Watching | Hope is more satisfying than possession
Original public account: ARoomOfHerOwn
"Unfortunate is for those who have no desires, and who therefore lose everything they have, wishing is more gratifying than having."
the second term
Title: "The Future"
Release time: 2016
Country: France
Director: Mia Hansen-Love
Starring: Isabelle Huppert, Andre Marcon, Roman Colanca
tags: philosophy, life
Auf dem Wasser zu singen, Op. 72, D. 774
Dame Margaret Price;Hans Schöneberger;Wolfgang Sawallisch - SCHUBERT, F.: Lieder (M. Price, Schöneberger, Sawallisch)
"The Future" is a philosophical life film starring Isabelle Huppert directed and released in 2016 by French up-and-coming female director Mia Hansen-Løve. Mia Hansen-Love was born in Paris, France in 1981 and first entered the French film and television industry as an actress in 1998. Later in 2003, Mia became a film critic for the well-known film magazine Cahiers du Cinéma and eventually developed into a film director. In the main competition unit of the 66th Berlin International Film Festival in 2016, Mia, as the youngest director, finally won the Best Director Award at the Berlin International Film Festival for "Something in the Future".
Mia is undoubtedly one of the most high-profile directors in France in recent years. "Contemporary Cinema" has the following evaluation of Mia: "As a female filmmaker, Mia Hansen-Love's works are always full of the natural emanations of a modern urban woman when she thinks about life and existence. Perceptual radiance. Her method of film work can be said to be the inheritance of the "New Wave" generation of writers, and more obviously, it is similar to the poetic nature of individual reality explored by German thinker Heidegger in "Road in the Woods" philosophical considerations.”
"Contemporary Film"'s evaluation of Mia Hansen-Love is more comprehensive and pertinent. Judging from the current film "Future Things", there are indeed many shadows of the French New Wave style. Through the film in daily life, the film is full of exploration of the inner world of the characters and questions about life, which reflects the fate of being in an individual's accidental sexuality. Humanistic concern for the personal situation in . In addition, the film's vivid interpretation of the intellectual middle-aged female philosophical teacher, every frame of the French pastoral scenery full of sunshine, and the background music that complements the progress of the plot are also the highlights of the film.
The film uses a narrative approach to tell a series of life changes that suddenly befall Natalie (Hupelle), a middle-aged high school philosophy teacher - divorce from her cheating husband, emotional The death of a persistently anxious mother, the blockage of her own book-writing plans, and more. In the narrative tone of the director's slow advancement, the audience can clearly see how the heroine Natalie's ship of life sailed unexpectedly from the calm harbor to the storm center of life. For this series of drastic changes, one might think of Kundera's view expressed in his novel "The Art of Fiction" - the modern life world is a trap, then, "In a world that has become a trap, people's What are the possibilities?"
Connection is conflict, and possession is bondage. This paradox of life that everyone encounters constantly appears in the film, which constitutes the conflict between different characters and promotes the development of the storyline. Whether it is in the relationship between husband and wife, mother-daughter relationship, teacher-student relationship or work partnership between the characters in the film, the protagonists' thinking and choices in this paradox are reflected.
As a film related to philosophy, the director skillfully used the identity of the protagonist Natalie as a philosophy teacher, combining the protagonist's confusion and appeal to life with classroom teaching. The inspiration of the students and the communication with the graduate student Fabian are actually related to their own living conditions. In the film, Natalie asked the students different philosophical questions at different stages:
Can truth be discussed?
Can people really put themselves in the shoes of others?
Which is more satisfying to want or to have?
The relationship between Natalie and her husband Hans (André Marcon) was first introduced in the film. At the beginning of the film, the family went to the Grande Island in the port of Saint-Malo where Chateaubriand rested. Very warm and harmonious, full of the peace and contentment of a middle-class intellectual family. In a flash, the movie is the scene ten years later. The two, who are also teachers of philosophy, teach different contents respectively. Her husband, Hans, teaches rationalism and empirio-criticism of the Frankfurt School, and advocates Kant. And Natalie seems to be more fond of Rousseau, whether it is from the teaching method that inspires students to think independently or from the teaching content and life; especially at the funeral of her mother, Natalie chose Rousseau's "Confession" A passage from the Record as a eulogy.
