How do people choose in extremely urgent or even life-threatening situations?
There are so many hypothetical situations in this question that it is difficult to answer. And "Train to Busan" gives us an answer to this question in the context of a world eroded by the loss virus. With the expression of moral polarity and class counterattack, it showed the director's thinking about human nature and left a deep impression on the audience.
Let’s take a look at the movie synopsis first:
A mysterious virus outbreak has plunged the entire South Korea into a state of emergency! An as-yet-unidentified virus has swept the country, and the South Korean government has declared nationwide martial law. And those who took the train to Busan (a city that successfully avoided the virus outbreak) had to fight for their survival... 453 kilometers, the distance from Seoul to Busan. In order to protect their relatives and friends, they will fight to the death for survival! To survive, get in the car!
This movie synopsis is different from the one on Baidu Encyclopedia. Because that synopsis was too long and suspected of spoilers, I used this version of the synopsis. In fact, the writing of this introduction is not particularly satisfactory, so readers can just smile and pass it by.
This movie is very thoughtful in setting up the main characters. The movie "Train to Busan" has a rich mix of characters, including middle-aged men, students, pregnant women, the elderly, and children. In summary, there are those who are relatively strong and those who are relatively weak. After subdividing the roles, you will find that they are also divided into classes: the powerful executive, the social elite in the eyes of the world, and the "beggars" of unknown origin are all representatives of their respective classes. All in all, this train bound for Busan is just a microcosm of society.
What I want to share with you today is about this movie’s depiction of human nature. I don’t mean to talk about such a philosophical matter deliberately or very rigorously, but to reflect this theme through the description of the interaction and collision of various emotions in the movie characters. "In this situation, will people choose good or evil?"
The beginning of the film describes Shi Yu, a father who belongs to the social elite in the eyes of the world, but because he is busy with work , neglected his family, leading to his separation from his wife. His wife moved to Busan, his daughter Soo-an has been neglected for a long time, and the birthday gift her father gave her was the same as the gift he gave her on Children's Day before. The fuse of the conflict was ignited. So Xiu An proposed to go to Busan alone to visit her mother. As a father, Shi Yu was worried about his young child traveling alone in the car, so he decided to take leave and take his daughter to Busan. This conflict sets the stage for the rest of the movie.
The narrative rhythm of this plot is actually not very fast, and there are many small details left in the middle that can be used later. For example, the conversation between Shi Yu and his elderly mother, the video of Shi Yu watching Xiu An's singing performance, the dust Xiu An caught when she reached out the window in the car, and his father's faint words, "Xiu An, it seems something happened there. ” all provide clues for what follows. The logical connections before and after the film also become stronger.
What is commendable here is the director's use of "key props". The key prop of the film is the children's song Xiu An sang during her performance.
"Black clouds cover the sky, and the day of separation is coming. We promise to meet again, say goodbye to each other, and then say goodbye."
This children's song with a slightly uneasy meaning is regarded as a "key "Prop" was used correctly three times by director Yeon Sang-ho, turning this nursery rhyme into a clue throughout the film and successfully connecting it with the audience's hearts, greatly enhancing the film's emotional immersion. .
For the first time, Xiu An’s inner loneliness and uneasiness are expressed through the perspective of her father Shi Yu, and used as a node to bring out the subsequent plot direction. The second time was when the father and daughter talked about this song in the car before leaving, expressing the father's love for his children. "I've been watching you," he said, paving the way for the subsequent crisis through dialogue. The third time was at the end, when the two survivors supported each other and Xiu An sang this song in the dark tunnel.
What was meant to cheer me up actually proved the identity of the two survivors and avoided death. At the same time, the desperate loss of the world, the unknown future and the immature children's voices collided, creating a very strong sense of contrast. Children's songs with a crying tone convey not only hope, but also confusion and helplessness. It created a deep resonance with the audience, achieving a climax and a perfect ending at the end of the film.
What I have to mention here is the layered acting skills and emotional expression of Kim Soo-an, who plays Soo-an. Through the father's camera, we see the loneliness in the eyes of the child singing alone, giving up his seat to an old woman, expressing curiosity about new life, and being unable to understand his father's "selfishness"... The most explosive part of the acting is when the father and daughter part. The heartbreaking crying and reluctance to leave my loved ones made me shed a lot of tears. Duoye, I have a very low tear point because of my strong sense of immersion, so I was already crying at this time. (Laughs)
This movie is not called "Asia's best loss film" for no reason. Different from the European and American plasma films that we often watch, such as "The Walking Dead", "Dead Rising", "28 Weeks Later", and "Undead", he prefers movies like "Juan of the Dead" and "Shaun of the Dead" style. Unlike pure sensory stimulation, we can see many shadows of reality in the depths of these stories. For example, "Juan of the Dead", as a political satirical film, focuses on depicting the tragic situation of cannibalism by socialist people. I want to state here that my three views are very upright. After all, "Juan of the Dead" does not sit well with our political stance, so everyone please be rational about some of the insinuations in the film when watching the movie.
