Trafficking in women is nothing new, but the film shows much more than this phenomenon. It is to explore the blind spots of society and humanity.
This is a film that needs to wait and see, but it can't be calm after watching it. The opening is silent subtitles, without any background sound. Because it is a documentary-style video, only a few local folk songs are inserted in the soundtrack. The words at the end are particularly true: "... it's hard to say goodbye when we meet, the east wind rises and a hundred flowers blossom ..."! On one side of the picture are crying children and running pursuers, and on the other side are women who finally escape from the cage. Poetic lyrics tell only a bitter and helpless life.
Life in a blind mountain is bitter, because people's attributes are various, just like "looking at the side of the mountain to become a peak." As a moral person, carrying on the family line is the first important thing for thousands of years, so the poor people vowed at the wedding banquet that "whoever doesn't drink this wine will be single all his life, his son and grandson will be single, and he will be single in the next life!" Its fear and fear of bachelors penetrate history and penetrate into the bone marrow! As a person under the rule of law, because abducting and selling women is undoubtedly illegal, once the obstacles are broken, public security personnel still have to cross the blind mountain to rescue them. As a commodity, since people bought it with money, they can leave when they don't want to stay, but they have to pay back the money. As animals, both men and women have desires, but women have a layer of motherhood, so when they are rescued, some women refuse to leave-because she is a mother, she can't listen to the child's crying!
So complicated, the conflicts of various attributes are intertwined, which leads to many things that are unclear, unclear, uncontrollable and helpless, just like the film often mentions "I don't know which of you is telling the truth." Therefore, although female college students have repeatedly told people about the benefits of the law, what can they do if they change or change? There are more people transferring! Although it is obviously a compulsory fertility tool, her "mother-in-law" is still "reasonable" again and again-a woman will marry whoever she marries and "marry" my son, and we will not treat you badly! Although I resisted and fled again and again, I gradually became practical after having children. Although the postman accepted the distress letter from the woman again and again, it only left her a little hope, and then turned around and handed it to the man who bought her.
The conflict between civilization and barbarism is an important theme of this film. Female college students are the symbol of civilization. The reason why she finally left here even if she died, instead of staying for the children like other women, is because she designated this place as a wilderness, and she is out of place here! Only the cowardly primary school teacher "Huang Decheng" (interesting name) with high school culture finally chose to leave. However, civilization and barbarism are sometimes blurred. Although she has the greatest knowledge here, she was abducted from the civilized world by civilized people. It can be seen that knowledge can sometimes be a double-edged sword, which can help others and hurt others. Postal workers, tax collectors, village heads and other public servants who can contact with the outside world are undoubtedly symbols of civilization, but they still turn a blind eye to things in the blind mountains. In the face of women knocking at the window, they can only say, "We can't manage your family's affairs." In the blind mountain here, many things are vague, but this is too pessimistic. After all, a primary school student taught by this blind mountain female college student sent her a letter of help, which was the greatest contributor to saving her. Perhaps, this is also a little hope left by the director to civilization.
Director Li Yang has repeatedly stressed that he made this film only to show the complexity of people and the blind spots in life, so there is no black and white difference in blind mountains. There is an absurd metaphor. An escaped woman asked an old man carrying firewood in a blind mountain where the road was, and the old man did not hesitate to point it out to her. In the next scene, the pursuer asked the old man if he saw a woman running past, and the old man showed them without hesitation! "I didn't mean to expose the ugly side of China people, such things are all over the world. I just expose human nature! " Li Yang said that because he also has his blind spots, he can only point out what he has to all the people who watch movies like that old man! Even if it is a tragedy, it is better than not pointing it out and not acknowledging its existence!
According to the description of "Blind Mountain" when it was released in France: "In the fierce pull, desperate and helpless Bai Xuemei grabbed a kitchen knife and cut it at the' husband' who was beating his father-the film is over!" However, the outcome of the domestic release was that Bai Xuemei was finally rescued by the public security, leaving the children behind; The other two abducted women chose to stay! Regarding the editing and adjustment of video content, the director explained: "I think this is a process of mutual compromise. As an artist, I may not be so sharp about the film being released in China, but if it can be released, I think it will be very valuable. " Under certain circumstances, artistic creation may be just like the woman in the film said, "Life is like this, sometimes you can't care about this ending"!
