The Power of Faith and the Nature of Humanity
"Joan of Arc"
France / 1999 / Luc Besson
First of all, to understand this movie, we must first know a few things. There is a simple subtitle introduction at the beginning of the movie. The story happened in the famous Hundred Years War between Britain and France, which was also the longest war in history. There must be a reason for the war between the two countries. There are economic/territorial/relational factors, etc., and the two countries have already had deep grievances before the war. No one will obey the other, but the main reason for the war , which is the fuse (let's speak in vernacular). In 1328, the king of France died and had no children, so he passed the throne to Philip the Younger. Who is this man? According to Chinese custom, he is his nephew. , This means that there is really no one to find in the genealogy. If you count the nearest, it is him, which is why he is called the lucky king in history. But there is also a close one. Who is it? King Edward of England. He is the nephew of the king of France, and his nephew is much closer than Philip. He thought that Philip's blood relationship was too far away. He was very unwilling and thought that he should be the heir. In addition to the various reasons mentioned above, he began to lead his troops to compete for the French throne. Just like that, the Hundred Years War between England and France ended it has started.
This Philip is about to inherit the throne, Edward has already called, France has a tradition, the ceremony of inheriting the throne must be held in Reims Cathedral, that is, the king must be crowned in Orleans (the evil customs are a lot of hardships) people). But Orleans had already been occupied by Edward. In this way, although Philip could inherit the throne, he could not be crowned, so he was always the crown prince, not the king. Can't afford it (after all, the crown prince is not too small). It was at this time that Joan of Arc appeared, and the movie officially began.
Well, this nonsense is a bit doha, but knowing the history, we can analyze the problem from the perspective of human nature.
We divide the whole story into two parts, namely belief and human nature.
about beliefs
Section 1: The Forging of Divinity—God’s Guidance
At the beginning of the film, Joan of Arc's character is mainly described, and the belief in God is an important part of his entire personality. Let's talk about what kind of child this child is from a psychological point of view. As a child, it is easy to be obsessed with a kind of thing, such as Transformers, Barbie dolls. And Joan of Arc was infatuated with the great character of God. This was mainly because the church was relatively prosperous at that time, and the status of the king and the church was on the same level. The children in the countryside were baptized by the church every day, and the infatuation came naturally. , When the obsession with a thing reaches a certain level, people will hope that this kind of thing will give you inspiration, and the revelation that Joan of Arc thinks in the movie is divided into two categories: realistic and fantasy. The reality, including the wind, the wolves, the sword, the elder sister died instead of her, and the guidance of the priest. Under the combination of infatuation and reality, she burst out the fantasies in her mind, including the stone chair, the boy in white, the reorganization of the church glass and God. Why did my sister die in my place? Why is there a sword by my side? Why am I seeing God? All of them make Joan of Arc incomparably convinced that he has been guided by God. After the British army occupied her village and her sister was raped, this divine guidance combined with a personal encounter, she received a revelation that she would take vengeance, in the name of God. But would God, the All-Knowing and Almighty, just want her to accomplish this little thing? That was so out of tune with what had happened to her. So what she wants to accomplish is not just revenge, but to lead the whole of France to crusade against the United Kingdom, and let the prince truly inherit the throne, which is enough to match the style of God's omniscience and omnipotence, at least she thinks so.
In the film, many erratic shots are used to express the incredible divinity, and many super close-up faces are used to depict the many changes in Joan of Arc's mentality and emotion after her childhood encounter, so that the audience can experience the experience of Joan of Arc and the emotions when watching the movie. Feel everything Joan of Arc saw about the divinity (I have to say that the performance of the little actor is also great). At this time, she came to a relative's house to stay temporarily. The relative's male believed that the child would get better soon, but the female expressed concern and hurry. At this time, the female was right, because the way of thinking of men and women is different, and the way men observe things is relatively different from that of men. Women's strengths are more detailed in observing human nature. It's very interesting here. After the man said that Joan of Arc would be fine tomorrow, Joan of Arc actually sat on the bed for a whole night without sleeping. Later, the man said that I would always look at her very closely, and Joan of Arc had already run to the church. Going to drink holy blood, this contrast also satirizes the habitual arrogance of men when they look at many people who are not good at problems.
