(Spoiler) In the context of world cinema, the success of "71 Riot Night" ('71) lies in the director's ability to balance the locality and universality of the film. On the one hand, the film uses the unique historical background of Northern Ireland as the material, on the other hand, it extracts the theme of human nature that can be resonated with international audiences. In addition to taking care of the depth of the theme, the story is extremely compact and the relationship between the characters is complex and changeable, which is also a success. Commercial film operations. However, the Hong Kong translation of the name may be misleading-because the main line of the movie is not "riot night", but the official people in power who act violently and add chaos.
The fictional story is based on a real historical situation: In Northern Ireland in 1971, the Republicans who tend to leave the UK (mainly Catholics) and the Unionists who tend to stay in the UK (mainly Protestants) have been in conflict for many years. He was sent to Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland. However, the rapid change of the situation is far beyond one's imagination-during a search mission, the brutal behavior of military police/secret agents aroused public outrage. In the chaos, soldiers' guns were robbed, and Gary and his colleagues were surrounded by republicans when they were chasing after him. Assault, thinking that someone was relieved, a member of the Republican Army suddenly appeared and shot Gary's colleagues.
Gary ran desperately in the narrow alley, barely finding a hiding place. In the evening, Gary tried to go back to the barracks in the dark and met a boy from the pro-British coalition who was willing to help the daredevil soldier. The boy wanted to introduce Gary to his uncle, who was the little leader of the coalition faction. In a base covered by a bar, he conspired with the British MRF, who was in charge of intelligence work, to attack the Republican faction with bombs. This scene happened to be glimpsed by Gary, and the accident happened immediately. The bomb suddenly exploded after the MRF personnel left, the bar suddenly collapsed, and Gary escaped with injuries. This night, people from all sides were searching for the recruit: the combative faction in the Irish Republican Army was to be eliminated and quickly, and Gary's army was looking for the missing member.
On the surface, the two sides have a clear-cut stand: MRF, British soldiers, and Unionist Protestants are on one side, and the Irish Republican Army and Catholics who tend to secede from Britain are on the other. In addition to the combatants in the Republican Army who took his life, it also included the MRF leader who wanted to kill the bomb plan. Later, although Gary escaped the danger, he was unable to regain justice in the army. He deeply realized that he was "just a piece of meat in the army," not a human being.
If the audience hopes to understand the history of the conflict in Northern Ireland through this play, they will probably be quite disappointed. What's interesting is that the protagonist Gary is quite ignorant of the political struggle and conspiracy behind the mission, and his confusion has something in common with audiences who are not familiar with the relevant historical facts. In fact, the film creators can change the time and space at will, and change it to the US military on duty in Iraq, or the police of a certain country in South America accidentally break into the base of a major drug lord. The darkness of power and human nature is a cross-cultural common subject, and the protagonist is not a purely weak person, because there are more powerless people, which makes the narrative have a richer sense of hierarchy. In the end, the screenwriter did not let the protagonist reflect on "whether or not he helped the evildoer", and probably wanted to reduce the political flavor of the film, avoid frightening audiences who do not know the history, and thus shift the focus to more general human nature. Gary's lost situation may make it easier for the audience to take in-the original world seems very clear, as if his position is also very clear, but gradually realized that the "other" is not necessarily disadvantageous to him, and the "owner" may also leave at any time. Gary thought he was just "maintaining law and order," but when he entered the mission area, he was regarded as an intruder and was "welcomed" by local children throwing dung. The division of political stance is gradually replaced by the division of human nature in the play, but human nature also has two sides to good and evil. The republican doctors uphold the principle of helping the wounded and present virtues; the MRF leader regards both enemies and colleagues as tools that can be used, and subordinates want to kill and enemies want to release, appearing vicious and insidious. The choice of creators may not satisfy everyone. Perhaps some people will be dissatisfied that their "universal" message is too superficial, sacrificing depth for global marketing, and not arousing more in-depth thinking through specific historical references.
What is worthy of praise is the director Yann Demange's skill in space processing. Through the wonderful editing and scheduling skills, the living space of ordinary citizens has been transformed into a thrilling and dangerous space. The protagonist plays hide-and-seek with the enemy in the narrow alleys and the Fangzheng apartment, which reminds Hong Kong audiences of the back alleys and public housing that are common in Hong Kong films. Familiar daily situations have suddenly changed into strange and dangerous places. The sense of loss in it has a concrete and symbolic side. It is a place where audiences from all over the world can find resonance in the unpredictable social situation.
(Originally published in Christian "Time Forum" #1448-May 31, 2015)
View more about '71 reviews
