In short, there are no waste scenes here, each scene is very simple and direct, and the purpose is very strong, which promotes the development of the plot step by step. In fact, this way of shooting is not smart, and even feels a little stupid. It's not hidden and tucked, but that's how people shoot it. Moreover, it is so straightforward from beginning to end, after getting used to it, it feels a little cute. It's just very tough, trying to say something.
Of course, to get a deeper understanding of the straight masculinity of this film, we must first understand the director of the film. Mel Gibson,
as a former Hollywood tough guy action actor, has also starred in too many classic actions. Film, in the old Hollywood, is also a generation of well-known tough guys. Such as "Mad Max" series, "Lethal Weapon" series.
In addition to being an action actor, he is also an Oscar director. Wallace's "Freedom" in "Braveheart", which he directed and acted, also made too many people cry.
The film has won the Oscar for best director and best picture and many other awards, which also makes it among the ranks of Oscar directors. However, there is also a lot of controversy surrounding the film. For example, many people think that he is too straightforward, too deliberately provocative, too procrastinating, and so on.
I admit there are some criticisms here, however, you also have to admit that his films are just beautiful and exciting. Including the subsequent "Passion of the Christ" and "Revelation" are very good. Mel Gibson is a great storyteller, no doubt about that.
When it came to "Blood Battle Hacksaw Ridge", it was still the same. This film is very old-school narrative, very straightforward, or very cruel and bloody, but it also needs to be admitted that it is really beautiful and can very emotionally mobilize the audience.
Especially the second part is the part that enters the Hacksaw Ridge battlefield. I still remember the first time I saw that scene in the theater, I was so nervous that my whole body was stiff and I was a little breathless.
The straight masculinity of "Blood Battle Hacksaw Ridge" is also mainly in the second half, which is especially bloody and cruel. The first feeling I saw at the time was that it was like purgatory.
The first shot that was fired was also very visually striking. Most of the war movies I saw in the past were shot and fell to the ground handsomely. The bullet hit the body here, directly hitting the person with a big blood hole. Maybe after a few shots, the person was shattered. The helmet flies directly, and the head is smashed. Half body, smashed legs, there are many such bloody scenes in the film, which are very cruel and very real. Therefore, the film was finally rated as R in North America, mainly because of the terrible bloody battlefield.
Mel Gibson used this very intuitive way to make me have a strong disgust and fear of war. The film depicts the battlefield in an almost excessive way. In fact, in the description of the battlefield, Mel Gibson is obsessed with this kind of gore and intentionally over-depicted violence. Including the depiction of the enemy is also slightly surreal. The Japanese here are not like humans at all, but like a group of Death Eaters or zombies, which further increases the horror of the film.
In short, the film reproduced that terrible war in an anti-special and straightforward way, and it also received very good results. Then, when you turn around and think about the film, you realize that even if it's simple and straightforward, it works. All kinds of foreshadowing in the first half, including all kinds of humiliation suffered by the male protagonist, are accumulating emotions. Put the protagonist under pressure and the audience under pressure. You just hope that he can stand up and finally create a miracle and impress others.
By the way, the male protagonist Andrew Garfield, the changes in this movie are also obvious. At least in the first half of the performance is very good. The character he created actually feels a bit like Forrest Gump, a very simple and very stubborn person.
Especially with such a simple and honest smile on Garfield's harmless face, you will believe that, yes, this is him, I believe he can make these kind of stupid but very firm decisions. He made the character come to life. And then Martin Scorsese's "Silence", still starring him, it seems that next year's Oscar red carpet, there must be the figure of Garfield.
In fact, in addition to the bloody and real action scenes, and the particularly simple and direct narrative expression. I don't care too much about the rest of the movie. References such as religious beliefs are very obvious, and there is little to analyze. I was moved, not because of the male protagonist's belief, but because we were witnessing the miracle created by an ordinary person and using his method to prove ourselves. Especially when I think that this is actually happening, I am even more moved.
Speaking of deep meaning, I think there is one place in the film that I am very interested in, which is loneliness.
The male protagonist is despised and isolated by his comrades around him because he is determined not to take a gun, and he is always isolated. He was also confused, but insisted on himself. This reminds me of director Mel Gibson himself. I always feel that the experience of the male protagonist should also be a bit of the director's own inner projection.
Mel Gibson has had a rough few years. The reason behind this is because of a scandal in 2006. He drunk and drove to 87 mph on the 45 mph zone. After being arrested, he yelled at Jews at the scene. As a result, Mel Gibson was branded "anti-Semitic" and "racist", and the consequences were quite severe.
After that, no one dared to invest in the films he wanted to make, and although he acted in some plays one after another, most of them were limited to small and medium productions or independent productions. In an interview two years ago, 58-year-old Mel Gibson also said: "I have taken the responsibility and spent a lot of time apologizing. Now that this matter is brought up again, what should I say? I've done my best."
And the "anti-Semitic rhetoric" has a lingering effect to this day. Although "Hacksaw Ridge" was well received in North America after its release, the film's Oscar prospects are not clear. There are also critics who specifically said that if the director was not Mel Gibson, this film might really win an Oscar.
Of course, Mel Gibson does have his own stubbornness. For example, this is obviously a World War II theme, but it rarely uses an all-white cast that is very politically incorrect. There is no black person or aboriginal in the whole film. It's all white, pretty hard. The last all-white World War II film should be Dongmu's "The Banner of the Fathers", and it was criticized.
Things outside the movie don't care, though.
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