Going far, then this first section on the casting of beliefs mainly serves as a foreshadowing for the next things, showing us the power of belief, the unprecedented shock brought by this invincible power, we will talk about it later.
Section 2: An audience with the crown prince - a trick of the court
The second main character of the whole story is mainly shown here, that is, Philip VI, the distant nephew of the French king (played by Malkovich, this is when she was young, and Malkovich had the nickname of the bastard who did not need to act). Haha) Philip VI, the lucky king, has a very low evaluation in the entire historical evaluation. This is also well explained by the actors in the film. At the beginning of the second section, we can see that he is an indecisive person. On the question of Joan of Arc, although he had an audience, he was still in a dilemma, and his stepmother was much more resolute at this time, and prompted Philip to meet Joan of Arc. So is the stepmother because she believes in Joan of Arc, of course not, in the court they can only believe in themselves. However, Joan of Arc can use it. When France is retreating, they need spiritual support, but they did not expect that this spiritual power has exceeded their expectations.
When Philip was about to meet Joan of Arc, he seemed very nervous. Was it because he was afraid of assassination? No, but because he lived in the court for a long time and was cowardly by nature. A little trick of a fake king, the movie also focuses on portraying his indecisive human weakness, so as to pave the way for the next plot. At this time we talk about Joan of Arc, how he found the real king in the crowd, which is also one of the most important themes of the film - faith, when he first saw the prince, with a sad expression, said It was not the crown prince who sat on the throne. Everyone at this time was very surprised. Why was she so sure?
I don’t know if you have ever had such a time, when you believe, this kind of belief is not superficial, you can just say it to the mirror several times to believe in yourself, but a kind of belief that comes from the bottom of your heart. When you don’t accept any refutation, everything you do will be absolutely correct, you don’t need to think, you don’t need to take care of it, you just have a firm belief that some people have had this experience, and you will exceed the limit of your ability at this time. , McGrady moment, Kobe moment, I think these are a kind of God's idea, I can't explain it clearly, but he does exist, and there is now a very popular law of attraction. But the support of ordinary people's thoughts may be fleeting, but Joan of Arc's thoughts, because of the outburst and guidance of divinity mentioned in the first section, make her this kind of conviction extremely powerful. When this kind of belief is carried through the whole body, she will naturally believe in her. Everything you do will be right, and the world will revolve around you, making you do it extremely right (much like a theory I read when I was a kid, I can't remember the name, it means that the existence of the world is only what you see in your eyes) fantasy). And Joan of Arc's belief in the god forces her to do all the unthinkable right things, which are repeated in later chapters.
Afterwards, Joan of Arc and Philip had a separate meeting, using his strong belief, just belief, and nothing else, and told him that he would help him be crowned king with God's will. At this time, Philip was shocked. , we can see from the time he went out that he seemed to have undergone some kind of baptism, physically and mentally overdrawn, and finally promised to Joan of Arc's army, at this time he can be said to have been conquered by faith. But not his stepmother, because his stepmother is the embodiment of the political figure in the whole court, and the embodiment of Philip's humanity comes after he is crowned king.
In the game of politics, especially in ancient politics, the binding of belief is extremely important, but belief is invisible. At this time, if the court wants to restore the lost people's hearts and land, it must visualize belief. Favorable, a miracle, a miracle that can be seen. And Joan of Arc, the angel of vengeance, the apostle of God became the best choice, which is why Philip's stepmother showed a faint smile when she learned that Joan of Arc's virgin body was intact.
