What is lacking is just a little tolerance and forgiveness---remember "BOY A"

Domenica 2022-03-26 09:01:10

At the beginning of the movie, the boy was a little nervous. He was nervous and excited, with a sweet smile on the corner of his mouth, full of expectations for a new life.
At the end of the film, it is the same boy, his eyes filled with tears, his lips trembling slightly from choking, short of breath from the fear of death, and he is about to end his life.

Terry had told Jack that you were a brand new person, and that Jack Burridge had never committed a crime and was a clean normal person.
However, until the last second of his life, Jack was crawling forward with Eric's sins on his back.

The film advances in the form of two lines of reality and memory. Jack grew up and Eric when he was young, they are the same person, they walked along the same trajectory, and finally abandoned their fate and self, and ushered in a desperate ending. .

Jack was released on parole and started a new life in a completely unfamiliar town under the introduction of counselor Terry. Terry was also a teacher, he gave him the sneakers of his dreams, he gave him a place to live, he told him you were Jack, and he tried to calm his nerves.

Jack was given a place to stay.
Eric has lost his home.

Being bullied at school, even when he returned to the place called home, he was only faced with a father who was indifferent to him and a mother who gave up because of illness.
He wandered around like a vagabond, so alone, until he met Philip, a boy who was also wandering around.

Philip became Eric's friend, his only friend.
Philip is also Jack's nightmare, lingering.

At the grave of his old friend, Jack couldn't help but ask Terry about the cause of his death. Even if he got the clear answer of suicide, he still stubbornly believed that he was killed.
In the dream, Philip was put on the neck by men in black robes with ropes. He struggled to break free but couldn't resist, and could only watch his life pass by little by little.
What do those black robes symbolize?
lynching? Public opinion pressure? Moral judge?
Or is it a common combination?
Philip committed suicide.
But he was still killed.
And the sword that crucified him would one day pierce Jack's chest.

Like Eric, Jack, who entered the new environment, also made a friend Chris. They are colleagues. After get off work, they would play together, drink, dance, and chat. Chris will give him advice and take care of him in his work and daily life, and when Chris encounters a crisis, he will be the first to rush to protect him.
They even went so far as to save a little girl's life together and became a local hero for a while.

Jack considers Chris his best friend.
Just like when Eric and Philip identified as each other's only friends.

Philip always taught Eric to do bad things. He swears, steals, fights, abuses animals, and is a bad boy in every way. However, even for such a child, his brutality and depravity all have roots. It was another family tragedy, the fierce-looking child who was sexually abused by his own brother for a long time.

And he was never saved.

"I think of a room with hundreds of doors.
Hundreds of doors, and they're closing
The one's furthest away first,
and then getting closer,
just closing, just banging shut.
And I think,
If I can keep from crying until the last one shuts...
then I won't cry at all
And I don't" the

boy Philip told his friends with a slightly crying voice. This was the first and last time we touched his desolate and dark soul. In the end, his heart was like Those doors closed as tightly as they were, turning into a ruthless and ferocious demon. It

may be years before Jack can truly understand this despair. The doors that once opened in front of him closed one by one, bang The bang bang echoed heavily in his chest.

Chris, the friend who once said that he should tell his mind, was the first to close the door.
He called him a beast, a murderer.

You see, people have Times are so wonderful, no matter how gentle and kind you acted before, how many good things you did before, how close you were with your friends, once there is a stain in the past, your good deeds will be written off, and your life will change. It will be completely denied.
It is hard to blame Chris for being ruthless, because this is reality, this is human nature, and even if he is in his position, it may not be like this. A person only needs to be labeled with a certain label , being branded with some kind of imprint, he becomes a sinner for a lifetime. This is the so-called prejudice, which is difficult to eliminate after it is formed.

Every so-called innocent person can stand on the moral high ground to condemn those sinners and let them understand themselves. What sins have been committed.
However, when these sinners change their minds and want to return to society, can people be more tolerant and understanding?

I think the movie may be able to give the world a warning by describing the tragedy of Jack or Eric. Don't let such a tragedy happen again, please give them a chance.

Jack didn't get such a chance, even if he changed his name, changed his identity, and changed himself, the world is still reluctant to accept him.
Even if he becomes Jack, the world Still see him as Eric.

"I never thought...
in my life...
That I would ever say those words
Or have 'em said to me"

with tears in Jack's eyes as he confided himself to his girlfriend, his heart filled with gratitude.
It's so sad to think about it now.
He was let down after all.

He The love he got can't stand the test.
The friendship he got is even more fragile.

No matter how lingering he was, he will eventually face indifferent rejection.
The girl who just said I love you to him can make him cry again. And won't answer his calls.

She used to say he was her hero.
Now he's a shame in her heart.

Jack was abandoned.
Friends, lovers, society.
Finally found a place to stay The place was lost again, and this time it was forever.
He bought a one-way ticket to the end.

At that time, Eric picked up the knife on the ground and walked under the bridge where Philip was dragging the girl.
And now Jack Walking limping on the plank road leading to the seaside, the weather was fine, it was sunny, and the sun was shining brightly on the sea.
They were all heading towards the road of no return in their lives.

If Jack died because of his past As an atonement for the sins committed by Eric, who should be responsible for this boy who was driven to a dead end.
His back is so lonely, helpless and desperate, obviously full of desire for life, but he has to embrace death. In

the end, Jack opened the thank you letter from the little girl he had saved.

Eric once took a life with a knife.
He saved a life with a knife.

"I thought you're an angel"
In the final stage of life, perhaps this is the last bit of spiritual comfort.

The moment the movie ended, the tears in Jack's eyes finally slipped down his cheeks, and the screen turned black.

I can't help but wonder if his so-called friend and lover will feel a little bit of sadness, and a little bit of guilt, when the news of his death spreads.
But what's the use of even that?
Time will dilute everything.
BOY A will eventually become a faded old shadow in memory.

After watching this film, my heart is actually very heavy and depressed. If the director wants to achieve this effect, he can only say that he succeeded. We have to reflect on giving more opportunities and space to those who have lost their way. Otherwise, what is the difference between persecution and oppression?
The film also indirectly tells the tragedy of three families, Eric, Philip's, and Terry's.
As Jack's counselor, Terry's own family is not very complete. He devoted his enthusiasm to his career, but ignored his family and children. In the end, it became the fuse of Jack's death.

Let's talk about Garfield's performance.
Old Martin said that Garfield's performance in boy a moved him very much. After watching the movie, I can understand why he chose Garfield to play the priest in "Silence". Because BOY A is also a movie that depicts the hero's psychology extremely delicately. Garfield, who was only 23,4 years old at the time, had an amazing performance. He is so suitable for this role, that fragile, sensitive, cautious, worrying about gains and losses, as long as he gets a little bit, he will be moved to tears, and he is always tortured by guilt, full of anxiety and uncertainty about the future, and the fear of being discovered in the past. , and the pain of not being able to tell the truth to others, all kinds of things were vividly interpreted by this boy.
His Jack is heartbreaking.
It was hard to forget him curled up and crying in that little loft-like room.
The boy seemed to really exist.
In the end he left alone.
"Remember that"

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Extended Reading

Boy A quotes

  • Jack Burridge: Jack.

    Terry: What?

    Jack Burridge: That's the name I want.

    Terry: [slowly] Okay...

    Jack Burridge: Jack.

    Terry: Well, that's the first thing taken care of.

  • Michelle: [showing her breasts posing for Jack's photograph] What?

    Jack Burridge: [laughing] You're fucking nuts. Carry on. Keep going! Keep going! Keep going!