-Acts 20:33-35
"How Beautiful is Life" was filmed and screened in 1946. It was a big battle. In the first days, after the triumphant carnival, the pain and confusion pervaded the society. Fortunately, in the great American tradition, there are still beautiful emotions that can last forever and make people feel warm. This emotion was not only earlier, but also at the time, and also now has the great power to make people cry, whether the picture is monotonous black and white or crappy color, whether it is the first meeting or the timelessness.
1.
The whole story of the lost dream movie begins in a tense atmosphere. On Christmas Eve, a man named George Bailey was faced with a life-or-death decision whether to commit suicide or not. Every household heard prayers for him.
I think it shouldn’t be a big problem to say that this movie is completely focused on an ordinary person. George Bailey, played by Stewart, has neither an extraordinary appearance, nor a wealth of wealth, even He is also disabled-in other words, he is just like most of us ordinary people.
Just like us, when I was young, I always carried the whole world with all kinds of colorful dreams. George's wish was to travel around the seven continents, traveling all over Italy, Greece, Baghdad, Tahiti, Venezuela and even Samar. Rare land, go back to the hometown to achieve a big cause after the tales of the heavens and nights, use the most brilliant inspiration to build the most modern landmarks, of course, it is best to marry the most beautiful "Buffalo girl."
But with so many of us in so many different lives, how many can be as beautiful as our childhood dreams?
Going back to George’s experience, at every turning point in life, there are always unexpected events between him and his dreams. The invisible chain of fate binds him tightly to the rustic town: on a journey. The sad news of his father’s death slowed him down. On the eve of entering university, his father’s company became a responsibility he had to shoulder. His expectation for his younger brother to succeed was eventually shattered by his luck. Even the honeymoon that he planned early Shattered by the Great Depression that swept the financial industry, even the opportunity to join the army was missed because of his disability. In George's life, he missed countless opportunities to change his destiny, but he witnessed the good luck of everyone around him. Even the rival Potter had a clear view of his situation: "A young man of twenty-seven and eighteen years old, married, earns forty-five yuan a week, and deducts alimony and daily expenses. If you save a little, you can barely stay. Ten dollars, but if you have a child, ten dollars will not be left.... And you are talented, ambitious, and young, and you are born with a desire to fly out of the small town and enter the world." In front of the old Model T Looking at the old acquaintances leaving the dust, George's heart will be so sad: That should be his life!
However, if the story is just that simple, the film is of course meaningless. George Bailey is actually not a mediocre person. Outside of his dream, he still has his own business, which is the house loan cooperative company left by his father.
This is a small company that is hardly worth mentioning. It occupies a dilapidated small office on the second floor of a small building on the corner of the street. It hasn't developed much for more than half a century, and it's only boring to operate. Business-"Calculate how to save three cents on a pipe". The company used a form similar to a provident fund to build small houses for the homeless, and opened up a "Bailey Garden" with hundreds of families in a wasteland. Although the bungalows are not as eye-catching as the skyscrapers, George Bailey has indeed built something more precious, just like the motto of Mr. Peter Bailey the old: "Only those you give to others can be Brought to heaven.” It’s just that, of course, there is no way to make a lot of money in such a business, and there is even the risk of bankruptcy from time to time.
Second, despicable and glorious
Contrary to George, there is also a rich man in town, Mr. Porter who lives "like a king", or, in other words, the biggest and only villain in the film. He appeared on the stage with a distinctive power, sitting in a luxurious black-bottomed gold-painted four-wheeled carriage, dressed meticulously and extravagantly. However, he was paralyzed and unable to walk around, so he could only stay in a magnificent and spacious wheelchair all day long. This is the most direct irony of the film. The richest person in the town can't even do the most basic autonomous actions, and needs shadow servants behind him all the time to push forward and backward. Isn't this a typical "parasite"?
However, it was such a parasite, relying on its own profound calculations and the right time given by the times, the whale swallowed most of the town’s industries, and in the end only a few companies remained able to persist despite the turbulence. He was the most typical representative of the American "tycoon" of that era, running rampant between black and white, almost capable of making every ordinary person shiver under his own authority.
George Bailey’s housing loan cooperative company has naturally become Porter’s greatest enemy. It is precisely because of George’s existence that Mr. People do not have to succumb to absolute money and power. The dispute between two people is actually a confrontation between two ethics and two beliefs, so the biggest struggle in the whole film is intensified between them. It is also in this struggle that we can gradually see what kind of concept Americans have about wealth.