"Train to Busan" focuses on "people" and expresses different choices through the performances of the characters. Many people said they were chilled by the choice of characters in the film when watching the movie. For example, when the train crisis first broke out, Shi Yu closed the glass door and did not let uncle Shang Hua and pregnant woman Sheng Jing enter the safe carriage. Different from the traditional male protagonist who is upright throughout his life, the male protagonist of this film is a slightly egoistic man, but as time goes by, we can also see the growth of this male protagonist with character flaws. The protagonist has a lot of growth in the plot. From the beginning when Shi Yu said "You don't have to do this" to his daughter Xiu An who had just given up his seat to a woman, to later when he was willing to take risks to save his companions, and finally to his self-sacrifice, All reflect the inner growth of the male protagonist.
The most chilling thing is indeed the episode in carriage 14. Because of fear, everyone chose to abandon the seven survivors outside the door to ensure the safety of most of the remaining people. They clearly knew that the other person was still alive, but because of the fear of the unknown, they chose selfish answers. Even though the other person had put his hand inside the door and looked at them with pleading and uncomprehending eyes, they still refused to let them in. Later, they were driven away from the carriage.
But are they really selfish? Can we say that this kind of disregard for the living should be criticized? No, we can't.
Even in the section that some people applauded: the sister of the old woman, desperate for the distortion of human nature in Car 14, opened the door that isolated the zombies, causing the survivors in Car 14 to be massacred. . Her behavior will indeed give us a sense of revenge, but don't forget that the people in Car 14 are also human beings like the protagonist. She killed the people in this carriage with her own hands. If you think about it this way, do you still think those people deserve to die? Do you still think the old woman is right?
When I was watching a movie, this is what I said to the female companion next to me: "If I were in this situation, I would not open the door.
”
Why do I think this way? Ignoring God’s perspective, just say that I am a survivor in the carriage. How can I be sure that the stranger outside the door really has no wounds? What if? What if one of the other parties concealed his injuries and concealed his identity as the infected person? Even if I let the infected person enter the safe area (car 14) and kill him, how should I protect myself without knowing anything about the virus? What about measures? Is the virus really only transmitted through blood? Is it possible to be infected through direct contact? How can we judge that the infected person has completely lost the threat... All kinds of uncertainties. Naturally, the safety factor of keeping them out is relatively high, and the opportunity cost is also relatively low.
If there is an infected person on the other side, the person who opens the door will be holding the entire carriage. If I can't escape in time, I'll probably sacrifice 2 to 3 people to kill a zombie. If I want to save 7 people outside this door, it's equivalent to losing at least 3 people in the car in the worst case. . And it is impossible to estimate whether the people outside the door will suffer additional losses.
Looking at it from another perspective, is the behavior of the people in Car 14 somewhat acceptable to everyone? We all face the same fear. From the third perspective, we will naturally find certain behaviors too absurd and express incomprehension. However, under the circumstances, these absurd options are precisely the more reasonable choices that we cannot take. Criticize how egoism is immoral.
Speaking of egoism, Nietzsche mentioned the phrase "God is dead" many times in his book "The Science of Joy". "God is dead" here cannot be understood literally. He focuses more on the fact that human moral standards are about to face a crisis. When God can no longer become the moral standard and ultimate goal of mankind, this morality will no longer exist. A precise "provision" about this, Nietzsche believed that this loss of absolute morality was the beginning of nihilism. In China, due to our historical and cultural reasons, we have not formed a unified society for more than five thousand years. Belief. What we are accustomed to is an abstract "morality" that requires ourselves to follow standards drawn from our own feet, and the human prefrontal cortex is good at giving excuses for what they do. Neutral word, the Latin ego is the origin of the word. Reasonable egoism is conducive to social progress, because it will provide motivation for individual behavior and promote it to create more wealth, but under different circumstances it will. It has different functions and has advantages and disadvantages, so it is a neutral word.
Suddenly I thought of a topic I saw before. He said this, if the world is now suffering from a deadly virus. Invasion, you are the only human in the world with antibodies in your blood. Are you willing to sacrifice yourself to save the world? This question was followed by many replies. Some said that the conditions were incomplete, and some said that they could be extracted and copied. Some people also say it depends on the other person’s attitude. But most people still choose to refuse or only save the people they want to save. This is an open question with no definite right answer.
