When I was very young, I watched it on the Central Liutai, and not long ago I saw someone mentioning the interesting details of "Japanese people eat dumplings with rice" on Zhihu, so I went to revisit it again and understood a lot before. Something not understood.
In fact, the story of the film is not complicated, it is the experience of a British boy in China during World War II. However, through the director's extremely mature expression, the psychological transformation of the little boy Jamie in this special situation is also vividly portrayed. As for what to express about the war, the benevolent sees the difference, and the wise sees the wisdom.
Jamie comes from a wealthy family, and it can be seen from the fact that their family was met by Soong Ching Ling, who is not an ordinary wealthy business family. When World War II came, Shanghai fell and the Imperial Japanese soldiers pressed in and occupied Shanghai. They also drove out the Westerners who thought they were safe in the embassy area, and these "noble" white people naturally became Japanese captives. After Jamie was separated from his family, he ran into Bessie, a crew member, and was imprisoned in a concentration camp in Suzhou for three years. In three years, Jamie has also grown from an ignorant teenager to a sleek and sophisticated young man. What he has seen and heard provides us with a rare view of the Far East battlefield in the eyes of Westerners.
Lao Si's view of war should be the same as that of most people. While denying and condemning, he also has a kind of forgiveness for the initiator of the war. Perhaps it is from the perspective of a third party to look at this war, so emotionally, it is inevitable to make the Chinese compatriots who have been ravaged by the Japanese invaders uncomfortable. Although the film also tries its best to restore the war criminals of that era, they The nature of brutality is undoubtedly revealed, but unlike the Japanese invaders we have seen in previous decades, the author's perception of the Japanese is expressed to the audience through Jamie, which is a brave and powerful Nationality, so that Jamie has the urge to join the Japanese Air Force. And the etiquette performed by the Japanese pilots under the sunset before their departure seemed to express the somewhat appreciative and fearful attitude of Westerners towards Japan, a country with a culture of "chrysanthemums and swords". The slow-motion description of the pilot's tearful farewell by the Japanese officer Nakata seems to convey the author's understanding of the nationalism of the Japanese invaders. In the scene of the pilot's departure ceremony, what we see seems to have nothing to do with war and cruelty, only A tacit approval or even worship of nationalism. What's very special is that while the audience was still immersed in the author's immersion in nationalism, the allied fighter jets knocked down the Japanese camps. Is this a mockery of the author's nationalism? Or a kind of sigh and regret for it. The little boy Jamie's blind worship of the Japanese army during the war seemed to intensify. It was only when he danced with the machine on the tower that he woke up like a dream. Could it be that the author is borrowing Jamie's experience to express the entire Western world's interest in this Far East The war, the emotional shift towards Japanese imperialism, perhaps this is what the author intended.
The director also takes a different perspective when dealing with Western and Eastern captives. Americans always seem to be a positive factor in this film, and even in the concentration camp, Jamie is extraordinarily proud of being able to live in the "American dormitory". Even in the concentration camps, Westerners are orderly and wait for the food to be distributed, and they still maintain a civilized manner. It also seems to be much more calm when facing death. When depicting the Chinese who suffered the most at that time, the author's attitude may be the same as that of most third-party Westerners, treating the Chinese people at that time as sadness and anger. Jamie's domestic servants ransacked all the furniture in Jamie's house after the accident. The little Chinese boy in the city chased Jamie all over the city for a pair of shoes. The scalding hot soup splashed his face, as well as the Chinese who sneaked into the concentration camps to steal food from the Westerners. When the war came, the Chinese swarmed the streets and fled like mice, vulnerable to a single blow. (In fact, this impression still exists, go to Paul Bacchigalupi's "Clockwork Girl" to know) Even the final blow to the Japanese camp is the credit of the US Air Force, and even the last broadcast mentioned The victory of the Anti-Japanese War also seems to be the most important factor in the US atomic bomb and the Soviet Union's increase in troops. The film describes the plight of the lives of the Western captives in great detail, and it is indeed very heart-wrenching, but it does not mention the Chinese people who were more suffering at that time. Perhaps this film focuses on the Western battlefield in the Far East at that time. People, and this attitude of ignoring the actual situation in order to purely describe the object of the work will inevitably strangle the artistic level of the work, which makes people sigh.
Although the film ends with a reunion of Jamie's family, is the author optimistic about the future of war and mankind? I don't think so. At the end of the film, the "kind" Japanese boy is killed by Bessie's gang, and the detailed description of the atomic bomb and its deep impression on Jamie's mind seems to imply that human hatred and disputes are destined to never end. of. War may continue, and peace is far from real. And now the continuous war in the world seems to confirm the author's speculation. Perhaps war is human nature. It seems that the more you know about humans, the better you can come to this conclusion.
It is said that "three-year-old sees old, seven-year-old sees old", which is true. At that time, Christian Bale had already shown the posture of a superstar in the future, with the masculinity and heroism of "Batman" between his eyebrows and eyes. The overly sophisticated performance also left the audience with an incomprehensible image symbol like Jamie. Although the film cannot be compared with "Schindler's List" a few years later, it is undeniable that director Spielberg's profound skills can be seen in this film, and the meticulous and accurate lens description and editing are amazing. . And the wonderful soundtrack of his old partner John Williams also adds a lot to the film.
The fall of a "sun empire" bears many pains and lessons. The wheel of history moves forward without any scruples. Only by continuous review and reflection can we avoid such mistakes.
View more about Empire of the Sun reviews