When George was a child, he witnessed a fierce dispute between Porter and his father: Porter wanted to get back the loan lent to Bailey's company, while the old Bailey insisted that because of bad luck, everyone could not repay the money on time. Rejected Porter's request. This example is actually quite different from the so-called "spirit of contract" in our impression. In our understanding, the Puritans should be stereotyped images that must be more expensive, and they are persistent in the pursuit of wealth, and can even abandon all other emotions. Need to live life into a thick account book. In this way, the request of the old Bailey also seems to be unreasonable-but the film clearly does not mean it.
After the sudden death of old Bailey from a heart attack, George had to quarrel with Potter almost every moment, and Potter also seized every possible opportunity to try to annex George's company so that everyone in the town would be completely lost. Into the palm of your own hand. He even made an extremely generous proposal to George, hiring him to manage his company with an annual salary of 20,000 US dollars, so that he would abandon that small broken office.
This scene takes place in the middle of the film. The old friend Sam walks through the town in full glory, and George sees him flying up and down. At this moment, Potter invited him into his office. When hearing the astronomical figure of 20,000 US dollars, George’s heart must be beating as violently as ours: He finally has the hope of realizing his childhood dream, he is about to be able to jump out of this small town, and he will finally have it. Ability to let his wife live a life of worry-free food and clothing. In front of his dream, he was shaken.
Of course, it was here that George showed his most precious qualities. The minute he got up from the dwarf-like chair, it was the moment when these qualities bloomed. Even in the face of an invitation for huge amounts of money, George still remembers that the loan cooperation company left by his father was his life's responsibility. For this responsibility, he was able to disregard money, put aside his dreams, and even let his family live in miserable life. He was able to refuse the huge temptation in one mouthful, and this is exactly where his glory lies. Under his figure, Potter, who could only be in a wheelchair, even became small. Because of George, it is the true spirit of American tradition.
As the old Bailey told George on the last night of his life, their company is also a great little business. The unremitting efforts of the two generations of brothers, father and son fulfilled the most basic dream of the poor in the small town-living in peace. . Isn't this the most traditional American dream? A small house with a single family, represents the independence and self-reliance of the head of the household, and also conveys their pride to the neighbors. That small broken office also exists for this. The meaning of its existence does not lie in simple charity, but in establishing an emotional connection between countless ordinary individuals and uniting the originally scattered homeless together. Perhaps such a tradition of mutual assistance can be traced back to the very beginning of the colony. In the face of the wilderness, the residents of the small town can only meet all the challenges that are coming if they are firmly united. Even if it involves the association of interests, no one person can overwhelm the other, everyone is equal and related.
Of course, there is also another force in this land, which is the totalitarianism symbolized by the rich and powerful Porter. He governs the people in the town by means of golden power politics, and controls all their needs with his wealth. Under his hand, people can only linger in the slums, life is hopeless, and naturally there are no dreams. But through the labor of these poor people, he can also maintain his rule. In the second half of the film review, we clearly see what kind of world this is like: drunken fans, feasting and feasting, but there is no room for the poor to survive. Just like in his office, the visitor's chair is always much shorter than his wheelchair, and it is naturally at a disadvantage. From a broader perspective, isn't this also the reason why the United States participated in World War II? At least in name, the American people are trying to truly fight for freedom, stepping up to face fascist hegemony. Behind so many sacrifices is the unwavering power of freedom of belief.
In addition to this, there is also a huge difference in the "career" of the two of them. Different from the Puritan tradition in the mainland, Americans seem to attach more importance to the meaning of "industry." Porter became a rich man by playing with finance alone, and he did not provide much practical help to others, while the business of the Baileys was precisely what they did. In "built something", countless people started a new life with the houses they built—naturally, they made judgments.
However, it seems that good ideals and beliefs cannot be directly exchanged for cash. After all, George encountered the biggest crisis of his life. His uncle Billy accidentally lost a huge sum of eight thousand dollars, and the money fell into Potter's hands by accident, and was used by him as the most powerful weapon to overthrow the housing loan cooperative company. At the end of the year, the accountant just came to the company to check the accounts, and the huge financial gap became a fatal threat to the company. George even approached Potter for help, but he didn't know how he would feel if he thought of his missed annual salary of 20,000 US dollars at this time?