But if humanity is facing a crisis of extinction, should we insist on this self-first approach? Or should we sacrifice ourselves for the survival of mankind as a whole?
I don't know.
But maybe I already have the answer in my heart, but I just don’t want to admit it.
Back to the topic, when watching "Train to Busan", I found that the character settings between them are also quite interesting. As a character with growth potential, the protagonist goes from being selfish at the beginning, to discovering his conscience, and finally being willing to sacrifice himself in exchange for the survival opportunities of others. Its characters become more and more full-bodied and layered.
Pregnant Sheng Jing appears as the image of a holy mother, and her husband Shang Hua, as a wrestler, plays a role in the film that wins with strength and chooses to protect others, and is also the main tank and output . He protected the weak many times in the film and saved many strangers. It can be said that if it were not for him, the protagonists would have died long ago.
And in the scene when entering the 14th carriage, he knocked down the zombies with a momentum of "one man is in charge, and ten thousand men are not allowed to open", buying time for the people behind him. "You should know our daughter's name, right?" I saw in Shang Hua what a tough man's tenderness is. Although he is such a rough man, he is so submissive to his wife. Even if she frowns even slightly, he will coax her for a long time. At that time, I said that when looking for a partner, you should find someone who is so gentle. Intertwined between them is the glory of altruistic humanity, so it is not difficult to understand why the Shanghua couple became the most popular people in the film.
As a person at the bottom of society, the tramp should be the most aware of the warmth and coldness of the world. But he chose to help the male protagonist escape from the zombies, and finally chose to sacrifice himself to block the tide of zombies. Not everyone has the courage to face fear. So I think the back of the homeless man who shouted "Go quickly" was actually as tall as Shang Hua. Even though his eyes still contained fear and hope for life, he still left this opportunity to others.
What impressed me most about the pair of high school students was Rong Guo’s helplessness after Jin Hee was bitten. Even though he knew he couldn't save her even if he held her, he still couldn't let go. As if he had lost the desire to escape, Rong Guo fell down at the car door where he could easily escape and cried bitterly. Holding his beloved Jin Hee in his arms, he watched the person he loved die in pain and his cheeks were slowly infected by the virus. The final shot was handled very well. The infected Jin Hee fell into Rong Guo's arms, and against the light, the backs of the two were revealed. Jin Hee slowly raised his head and bit Rong Guo. The baseball player Rong Guo let out a cry of pain but did not let go of Jin Hee's hand. At this time, they looked like a normal couple kissing. It can be regarded as a cruel point deliberately planted by the director.
The more controversial role must be that of Executive Kim. As a man who would do anything to survive, he sacrificed many people along the way. Including the conductor who was also in Car 14, who used lies as a shield to rush out of the car. Later, he pushed the cheerleader Jin Hee away, causing him to be bitten, which indirectly led to the death of the baseball player Jung Guk. The train driver who saw him crawling to his feet and came to help also used him as a tool to delay the zombies behind him, and finally infected the protagonist. There are many details in this film that will make us deeply hate Kim, a character who benefits himself at the expense of others.
But when he was infected, looking at his eyes gradually turning gray and still thinking about his old mother, I believe that many people will still be soft-hearted. When a person is about to die, his words are also good. In the end, I was still worried about my mother. At that moment, Kim's eyes revealed a reluctance to leave the world, but the moment he mentioned his mother, his eyes became very fragile again. The weakness and uneasiness revealed in them made people unable to bear to accuse him of his previous actions. evil deeds.
Unlike other protagonists with an aura of immortality, the protagonist Shi Yu of this film gave up his life for his daughter. What he saw before he died was the baby sleeping peacefully in his wife's arms, Xiu'an's peaceful sleeping face, Shi Yu's joy at becoming a father for the first time, soft light falling through the curtains on their faces, accompanied by the gentle and slow sound of The background music and the whole scene are so peaceful that no one dares to disturb them.
Different from the dying image of the actual father Shi Yu, whose face is covered with blood and dust, the birth of a new life and the passing of another life form a strong contrast. Xiu'an's cries were still in her ears, and her father left with a smile of satisfaction and reluctance. Just like a baton in life, I can only send you to this stop, and from now on, you can only rely on yourself.
In this film, we can see many times what choices people make when facing danger. Some people choose to protect themselves, while others choose to sacrifice. Some people stick to the good side of human nature, while others are blinded by the other side. Everyone's choices will be different, and the decisions they make will be influenced by the environment. "Train to Busan" also tells us that love is a person's weakness and armor.
If the end really comes, who will you be in the movie?