Yoyoi, played by Ryuichi Sakamoto, was out of tune with his surroundings the first time he appeared. Dark blue kimono, headband, saber, the camera is pulled in, Sakamoto Ryuichi Junxiu's eyebrows, thick eye shadow. The entire cinema audience took a breath, accompanied by soft exclamations. Yet his proud and gleaming image of a high-ranking officer lasted for a few minutes, and it was the new British captive who broke the peace: Major Jack Celliers, played by David Bowie.
Jack Celliers is the wild rose in the POW camp. He was an outstanding fighter and a natural leader. Yonoi fell in love with this proud, beautiful, and excellent British soldier who exudes the radiance of the sun at first sight. He longs to be as proud and rebellious as Jack. The more untamable Jack is, the more attractive Yonoi will be. However, Jack's rebelliousness is reflected in his rebellion against Yonoi. Therefore, the more Jack is publicized, the more he will hurt Yonoi's actions. Dignity and pride of Japanese officers. The conqueror Yonoi on the battlefield is always at the disadvantage of Jack, who should have been the conquered. This power struggle is destined to turn into a bloody tragedy.
However, strictly speaking, Jack has no intention of starting this "dangerous game" with Captain Yonoi (Yenoi), who in the movie is more like a moth-like unrequited love for Jack. Compared with the former sergeant, Yonoi has always been in a state of intense depression, distortion and pain. Especially after the arrival of Jack, the pain was more obvious. He repeatedly established his pride through orders with the spirit of Japanese Bushido, which just showed that he had a tendency to deviate from the spirit of Bushido. The desire for beauty, justice, and dignity inspired by Jack is considered to be spiritual slack, and Yonoi cannot allow himself to be shaken, so he uses kendo, practice and other methods to return his heart to the formality of Bushido. Until Jack kissed in public at the end, Yonoi could no longer suppress his inner emotions, which was not allowed by the Bushido spirit. So far the contradiction between the two has been irreconcilable, and a final decision must be made - to bury Jack or to bury Yonoi. I thought Yonoi would cut his abdomen, but in the end, Jack was buried alive. Looking back, this is almost inevitable. At that time, the Japanese army actually had the upper hand. For the collective "face" of the Japanese soldiers, it was unacceptable for senior officers to commit suicide because they were kissed by prisoners of war in public.
When Jack Celliers came back with a basket of red flowers and steamed buns to condolence to the prisoners of war who had fasted for 30 hours, he said that he could not find the white flowers to commemorate De Jong. When David Bowie ate a bright red flower in front of Yonoi in protest, I began to marvel at the ingeniousness of the design: the provocative eyes exuded a strange brilliance, a fire burned in the mouth, Jack Celliers was Yonoi's "Evil Spirit". In the final line-up scene, Jack walked up to Yonoi who was about to slash and kill the captive commander, grabbed his shoulder, and kissed his cheek. At that moment, Jack was like a pure white angel who descended on this bloody battlefield. The battlefields of the 1940s and the films of the 1980s were expressed in a very 1960s way, using flowers to oppose violence and love to oppose war.
However, such a glittering Jack thinks he is "guilty" in his heart. Unlike the Japanese culture of "shame", Christianity follows the theory of "original sin". Before the war, Jack, because of his vanity, let his younger brother, who had a girl-like singing voice, be bullied at school. After that, the younger brother never sang again. His heart was tormented, and he lived like a dead body: "When the war broke out, I almost embraced it eagerly." Before the war, Jack Celliers, who suffered for his sins and had nothing, was in Reborn on the battlefield. The war saved him—and as he was infinitely close to death, he was able to let go of the past and be the shining, dignified version of himself. Compared with Lawrence, who is flexible, Jack, who once "criminal" because of cowardice and vanity, no longer has the slightest complacency in the war. He was so pure on the battlefield.
Contrary to Jack, the war eroded Yonoi's spirit. In February 1936, Shinoi was supposed to launch the "226 Mutiny" with his companions, and they were executed together after their failure, but they escaped because they were transferred to Manchuria three months ago. After hearing the confession, Lawrence, who knew Japanese soldiers, asked, "Do you regret it?" Yonoi didn't answer. He was once one of the shining young officers, but now he looks so humble in front of the proud and mighty Jack Celliers.
