The author of this article: Falling Autumn Leaves
" Scorched Earth City " is a Canadian film shot in 2010, written and directed by Denis Villeneuve . The film takes pursuit as the main line, interspersing time and space between the present and the past, the scenes change frequently, and the two-line plots switch frequently. Type 10 red subtitles one after another, marking the names of places or people (including special titles).
looks heavy, how can it be described as "suspense and thriller"? This extremely cruel and deformed human tragedy is a strong indictment of the modern world filled with war and violence.
begins with a Canadian lawyer explaining the will to a young man and woman, twins Jenny and Simon. The mother left three letters, one "for son", which was sent by Jenny to her brother whom she had never heard of; one "for father", which sent Simon to find the father whom he had never met. After the two letters are delivered, the letter left for them can be opened.
Furthermore, the property is divided equally. Burial method: No coffin or prayer, burial naked, "face down, back to the world." The two letters are given to the recipients, and then a monument is erected and their names are engraved.
The two of them were very angry: nonsense, we have no brother. The son was furious: How you want to bury your secretary is one thing. I want her to be buried normally, at least for once in this life. The daughter received a relic: a lanyard cross, black and small.
The daughter went to Lebanon with an old photo of her mother when she was young. Someone looked at Awen in the photo and said it was Kafariyat from the south.
She arrived in Dehesh first and excitedly walked into the village where her mother was born. Looking at the photo, a room full of women wearing robes and headscarves went viral: Your mother has brought shame to the Marvin family! You're not welcome here, go away!
A confused Jenny drove to the empty prison in Kafariyat. Someone took me on a tour: This was the women's prison, where more than 600 people were detained at that time. Asking for details again, I was not born 35 years ago, so let’s go find someone.
An old man who was guarding the campus saw the photo: political prisoner No. 72, and they all called her "the singing woman." are you sure? "I guarded her for 13 years." Abutare repeatedly raped her, and she became pregnant and did not go out until she gave birth to the child.
Jenny collapsed and called Simon to cry out: her mother had been in jail for more than ten years and she was raped and gave birth to her brother. Simon was worried about his sister and flew here with his lawyer.
I found out about the nurse who delivered babies in the prison and went to find out. When the old woman who was bedridden with illness heard about the visitor's identity, she opened her arms in surprise and called "Savan, Zhenan". Simon asked about the child, not one, but a pair!
The two were so shocked that they hugged each other and cried after venting their anger in the swimming pool with splashes of water. This dad? It’s okay to find a ghost, I don’t know.
still has to find his brother. The lawyer commissioned local people to find archives of an orphanage in a certain place in May 1970. There was a registered boy, Nihad May, who is your brother. The only way is to find the leader of the Islamic militia who blew up the orphanage and find out his whereabouts.
A local friend came up with an idea. Simon went to the refugee camp, claiming to be the son of a singing woman, and looking for Nihad. Sure enough, the news spread, and the leader asked someone to bring Simon, who was blindfolded and mysterious. After meeting,
told them that the boys were taken away and trained as soldiers. Nihad became a sharpshooter and "always wanted to find his mother." He was very fanatical and wanted to be a martyr so that his mother could see his picture on honor rolls everywhere. Later, he was captured by the Christian organization and sent to Kalafalit to be responsible for torture.
Simon asked: So my father and brother work together? The chief dismissed all those present, saying otherwise. Simon returned to the hotel, devastated, and Jenny was anxious and concerned. He only asked repeatedly: 1+1=2, is it possible to equal 1? Jenny suddenly understood and almost vomited. The brother and sister were heartbroken again.
are narrated separately and are completely coherent, so I will talk about the intertwined search and past events in the film separately.
A young girl, Nava Mavin, became pregnant out of wedlock. Her lover was shot dead by her brother. She gave birth to a son and went to her uncle's house in the city to study and learn French.The grandmother who delivered the baby paid attention and pricked three spots on the baby's right heel, and asked someone to take the baby to the orphanage.
Nava who entered the city was fashionably dressed and very energetic. The good times did not last long, the war broke out and the school closed. She ran back to the orphanage in her hometown in the south alone, and saw nothing but ruins.
On the way home, he took off the cross, wrapped it in a headscarf, and took the bus. Stopped by armed men, the driver went down to negotiate, but was shot and fell to the ground. Bullets rained down on the car, killing most of the Muslim passengers, and the thugs went on to the roof of the car and poured gasoline on it.
