We love the sea, not only its tranquility, but something else hidden in the depths of the sea that needs to be listened to with the heart.
At the beginning of World War II, France fell, and the surface of the beautiful town of Linhai was calm and quiet, but the dark tide surged everywhere in the German military and military forbidden areas. Anna is a piano teacher whose parents died in world war I and is now dependent on her grandfather, living in poverty and life. But underneath the nest, with the eggs in place, their house was suddenly requisitioned by the Germans, and a captain was about to move in. In the face of the arrogant invaders, the grandchildren could only spit on their faces, and it just so happened that the soldier chose her parents' room, which was Anna's only remaining thought, and would clean the window every day, and put a bouquet of flowers, and now, seeing the enemy living here, the hatred of the home country was shrouded, which made her hate the superior who had never met before.
From "Calm as the Sea"
In the quiet night of winter, France is particularly cold, in order to soothe the uneasy heart, Anna plays Bach's song, and the elegant melody dives into the dim light, and the wisps are broken and connected. Suddenly, the piano sounded abruptly, and the German had not yet listened to it for an unknown amount of time standing in the doorway. He dressed solemnly and politely, without a hint of victory, but like a stranger who was staying overnight, apologizing to them in fluent French, "I regret that if it were not for the arrangement of my superiors, I would not have come to bother you." Listening, the grandchildren used silence as a weapon to maintain the last dignity and dignity of being French. The captain was not annoyed either; he knew he was unwelcome. Anna then reluctantly led him to the room, and the captain liked it, but before the words of thanks could be spoken, she left in a huff. In the living room, grandfather was glad that he was well-behaved, and Anna was even angrier and threw the bouquet of flowers into the fireplace, because the soldier had said that the captain liked flowers.
Image from "Calm as the Sea"
In the blink of an eye, the captain took the initiative to say, "Good morning, this is a house with a soul, I slept well last night, I hope you will do the same." In the face of the enemy's sincere praise, the grandchildren remained silent.
After breakfast, Anna, who went out to class, met the female neighbor's family, and her son Peel pointed to his father's back, and his mother laughed at the side, what a warm and beautiful scene if there was no war. Anna's employer was a Jewish family, and their daughter was very talented at piano. After teaching, she went to her cousin's house to get milk, and his cousin had a crush on him for a long time and invited her to go for a walk by the beach tomorrow, but was refused.
On the second night, Anna was cutting her mother's dress, and the returning captain still maintained wishful manners and gentlemanly "Good evening, I usually come back late, if it disturbs you, you can lock the gate, I will go through the small door." The grandchildren still did not answer, and the captain said goodnight and went upstairs. Grandfather thought it would be a good idea to save him from seeing him, but Anna said that we never locked the door and that there was no reason to do so.
The streets of France were full of the epitome of war, everything from daily necessities to food, all daily necessities were rationed, and the plundered rations were continuously transported to the front to support the German invasion. Anna didn't expect the bike to be stolen after receiving food, and she walked a long way home, her feet blistered. At this time, the captain returned, he never asked for a seat, nor did he ask for a human voice, but just silently spoke his heart, as if the living room was his diary: "I have always loved France, and I respect those who love the motherland, I remember that during the First World War, I also lost my father in that war, and I think that both French and German families have the pain of losing relatives." After saying that he turned upstairs with a heavy heart, and after the living room fell into calm, grandfather suddenly wanted to listen to the piano, but Anna, who was aroused by the pain of losing her heart, asked back, "Who played it?" Bach or Beethoven? These are German composers, and as long as he is there, I will never touch the piano."
The next day, Anna's feet were in great pain, and she sat on the side of the road resting just before she had driven by, and invited her to the car with sincerity and kindness, Anna stood up, slowly stepped forward, and walked straight through the door that was opened attentively, giving an unflattering embarrassment that she would not succumb to the enemy in front of her nor let the enemy despise the dignity of the French, and the captain looked at her awe-inspiring side face and beat in her heart but still drove away.
