The film is good, but not so good that it makes one's blood boil; but ideologically, there are some issues worth exploring.
Some problems are more obvious. For example, in the eyes of a feminist, the film's portrayal of female characters is disappointing: in a story about an energy company investigation, the integrity, persistence, and courageous search for the truth of the female reporter (Harry Berry) are praised by It has been emphasized many times that she was influenced by her "father"; and in the story of clones, Xingmei's awakening and struggle were obviously completed under the love and guidance of a male revolutionary (not to mention that all clones are described as a young and beautiful woman); in the last story, Harry Berry appeared as a superb "prophet", but inexplicably faded away during his relationship with the actor played by Tom Hanks The light and strength are finally satisfied with the position of a good wife and mother - the subtext of the director seems to be: in any case, she is just a "woman" after all.
Another problem, less obvious, but more serious in my opinion - is the writer's view of history.
If you were looking for a keyword to summarize the film's theme, then MATRIX's theme should be "reality" (rather than "technology" or "hegemony"): what exactly is reality? How can one be sure of "true"? Where is the line between "real" and "unreal"? Can people choose between "real" and "unreal"? If so, what are the selected permissions? ...these questions are some of the most exciting of the philosophical discussions that the film provokes. "Welcome to the real desert" is the most memorable line in the whole film.
V’s keyword is better to find: politics. The film lists almost all the important political trends after the "modern": totalitarianism, anarchism, liberalism, cynicism, and even terrorism. What I particularly appreciate about the film is that it presents almost all political views (except totalitarianism), leaving enough room for discussion and criticism; The heroine played by Terman made a complete and full expression: Hope is the only way out.
The key words of "Cloud Atlas" are difficult to determine. Some people think it's "struggle", some people think it's "freedom", and some people think it's "reincarnation". But in any case, this is a film that is closely related to "history", as evidenced by the fact that it intercepts six time periods in the historical process and tells six stories that happened in different historical periods. However, what puzzles me is that the historical period captured by the film is so clear, but the historical view expressed is so obscure.
First of all, it is clear that the story of "Cloud Atlas" is incompatible with the most mainstream view of history in the modern world, the so-called "progressive view of history". Whether it is your firm belief in rational progress in the Age of Enlightenment in Europe, or Marx's historical stages of "Asiatic, ancient, feudal and modern bourgeoisie", people who hold a progressive view of history believe that society develops, and history It is progress. The human world is generally on a rising channel, from the ignorant, barbaric, and miserable in the early days, to the harmony, justice, and beauty of the future.
In the film, the human society that belongs to the "late period" is no more just or better than the "early period". Evil has always been rife, whether it's slavery, nuclear conspiracy, or infighting between people; discrimination and oppression of certain groups of people (whether black, gay, or clones) has always existed, even more because of technological development. harsh. In the "last period" of the six historical periods, human society even regressed to a barbaric period. The image styles of the six stories range from rational and humane, romantic and beautiful, to violent chaos, black absurdity, and finally cruel and wild. Such a narrative is a stark reaction to the progressive view of history.
If the last story is interpreted as "the last days" (at least the last days of mankind on earth), then the director seems to be drawing on the historical discourse of Christianity. But obviously, the "end times" depicted in the film is completely different from the "Revelation" in the Bible: there is no return of Jesus, no opening of the seal, no final judgment, and no earthly destruction—— The Earth is still there, just a beautiful blue dot in the night sky where humanity's new home is.
But then again, there are still some elements of the "Apocalypse" in this story: the village where the hero lives was finally destroyed by fire, and the psychic demon played by Hugo is also a bit of Satan. This involves what I referred to earlier as "obscure": the film seems to have all sorts of clear signifiers, but its signifiers are ambiguous.
For example, does it have a bit of a Hegelian view of history? —History is an eternal struggle between great spiritual forces, sometimes embodied in institutions, and sometimes in individuals above the average person. At first glance, it seems to make sense; among the six stories, can the protagonist with the "comet" mark on his body not be understood as the "spirit" described by Hegel throughout human history? Compared with them, aren't the people around them, the peaceful and stupid mediocrity that the Haigs ridicule?
But there is a crucial, decisive difference. Even though these "comet" protagonists were the most sensitive and gifted individuals in their respective stories, and who also discovered the specific social problems of their time, they did not possess the great power to change history, as emphasized by Hegel. , let alone grasp and control the role of Hegel's so-called "laws of history"; they did not recognize the "whole" of the times, nor were they leaders of the "whole"; they were not "superior", but only "different".
There is also the relationship between the film and the Eastern view of reincarnation, which is most discussed by Chinese audiences. After all, from the perspective of narrative structure, these six stories (six!) can easily be understood as the reincarnation of immortal souls in different time and space, and the director uses the same cast of actors to perform makeup miracles in different stories. this effect.
Reincarnation and cause and effect are closely related. The so-called "karma of three lives, reincarnation of six realms", your practice in this life determines your karma in the next life, in the original words of the film, "every evil deed, every good deed, will determine our future. rebirth"; if this does not hold, then this religious doctrine loses its ethical and pedagogical significance.
In the film, the relationship between reincarnation and causation is indeed reflected, but it is deliberately limited to personal relationships, specifically the relationship between men and women: Tom Hanks' sacrifice in the third story, in exchange for the final Staying with Harry Berry in one story; if we ignore the disruption of the time and space order by the director, it can also be considered that the co-death of the hero and heroine in the clone story has exchanged for their co-living in the first story .
The problem is that the focus of this film is on the grand historical narrative, not the little love between men and women; the film does not suggest anywhere that love is the redemption of sin, injustice, power, and conspiracy in the world. Therefore, the so-called historical view of reincarnation can only refer to a small part of the story about the love between men and women, and it is weak in explaining the overall situation. The connection and echo between the six stories can even read some mockery of causality. For example, Xingmei, who shouted at the bottom, was imagined by later generations as a tribal god; under the sacred halo, the truth she told , The revolution she represents, the spirit she calls for has long gone with the wind. And the role played by Hugo is completely out of the cycle of causality, eternal "negative", free from karma, more like the "world-historical figure" described by Hegel than those "comet" protagonists.
All in all, this film about history does not express the creator's view of history; it touches on different views of history through the ages, but in fact only takes the appearance and symbols of those views. In the end, the film projects a nihilistic attitude towards history: a nothingness that does not care about progress or regression, a nothingness that is not revelation in the end times, a nothingness that has a cause but not an effect, a nothingness that God throws dice on .
Nihilism is certainly not impossible, but the problem is that in each specific story, the film is so clear, so forceful and so passionate when it depicts the struggle and efforts of individuals in different situations. The huge difference between the macroscopic emptiness and the microscopic firmness confuses me as an audience: if the individual struggles throughout history have not substantially promoted the rise of human beings or humanity, then the struggles Where is the meaning? If human society will inevitably regress to a primitive and barbaric state, what is the point of civilization? And if the director just wants to promote the individual value of those "comets", why should Xingmei say "our life is not our own"? Could it be that what the director finally wants to express is an attitude of "doing it when you know it can't be done"?
It is also possible that this kind of nothingness, this kind of reaction, is a helpless and urban expression of the director after deep thinking. After all, the purposeful historical metaphysics are more terrifying than this sincere nihilism.
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