looking at the closed doors under the scorching sun, feeling infinite sadness in his heart. Kane was half in tears, full of panic and despair, you can't help but say, this is acting. Great praise. At this moment, the lens is elongated and raised, and Kane's lonely shadow falls on the street, and the feeling of helplessness suddenly rises. This photography is in place.
At 12:00 noon, the train came in on time, Frank jumped off the train, and with the accomplices who greeted him, fully armed, went into town to seek revenge. There is a particularly warm scene to be explained in advance, when Kane's wife Amy jumped off the train when he heard gunshots in the town. Love, overcoming religious belief and fear of death, she came.
The end is a shootout, Kane kills two thugs with preemptive strikes and familiarity with terrain, and Amy kills one by chance. The remaining Frank was also killed by Kane under the interference of Amy. When all the thugs were killed, the streets where only Kane and Amy were left filled with people. Kane, who was extremely disappointed with the town, threw the police badge on the ground and walked away with his wife.
The film itself is not complicated, but the conception is ingenious. The director's shooting language is very wonderful. Jali Cooper's acting skills are really good. He portrays a man who is full of fear, disappointment and pretends to be strong. The heroine is lifelike. Grace Kelly was a rookie at the time, but, in terms of beauty, she was already very beautiful.
The content of this film is relatively rich, just talk about it.
Whether it's the judge or the old sheriff, their views on things are sharp, and they all have insight into the essence of human nature. Although Kane is for justice, the townspeople have no one to stand out. There is a poem in Bei Dao that is widely circulated: the mean is the pass of the mean, and the noble is the epitaph of the noble. In this society, only those who are daring, selfish, and vicious can stand out, speak uprightness and sentimentality, and you will die miserably. Bei Dao used to be Chinese, but now he lives abroad. There is no doubt that Bei Dao's poems are well written. He has been nominated for the Nobel Prize for Literature many times, but unfortunately the opportunity has not come. There is one detail, can we ignore it? I heard that Bei Dao runs a poetry magazine abroad, and that office is very close to the Nobel Prize office. Of course, heard. Those who can write such verses must have had a profound understanding of human nature.
The footage of Kane Lone Street is undoubtedly the most moving. Because, basically, everyone has had difficult times. In this difficult process, if your relatives, friends, and society abandoned you, how would you feel? Faced with a threat, knowing that you will fail, what should you do? Although there are thousands of people, will I go? Still panicking like a lost dog, taking a step back to see the sky. Kane had no big reason to stay, even to be prepared to sacrifice, he wrote a will. But, he said: darling, I can't go. Is it a mission or a personality, a fearless ideal or a reckless idiot. Different people have different answers, but I would say, Kane, I appreciate you. Although I can't necessarily do it.
Amy left first and then stayed, what kind of inner suffering she experienced. The wedding has just ended, and the oath said no matter how hard it is, she will not abandon the other party and keep her lips warm. She initially chose to leave. Are you blaming or supporting her behavior? I googled the Quakers to find out that this is a sect that does not approve of any form of violence, and she is a Quaker member. One is her own beliefs, and the other is for her husband's life. Her behavior is understandable. She has always persuaded her husband to leave the town and visit her husband's ex-girlfriend. Her purpose is also to let her husband leave. From the bottom of her heart, she loves his husband. Her father and brother were also shot and killed while on the side of justice. Maybe she has accepted her fate and doesn't want to die. Can't I escape? When she heard the gunshots, she quickly got off the train and went to the police station to look for her husband. We saw a corpse on the road, and we saw the fear in her eyes. Fortunately, she breathed a sigh of relief, not Kane. When she saw the will written by her husband, she wept, and when she saw the thug just by the window, she chose to kill him. When kidnapped by Frank, she chose to resist, giving Kane a chance to kill him. Finally, she had this man again.
Ex-girlfriend Helen clearly understands Kane better than Amy, and she was once Frank's lover. She said that her current lover, the deputy sheriff, is not a man, and is used to contrast Kane. Although Kane is afraid, he will definitely choose to fight. And if she is Kane's woman, she must pick up the gun and fight alongside Kane. However, she is just the woman Kane used to be. All gone! When Amy and Helen took the carriage to the train station, they met Kane on the street. Helen kept looking at Kane, what was she thinking?
At first, it was not that no one wanted to help Kane, but when most of them remained silent, they compromised. Following the crowd was ultimately the most fundamental human nature. Justice and truth are sometimes not really in the hands of the majority. Believe in the masses? Ge You, take it easy!
American westerns are generally heroic. You don't have to worry about the ending, it must be a fierce man who kills the Quartet, brave and invincible. But this film Kane is a pseudo-hero who panics, is sad and disappointed, and even sheds fearful tears. But it was such a person who made an amazing choice. This is a profound description and praise of human nature. Such pseudo-heroes are more real and represent us personally. And the residents of the small town are actually all of us. If we change the scene of this story and fall on us, most of us will be just like them. Not to mention that the film was shot in 1952, it is too old, just watch this in 2052. The film, you will still have ties.
From the point of view of the rationality and shock of the plot, I don't agree with this ending, the bad guy is killed and the justice wins. If on the other hand, Kane died, and his wife Amy cried while holding the corpse, and everyone watched indifferently, wouldn't such a scene be more lethal?
Although it is lethal, it is too sad. So, I still like the ending now!
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