This returns to the beginning of the film. George wants to commit suicide in exchange for $15,000 in personal insurance to help the company tide over the difficulties. On Christmas Eve when the snow was all over the sky, his life was at a critical juncture.
3. The miracle of Christmas Eve
After the initial tension, the film opens the story in a fairytale way. Between the shining nebulae, God and Saint Joseph talked about George's life crisis and discussed that an angel would be sent to rescue him. Saint Joseph thought that the appointed angel Clarence was "similar to a rabbit in IQ", but God comforted him by saying that Clarence actually also has "childlike confidence, this is simplicity"-I think, here are few A few sentences of dialogue actually imply the theme of the whole film, which is the so-called "simple", but we can expand on this later. Because after a while, Clarence will rush over with a copy of "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" and accept the task entrusted by God. In fact, this is the true perspective of the first two thirds of the film: the audience follows Saint Joseph and Clarence to review the first half of George's life. In other words, the audience's position is actually the same as that of the angels and even God. This is probably the purest "God perspective".
Under this premise, we may be able to have a deeper understanding of the religious background of the American spirit. In the film, all our moral evaluations are, in fact, God’s ignorance of the mundane world. Here, Potter is "the richest and most despicable man in town", and the life fragment of George, chosen by St. Joseph They are also the moments that best reflect his personality, and it is in these clips that we can almost find all the most ordinary and most touching scenes. The greatness of George's image lies precisely in his weaknesses like ours.
So we can see that in front of the girl he likes, George will be flustered and slurred; when his brother gets better luck than himself, George will hurt himself; when he is physically disabled and unable to join the army, he also treats his neighbors. Give vent to grievances; in the face of a major crisis of the company's survival, he will even become depressed and violent. Isn't this the image of each of us ordinary people? We will always encounter setbacks in life, our earlier wishes may always come to nothing, and we will naturally feel weak and uneasy. However, in the eyes of God and angels, these are not the basis for evaluating a person. In the Christian theory, everyone is entangled in "original sin", and no one can escape, but everyone still has the hope of being saved. In 2 Corinthians chapter 12 verses 9-10, Paul taught: "He said to me:'My grace is enough for you, because my power is perfect in the weakness of man.' Therefore, I prefer to boast of my weakness, so that the power of Christ can cover me. For Christ’s sake, I take weakness, abuse, distress, persecution, and hardship as joy, because whenever I am weak, whenever I am weak Strengthened.” In the eyes of Jesus and the apostles, weakness and strength are actually two sides of the same. It is because of weakness that a person can be strong, and it is precisely because of weakness that strength is more precious. The seemingly ordinary George also became great in the constant setbacks.
An ideal American is never a perfect person, not a superhero, and even has some shortcomings compared to the average level, but he (or she) will always work hard to overcome his shortcomings and will be needed. It's time to stand up and take responsibility, even if you need to sacrifice your own interests, because this is his (her) "general duty". And such a person is undoubtedly as simple as a child, and only a pure heart can hold on to those seemingly simple values and never move, so as not to be lost by the dazzling temptation. The "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" that Clarence always carried with him depicts this pure and simple heart. Although there are always some mischievous problems, he can always know what the right thing is and always be at the end. Complete what should be done. Moreover, no matter what defects these people have, the precious qualities in them are all the same: brave, kind, trustworthy, and responsible.
When it comes to the Puritan tradition in the United States, this is actually extremely interesting, because at least this set of ethics seems to have almost nothing to do with the sacred world. In the film, we can also see that there are actually no religious symbols around George, and his life is almost entirely secular. But even so, God found Saint Joseph and asked the angel to save George's life. And this comes to the most ulterior plot of the film: the angel descends to the earth to directly save George's life, but the meaning of this "saving" is quite different from our imagination.
The opportunity that God gave to George is to let him see what a world without itself is like. In our imagination, there are so many ordinary people in this world, it seems that missing any one will not affect the continued operation of the world. However, the story is not like this.