Section 3: The Journey to Orleans - The Power of Faith
The first battle - Prancing Horse Yangjian drop the suspension bridge
The power of faith is formally portrayed, Joan of Arc riding a white horse, wearing silver armor, holding the banner of faith, rushing from afar, and a miracle has come. But the generals who have been fighting all year round treat her with disdain. This is normal. If it is us, it is probably the same. After all, who would look at a girl who has never fought in a war. And when everyone didn't take her seriously, when she was greeted, when she was in a battle meeting, when she set off for the next day. (Let's insert a short paragraph, why did Duke Donos choose to go out hastily the next morning, called Surprise? First of all we see that he does not take Joan of Arc seriously at all, and is arrogant; But the second layer means that if he wins, he will tell others, of course, the most important thing is to tell himself that I am a competent general and irreplaceable.) But Joan of Arc's belief was not defeated, because she believed, incomparably of belief.
But this time the surprise did not yield results. On the contrary, the army had long since collapsed. Facing the soldiers who came out of the village, the duke knew that the situation was over. At this moment, Faith awakens Joan of Arc, wearing silver armor, riding alone to the battlefield (she is simply too handsome at this time). The defeated generals also lowered their stance because of their defeat. They had to follow them. The soldiers saw Joan of Arc coming on horseback. At this time, the legend of Joan of Arc had already spread among the people. Come, I will lead you to victory!" This cry of uncompromising conviction gave the soldiers the spiritual strength of faith, because they heard that she was the messenger of God. The British army was stunned at this time, didn't they beat him away? Why did this come back, and the momentum was so strong, the British army who did not know why immediately retreated to the camp for defense. Let's talk about it, does she understand the situation of the battle, does she understand the military? It can be said that she has learned horse riding for a while, but she, riding a white horse, crossed the fence of the British army blocking the enemy with faith, and cut off with a knife. Suspension bridge ropes. what is this? Miracle! The British army was completely stunned, and the French soldiers saw all this but burst into unprecedented morale, and it was no problem to fight two. In this way, Joan of Arc brought an unprecedented victory to the French army by virtue of her unparalleled belief in a camp that could not be conquered for a long time. And the Duke also understood at this time, this girl, she is not an ordinary person, and also gave due respect.
The second battle - rebirth and anger on the ladder bridge
The generals are regretting the recklessness of the morning, but who knows, who would have thought! Joan of Arc has already led the soldiers to charge against this strong city wall, why? Because Joan of Arc believes that this city belongs to France, and I will lead the army back to the city. Is it okay for ordinary people to do this? That is definitely not possible, Zhuge Liang must know that he must vomit blood, but faith makes Joan of Arc go forward bravely, and makes the whole army go forward bravely. Faith is no longer owned by Joan of Arc at this time, but brought to all the soldiers in France. When everyone is surrounded by faith, morale is naturally extremely high, running for several miles, and fighting before eating. . . what is this? Spiritual power!
However, the strong city wall is not easy to destroy. Even God must accept the objective facts. Joan of Arc was shot by an arrow and fell into the sea of people. Faith also fell with Joan of Arc, and the French army was defeated.
In the early morning of the next day, when the British army was immersed in the joy of victory, Joan of Arc woke up, dressed in plain clothes, came to the city, and told them: "I will never forgive you." This sentence is actually a bit harsh. God no longer loves peace. God wants us to go to hell. In fact, at this time, the British army has already been shaken. In addition, the inverted ladder broke through the city gate. At this time, the British army Having been completely defeated in faith, Joan of Arc once again brought an unprecedented victory, an epic victory. But at this time, Joan of Arc has experienced the test of her faith. The devastated battlefield made her extremely desperate. She did not believe in such a victory brought by God. God asked her what she was doing? She repented to God.
But the faith was tested again, and a new faith burst out again. What she wanted was a victory without blood, a victory brought by God in the true sense.
