If you change to a country, it seems that Sato's words can also be applied. This country is Japan after World War II.
After the war, the Japanese did many incredible things to survive, and then the economy developed rapidly, which not only solved the problem of food and clothing, but also became an economic power again. In the 1970s, many Japanese people began to reflect on the past, and their scar literature also appeared.
Reflecting on Japan's postwar history, a better film is Witness, which is a witness. The author prefers to call it a proof of human nature.
First of all, a not-so-good mystery movie.
Witness is adapted from the novel Proof of Human Nature by Japanese social theorist Seiichi Morimura. The novel was inspired by the famous Japanese poet and ci writers's Song of Straw Hat, and it is also the first and most famous work of Seiichi Morimura's trilogy of proof.
"The Witness" started well. In a short time, he killed a black man who was rare in Japanese society, and there was an old poetry collection of Xitiao Eighty. A waitress was hit on a rainy night and then disappeared.
But there are very few characters in the film, so it is not difficult for the audience to guess who the murderer is, just look at the puzzle solving process. Then the plot quickly divided into three lines, intertwined.
The relationship between the murderer Yagi Kyoko and Johnny, a half-breed, is a line, and the son of Yagi Kyoko, Gongping, who killed someone and fled to the United States is a line. The memory of the policeman whose father was killed by American soldiers in that year is the third line in Dong Ju's mind (the domestic release version seems to have deleted the details that Kyoko Yagi was killed for saving his father).
It can be said that the reasoning of these three lines is not difficult, and the mystery is quickly uncovered. For example, Mrs. Zhong's cousin directly announced all the mysteries with a sentence "That woman's name is Yagi Gongzi", so if you are here to solve the case by reasoning, then this movie will probably disappoint you.
The success of The Witness mainly stems from its profound historical scars and reflection on human nature.
Second, the historical scars of infiltration inside and outside the film.
"Proof of human nature", the first two words of this novel are "proof", because of the author Seiichi Morimura's early experience. At that time, he was very poor and used his savings to buy a pair of American military pants. Unexpectedly, he just caught up with the US military to crack down on black market transactions. When the inspection team found that Seiichi Morimura was wearing military trousers, he concluded that he was trading on the black market, so he could take it off in the street without any formalities, and everyone around him was watching. At that moment, Seiichi Morimura's heart died, and this humiliation didn't stop there.
American troops, bystanders, humiliation and proof, these are several elements in the film The Witness, which can be found in Seiichi Morimura's personal experience.
There are three impressive characters in the film, Yagi, Johnny and Dongju.
In the movie, Johnny is a Japanese-American mixed-race, his father is Willie, an American black soldier, and his mother is Kyoko Yagi, a Japanese barmaid. He returned to the United States with his father when he was very young, and was down and out in the black area of new york. Lao Wei used the $6,000 he got from touching porcelain to send him back to Japan to find his mother. But Kyoko Yagi, who became famous, could not compete with Johnny. In the entanglement, Kyoko Yagi stabbed Johnny with a knife.
Johnny is an indispensable tragic figure. His Japanese singer Joe has a similar fate as Johnny. His father was also an American soldier, but he left him to his mother after his father left. Joe Zhongshan was discriminated against in Japanese society because of his mixed-race status. His mother died in elementary school and became an orphan. He couldn't even find a job and had to play boxing. Later, he gradually entered the music scene.
Because Qiao Shan and Johnny have a similar fate, he was asked to play this role and sang this song of a straw hat full of emotion.
In the film, the policeman Dong Ju also has a tragic history. His father prevented the US military from raping Kyoko Yagi in the street. As a result, he was killed by the US military in front of a group of Japanese, leaving a shadow in the young Dong Ju's heart.
In fact, Yusaku Matsuda, who plays Dong Ju, admitted to the director Sato Junya when shooting the film that his mother had worked as a barmaid near the US military camp, which deeply touched him.
It may be precisely because of this historical scar that permeates inside and outside the film that the film has an indescribable attraction and people can't help asking questions.
Third, the connotation of Japan-US relations
The Witness was indeed regarded as a film reflecting on human nature at first, but there are many connotation elements in the film, especially the relationship between Japan and the United States.
For example, Kyoko Yagi's two sons and Johnny, born to American black Willie, represent the dark history of the Japanese under American control after the war, just as Toshiya Sato said that he had to do something wronged to survive for ten years.
Kyoko Yagi and her current husband were poor when they got married, and eventually they became rich and famous through struggle, just like Sato Junya's ten years of making money.