Soon after, due to the Jewish law promulgated in Germany, the employer's family lost its job, and even food and clothing became a problem, not to mention learning the piano, anna did not want the girl's talent to be wasted, so she proposed to teach for free. Coming out of her employer's house, she bumped into a German soldier who had been injured by his compatriots, and it was clear that the hatred of the people's homeland was fermenting. Just as Anna was having a headache going home, her cousin happened to drive by, and along the way two large men sandwiched him in the middle of the eye and flirted, and the offended Anna couldn't help but think of the captain's gentlemanly behavior. Back home, she fled quickly into the house.
In the evening, the captain returned, but went straight up the stairs, and her cheeks appeared slightly lost, whether she was angry because she did not sit in his car, but after a while, the captain changed into civilian clothes and pleaded in a humble tone, "Good evening, my room is cold, if you don't mind, please allow me to roast the fire and warm it for a few minutes." In the face of silence, he walked to the fireplace, the fire was warm, evoking his homesickness, and then he paced to the bookshelf, groped for the French masterpieces, and read out the names of the French poets who fascinated him incomparably: "What a great name, but when it comes to music, we have Beethoven, Brahms." When Bach was mentioned, he turned his head and looked at Anna tenderly, knowing that she was listening and that she loved Bach. The captain said, "Actually, I am also a composer, some of us are voluntary, some of us are because of family traditions, we have no choice, I wish you a good night." Some of the gloomy captains turned upstairs, and the grandchildren were silent the whole time, and she was silent the whole time. But man is not grass and trees, who can be ruthless, he is the enemy, and she is the flower of the country.
The next day, when he saw the boy next door, Peel, fall, he hurried up like a big brother and picked up Peel and delivered it to his mother, Anna stood by the window, the stone in her heart suddenly softened a horn, ironically reading the newspaper behind the grandfather "Two German officers were assassinated, and the angry Germans executed 99 French hostages."
A few days later Anna met Peel, who was playing by the seashore, and she took the opportunity to ask what the captain had told you the last time she fell, and the little boy said, "He'll comfort me that I'm fine." Anna then prepares to send him home, but Peele is reluctant and says that her mother has laid out geraniums. It turned out that the female neighbor had joined the Resistance, and the pot of geraniums at the meeting was a code.
Gradually, his cultivation, his lineage, and the same love of music and literature made Anna sit in the living room every night expecting each special meeting. When the captain returned, he still said the opening sentence: "Good evening Tonight, the wind is very strong, and the waves are also very big." Her gaze crept down on him, and then she dodged. The captain continued, "It's beautiful here, and so is the sea, and the reason why I like the sea is because of its tranquility, I'm not talking about the waves, but about the depths, and things like mysteries have to learn to listen, and I'm glad to be here to meet an old man with dignity and a silent lady." At that moment, he seemed to be standing on the shore, his eyes were full of tender admiration for the sea, and when the fire was booming, it was when he returned to his room, and the surface of the sea was calm and calm, but the deepest part was turbulent, but the invisible hatred of the country and the family ran through every inch of each other's space. Grandfather sat by, silently seeing everything.
From that night on, Anna tried her best to suppress this forbidden attraction, but couldn't help but sneak a look at him, and the woman began to go to the barbershop to perm her hair again. On Christmas Eve, the Jewish form became increasingly endangered, and the employer's family quietly fled, leaving only the bicycle. On the way back, the drizzle wet the whole body, just returned home, but saw his cousin in a suit to send a fat hen, which was a big gift at the time of the lack of supplies, Grandpa was very happy, but Anna knew that he had other intentions and hurried upstairs. She took off her wet clothes, and Lianbu gently moved to the mirror, staring at the delicate and moving carcass, the skin was like a gelatinous surface like white jade, faintly emitting the fragrance of a girl, and suddenly her eyes contained spring water and clear waves.
