Persian Lessons (Persischstunden, 2020)

Emmitt 2022-04-19 09:03:11

1. The surprising point in the story of Persischstunden (2020) is creativity, and this kind of creativity can be created (on the truck at the beginning of the movie, when asked about his father's occupation, he answered that he was a teacher, this background laid the foundation for his linguistic creativity). Ordinary people work hard to learn a language, and it takes about a year or two; Tolkien, with his enthusiasm, can also create the Elvish language system in the novel Lord of the Rings; the protagonist in the story is obviously Jewish, but he claims to be one. The Persian, who speaks Persian, uses figurative associations to link the names of all Jewish companions to their characters (such as Roberto, who seems to be hungry, so berto means hunger; Paolo, in particular Old age, so polo means grandparents or elders), he subdivided the vastly created (fabricated) Persian vocabulary, simplified the grammar, linked them into sentences, and thus kept the names of more than 2,000 people around him by heart.

2. At the beginning of the story, on the truck that escorted the Jews, he distributed a piece of bread to others, and his fate exchanged for him a life-saving book; at the end of the movie, he brought meat tins and bread to his roommate in prison, and received a gift Those who return with their lives. This story is based on the line of biological instinct for survival, and has rich human connotations. The so-called "the wind never ends, the rain never ends." When the terrifying era passes, people will not be reduced to animals.

3. An old man who appeared in the wilderness in the story has several meanings. First, he is a French soldier and speaks French. During World War II, France first adopted a palliative approach of cooperating with Germany to avoid disasters. France's attitude was unmistakably revealed in the image of the military policeman with messy hair, half-clothed clothes, and a crooked body, as well as the content of the conversation. He said: "The left is the Swamp, there are mines on the right, where can you go?" Second, the old man's simple words calmed the protagonist of the story. Successful people in history often have an unknown old man behind them, such as Zhang Liang and Huang Shi.

4. The climax of the whole movie is the night when the Persian-born British soldiers arrive and die immediately (whose identity is similar to the Taiwanese who were drafted into the army under the Japanese colonization). It was night, and the Jews who had survived all the way realized how many lives he had paid for his survival, including: the prisoners on the trailer, Persians, Italians, and even those more than 2,000 who provided him with names as vocabulary and then all of them. Extinct people. So that night, he went to the captain's office and was lethargic while repeating the copying work that could last for his life. For the first time, he even felt a "fear" that was different from the previous, different from the title, and an unprecedented "tiredness". From the beginning of the film to this , he also changed from seeking life to seeking death. And it was that night in the office that the captain sighed that a Persian person was so close to him, yet so far away. He regretted that he had no chance to talk to the Persian teacher (the protagonist of the story) and the three Persians who had just arrived. He was melancholy and full of tears, and he shared the reasons for his low self-esteem, vulnerability and desire to go to Tehran deep in his heart.

5. The relationship between the German captain and the Jewish prisoner gradually changed. It was especially wonderful. When the officers chatted at a dinner party and mentioned that the hero of the story was blocked and sent to the execution ground, the commander asked the captain: "It seems that you have enough words. Let's go!" That means, "The person who made you learn Persian is worthless and can be sent to death!" But the captain immediately excused himself and left the table in a hurry to rescue the Jews. At the same time, this plot also shows and proves the humanity of the officer, because the protagonist of the story has gone beyond a prisoner, a teacher, a tool to him, and the captain regards him as a friend. Some people may wonder, how could such a damned Nazi be human? In fact, he was careful not to get blood on his hands. Even once he thought that the protagonist of the story had deceived him, he also told his subordinates to deal with, torture, and abuse. The reason why he did this was because there was still a cry of humanity at the bottom of his heart, just like the psychology revealed in a little poem he recited. He used this kind of behavior to convince himself, rationalize himself, and save for himself the idea of ​​"I'm still alone", which is why he added a shameless sentence before warning the protagonist of the story in the office not to deceive him. , he said: "You may have discovered that I am actually a gentle person." Therefore, when the captain rescued the protagonist of the story later, the protagonist of the story mercilessly exposed the mask the captain put on himself, and the captain was so received. shock. The protagonist of the story accuses: "You thought you didn't kill people, you weren't a murderer? But you kept a bunch of murderers and let them eat and drink well, didn't you? Don't you know that you are no different from this?"

6. The film does not defend German officers or German positions, but it does not constantly criticize or criticize. The reason why this officer competed for the post of captain also has a long-term cause of hunger and poverty on the back (represented by a whole cabinet of food in his office), and the side also points out the background of the war launched by Germany at that time. Don't forget that the officer's older brother refused to join the younger brother and went to Tehran to escape from the world, so he wrote a poem to describe his heartfelt songs while studying Persian. He said:

wind schieben wolken nach osten, zu ort seele sehnen nach frieden, ich wissen, ich werden sein glücklich da, wo wolken jetzt gehen. The wind pushes the clouds eastward, where restless souls will rest. I know that my happiness is where the clouds drift.

Like the protagonist of the story, this German officer also faced the choice between biology and human nature, but unfortunately he put profit and benevolence before benevolence.

7. Talk about the reason why the German captain was deceived. Why is the obvious Jewish identity considered Persian? It's because of the captain's self-centeredness. When the facts were in front of him, he only had one sentence: "Do you think you are smarter than me and see better than me?" Lao Tzu said, "If you do not see yourself, you will be clear; if you are not right, you will show; if you do not attack yourself, you will be successful. If you don’t boast about yourself, you will grow up.” He also said, “Those who see themselves are unclear, those who are self-righteous are not obvious, those who attack themselves have no success, and those who are self-righteous are not long.”: When people only see what they want to see, instead He will become the most unreasonable person; when people are self-righteous, they always think that they are right, the truth is on their side, but they cover the truth and separate themselves from the truth; It is impossible to truly present the achievements of things, nor to see the real achievements of things; it is not easy for a proud and complacent person to make progress, because he has lost the opportunity and space to move forward, just like a full glass of water, adding more No more water.

8. The female officer who framed the protagonist of the story in the movie was finally dispatched to the front line to fight. Such a situation of struggling with fate reminds me of the style of the Book of Songs Guo Feng Bei Feng drumming: drumming its boring, actively employing troops. Soil country city canal, I alone southbound.

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Extended Reading

Persian Lessons quotes

  • Gilles: [about his daily fourty words in 'Farsi'] Inventing them is not a problem but to remember them all, it's impossible. And there will always be more. Many more.

  • Klaus Koch: [Koch took Gilles back after he was put to move to another camp] You would risk your life for those nameless people.

    Gilles: Those aren't nameless. Just because you don't know their names. At least they aren't murderers.

    Klaus Koch: I'm not a murderer.

    Gilles: No. You just make sure that the murderers eat well.