Since we have mentioned life and human nature, we should think about it after watching the movie: Whose blind mountain is this bitter and helpless life? How did the blind mountain come into being? It can only be said that you and I are both in the blind mountain. The blind mountain was built by ourselves, so we also suffered the result of the blind mountain. Habitual indifference, the inaction of relevant personnel, the gap between civilizations ... These deep-seated problems are definitely not caused by a few people, and can be solved, which requires people in the blind mountain to face together!
If you have been living in a "civilized" city, you will never imagine the wildness in the mountain village: backwardness, ignorance, ignorance and barbarism, which you can see in the mountain village in the film.
But it also reflects the other side of the villagers' thought: ethical filial piety. While mourning for the female college students, you can't help hating those ignorant villagers, because there is a hurdle before them that they can never cross.
There are three kinds of unfilial, and the last one is the biggest. It is a discipline that has been precipitated from China culture since ancient times.
Why is there a phenomenon of abducting and selling women and children? In the final analysis, it is to carry on the family line.
When poverty deprived them of this right, they chose another solution, so there was demand and supply, so there was trafficking.
Men.
The curse of Huang Degui, a man, gambling with men in the same village at the wedding banquet shows their hatred and fear of playing bachelor.
"Who doesn't drink this wine, bachelor all his life, bachelor in the next life, bachelor in his son!" What a vicious curse!
What I couldn't bear to see from the beginning was the natural attitude of the villagers when they saw the girl coming. Xue Mei was tied to the house, and "husband" Huang Degui invited the villagers to hold a wedding reception outside the house. Degui raised his glass. By the window, several children gathered to watch Xue Mei struggling in bed. A few nights ago, Xue Mei kicked Huang Degui out of the house, but Huang Degui didn't get it. He was so embarrassed in front of his friends in the village that even his old father, who seemed very kind, blamed him for not being able to cope with a woman. Therefore, the old father and the old mother helped their son catch Xue Mei and let his son rape his wife. "Done", Degui sat down beside his father, and the old man handed his son a cigarette approvingly.
This attitude of taking things outside the scope of law and morality as norms is certainly not good-looking, and the film is very accurate. Even if you understand that these farmers are illiterate and ignorant of the law, and have been covered by the surrounding blind mountains for a long time, you will still be extremely angry with these people and feel as helpless as Xue Mei.
In the middle of the movie, Huang Decheng, the teacher of the village primary school, sent some magazines to Xue Mei to relieve boredom. He is Huang Degui's cousin. At first, he thought the man had a good mind. When Decheng introduced his name to Xue Mei, he said, "Moral virtue, honesty and sincerity". I wanted to laugh. After Xue Mei was tricked into this remote mountain village that no one could save, she also escaped, and someone actually released "morality" and "honesty". I want to laugh because there is always a trace of hypocrisy in the sincerity of this "brother-in-law". I guess maybe the actor didn't play well. After all, he really wants to care about this abducted sister-in-law, because he went to high school, became a teacher in a village primary school, and still has a little conscience. When this guy touched Xue Mei's hand, kissed Xue Mei's mouth and made Xue Mei's body in the name of saving Xue Mei, he fully understood that his little knowledge was even more than that of the villagers, and he was completely used in immoral behavior like the villagers, and these meager knowledge gave him a mask of conscience. He relies on Xue Mei's ray of hope to solve his feelings and sex life, which is terrible and outrageous.
There are also some people who seem to be able to help Xue Mei, such as tax collectors and postmen. They are totally in cahoots with the villagers, because they understand that on the boundary of this land, everyone is in the same boat. Look at Xue Mei patting the window for help and say, "This is a family matter, and we can't control it." At a turn, she took all kinds of exorbitant taxes and levies from Huang Degui's family and said that Huang Degui had a lot of money. Then she added, "Daughter-in-law has to clean up, just like charging."