At this time, Natalie has divorced her husband. Obviously, this eulogy is not only Natalie's nostalgia for her mother, but also her confusion and loss about her current situation.
Natalie and her husband are connected as life partners as husband and wife, the conflict between them is mainly reflected in whether to remain faithful to the marriage after a long time, unfortunately, husband Hans has an affair. Natalie's first reaction to this confession was: "Isn't it bad for you (husband) to keep this secret by yourself?" It can be seen that although Natalie is angry about her husband's cheating, she wants more Keep a peaceful life.
At this point, it can be seen that Natalie is not a stubborn perfectionist, but an intellectual woman who rationally accepts that life will have all kinds of flaws. But when the husband raised this question, the situation changed, the husband had to make a choice - to leave Natalie and live with another woman, Natalie was not the sender of this change, but the bearer. Under the most rational restraint, without the violent argument or anger, Natalie's response was to stare out the window sadly and say, "I thought you still loved me, I was so stupid."
And just before this incident happened, Natalie had just asked her students in class, "Can the truth be discussed? What is the truth built on?", and finally the students came to the conclusion that The answer is: time can confirm part of the truth in history and art. The discussion of the issue was interrupted by a phone call from Natalie's mother.
So to extend this question, is there truth in love? On what proof is the truth of love constructed? When two people enter into a marriage contract, they promise each other that they are in true love, and that illness or poverty will never be separated. Maybe they think that the other party's unchanging love for themselves is the truth. So now, the truth of Natalie's love has been broken by the incident of her husband's derailment. The truth of the past was accidentally broken in the extension of the time line. Although Natalie was sad, she was powerless.
Natalie's mother (Edith Scob) was once a popular model. In the relationship between Natalie and her mother, there is obviously a very close connection between the mother and Natalie, but It also provides the most fertile soil for conflicts to arise.
In the first half of the film, the mother's persistent bouts of anxiety and the constant phone calls that tell Natalie she's breaking down - in Natalie's wee hours of sleep, when Natalie is teaching her students, and when Natalie is in a deep sleep. During Li's farewell journey after her divorce from her husband... she even tried to commit suicide and even disrupted the normal work of firefighters. Natalie seemed to deliberately ignore her mother's phone calls several times, but as soon as her mother called more than once, she would immediately run to her mother's side. Every time I go, I don’t forget to bring food or newspapers for my mother, even in a hurry. Even when I was rushing back to Paris in Brittany, I even picked a bunch of flowers for my mother on the grass near my home. Mother. It can be seen that Natalie used a lot of love and tolerance to take care of her mother, but to what extent can a person's life be endured to be possessed and dominated by others? Even if this person is his own mother. At this time, the possession of each other has also become a kind of bondage. So Natalie's conflict with her mother arose. In the end, when the situation intensified, her mother's protest failed and she compromised and went to a nursing home.
"Can people really put themselves in other people's shoes?" This question seems more like a question to mothers and themselves.
Afterwards, the plot that was supposed to be getting better was cast in a veil of sadness because of the accidental death of his mother in a nursing home. The role of the mother seems to be a burden for the heroine, but after the death of her mother, does Natalie feel relieved and more free? no. Because the life that is carrying the weight is more meaningful, the life that is no longer carrying the weight will be unable to perceive the existence of the self due to weightlessness. The death of the mother makes Natalie lose the meaning of part of her life as a daughter, and Natalie also loses its meaning. Trapped in new sadness and confusion.
As Liu Xiaofeng said, philosophy and science can clearly analyze the paradox that a person encounters in his own life, revealing the relativity and moral ambiguity of life. However, living in a painful moment torn by paradox What the individual needs in the book isn't clear reasoning—let alone it's impossible to expect everyone to be rational, but narrative companionship and listening. So Natalie turned to her student, Fabian, a philosophically talented and energetic young man.