In the world Clarence brought to George, the small town has completely changed its appearance. It is full of feasts and feasts, and it has become a replica of a metropolis. There is no more tempting warmth between people. What’s even more surprising is that all the people who have been in contact with George have undergone tremendous changes in their lives: Without George’s care and kindness, the pharmacist Gore really killed innocent children because of the pain of losing a child. ; Without the loan provided by George, the taxi driver Ernie's wife is gone, the immigrant Martini is homeless, and even the housing loan cooperative company has long been closed, Bailey Court has become a deserted grave; Violet is exposed on the street Falling into the dust, the beautiful Mary became an old girl with no one to rely on; Harry had been drowned at the age of nine because he was not rescued by George. Uncle Billy was also admitted to a mental hospital because of a business failure. George's mother She became a lonely old woman. Who would have thought that just one person could bring such a big change to the world? Standing in front of the dilapidated old house, George finally realized that his seemingly mediocre life was so brilliant.
However, what is even more interesting is that the miracle performed by God seems to have ended there. After George gave up the idea of suicide, Clarence returned to heaven, and the funding gap of eight thousand dollars had not yet been resolved.
Behind this entanglement is actually a religious or ethical issue after all: What is the real salvation for Americans? The role of miracles in the film, after all, only stops George discovering himself. This is true piety: God does not exist, but the power of God can only work through people, just like Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew. Reply to the Pharisees’ words: “An evil and adulterous generation asks for miracles. Except for the miracle of the prophet Jonah, there is no miracle for them to see.” This is already a personal age. A real miracle is still needed. People create, the real salvation may also be reflected in the life of the world.
4. The land has grown for a long time
in the United States’ infancy. There were only dotted colonies on the vast continent. Every colony had to face the threats of barren wilderness and fierce natives, and the distance between people was naturally close. Even with the development of the times, big machines have replaced the traditional writing relationship, the ultimate stability of Americans may still remain in the daily interactions between people.
In George's life, the most important relationship is between him and his wife. Mary has completely satisfied all the man's illusions about marriage: beautiful, strong and considerate, and she has been loving George wholeheartedly since she was a childhood sweetheart. No matter what kind of crisis George encounters, Mary will stand firmly behind him and meet all challenges together safely. How can such a simple and simple love not move people deeply?
After George entered the world without himself, the final disappointment was reflected in Mary's strangeness to him. At the moment he collapsed frantically, the strongest thing in his heart collapsed: family.
Therefore, at the first moment he returned to the real world, the first person to be found was his wife. In the process of running and searching all the way, he rediscovered the beauty of this familiar world. This beauty is precisely what he created in his life. This is not necessarily tangible money or tall buildings, but His good affection with these people. The orderly order in George’s world is actually the friendships he built up through his selfless efforts throughout his life. At both ends of the bond of the cooperative housing loan company, every ordinary person is connected. This invisible bond is far away. Better than tangible economic ties, so Potter, who has no relatives and no offspring, is actually the poorest person.
At the end of the story, Mary found all the friends that George had helped, and these great friends poured their money to help. Scattered dollars filled the table at George's house. At this time, even the most ruthless tax collector We were all moved, how can we not burst into tears under the screen! What a powerful force is this? Waves of people flooded into George's home, like "another bank run", but they did not come to ask, but to give, and regardless of giving, everyone involved in this great friendship is in this great friendship. The soul is sublimated in it. As his brother Harry said, George is actually the richest man in this town because he has the most friendships.
But who can say that this is not a gift from God? It is on this holy night that the distance between God and man is closer than ever. God did save George, but this salvation had been buried in George's first half of his life, and Clarence's message to George also meant this. Therefore, before the hymns and music fell, people sang the old tune of "friendship forever": in the world, the most reliable and trustworthy thing we can rely on is the deep friendship between people. No matter how ordinary or small we are, there is always a huge force surging behind us, supporting every small step of our life. After all, "no one is an island."
This is probably the most touching point in the American spirit. It never suppresses the greatness of ordinary people, but it just thinks that the true protagonists of history should be those countless ordinary great men. Their greatness does not lie in how brilliant they have achieved. Their careers, they become legends only because of their own qualities. No matter how the times go, no matter whether the ancient structure still exists, such a beautiful expectation is ultimately the background color of the Americans. The United States has only been established for more than two hundred years, but it has been able to experience countless changes, faced with various crises of different times, and suffered countless pains, but still stands tall. Isn't it such a touching warmth behind it? Regardless of people or things, this kind of emotion is so pure and lovely, and so pure and touching. People do not admire the rich or powerful, but respect every diligent ordinary person, and strive to give every ordinary person an equal opportunity to accomplish his career. This is a wonderful life promised by everyone, and it is a great epic written by a nation.
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