The third battle - a single cavalry shakes back the sky and descends the division
The lingering warmth of the second victory has not yet subsided, and the British troops have already attacked. Facing thousands of British soldiers, faith once again gave him strength. Once again, she rode a white horse, held a flag, and came alone In front of the enemy's formation, in fact, at this time, after two impossible victories, everyone basically believed that she was the messenger of God, and her undisguised propaganda was simply brilliance of faith. The footage is also interesting at this time, with the archers and cavalry getting ready to attack, and she's just praying, praying for a true God-forgiving victory. The cavalry only took two steps and then turned around, and the entire British army began to retreat. That's how, she truly defeated the entire army with her own strength. Although there is no performance in the movie, you can imagine that this matter must have spread among the people, and more magical colors will be added. At this time, her image was extremely powerful in the eyes of the entire French and British people. They believed that Joan of Arc was the will of God. But who doesn't believe it, nobles, those nobles who can't lose what they have now.
The power of faith is on full display in Joan of Arc, made possible by three miracles that even a battle-hardened general could not accomplish. If you say belief, he is not strong or not. This is what the movie wants to express. Yes, we are talking about movies, so please don’t follow Joan of Arc, because both history and movies must be made up. Anything Facts will have subjective participation, absolutely objective is impossible. However, please believe that beliefs may bring people the limits that human beings cannot break through under normal circumstances, and it may make you a different self. But having faith is a very difficult thing to achieve. This is why belief is also a spiritual force that human beings have always needed. I think belief is another kind of belief, or a substitute for belief.
about human nature
After we have said that belief, let's start the second chapter, which is about human nature. This human nature, let me say that if you watch Joan of Arc, it is very enjoyable. After reading the chapter of Faith, it will be over, and it will save our enthusiasm after watching the movie. Because human nature, especially when it comes to interests, is not so obvious. There is no way. This is also the basic driving force for our human beings to develop. You can say that it is not good, but you can't do it without it.
After the capture of Orleans, Joan of Arc was loved by thousands of people, and Philip was officially crowned King of France. At the coronation ceremony, this paragraph is also very interesting. It is the holy water. The church believes that the holy water will not be exhausted, because that It is God's item, and the ceremony is about to begin, and the king cannot be crowned without holy water. At this time the stepmother appeared, the representative of the real court figure, in the face of interests, in the face of everything she had, faith and the like were much inferior, because they believed only in themselves, and the church was only an appendage of their rule. . She filled the holy water bottle with another kind of water without hesitation. The priest was stunned. Can this thing still work like this? Yes, when there is conflict with interests, people with interests will do it, and I think the film expresses two meanings at this time.
There are two premises, there is God and there is no God.
Let’s first say that there is no God. If there is no God, then all this includes holy water, and all the rituals are just decorations, but they only bring the sense of ritual that the nobles of the court need, so as to use this sense of ritual to rule the people, which is what they have been doing. . Both the real holy water and the false holy water will make Philip king of France.
The other premise is that there is a God. So what does the depletion of the holy water show? It shows that God does not want Philip to become the king of France, because now Philip has faith, although he is indecisive and undecided. But deep down he still believed in God and in Joan of Arc. But if he is crowned king, he will lose his faith and become a prisoner of interests, which is also expressed in the later plot.
Philip was crowned king. At this time, he already had everything he wanted. Obviously, he was not an ambitious king. The 'King of France', the status he had always dreamed of, could fully satisfy him at this stage. At this time, his heart began to change in the direction of his stepmother, and the true essence of human beings was revealed without any concealment - selfishness. This term, which promotes the survival of human beings/the development of society, is obviously not flattering in today's cultural system. However, it has to be said that the nature of selfishness does have undeniable drawbacks, which is why today's society scoffs at it. But let's think about it, will there be absolute selflessness in this world, let's take an example, you work hard every day, make money, for what? Not to live a better life. So good, even if you are not for yourself, but your mother, the mother who brought you up through hardships, is this selfless? Not at all, because he's your mother, and it's from you. Some people say that some people work hard and donate all the money they earn. I think this is noble enough, but it still cannot escape the law of survival. I think that since you want to eat, bringing anything for yourself at the expense of other substances is an act of self-interest in itself. Since you are self-serving, there will be no absolute selflessness. Now a lot of girls say that so-and-so is very selfish, is only good to herself, and doesn't care about my feelings what you do, you are not selfish, why should others be just as kind to you, it's ridiculous. Therefore, selfishness is an essence of human beings, but we have demonized it, but it is not so scary in reality. It is something that all human beings must have and the source of human development. It is precisely because of this essence , our society, economy and science will develop rapidly. Therefore, I don’t think the word selfishness is so disgusting, but it must be limited. Relative selflessness will bring you a happier life experience.