As a senior Japanese military officer who has been deeply influenced by the Bushido spirit since childhood, Yonoi has been constantly shaken in his heart. One has to suspect that the Japanese Bushido spirit itself is contradictory, contrary to true beauty and dignity, and it leaves no room for the expression of humanity. On the battlefield dominated by the Japanese, in the end, Jack's sacrifice was used to maintain the order of the Japanese army. What did Jack do wrong? His sin has nothing to do with the culture of the Japanese army, he is just too dazzling, a beautiful and correct life cannot be tolerated by Japanese militarism. From this perspective, it seems that love and death in Japanese culture have a natural connection, Yonoi loves Jack, so Jack must die. This love is inevitably bloody from the very beginning.
Compared with Yonoi, Sergeant Yuan is much more "normal". Some people think that from the typical Japanese soldier at the beginning to the adventure to save Lawrence, the original body has changed a lot. I think the characters before and after the original are basically the same. As a middle-level officer with little culture, he can easily accept the Bushido spirit because he does not have a strong inner world that contradicts Bushido like Yonoi. And he didn't care as much as Yonoi from the beginning if he was completely spiritually one with Bushido. The problem he faced when he wanted to save Lawrence was not how to convince himself that the action was justified, but how to execute it. In this sense, it is a very malleable character - he can easily execute commands and express human nature easily. Ironically, when he showed more of his humanity through his interactions with Lawrence, he was still faced with a "merciless trial" after the war. I was very sad to see the last part when I brushed it - the original asked Lawrence: "I'm ready to die. I just want to know, why me? I'm not different from other soldiers."
The roles of Hara and Lawrence are very important in the film, and their debate reflects the difference in the values of Japanese and Western military personnel. Originally thought that it was shameful for soldiers to surrender, but Lawrence believed that there was nothing shameful in surrendering to save one's life. On the contrary, suicide was cowardly. It was impossible to understand that on the one hand, the British soldiers were willing to become Japanese prisoners of war, but on the other hand, they still regarded Japan as an enemy and were eager to defeat them. This can also explain the various brutal behaviors of the Japanese against prisoners of war. In the eyes of the Japanese soldiers, the moment Westerners surrendered, they lost their qualifications to be soldiers. Naturally, there is no need to respect these shameful people. The director also used Lawrence to express his introspection on Japanese culture: "The Japanese are an anxious nation, so they never act alone, showing the madness of the group." "When the order is destroyed, as long as someone is punished for it, it is fine. Yes, but it doesn't matter who is punished."
Lawrence and Hicksley are yet another comparison. Hicksley represents a Westerner who considers himself superior, and he never even tried to really communicate with the Japanese, let alone understand Japanese culture. This is not just because the Japanese are the enemy, but more importantly, he is convinced that the Japanese are stupid and cruel, and constantly expresses his contempt for the Japanese, even for Lawrence, who has close contacts with the Japanese. It is conceivable that after the war it was a group of Westerners who believed that they had mastered the truth. They believe that they have occupied the moral high ground, so they have the power to judge a "brutal nation" like Japan, and they firmly believe that Western values are correct. During the war, Yonoi Kazuhara imposed what they believed to be the right principles on British prisoners of war. After the war, the "trial" of the former Japanese soldiers by Westerners seemed to be more civilized, but the essence was still brutal, as Lawrence said at the end: "You are the victims of those who claim to be right. But no one That's right." After the war, the Japanese and Westerners still did not understand each other. This is even more sad than the destruction of the good things in war. Jack planted a seed in Yonoi's heart at the cost of his life, and was killed by Westerners before it took root. Hara finally showed his human side under the influence of Lawrence, but faced the same execution as other soldiers after the war. When will this endless loop be stopped?
Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence.
2018.4.27.
PS: This article is also posted on the public account "Audio and Video Talks in December", welcome to pay attention.
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