The black rain, taken in 1989, has an extremely strong atmosphere of the times-I am not talking about the Cold War. Compared with the old-fashioned red threat, the United States at that time was facing a more severe challenge-a challenge from within the capitalist camp-Japan The rise of. The 1980s was the most glorious era in Japan. At that time, Japanese products were all over the United States. Taking automobiles as an example, local American brands were overwhelmed by cheap Nissan and Mitsubishi, and Japanese companies even opened their manufacturers to the United States. The sun in Japan is as high as the sun. Under this scorching sun, American society is mourning from the elite to the people. The United States is proud that Times Square has been bought by the Japanese. It is no wonder that American society is permeated with a heroic twilight and a dead end. Of sadness.
The story of Hei Yu happened in this context.
The protagonist Nick is set as an American police detective. He has a broken family, his wife divorced, and his children live with his wife. He has to pay monthly alimony. So even though he is a well-known spy, he is also charged with corruption.
Three cents stumped the hero Han. Nick was devastated by economic problems. At the beginning of the film, Nick was riding a motorcycle under the Brooklyn Bridge and riding in the morning sun. However, the color of the film was deliberately adjusted to dark yellow, so the sun was watching. Like the setting sun, the scene in this scene is rather sad and bleak. He went out on a motorcycle early in the morning to take part in the racing gambling game of the Speeding Party, and to win that small bet with his life. After that, he took the young optimistic friend Charlie to accept the police investigation investigator's question. The investigator ruthlessly asked him about his gray income. He couldn't restrain himself and quarreled with the other party.
After coming out, he and Charlie went to an Italian restaurant to have a dull drink, and the first plot point of the movie appeared here. They accidentally ran into a gangster vendetta while drinking. A group of Japanese gangsters rushed into the restaurant and killed the other two Japanese gangsters who were dining there. And snatched a mysterious box.
After a fight, they captured the leader of the assailant. After investigation, it was learned that this cruel tall man named Saito was a repeat offender of the Japanese government. The Japanese government requested that this person be repatriated, and Nick and Charlie were ordered to escort him to Japan.
What follows is the theme plot of this movie-the American hero's roaming in a foreign country. And this foreign country was Japan, the biggest challenger to the United States at that time. This is an ancient theatrical theme: the protagonist is exiled, travels to a foreign country, then returns to his homeland, and finally becomes a hero. Bruce Lee's raptor crosses the river and tells the story of how a Chinese with a stunt in Rome was so awesome. But Nick and Bruce Lee in the Black Rain were the opposite. He encountered a failed journey. The criminals were deceived by gangsters who pretended to be Japanese police when they stepped off the plane. The conservative Japanese police took precautions against them and his gun was confiscated. Actions are restricted everywhere; in addition to the language barrier, the different culture, and the fact that he has never visited the dock, he doesn’t even know who he is going to deal with. Nick’s American heroism is useless at all. What’s even more tragic is that his friend Charlie falls into trouble. After Saito’s ambush (Saito was also a motorcycle rider, he led the Speeding Party to surround Charlie) and was killed in front of him.
The story ends here, is the lowest point of emotions. The American hero lost everything here, his reputation, rights, friends...all lost.
For the story to continue, the hero must be helped. At this time, the helper did appear. The Japanese police officer Matsumoto (Takakura Ken) who had been monitoring them came forward and returned the gun to Nick privately. The Miss Chicago whom Nick met during the investigation also performed Japanese gang literacy for him. Nick began to touch the doorway. The arrest of Saito started, and he was indeed almost caught. The problem is that when he arrested, Matsumoto notified the Japanese police. When the Japanese police arrived, Saito’s motorcycle and police car passed by. The Japanese police did not stop Saito, but knocked down Nick. This scene is quite symbolic. The scene takes place in a factory, and the chase scene takes place on the road outside the factory. Nick runs with his back to the audience to chase the murderer. A few Japanese police cars and a large number of bicycles rushed towards him. The Japanese worker with a blank expression—what is it that hinders Nick? This scene gives us a vivid answer-it is the spirit of collectivism in Japan. The Japanese workers here symbolize the thoughtless groups like worker ants. In the eyes of Western heroes, they are just an obstacle.
Nick watched Saito run away, he yelled at him, but was sent back to his country, and his friend Matsumoto was also removed. Nick slipped back to Japan from the plane. With the help of Miss Chicago, he went directly to Saito's boss, and asked him to provide weapons so that he could kill Saito. So there was the final battle between good and evil that took place on Japanese farms. In this battle, Matsumoto also unexpectedly got a submachine gun to help out. Before this, this person was a typical Japanese, conservative, and unconditionally obeyed the orders of his superiors. But in the end, he was infected by Nick's personal heroism, and he fought side by side with Nick and bravely rushed into the Dragon Pool. Although the two eventually captured Saito, what is obscene here is the victory of the American spirit.
The movie exudes a sense of depression from beginning to end. From a visual point of view, the tone of the entire film is deliberately adjusted to a dim ochre, and the picture looks like a landscape during a sandstorm in Beijing. American heroes are in such a bleak situation, in a strange country, a strange city, fighting for reputation with a hatred. In this movie, bleakness is the standard color for American heroes, and it is black and red that can compete with bleak yellow when Japanese gangsters play.
The movie has a small climax, when Japanese gangster Saito and boss Sugai were negotiating at a steel factory, the whole picture was shrouded in the darkness of the factory, but at the same time molten iron flowed all around, sparks splashed, and the red of the emergency light pulsed on the faces of the gang members. , Which made these thugs who were on the verge of breaking out even more unpredictable; this color later appeared in the old man Sugai, Sugai leaned on the stove to talk to Nick, talked about the origin of Saito, which mentioned the black rain. Key words-I (Sugai) drilled out of the ruins after the atomic bomb exploded. The city was destroyed. The sky started to rain, black rain. You (the United States) not only dropped the atomic bomb on this land, but also dropped it. Thousands of people are like Saito (selfish, greedy, violent without morality). At this time, the room was covered in black, and the jumping fire light made Boss Sugawa's face light and dark. The red and black of the Japanese gangs expresses the United States' reflection on itself. Although the American heroes are alone in a foreign land, they are still fighting with their own shadows. The film author believes that the devil like Saito was cultivated by the Americans themselves. This is Hollywood's response to Japan's surpassing of the United States-we admit that we have failed, but we don't think you are better than us, we are just cultivating opponents like you by mistake.
An old saying-the most terrible enemy is yourself. What kind of self-confidence do you have to say such a thing? In this movie, the American hero has not changed from beginning to end. He is still hot-tempered and solitary. It is the Japanese police detective who was corrupt at first, and then was extremely abruptly infected by the Americans and became a person. Heroic. In addition, American heroes don’t need to learn anything from their opponents. In addition to learning how to eat noodles with chopsticks, Japan’s hierarchical structure, conservative, collectivism, and other populists, the United States does not appreciate it.
This movie shows a frustrated American hero, but the hero does not change his arrogance.
Sure enough, not long after, the United States destroyed Japan by forcing the yen to appreciate, regrouped, and took a firm hold on the fishing boat. As long as the heart is strong, the hero at the end is still a hero, and he will be able to make a comeback.
The current situation in China and the U.S. resembles Japan and the U.S. in the 1980s, so rewatching this film at this time is especially valuable.
View more about Black Rain reviews