And when your interests are inflated, and you have to try your best to control them so that they won't be lost, selfishness will be infinitely magnified. At this time, all the disadvantages of selfishness will be revealed. At this time, Philip is the selfishness after magnification. He was unable to extricate himself from what he had now, and he could not accept the unfavorable consequences of all possible events. He was indecisive in the court thinking about how to prevent Jeanne from going out, repeatedly emphasizing, and At this time, the minister suggested to him to send him to the enemy. I think in his heart, he paid attention to his heart, not his mind. In fact, he had already hoped that Joan of Arc would disappear. It was just a question of how to disappear, including death. It's just that the mask of human nature makes him unacceptable, and the minister's advice just reinforces his mind, and finally agrees to send her to the enemy.
After the people and the generals raised 10,000 gold coins for Joan of Arc, he just took it into his own pocket and thanked him with a smile. At this time, he has become what God least wants to see, that is, a prisoner of interests, and the negative side of human nature has been completely subverted. In the end he got the identity he dreamed of, but lost the soul he once had faith in.
After this kind of human nature was fully revealed, Joan of Arc, who still had faith, began to run counter to the entire court. Faith could make him invincible, but her faith was only aimed at the enemy, not her own. In the end, he was betrayed by his own people and went to the enemy's cage.
Joan of Arc was judged by the church in the Holy See of Burgundy. The main purpose was to make Joan of Arc admit that she was an apostle of the devil. The god she believed in was not the real God, but a cult, so that the British soldiers were no longer afraid. Joan of Arc's Faith. But Joan of Arc, who fell into the cage, was no longer guided by God. In the movie, an old man in black robe appeared in place of God, who looked like the incarnation of Satan. Who is this black-robed old man? Is he Satan? I don’t think so. There are two reasons for his appearance. The first is the liberation that Joan of Arc seeks. As mentioned above, revelation is divided into reality. There are two kinds of fantasy, the revelation of reality and the encounter will evoke the revelation of fantasy. At this time, Joan of Arc was trapped in a cage, unable to confess to God, and her faith was ruthlessly lashed again and again, and she could not get any hope. Based on the current reality and encounters, she fantasized about a person who could help her free herself, to help her find an answer to everything she encountered now. Why is this happening, why God doesn't help me anymore, why am I stuck in this place, and the answer of the old man in black robe is also the answer that Joan of Arc fantasized about herself, the most reasonable answer that she can get from when she can't find it Spiritual relief. The second is that this old man in black robe is the answerer of the whole story in the content of the movie. He prefers the narration of the movie to answer everything that happens in the plot of the movie that confuses the audience. He is in a neutral role, neither kind nor evil, he has a face that is ever-changing, so he is not who, just a person who helped Joan of Arc get out of the question and told the audience the answer, and finally Joan of Arc was executed mercilessly burning at stake. Here is a very interesting way of shooting. When the priest of the Holy See announced the verdict, the close-up of the camera was shot with a wide angle, which made the priest's face look a little distorted. On the other hand, when Joan of Arc was tied to the wooden frame, it was very incomparable. The shot in the center also shows that even in the end, Joan of Arc is still a positive image of human nature when her faith collapses, while the Holy See, which is used by the court, looks distorted.
Let's not watch movies for nothing, so at the end, what I want to say is, if you want to do something, have faith, whether it's big or small, believe in it, and thus believe in yourself, maybe you will become stronger self. When you have them, become who you want to be. Don't let the benefits go to your head, don't let the material wash out your soul, and don't let those despicable rankings get covered in your body without knowing it, and constantly remind yourself whether I am now what I want to live.
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