An Apolitical Interpretation of Two Lives of Flowers

Lizzie 2022-09-04 09:50:53

Filmed in 1991, Two Lives of Flowers has always been regarded as a masterpiece of Kieslowski's transformation. As a Polish director, Kieslowski is regarded as a master of European art film in the world film circle, and his identity itself is quite intriguing. In the first half of his life, he lived in Poland in the socialist camp. Kieslowski went from a theater director to a documentary director to the filming of political films. His "Ten Commandments" is well-known in Europe because of its strong religious connotation. And his political subjects made him have a certain identity outside the system and the color of confrontation with the system. With the disintegration of Eastern Europe and the bankruptcy of Poland's socialist system, the focus of Kieslowski's films has shifted from Poland to France. He first shot "The Two Lives of Flowers" with Poland and France as the background, and then his "Red, Blue and White" trilogy directly cast his eyes on France, using the way of film to explain French, democratic and fraternity. core value. Of course, such a theme movie is also a continuation of its earlier style, obviously following the "Ten Commandments". But the shift in the center of its film's theme is still evident.
Like many out-of-system artists in Eastern Europe, Kieslowski also experienced a shift in the expression of his subject matter. From the perspective investigation centered on Eastern Europe, to the investigation centered on France. This transformation, to varying degrees, has also occurred with other artists, such as the Czech Kundera and the Polish poet Milosz. The reason for such a change must be directly related to the drastic changes in Eastern Europe in 1989, because the socialist system that he fought against collapsed overnight without warning, and the previous theme of the absurdity and loneliness of human existence in the context of socialism was obviously cannot continue. Many of them came to Paris, the center of European art, to try new themes. After Kundera settled in France, he began to write in French, and the themes of description also began to be French. And Kieslowski went through a similar transition.
So, if there is a little description of the background of 1989 in the films of this transition period, does it mean that they continue to discuss the political theme? If there is, then this discussion involves some political implications.
From the movie "Two Lives of Flowers" alone, there are only two scenes about the dramatic changes in Poland. One is naturally the beginning, a truck is dragging a huge statue, a statue of a socialist leader waving, and because the camera flashes quickly, it is impossible to tell who it is. However, the audience can roughly guess that the statue is very likely to be Lenin. Throughout Eastern Europe, with the disintegration of Eastern Europe, a large number of Lenin statues in the square were removed and destroyed. The German film "Goodbye, Lenin" also took the removal of Lenin's statue as a sign of the collapse of the socialist system.
In another place, Veronica from France traveled to Eastern European countries and occasionally saw protests in Poland. While the riot police stood guard behind the shields, Veronica of Poland walked out of the crowd regardless of the direction of the flow of people. Such an expression has a similar scene in Bertolucci's "Dream of Paris", when the students clash with the police, while Isabella, Leo and others turn a blind eye.
So the question is, if a movie involves a huge change in the times, especially the revolution, is the director expressing his political attitude? Under what circumstances, as an audience, it should be assumed that the filmmaker is discussing politics. As a person, I don't think Kieslowski is talking about the great changes in the socialist camp, because the film is nearly 100 minutes long, and the scenes involving politics in the film are less than 1 minute, which is really pitiful. If you want to use this as a discussion, obviously such a discussion will be too pale. If you force the background of the times and make footnotes for the movie, it is easy to over-interpret. There is obviously such a tendency in the interpretation of "Two Lives of Flowers". For example, the death of Veronica in Poland represents the fall of Eastern Europe under the Eastern and Western camps, while the feelings of Veronica in France are regarded as Europe represented by Western Europe, and Eastern Europe is included in its own camp. Integration into Europe is aphasia. This explanation is tedious.
So what is the image of Veronica in Poland, whether it is positive and brave, or sentimental, lost and unfree. In fact, there is very little representation of the Eastern European political system in the film. I really don't understand where Veronica's feeling of loss and freedom from Poland comes from. In the movie, Poland's Veronica died quickly, although she only played less than 1/3 of the time. What can be perceived from the camera is her pursuit of dreams, even at the cost of her life. While watching the singing rehearsal in the choir, she could not help humming freely, and was accidentally praised by the person in charge of the choir for her good singing. Veronica immediately went to find a singing teacher for training, hoping to engage in professional singing performances. Although she found it difficult to sing high notes during the training, she had no intention of giving up, and she was successfully recognized by the chorus and became the lead singer of the chorus. Unfortunately, she fainted on stage during a formal choir performance and died immediately.
Maybe fate is unfortunate for Veronica in Poland, who loves to sing and has a beautiful voice, but the incident is that as long as she sings a high voice, her life may end. Such a fate is so cruel, but Veronica did not hesitate, She felt the danger of losing her life in pursuit of her dream, but she never compromised and continued to sing until she died on stage with a high note. Undoubtedly, for Veronica, this is the most brilliant way to die. To die in pursuit of dreams, to realize dreams, is quite a bit like "You are so beautiful, please stop" in Faust. If there is no accident, This kind of person who constantly follows his dreams and ascends will enter heaven.
The theme of Kieslowski's blue is freedom, and when the protagonist Julie is free, she is freed from her own cage. Facing the death of her husband's daughter and her husband's betrayal, Julie felt an unprecedented imprisonment. Fate was a cruel test for Julie. When Julie broke free from the predicament of her fate and chose to let go of herself, she regained her freedom. And Poland's Winonika is so similar to Julie, so Veronica is such an unforgettable character, a free image that can still forge ahead even if fate is suppressed. So only 1/3 of the game is deeply remembered.

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Extended Reading

The Double Life of Véronique quotes

  • Weronika: What else do you want to know about me?

    Alexandre Fabbri: Everything

    Weronika: [picks up her purse and gently dumps the contents on the bed in front of him]

  • Weronika: Is that me?

    Alexandre Fabbri: Of course it's you.

    Weronika: Why two?

    Alexandre Fabbri: Because during performances I handle them a lot. They damage easily.