Nava noticed their pendants, pulled out the cross and shouted "I am a Christian" before being pulled off. The car burst into flames, and she curled up and turned her head, unable to bear to witness it.
Pregnant out of wedlock
Back in the city, she joined an underground organization that opposed extreme nationalism. As a French tutor, he visited the home of the leader of the Christian right-wing militia. Accepting the order of the organization, he shot and killed the leader in broad daylight.
As a result, she was imprisoned in Kalafalit for many years, close to the torture chamber. The screams kept coming, so she kept singing. He never gave in, and then he was... After that bad guy is done, you can continue singing. The twins born to
were about to be thrown into the river, but a nurse saved them. After she is released from prison, they will organize care and send her mother and daughter to Canada, where their children will grow up. She is a lawyer's secretary.
Once I went swimming with my daughter. Lying by the pool, I saw a man with three dots on his right heel in front of me. She went up and approached, but she recognized it was the gangster who committed violence in the prison. The man looked kind and had already forgotten her.
The guy killed by Nava
Mother and son in prison
The result of the investigation is that this scumbag named Abutare also lurked in Canada, changed his old name to Nihad, and made a living washing cars. The brother and sister went around the world and finally found this guy who was both their brother and their father, and coldly handed him two letters.
Nihad read the letter signed "Bitch No. 72" to his father. He hurriedly opened the door and looked around, but the son and daughter were nowhere to be found. Then I read the letter "to my son" and was struck by thunder, dumbfounded. In the last scene, he stands in front of the tomb with Nava's name engraved on it, in a daze. Panoramic view, no expression visible.
Some people say that this is a modern version of "Oedipus the King", which is hard to agree with. Although it was unknowing incest between mother and child, Oedipus eliminated harm for the people, was supported as the king and married his mother. How can the true love between the two be compared with the sadism between prisoners and guards? There is no comparison, psychosexually.
The little boy whose head was shaved at the beginning of the film has eyes full of hatred. This is young Nihad, whose life has been controlled from then on.
In the section "Nihad", several children are running in the ruins of the city. Someone hides behind a window of a broken building, aiming to shoot innocent children. There are three marks on the bare heels, which have become nothing. An inhumane bloodthirsty demon. Can gangsters like
return to normal humanity even if they return to normal society in the future? I'm very skeptical. The leader said that Nihad was particularly fierce and outstanding among the children. What's the reason? I don’t know, maybe I know that I am an illegitimate child and am being discriminated against, so I want to act like this?
In a chaotic society with inverted values, he is fundamentally cruel and shameless, and is also a victim of society and war. I can only sigh and cannot sympathize with him. He has done too many evil things and gone too far.
Even though she knew that the son she missed had become such a person and done such things, Nava still expressed her tolerant love in her letter "to her son". As long as we meet and can be together in this life, we will be happy. "You are the crystallization of love", and your younger brothers and sisters are also the crystallization of love.
Such maternal love makes me speechless and dumbfounded. together? How can we love being together in such a cruel and despicable violent way? This letter signed "Prisoner No. 72" dissolves the basic moral principles.
She is conflicted.In the letter "to father", he condemned and cursed: Those children are not like you at all, they are very beautiful. In such a twisted and unspeakable sense of shame, she spent the rest of her life in an extremely abnormal manner. It is estimated that the tolerant lawyer is the one who organized the arrangements.
’s only consolation is this pair of handsome men and beautiful women. In her third letter to them, she said: The truth is no longer silenced, the oath is fulfilled. It is because of you that my hatred and anger have been eliminated.
is another layer of frustration. Their existence reminds her of the past and pain, and the unspeakable shameful truth, but it evokes her maternal love and tenderness. What kind of embarrassing face is this?
How should we love and hate, live and die after encountering such a painful and abnormal experience? I'm afraid no matter who's turn it is, it's inevitable that they'll want to talk but not stop, and they'll want to cry without tears. What I saw in the film was the truth that was no longer silent. What promise was fulfilled? I don`t know.
Only one thing is clear, damn the war! Don't let any more unimaginable and appalling tragedies happen to the world!
is a little confused: How come children born from direct blood relationships are not deformed, but are healthy and beautiful?
Apparently, she never wore a cross again for the rest of her life.
(pictures from the Internet, copyright belongs to the original author)
