On Saturday afternoon, while my baby was taking a nap, I sneaked out to watch "Blade Runner 2049". I watched it with excitement, the corners of my eyes were wet, my heart was pounding, and I was reluctant to leave the theater.
Although I may still want to linger for a while and then go home to bring the baby, it is an indisputable fact that the movie is good, and I even think it is the best movie I have seen this year.
However, such a film has a rating of only 6.6 on Maoyan, with the most concentrated comment being "too slow".
But it is true that the movie is 160 minutes long. Is it too long?
I think it's just right, because this movie is actually a simplified version of "Dragon Babu".
Think about how long our TV series "Tian Long Ba Bu" is, at least thirty or forty episodes start, but director Denis Villeneuve condensed such a story into less than three hours, how can the word "cow" be so good?
As for why this movie is like "Dragon Babu"? And listen to me in detail.
The story takes place in 2049, and humans have invented replicas to take on jobs that "real people" don't want to do, mainly for alien colonization.
A few thoughtful replicants have awakened and rebelled against humanity, but have been suppressed. But there are still some replicant "aliens" who have defected and scattered, and humans are always hunting them.
Commander Gao (the handsome bomber in the movie, in fact, I originally watched the movie for him) plays the protagonist replica K, which is our replica version of "Qiao Feng", a policeman who obeys human beings and specializes in hunting and defecting 's replicator.
At the beginning of the movie, he showed his strong martial arts, killing replicants neatly, and Commander Gao is very loyal to human beings, and never doubted his glorious mission to hunt down replicators. Qiao Feng, who is equally strong in martial arts, never doubts that the Han people are good to him, and he shoulders the great responsibility of leading the beggar gang to revitalize the martial arts.
Unfortunately, the biggest tragedy of Qiao Feng is that he accidentally discovered the mystery of his own life experience, and he has been asking himself since then: Am I a Han Chinese or a Khitan? Which side should I follow?
Commander Gao also fell into a tragedy in the same way. He killed a replicant who had been absconding for many years at the beginning of the movie, but he did not expect to gradually uncover the mystery of his life experience since then: he may be the first offspring of replicants produced by natural means of production. That is to say, unlike other replicants synthesized by machines, he has parents.
This means a lot to humans and replicants alike. Humans have always believed that replicators are sterile. If replicators can reproduce like humans, then of course it is possible to use this to strengthen their own team, so as to gather revenge against the human beings who enslaved and strangled them. Therefore, we must eradicate the roots and destroy the offspring of replicators. .
Just like the Central Plains martial arts know about Qiao Feng's life experience, it must be removed quickly, because "not my race, its heart will be different".
Duplicants know the details of Commander Gao, and naturally they want to get him to join the team against humans, just like the Khitans want to win over Qiao Feng.
In addition, there are third-party forces in the film, that is, technology companies, who create new versions of replicants that are absolutely obedient to humans.
This side is very similar to the Ling Vulture Palace led by Tianshan Tongmao. They absolutely control the replicants, and even brutally kill them mercilessly, just like Tongmao uses the "life and death talisman" to control her subordinates, and they also kill without blinking an eye.
Technology companies are also eyeing Commander Gao, because the head of the company also wants to "unify the rivers and lakes", but he knows that the key to ruling the rivers and lakes is to master the secrets of martial arts - the secret of reproduction of replicants, and they have almost controlled everything about replicators , and then mastered the reproductive technology, then the company is as omniscient and omnipotent as the God who created Adam.
So poor Commander Gao, like Qiao Feng, has been running for his life and has been struggling: Who am I? Which side should I follow?
What is more tragic than the appearance of the mystery of life experience is that Commander Gao's lover also died to save him, just as tragically as Ah Zhu died at the hands of Qiao Feng. Seeing this, I really want to shout in the theater: Screenwriter, how many times have you watched "Dragon Babu"?
But fortunately, Hollywood is always more optimistic than us Orientals. Qiao Feng finally committed suicide for Quan Dayi, but Commander Gao didn't die, but just lay tiredly on the snow. This ending is also very oriental, because it is indeed "the white land is really clean", both lovers and enemies are dead, love and hatred have disappeared at this moment, leaving only endless emptiness.
2
After finishing the story, it doesn't seem to be very new. Why do I say this is the best movie on the big screen this year? Based on the following points:
The first is because great tragic works are actually all in common and never out of date. When Aristotle commented on ancient Greek tragedy, he said that the purpose of tragedy is to arouse the audience's pity for the characters in the play and the fear of the fickle fate, thereby purifying the emotions.
The main source of tragedy is the impermanence of fate. In Jin Yong's martial arts works, I think "Dragon and Babu" is the number one, but it is actually repeating the theme of the tragedy of fate. Qiao Feng is indeed a hero, but he can't escape the tricks of fate.
"Blade Runner" is also about the tragedy of the fate of replicants. Born to be controlled by human beings, everything might be fine if he lived numbly, but fate made the High Commander awaken.