The postman always seems so polite to Xue Mei. Every time Xue Mei writes a letter to the postman, the postman will carefully put the letter in the bag behind the bicycle. Xue Mei said thank you, but he said you're welcome. The problem is that the postman is equally polite to Huang Degui. He accepted the fat old hen from Huang Degui and gave Xue Mei's letter to Huang Degui. Huang Degui said it wasn't easy for you. He said it wasn't easy for you. When the postman first appeared, Xue Mei had a smile on his face. When she played Huang Lu, she laughed too hard, which made me feel that Xue Mei had exhausted her hope at this moment, laughing at all the collusion and gathering all the wives she bought. Later, I found that this smile was a sign that Xue Mei saw hope again, because she thought she could write and ask the postman to send her out of the mountain.
In order to escape, Xue Mei finally figured out how to use her body as capital. In addition to being "virtuous, honest and sincere", she also exchanged her body for fifty dollars from the canteen owner. The boss counteroffered him forty dollars, but she took the money and still didn't go.
Woman.
Women, as if born to get married, become men's subordinates.
Huang Degui's mother has been trying to persuade Bai Xuemei to settle down.
"Whoever a woman marries will marry my son, and my family will not treat you badly." As a woman, Huang Degui's mother supports her son. Not only that, she also called several abducted and resigned women in the same village as lobbyists.
"Now that it's like this, you still want to drive." Can a woman accept her fate? . However, Huang Degui's mother sympathized with Bai Xuemei and wouldn't let her son beat her. She also added eggs to Bai Xuemei's food. After Bai Xuemei was raped by his son, he said, there is nothing I can do. You'll understand when you have children.
Of course, mother's sympathy is based on the idea of leaving for the Huang family.
The villagers' indifference and habituation, and even the practice of helping others abuse them, are also shocking.
The village chief said to Bai Xuemei, "You said you were cheated. How can you prove it? "
Bai Xuemei asked the postman to post the letters for him, and sent them to Hope town again and again, but the postman gave all the letters to Huang Degui.
When the above-mentioned tax collectors came to collect taxes, they faced Bai Xuemei's help and said, Your family's affairs are beyond our control.
When Bai Xuemei escaped again and again, the villagers played the role of hunting.
Even when the police came to take Bai Xuemei away, the whole village surrounded the police car with hoes, and Huang Degui's mother had to sit at the steering wheel and threatened to die.
Laws are worthless in mountain villages. "It doesn't cost anyone to marry a daughter-in-law!" Huang Degui has a strong sense.
Li Yang is very ambitious. He wants to show more things in the movie.
The poverty of villagers is not without reason. In addition to being located in the deep mountains, it is more from the management system.
There is also a charge. Even though Huang Degui's family didn't raise pigs two months ago, they still have to pay for it. The tax bureau said it was the director's rule.
The mountain is high and the emperor is far away, and a director can set the fees, which shows the corruption of the local government.
When the superior government officials came to inspect, the village director hung banners at the entrance of the village to welcome the superior inspection work, and also broadcast to the villagers: Don't talk nonsense if you shouldn't say it. Anyone who defiles the reputation and image of our village will bear the consequences! !
Those abducted women were even sent to the mountains to hide, and visiting officials praised the place as beautiful. . .
The overseas version of the film ends with desperate Bai Xuemei raising a knife and chopping at Huang Degui, while the domestic version shows Bai Xuemei being rescued by the police with the help of his child Li Qingshan.
Perhaps this is Li Yang's wish to perform successfully in China. After all, the film is too heavy.
Film censorship in China, before.
When Huang Degui washed her hair, she asked Bai Xuemei to take a towel and swore. Bai Xuemei's hand with a knife was about to be raised, but it was immediately put down. . .
Women's natural motherhood is also fully reflected in the film.
Chen Chunli, a kidnapped woman, said, let's accept my fate. Anyway, I won't run away. I'm taking two babies with me. Even if it's used up, what should I do with them?
When the police raided to save people, Bai Xuemei also tried to escape with the children.
In the car, Chen Chunli gave up the chance of being rescued and chose to stay because he heard the crying of the child behind him.
Bai Xuemei stretched out the window and looked at the direction of the village. . .
Maybe we will sympathize with Chen Chunli, but as a mother, her choice is undoubtedly correct.
The domestic version I saw was finally a relief. The realistic version of Li Yang must have the ending of completely blocking the exit in his mind. The second half sentence of "The world is beautiful and worth fighting for" believed by Morgan Freeman in "Seven Deaths" is unbelievable in this cruel ending. It is conceivable that only in this way can this "blind mountain" be more completely blind.