This is an old movie that premiered in 1996. In fact, I have seen this film a few years ago. After watching "Bitter Harvest" yesterday, I felt that it was similar to the content reflected in this film, so I found it and watched it again.
The story is about a sunny holiday in the Soviet countryside in 1936. Colonel Kotov's family enjoys a good life. Swim, sing, play music, have sex, play football, eat. The arrival of Midia, who has not returned for ten years, added more fun to them. Midia was humorous and elegant. Her husband's six-year-old daughter, Nadia, played the piano and danced and tapped happily.
At the end of the film, it is almost dusk, the shadows begin to hang over, and the humanity gradually disappears. It turned out that Midya served in the Political Police Department, and this trip was specially made to arrest Kotov. Kotov accepted it calmly, but it was Midia who was struggling.
There have been many special treatises on the Great Purge of the Soviet Union that began in 1936. Among them, the one I have read and think is a more objective description is Anna Louise Strong's "The Age of Stalin". Millions of innocent people were sent to labor camps, wives did not know whether their husbands could return home safely at night, and heroic soldiers like Colonel Kotov who made great contributions in the Soviet Civil War were arrested on trumped-up charges of espionage. . His family will inevitably face the fate of being linked to the nine clans.
The Great Purge and the events that followed, including our Cultural Revolution and the upheaval in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, made many people suspicious of the communist movement. But I myself am still a believer in communism. The communist scenario depicted by the sages, the abolition of private ownership , the elimination of class differences, the common labor, the equal distribution of products, and the establishment of social equality. What a wonderful society this is! This ideal is worth pursuing and striving for.
The Soviet road has failed, and its failure cannot deny the ultimate goal of communism. The goal is set, and the road still needs to be explored. There are Soviet styles, Chinese styles, and Pol Pot styles. I also saw a post today that actually called New Zealand communism, which made me laugh out loud. It should be noted that the primary feature of a communist society is the elimination of private ownership, which is absolutely unacceptable to those Western countries that are advertised as welfare societies. At most, it is to plug some private goods to recharge.
The pursuit of communism is a long process. Like the Foolish Old Man moving mountains, like the Kuafu day by day, like Jingwei reclaiming the sea. There will still be people who will die for it, and there will still be people burned by the sun. There will still be wise old men blowing cold winds.
Leaving aside the ideological content of the film, let's take a look at the choices people make about their own destiny in certain circumstances.
Nadia: The six-year-old red second generation. In her eyes, life is all good, she can't see evil, and she can't see hypocrisy. The sun is always bright. She loves her parents, her family, her friends, her Uncle Midia, and she is even kind to the secret police who came to arrest her father. She conquered everyone with her kindness. But she didn't know that what awaited her was the impending doom. I was thinking, what else can we adults do to protect this innocence and kindness?
Ma Luoxia: Born in a scholar's family, she had a wonderful first love with Midia. After helpless waiting, she finally married Kotov, who was much older than her. Although Kotov was not highly educated, he was honest, kind and faithful. Although the film implies that she will make a huge sacrifice for this choice, I still feel that her choice is very worthwhile.
Intellectual relatives at home: Indulge in the past life, but feel that "the present life is not too bad", so in reality, most of them choose to be silent. Of course, the ultimate bottom line of intellectuals is silence, but the duty of an intellectual is to think independently and doubt, and someone needs to speak up and fight for it. It is a pity that these characteristics of them have been worn away by half of the years, and they are becoming more and more indifferent. They only have "knowledge", but no "knowledge". Naturally, we cannot blame them too much for their weakness, but weakness will bring them a darker fate. Just like the "train full of geese", obeying fate will lead them to the abyss.
Kotov: A loyal Bolshevik. Have firm ideals and beliefs. He devoted all his love to his wife and daughter. Be optimistic about life. He also has a moral code in his heart. For the establishment of the Soviet Union, he fought against the White Bandit Army for four years. However, he was still very disdainful of Midea's behavior of informing the White Army generals to the government. He was faithful to his beliefs, and even though the regime he loved turned his back on him, he never regretted it. This is a real man.
Midia: Born in a family of declining nobles, his superior background and good education did not bring him rich material wealth, and he has done various low-level jobs. This man, who was full of resentment against the current regime, was later sent into the political police station by ghosts and ghosts. For the sake of enjoyment, he sold his life, his country and his beliefs to the devil. It is also doomed that his life is always in the struggle between ruthlessness and the remaining conscience. It is doomed that his life will never be happy and will always live under the mask of hypocrisy. Until finally he tried to commit suicide by cutting his wrists.
Seeing that some people are a little unhappy now, they complain about society and fate. In fact, many situations in life are due to our own choices. The old man's opinion is, don't choose things that go against your conscience and bring you unhappiness.
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