It can be said that, in a large sense, human beings have not been enlightened. As a result, many films and works of art try to interpret and sublimate the human nature in reality, or to liberate the deep anxiety of human nature from a certain aspect or an extreme momentary time. "Journey to the West" is a very successful work of art, it touches people's hearts with its unique narrative style, whether we agree with the value of the film or not, but I think most people feel the power of the film, it hits our anxiety.
If the philosophical novel "The Unbearable Lightness of Life" ruthlessly disintegrates the meaning of our lives, then the movie "Journey to the West" warmly injects generous comfort into our anxious real life. People have the desire to express, and at the same time, expression is also a further understanding. I would like to say that this is not only an unprecedented funny movie in the sense of communication, but also a work of art with great insight into life.
1. Metaphor---Conflict and tension of values
In the empty desert, Supreme Treasure and Mo Wenwei "you touch me, I touch you", in the spiritual desert of worldly life, only sex is the ultimate spiritual comfort . The happiness of worldly life, after all, must be expressed through the flesh, but the penis of the Supreme Treasure is scorched. The absence of sex can no longer seek a spiritual substitute, which implies the tragedy of the relationship between Supreme Treasure and Mo Wenwei in the film, which also shows that it is meaningless for Supreme Treasure to try to find the moonlight treasure box to save his future wife Mo Wenwei. A metaphor for the uncertainty of the value of human life. Humans are self-righteous in pursuit of something that does not exist.
The supreme treasure returned 500 years ago to save his wife Karen Mok after 500 years. In other words, the meaning of his life seems to have been prescribed by God, which is to save his wife. However, after Zhizunbao devoted his whole life to this, at the end he found that his favorite was actually Zhu Yin. Life is like writing a diary. When it is finished, the diary is not what I want to write. Supreme Treasure always irrationally believes that his future wife is his ultimate destination. When he put all his efforts into it, he ignored Zhu Yin who was beside him and left out his actual favorite.
The spiritual pursuit arranged by God is denied by the movie here, so where is the value of life?
2. Only you, enjoy now
If it is said that the first time that the Supreme Treasure "had a true love..." It is a great joke about life, then when the Supreme Treasure says this emotionally again, it means that life is right Supreme Treasure's mockery! Life is always right, you can't laugh at life, only life can laugh at you. At the moment when the Supreme Treasure passed away, he finally saw the world with the eyes of his heart. This time, he could see clearly that life itself is more romantic and precious than any contrived idea. What he should cherish the most is Zhu Yin. When he realized this, it was too late and his life had come to an end. Pure persistence and true feelings intertwined and collided, he could not choose to feel too tired, he would rather put on the spell, get out of the mundane world, use the soul that has been baptized in life to save the mundane people in the world, and love with the spirit of the Buddha.
However, it is easy to see through the mundane world, but it is difficult to get rid of it completely. When the Supreme Treasure stepped on the cloud to save the master from fetching scriptures, the pendant on his body still cared about his beloved Zhu Yin. And when Zhu Yin died for herself, Supreme Treasure could no longer hold back the throbbing of Fan's heart. He felt pain for himself. Could have chosen another life, but wrote such a tragic end. It turned out how nostalgic he was for the mortal world, how beautiful it turned out to be alive. Sounds of grief followed by a golden hoop beating against reality can be regarded as the last vent of Supreme Treasure's sad life.
The film believes that the meaning of life lies in the mundane life and in the present. Don't fucking drag Snow White with me, dragging the far future. Described in English, it is called only you, enjoy now.
3. Buddha said --- life does not have to be attached
Ignoring the pursuit of the secular present is the root cause of the repetition of human spiritual tragedy.
The last set of shots in the film set off the climax of the whole work, revealing that the spiritual reference of the world is the source of human happiness, and sex is the soul of the world. In the picture, the Western warrior and his beloved woman are standing on the thin city wall. This is an extremely narrow path of happiness and balance, like a blade. However, even if they are fortunate enough to embark on this blade-style path of happiness, can they approach happiness along this path with endogenous strength? The Western warrior hesitated, he was imagining a woman in another world, as if that was the ultimate ideal and meaning of life, so he deliberately avoided the current value - the woman on the city wall. It is difficult for human beings to obtain worldly happiness by virtue of their endogenous power in the world.
At the end of the film, with the help of the mythical magic of Sun Wukong, who is exogenous to human beings and has entered Buddhism, the western warrior and his beloved woman come together. This beautiful ending is full of nostalgia and utopian color, and releases the suppressed humanity from innocence. The pleasure of liberation from the ideal of ignorance. The film reinterprets the meaning of liberation, and at the height of religion and philosophy affirms the value and enlightening power of secularity in human life.
"Journey to the West" says that there is no need to be persistent in life, there is nothing you must pursue, and anxiety will naturally go away. The mundane present is the happiness of mankind. The emotion and sex between the sexes are the soul of the world. Human beings should get rid of innocence and persistence, and instead firmly defend the secular and the present - defend sex and pursue the secular.
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