Gongping is the son of Kyoko Yagi and her current husband, but this son is a dude, laughing at his father for taking bribes to raise a lover, and despising Kyoko Yagi's forbearance. This state is more like the nouveau riche-like Japanese society in the 1970s, and it is a decade that needs reflection.
And the history of police residence. When he went to new york to handle a case, he found that Xiao Futan, an American policeman who assisted him in handling the case, was one of the murderers who killed his father that year.
Although the murderer was found out, Dong Ju could only suppress her hatred. Only when Xiao Futan killed Gong Pingping who resisted arrest with a gun did he vent once: How many Japanese did you kill?
After the case ended, Dong lived in his home in Schouw, pointed a gun at the murderer who killed his father in the mirror, and then pulled the trigger.
This is just like the Japanese's feelings for America. On the one hand, they think that Americans have given the Japanese too much humiliation and harm (killing their father) after the war. On the other hand, Americans are also helping the Japanese. Because of the strength of the United States, the Japanese dare to be angry and dare not speak. In the end, they can only find psychological balance by shooting at the enemy in the mirror.
It can be said that the whole movie is filled with a complex emotion of Japanese treating Americans, which is almost undisguised.
Fourthly, the extension of "witness"
Guided by the three contexts of case, humanity and emotion, the plot of Witness is fascinating and logical, and there are some plot extensions outside the main context of the film.
For example, why is Johnny's father black Willie? Why is the American soldier who killed Dong Ju's father called Xiao Futan?
In fact, Willie represents the black class in the United States, and the name Shoftan represents the Irish in the United States. As it happens, these two groups were once the disadvantaged groups in America.
In other words, members of two vulnerable groups in the United States used war to bully others in Japan, making the Japanese a more vulnerable group.
More ironically, except Dong Ju, almost all the vulnerable groups in the film died. Johnny, a half-breed, died of a history that his mother could not face, Yagi died of remorse for himself, Gongping died of American police, and Willie, an occupying army, died of aging, poverty and disappearance.
Even Xiao Futan, an American policeman who killed Dong Ju's father and Gongping, finally died of a black hooligan who was also a vulnerable group. He died on the charge of helping the Japanese. The plot seems to have drawn a circle here.
At the same time, there are some small details in the film. For example, Shoftan's boss said that he didn't like the Japanese because his brother died in Pearl Harbor.
Mrs. A Zhong's cousin returned to Japan from Manchuria. She had nowhere to go, so she worked in Mrs. A Zhong's bar, where she met Kyoko Yagi.
Two seemingly insignificant details actually explain several major causes of Japan-US relations, namely China and Pearl Harbor.
Some viewers in China may feel uncomfortable when they see this place. Why did the Japanese dress up like a victim in this movie? It is obvious that they came here because of aggression, no wonder who.
Yes, but we can look at The Witness with a split eye, but we can't look at the author Seiichi Morimura with a split eye. After becoming famous, he wrote many books, including two books entitled "New Proof of Human Nature" and "Ogre Cave". The core theme of these two books is to expose the crimes committed by Japanese army 73 1 in China by means of mystery novels and realistic literature.
Just like the popular scar literature in China in the 1980s, Witness reflects the scars reflected by Japan in the 1970s, which is bound to have some limitations.
Six, tear-jerking "straw hat song"
If "Witness" follows the general mystery novel ending and the truth comes out, then the charm of the film will be much reduced.
At the end of the film, the policeman Dong Ju chose to let Kyoko Yagi, a criminal, end his life. It is said that Dong Ju has a line here: Mom, what is it? Later, it was deleted by the director, and Yusaku Matsuda thought it was a good deletion. There should be gaze, silence and tears.
In the melodious melody of Straw Hat Song, Joe sang a tearful song with his own vicissitudes, which also pushed the whole film to a climax.
Maybe you don't know English, maybe you don't know Japanese, but the word "mom" in "Straw Hat Song" is a language that can be understood all over the world.
Life and Death Pursuit and Love is a big hit in China, but the box office in Japan is quite average. "Witness" is different. This movie was not only very popular in China, but also ranked second in the Japanese box office list that year. This is a highly acclaimed box office movie. Straw hat songs have also been repeatedly covered by many mainland singers, becoming one of the most popular songs in the 1980s.
After so many years, "Song of the Straw Hat" is still charming, with deep feelings and pure humanity, which is even more precious in a film with distorted humanity.
The last scene witnessed may be a coincidence. Sato Junya likes to use large landmark buildings to represent his films. Hunter's last scene is the Capitol in Tokyo, and the last scene witnessed is the representative of the United States, Manhattan and the World Trade Center Twin Towers.