review "All Quiet on the Western Front"
has always believed that the core of a real war film must be anti-war. Whether it's "Flying the Tai Chi Flag" about brothers in the battlefield, or "Saving Private Ryan" at the expense of eight people to save one. The reason why these films are included in film history is not just the grand scene of the hail of bullets, but also the influence of the protagonist and the thinking of the audience through the war. "All Quiet on the Western Front" is such a film.
Compared with the movies about World War II, movies about World War I have become unpopular. Maybe it's because the United States, which has been influencing the film trend, has not participated too much. (China also made contributions during World War I, but the most influential World War I on China was the Paris Peace Conference after the armistice, which directly led to the outbreak of the May Fourth Movement. Related film - "My 1919")
Video At the beginning, a housekeeper and a maid satirized the "heroic defeat record" of France and Russia on the battlefield. After that, the housekeeper opened the door, and outside was a scene of uniform German troops walking on the downtown street. The camera took the audience's attention. Take it to the street - a grand scene of the German army's "parade" on the street. The military music and cheers overshadowed the teacher's voice in the classroom. The teacher was beaming and dancing, but what he said was a fake brainwashing language such as "joining the army is glorious and dying for the country". The students have long traveled from Germany to Java. Some people imagine that their parents cry with joy when they see him in a military uniform; some people think that they will come back triumphantly and hold a beautiful woman... But they all have one common interest - not having to go to school.
In my hometown, the recruits who have just entered the camp are called recruits Danzi, which means that the recruits do not know the rules and do stupid things when they first enter the camp. So are these students. The postman who used to be familiar with became an instructor here and began to look like an official. When he was training hard, the instructor rested; deprived him of the rest time he should have, and even the upper-level officer ordered him to take a rest. When they were about to go to the battlefield, they were still worried about the lack of military uniforms until midnight, but the instructor went out to the wine pool and the meat forest... Driven by their vital interests, the angry youths began to hate military life.
However, this is only the beginning. The next test will be the home ground for this group of sons and brothers to go to this chaotic world. Facing the sacrifice of their best friends, sleeping on the floor of the leaky house every day, bullying by veterans, every moment They are all making them ponder what the meaning of war is? Loyalty and things like that taught in the military are also on paper, and only transports pretending to be the enemy can get food where birds don't lay eggs. Saluting your seniors is nothing more than an embroidered fist in the military camp. In the real battlefield, God will not wait for you to finish the salute and report to the end before allowing you to die gloriously. The medic will steal your watch after anesthesia. The battlefield became a classroom for the law of the jungle.
Of course, they didn't think about this all the time. In a conversation with Kate, the only veteran who was friendly to them, the director also revealed his views on the war: "I haven't seen the British, so the British haven't seen us Germans. Then why do we fight?" "Adult Kaisers want to provoke wars in exchange for fame." "Businessmen want wars so they can make a fortune" "The Kaiser, the King and the President should be in one place. Let them fight each other, whoever wins that country wins, and we can collect tickets." The mockery that seems to be every word is undoubtedly what the director said to us after seeing the essence of war - no one wants war, and those who want war have never been on the battlefield.
On the contrary, the last method has the least cost, but the movie is only a reconstruction of people's dreams, and it is difficult to become a reality.
The first task of the recruits is to lay barbed wire. In the face of the unknown danger ahead, the recruits looked back from time to time, but the vehicle that sent them back gradually drifted away, carrying their eager feelings of returning home safely and disappearing in the thick fog...
War brings benefits to some people, but these people will never be the common people. The girls on the other side of the river are conservative, but they all give in in front of the bread. The male protagonist Paul seems to exchange heartfelt feelings with the most beautiful blonde girl, but because of language problems, they only know their names, although Paul promises that no matter what Will come back to marry her, but at this time when the situation is changing every second, who will know who will survive tomorrow? This reminds me of a clip of "Fury": the same recruit, when he and the team broke into the German houses privately (fortunately, he just wanted to eat something), he fell in love with the woman of the enemy country at first sight. , the Nazi silence operation left that building in ruins, and all the recruits could see was one arm.
The most naughty student at the time learned to study mathematics on the battlefield. All the playboys at the time became manly, but in the end, the casualties were wounded, and only Paul and Kate were left to work hard on the battlefield. struggle. Their youth can be said to be wasted on the battlefield.
After a few vacations over the years, Paul finally returned to his hometown. I didn't use the honor to return to my hometown here because Paul didn't think killing the enemy was an honorable thing. He returned to the original classroom, and the teacher still used the brainwashed language to educate the next generation. Paul entered the classroom and looked at the teacher angrily with judgmental eyes, making everyone want to slap the teacher who misunderstood the child for revenge on the heroic spirit, but Paul restrained himself, The teacher wanted Paul to tell the joy of fighting for the country, but Paul sadly told the students how precious life is, but the students who had been brainwashed called him a coward. For a moment, Paul felt that Germany was on the verge of subjugation. the right track.
At the end of the film, Kate dies on Paul's shoulders, just like in "Falling Leaves Returning to the Roots", Paul continued to talk about his family life on the road until he was sent back to the medical station. When he got the news that Kate had already been injured and died, he just gritted his teeth and felt helpless. , not even a shred of tears flowed. Paul in the trenches saw a butterfly next to the can. Paul reached out his hand to touch the butterfly symbolizing the original human ancestor Adam (which can be understood as a human being who has not committed original sin and is kind-hearted), similar to the God gesture in the Sistine Chapel strokes of Genesis. The snipers of the sniper have long been ready, and this evil world has once again killed the people who hoped for peace.
The scene of the recruits returning from their first mission and the many white crosses in the cemetery overlapped, and they finally found their home. A world where everything is at peace.
War is a factor in human development, originating from the natural struggle between males (or females of some species, such as emperor penguins) for territorial mate choice, and the human species has evolved this behavior with its own evolution, From the Stone Age Cold Weapon Age to the current nuclear weapons age, there are also some heroes or heroes in the long history who have elevated war to an artistic level, such as Caesar, Napoleon, Cao Cao, etc. The larger the population and the more complete the equipment, did not prevent the outbreak of war, but turned war into an entertainment tool for certain classes. If our actions are just on our side, will their actions be just in their eyes to the enemy? Why did the soldiers who invaded us join the war? Will there be many people who are also brainwashed by teachers? Will the family be too poor to open the pot, so they can only lead the army? Are all the enemies extremely wretched? This is what a stinky child who is less than 20 years old can think of. Adults should think more and more deeply. If you think about these issues, will China also release the famous war movies? At that time, there will naturally be more magical dramas such as "Red" and "Bright Sword", and there will naturally be fewer thunder dramas.
I can say this as an outsider, but when I enter the film and television industry one day, will I be changed by the war (the atmosphere of the film and television industry) like the recruits entering the battlefield?
2017.6.30
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