The relationship between Natalie and Fabian is based on the teacher-student relationship. At the beginning, the relationship between the two was positive - Natalie gave Fabian a lot of support and encouragement when she was a confused student. And Fabian is also very grateful to the teacher, will visit the teacher often, and exchange ideas and cooperate with each other in philosophy. The conflict between the two took place at Natalie's home on Fabien's farm, and the two disagreed about each other's choice of direction in philosophical research and the practice of the unity of philosophy and life.
The deepest pain is not caused by misfortune, but loneliness. At this time, Natalie had a greater sense of loneliness due to being misunderstood by the students, and even cried sadly while holding her mother's cat Pandora alone in the room.
The teacher-student friendship that I thought would be sympathetic, but at a critical moment, aggravated my sense of loneliness and confusion-perhaps this is life, full of uncertainty. And the relationship between people, a kind of companionship similar to happiness seems to be fragile, and it may be broken just because of a disagreement based on a certain point of view, and companionship or comfort between people should not be an obligation And coercion, especially understanding, is not coercive. Fortunately, this conflict between teachers and students was just an episode. In the follow-up story, Fabian was also aware of his collision and tried his best to make up for his previous gaffe, and helped Natalie adopt her mother out of kindness. s cat.
It is worth noting that in the latter part of the film, the last time in Natalie's class, she told her classmates Rousseau's "The New Heloise", which explained that the hero and heroine in the story were caused by class differences. tragic love story. Excerpts from the class are the following snippets:
"When we have desire, we can not be happy, we wait for it to come true in the future. If happiness does not come, hope will spread. As long as the passion lasts, the magic of fantasy will last. This state is self-sufficient and its The anxiety that accompanies it is a fulfillment that fills the truth. Misfortune belongs to those who have no desires and who therefore lose everything they have, and hope is more satisfying than having. Happiness is real happiness before it exists. The joy of pure imagination returning a loved one who is absent is powerful, even if not real."
This passage is very much like Natalie's reconciliation of her divorce from her husband and her own life. There is no continuous happiness in any relationship, happiness is just a point and then reaches a peak at some point, and there is a very wide gray area between happiness and unhappiness. If people feel unfortunate, it may also be a lack of their own expectations. As long as they still have confidence in the future and still have expectations, then inner happiness will come naturally. After all, it is very helpful to have expectations for life and therefore maintain a passion for life, because it is only despair itself that really makes one despair and give up everything.
In the second half of the story, Natalie regained her calm and calm. In fact, he admired Rousseau so much, and he should also know how to deal with the unknowns in life. Rousseau once said: "Everyone has happiness and pain, but the degree is different. Whoever suffers the least pain is the happiest person; whoever feels the least happiness is the most miserable person." Then life The wisdom of life lies in being able to choose to open the floodgates of happiness and close some of the floodgates of pain.
Calm in restraint, grace in forbearance. Life always seems to be in such a cycle. After every struggle with oneself, all anxiety and anxieties are subsided and buried in the low places of time. Then the mood was smoothed out, and the sun was clear. And only he knows how he exhausted his strength in every fight. But hope is a good thing, it supports everyone in the life of Sisyphus, constantly embarking on the journey, and watching the light.
At the end of the film, on Christmas night, husband Hans returns home to pick up his Schopenhauer. Natalie asked him how he was spending Christmas, and Hans told Natalie that his girlfriend had gone to Spain and that he had something to do so he stayed in Paris. Hans's words and expressions revealed a kind of nostalgia for home, but the rational Natalie finally hinted that Hans should leave quickly and asked him to hand over the keys to the home. Does this mean that Hans's new relationship with his girlfriend may not be smooth, and he has to change his mind and return to his original family? Here is just a guess. Maybe love will come again, maybe happiness will come in other forms, but in any case, maintaining a calm and hope for the future, Natalie will not be worried. The children in the back all came back to spend Christmas with Natalie. In the warm yellow light, in the company of the family, the warm dinner began. Natalie hugs her crying grandson and sings the French folk song "By the Spring" in her bedroom - embracing a new life and singing soothing songs for him, which also seems to symbolize Natalie His spirit has been reborn after this series of changes.
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