This is a film starring De Niro in 2001. In the past few years, De Niro was very popular, either acting as a police officer or acting as a gangster. This is even more so in this movie, not only a policeman, but also a star policeman, but it's a pity that the director didn't let him die.
Since it is a police movie, it is indispensable for the usual plot of the police and criminals to fight wit and courage. However, this time on this side of the "bandits" are two young gangsters from Eastern Europe. After being fed up with the prisons there, they went to the United States to show off their skills, killing people and selling goods, and turning the police around. On the "police" side is Eddie, a well-known police officer in this city. Unlike the celebrities who have embraced him, Eddie is still handling the case, but he always follows the media behind him in an attempt to capture the attention of the public by taking pictures of his on-site case handling process. The promotion of these media has made this very simple case staged a farce after another.
These two gangsters, Emil and Oleg, one is a ruthless character, the other is a second stunner. When I first arrived in the United States, I thought I had come to "a country where anyone can do anything." In addition to seeing killing as a game, Emil has another characteristic, that is, he pays great attention to learning. Those things that are commonplace for Americans, those unique ways of thinking, those behaviors, ethics, and laws that he calls "freedom", are all he learned with great concentration. He knows from TV that a person who kills a person can be excused from crime under the pretext of mental illness; he cannot be tried twice for a crime; he also knows that “you are paid to be a killer in this country”; he knows from the newsstand owner that the United States The media can pay for any horrible and weird news. Plus what Emil learned from his father who was a firefighter. With these preparations, he planned his future life in the United States. After several successes, he said excitedly: "Who said you can't succeed in the United States?" In fact, the series of criminal methods carried out by Emil and Oleg were actually not clever, and the reason why he almost succeeded afterwards , Is to fully rely on the American system. What I'm talking about here is not that Emil took advantage of the loopholes in the system, but what he relied on was the spiritual core of maintaining "freedom" in the American system. When the fire investigator questioned the lawyer and the police's whitewashing of Emil, the police said to him: "Sir, I understand you will not agree, but this is the system and the law."
At this time, the film posed a question to us: What kind of freedom does the law protect?
People often argue about whether the human nature is good or evil at first. Putting aside this controversy, if I said: People want to be free at the beginning, I am afraid there will be no doubts, right? From the moment a person is born, he takes it for granted that the whole world is his, and he can do whatever he wants. But as he grew up, he slowly understood that personal freedom is not infinite, but closely linked to the freedom of others and the group of society. The same is true for the development of a society, no matter which society can give individuals absolute freedom. There is a "degree" in this. So how should this "degree" be defined? Former US President Roosevelt once proposed four freedoms, one of which is freedom from fear. People want to live in a peaceful and peaceful environment. Society has the responsibility to create such an environment. But what is reflected in the film is just the opposite. This system protects those who create fear. Not only did he find ways to convict his murder into a mental illness, but he was even discussing how to obtain the copyright of his horror video. But the real victims, Eddie and Daphne, wanted to hide in Tibet, surrounded by fear all the time. In such a scene, we can only say that this system has been reversed, and it has deviated far from the original intentions and ideals of the founding sages.
Nowadays, it is not liberal and democratic ideas and systems that dominate American society. Just as power dominates feudal society, it is not fairness and justice that dominates American society, but money. As Emil said: "Without missiles, without money, you Americans are just little girls." All things that seem fair and reasonable and impeccable can be attributed to money if they are rooted. Emil and the others came to the United States for money, and the lawyer defended him. They directly stated that they were defending the rights and interests of the parties. In fact, it was for money. The media wanted to increase ratings and also for money. With money, lawyers can turn black into white, while the media completely disregards the objective and fairness of the news, disregarding the good and the bad, just to attract people. The last easter egg in the film brought this money-chasing frenzy to the extreme: After the editor-in-chief was beaten, despite the pain, he got up and shouted to the photographer: "Follow him to shoot!" Really fight for money.
The whole film is like a fable. In the early years, there was a movie called "The Center Die Before Dawn", which was very similar to this one. Although slightly exaggerated, it also shows the anti-intellectual tendencies of American society and people. After reading it, I feel so angry and funny. De Niro's acting skills are still outstanding. After they found Daphne, they went to the police station. Eddie, played by De Niro, raised his hand and said to Daphne: "Sit down." These simple actions and words expressed multiple levels of consciousness. One is to let Daphne not be afraid, the second is to show a condescending position, and the third is to show the majesty of a policeman towards the suspect. See the spirit in the subtleties. Karel Rodden, who plays the Emir, is equally good, and in some places he is more brilliant than De Niro. He said: "The Americans not only believe in me, they cry for me." The shamelessness and cruelty with confidence in it is disgusting and frightening.
The downside is that the script and director are weaker. It looks shallow and lacks thickness. The translation of the title of the film is incomprehensible, even the original "15 minutes" is also puzzling.
My score: 6.0.
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