The film is undoubtedly very good, with profound anti-war thinking, revealing human nature, especially the questioning of the nature of war with a sense of the absurdity of the national civil war. "The moment we enter the war, we die." War twists people into beasts. The film intercepts the ecological description of a group of soldiers from South Korea and North Korea who are repeatedly fighting over the Shangganling Highlands, and analyzes and reveals the anti-war theme, survival essentials, and friendship in a very powerful sense.
Many years ago, I watched "Highland War". At that time, I was still an angry young man. I liked movies very much. I admire the tolerance and freedom of the mechanism. However, today, more than ten years later, when I watch this film again, although I still think it is a rare war reflection film with sincerity and attitude, I still don’t agree with the main creative picture.
A civilian in the war, anti-war, war-weary, no matter how you reflect on it, but as a member of a combat unit on one side of the war, the so-called anti-war, war-weariness, and even judgment and criticism of the justice of war, that is not you matter. A professional soldier can be said to be brainwashed, but this is battlefield discipline. Abandoning the small self, saving the big self, sacrificing the individual, preserving the collective, and even being cannon fodder to block eye-catching, these are all military duties. If the Volunteers did not have the belief of "defending their homeland and defending the country", why could they leave their homeland and go to North Korea willingly to sacrifice? Not to mention the Volunteer Army, it shows that in the War of Aid Korea in Wanli, the Ming soldiers could not even talk about their beliefs. The war may be for the face of the empire, but they still turned into a meat grinder with the Japanese.
In the Cheorwon Defense Battle of the Volunteers, a division in order to hold off the attack of the United Nations army and cover the retreat of the large troops, basically used the company as a unit, scattered in the forward positions, let the US planes bombard the cannon, the troops and tanks will charge again, like pulling nails Pull out one by one. That is cannon fodder, there is no hope of survival and victory. That despair, tragic and sacrifice is much worse than the Korean army in the highland battle in this film. But the Volunteer Army was destroyed one by one, dragging the American army for 10 days. Successfully complete the cover mission. What kind of fighting will and spirit is this?
Criticizing and examining the initiators or decision-makers in war, I think there is no problem with any scale. It is your judgment on your position and values, and even exaggerates and refines the absurdity of war. For civilians in peace, this is all It is understandable, because of the fear of war, try not to fight as much as possible, and defend the living homeland of the entire human being, this is all OK. The only thing that cannot be complained and blamed is the fighting individuals (regardless of which side they belong to) caught in the actual war, bewitching and advocating for them, sacrificing worthless, being alive is better than anything else, and even disobeying and shooting their superiors or comrades. In order to lead the brothers to escape, this desecrated the honor of the soldiers and violated the value judgment logic of war.
Many years ago, before 9/11, China and the United States had a bad relationship and the embassy was bombed. At that time, the extreme right in the United States was clamoring to overthrow China. At that time, it was just 20 years since the reform and opening up, and it was the moment when it was about to rise. Even a small intellectual like me who regards the United States as a beacon in his heart is deeply worried, but the national stance is higher than personal orientation. One day, when I chatted with a student with a doctorate in liberal arts, she felt that the values of the United States were correct. Most of the time the choice of international affairs is also legitimate. I said, you and our boys chose not the same. If there is a war between China and the United States, we will do everything possible to support the country and go bankrupt, even if we are a human bomb. If we are really defeated, colonized and educated, and become a "democratic/democratic country", if we are not dead at that time, we will be at ease as obedient people, citizens, and voters. But at the moment of war, the choice will not turn back.
That's probably what I'm trying to say. None of us can look at a specific ongoing war from the perspective of big history, whether it is just or worthwhile, or whether we are deceived and tricked into being cannon fodder. The fighting unit of either side is not qualified to reflect on and question the nature of the war, the meaning of the battle, and the value of sacrifice. From this aspect, although we can't make such a reflective war-type movie, we may only be able to make some iron-blooded dramas, but from the perspective of meeting the overall interests and the will of the country, it is nothing more than that.
As an anti-war genre film, the film has some very moving settings. For example, when the two armies repeatedly attacked the highlands, they buried souvenirs to communicate with each other. It's just dozens of repeated battles in the Shangganling Highlands. The two sides have reduced their personnel and changed their defenses. It is impossible to keep the original team of the formed team without changing blood. That's almost a 24-hour blood mill of new recruits.
The female snipers of the North Korean Army are also a bit scary. Bangzi seems to like to engage in female snipers, and Fan Bingbing in "Landing Day" seems to have originated from the last Vietnamese female cold shooter in "Full Metal Jacket". There is a famous female sniper in the Soviet Union. In addition, the number of excellent female snipers is extremely scarce.
In addition, Captain Shen shot the comrades of other squads in order to let the people of his squad escape by boat. This kind of shocking plot was shocking, but it was indeed too contrary to the principles of war. When the Nanjing defense battle broke through, the city gate troops did not receive an order to retreat, and they set up machine guns to refuse to route the troops out of the city. All the retreating troops crowded at the city gate without any organization or organization, and trampled. The city gate troops perished together with the surrounding defeated soldiers. There are also such tragedies, appalling and deafening. One can imagine the chaos, despair and absurdity at that time. But none of this is a reason to whitewash and forgive such a sinful act.
The film uses a final battle 12 hours before the armistice takes effect, which wipes out almost all the combatants. Lieutenant Jiang was the only one left in despair, spending the rest of his life thinking about the absurd meaning of this war.
The ultimate point of the film is that there is no justice or injustice in war, victory or defeat is meaningless, and survival is victory. A little more noble is to be able to take his brothers to live. As a war that has passed for 70 years, the movie can be made like this, and the common people can also think like this. The only one who can't do this is the soldiers. No matter which side it is.
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