Every creature on earth has a moment of surrender to fate, deer will be killed by tigers, and everyone has to face birth, old age, sickness and death.
The life trajectories of Qiao Feng and Commander Gao affect people's hearts because they are rooted in the common helplessness and fear in their instincts. We pity them, but we pity ourselves.
Second, this movie is awesome because it bravely asks some great questions. These questions have to be faced by human beings, and even if we do not answer these questions, it is difficult for the fate of mankind not to be a tragedy. However, with the explosive development of technology, there is not much time left for us to answer questions.
First of all, what is real?
This is the most repeated question in the film's lines.
For example, memory was once recognized as an important evidence to define the real existence of each person, but if in the era of replicators, memory can be generally implanted and tampered with as a form of data, how can we judge which part of our life trajectory is Real, which part is unreal?
If human society has developed to this day, almost everyone is a first-level student of the "Academy of Drama", living with a mask, and the "real" space is already very small, then the development of science and technology will undoubtedly give "real" in the near future. Definition presents a tougher challenge.
If love, pets, memory, thinking, everything is virtual and can be digitally synthesized, as in the movie, then is it necessary for our physical body to exist? Is it more free to turn into a cold chip? How can those who favor the elimination of the real and those who support the so-called "real" coexist peacefully? Just thinking about it makes your scalp tingle.
Another question is what is a person?
Humans believe that replicants cannot compete with humans, so they deserve to be enslaved. Tech companies that produce replicants think so too. But the defected replicants believe that they are better than humans, and even more human, because they are more united than humans in 2049, and know how to cherish each other and help each other.
Are humans better than replicants? not necessarily. Humans who enslave replicators are actually no different from fascists. Therefore, in the future, replicators may continue to awaken and progress, becoming more and more like "human beings", just like the high commander in the film. The second half of the film becomes more affectionate, righteous and responsible. , but in order to maintain his dominance, man regressed faster to the point of dehumanization.
What is even more tragic is that while replicants learn the advantages of human beings, they also inherit the shortcomings of human beings. For example, they use their own high commanders of the same kind, and they also think about killing and revenge. Maybe their bodies are stronger than humans. , but can such replicants really represent progress?
So, who will be more like a "human" in the future, or the "human" made by technology? It's really hard to tell. The definition and meaning of human beings have been dissolved. Will this be the result of human beings’ continuous pursuit of “progress”?
The most important question is what is love?
Commander Gao's "lover" is a holographic virtual human produced by a technology company, which means that it is actually just a beam of electricity.
But this current is the only bright color in the icy life of High Commander, because she will cook for him, talk with him, understand him, comfort him, and encourage him.
Even, she will cry, sighing for the fate of Commander High, happy that he may have parents, glad that he has a real bloodline, and as an electric current, she also seems to long for a real body. In the end, she seems to have sacrificed herself for him too.
But at the end of the movie, the commander-in-chief, who lost his lover, was alone on the street. The huge electronic virtual advertisement shone light on him, and the face of his former lover was infinitely close to him, as if his lover had come back to life.
But this is just an advertisement. His lover has no so-called soul. They are designed by the company to have exactly the same face, the most perfect face synthesized by the program. Therefore, the so-called excitement, sadness and concern are indistinguishable. Is all this just a matter of fact? Programmed response?
So everything goes back to nothing. This is really the magic of the movie, there is no definite answer. Without reality, the definition of "people" is blurred. Love seems to be the only patent that human beings can enjoy, but it will also be crushed into dust.
In the year 2049 in the movie, the types of "people" on earth seem to be more abundant, but they are more antagonistic, isolated and alienated from each other. Perhaps this is our destiny, and loneliness is the eternal theme, both for human beings as a whole and as individuals.
Fortunately, there is snow at the end of the film. Commander Gogh lay down, looking at the falling snow in the sky. So, it's not completely nihilistic, at least, he changed from a machine that only wanted to perform killing tasks to a "human" who would appreciate snowflakes.
We pursue the fearlessness, power and precision of robots, without being constrained by emotions, but we are always held back by things that are useless but beautiful like snowflakes. The snow keeps falling, knowing that it will disappear, but it keeps moving forward, just like human beings themselves. Are these human strengths or weaknesses? Is it a satire or a compliment of humanity? can no longer be distinguished. The ending of snowflakes can be forever engraved in the memory of moviegoers.
3
Although human beings laugh when they think about God, and although maybe a movie should not emphasize thinking so much, I want to say that the current literature and art are not too much thinking, but too little. Can a work without speculation really be called excellent, I doubt it.
And what is even more rare about this film is the perfect combination of speculation and film aesthetics. The shots of the movie are also very beautiful, and the most important thing is to successfully create a cold and blurred atmosphere, which is what the director has always done in his works. and Slayer on the Frontier). But there have been a lot of film critics and analysis on the lens and art, so I won't repeat them here.
Just want to say again that "Blade Runner 2049" is indeed a rare masterpiece, and I hope more people can see it in theaters.
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