It is fallen to us to defend Jerusalem, and we have made our preparations as well as they can be made. None of us took this city from Muslims. No Muslim, of the great army now coming against us was born when this city was lost. We fight over an offense we did not give against those who were not alive to be offended.
What is Jerusalem? Your holy places lie over the Jewish temple that Romans pulled down. The Muslim places of worship lie over yours.
Which is more holy?
The wall?
The mosque?
The sepulcher?
Who has claim?
No one has claim.
All have claim.
We defend this city not to protect these stones but the people living within these walls.
This is actually quite a drama, a bit beyond that era, heroes are created by current events but also limited by the era. The realm of the hero played by Hua Hua is obviously very detached, with an understanding of the relationship between the ruler and the minister, the understanding of the meaning of religion, and the understanding of the meaning of life. They are all very calm and aloof, like bystanders, not the authorities.
The 3,000-year-old strife in Jerusalem is just history. Those who truly understand the tragic meaning of it may not have the opportunity to express their inner thoughts to the world. Our interpretations can only express our views. Therefore, although such a film features Celestial Jerusalem as the protagonist, it is also an excellent satire for those kings who have only wanted to take the Celestial Empire as their own for thousands of years.
It can be said that this is the idea that the director wants to express through the mouth of the hero, or the good expectation for the hero. What a hero can protect is only the present, only the people who need a hero; a hero can only accept the queen who gave up all of Jerusalem; and a hero can only pay allegiance to the king of Jerusalem who opened the gates of Jerusalem to welcome everyone.
But whether it is peace-loving or power-focused, everyone is just a passer-by to Jerusalem, and as many legends are born in this city, they can be forgotten. Just as Judaism created Jerusalem, but could never have it, how could Christianity and Islam follow her own her? If even the most abstract religion cannot occupy a city, how can a mere king of Jerusalem be?
So Balian said that we are not protecting stones, of course not, how can it be possible to protect stones with flesh and blood? We protect people. Jerusalem is meaningful because of the people who live in it. Whether religion takes over the city or not depends not on whether the city built a temple or a holy temple, but on what people in the city are willing to believe.
With every change of lord of Jerusalem in history accompanied by bloody massacres and brutal reformation movements, it is very relevant that the director will let the people go back to their religious lands as the only condition of surrender. Jerusalem has never existed for any one religious sect. It is the alternation of these occupiers that created Jerusalem's splendor and holy city status. So when Reynald of Chatillon started the war as promised and was going to kill Saladin's sister, he really wasn't stupid or anything, he was the evil that was bound to exist, just like the dark side of Jerusalem.
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