This night she put on her mother's dress, full of femininity, after dinner, the grandchildren were going to go to Mass, but Anna did not go this time, but sat quietly in front of the fireplace. Not long after, the captain who went out to the banquet saw his beloved girl sitting in the living room, and couldn't help but walk in and say, "I remember the first night, you played the Bach prelude, which was my favorite one." Suddenly, the melody rises in the air, like flowing water like a breeze, and like light like dust, babbling, straight to the sea of stars, sparkling, the heart is moved, how not to move. Qu Bi, the captain got up, the fire jumped on the white neck, he could only touch her shadow gently and affectionately, even though there were a thousand words in his heart, a thousand words, but the fluttering lips only said a merry Christmas. The sound of the piano is still lingering in the ears, the keys are still warm, and speechlessness is not merciless.
She sent the ghost into the room that had not been entered for a long time, the scarf had his smell, and she wanted to suck it all into her own sea, the family letter under the lamp had a picture of his mother, Anna was lying on the bed, as if lying on his warm chest, and his breath on the pillow was like a touch of moonlight to smooth out all the terrible waves and ripples, and suddenly, tiredness struck, I don't know how long she slept, the noisy car woke her up, only the family letter was blown to the ground by the wind brought by the door. The captain stopped in front of her door with his breath suppressed, and the same was true for her behind the door, liking is wanton, loving is restraint, and there is too much forbearance and struggle in their love. The captain returned to the room, only to find that she had no sign of having come.
The next day Anna went to the beach to buy fish, and when she turned around, she saw the captain standing at the end of the wooden bridge, as if looking for an answer from her. There are people in the world who love 1% but pretend to be 100%, and they love 100% but do not even dare to reveal 1%. Anna's heart beat faster, and when she accidentally overturned the fish basket, when the two picked it up, the eyes touched tenderly countless times, but the hands missed it again and again, and his eyes became confused and uncertain.
Just back home, the cousin came to invite Anna to the ball, and after being rejected again, he angrily planned to take the bow hard of the overlord, heard the cry for help, the captain rushed in, the cousin mistakenly thought that the two were that kind of relationship, and whisked his sleeve away. He looked at her disheveled, obviously angry and distressed, but went straight up the stairs, because he was not qualified to ask.
Soon after, Anna bumped into German police arresting members of the Resistance. The young man was very familiar, as if she had seen it at the female neighbor's house, and she rushed home to ventilate the news, and the female neighbor heard that her face had changed drastically, and she knew that something big had happened. In the night, the captain had a fierce quarrel with his arrogant and belligerent friend, who was outraged by the persecution and insult of the French people by the German army, but the friend retorted that "we are not musicians, not poets, we are soldiers, to perform our duties and duties, to be loyal to Germany and the Führer". A moment later the captain walked in with a look of anguish on his face and asked, "What should I do, this is not the war and glory I want, I love French culture but I also love Germany.". Grandfather was silent, and Anna was distressed. The captain added, "I think you are right, so be a loyal person, loyal to your duties and obligations."
The next day, the female neighbor stopped Anna and said, "If something happens to my husband, then Peel will please you, this time it must be a very dangerous resistance activity." She was silent for a moment and then agreed.
Anna was distraught at night, unsure who the Resistance would attack, was it him? Then there was a strange noise outside the window, and the Resistance men took advantage of the guards' inattention and placed a bomb under the captain's car. She did not want her beloved to die, she wanted to tell him, but once she did so, she would betray the nation and stand on the opposite side of the motherland, and she did not know how to choose, so she would guard by the window. The morning fog wrapped around this biting chill at dawn, the two friends had already sat in the car, the captain's footsteps were also coming from the stairs, Anna's pupils suddenly contracted like needles, what to do? In a hurry, she rushed to the piano, and just as the captain was about to go on a date with death, Bach's prelude suddenly came, and it was like a raindrop, stirring up ripples in his heart. Since that night the piano sounded abruptly, and now Bach continued, was it in response to that love, the captain stared at the girl in front of her with joy, but she was nervous and almost suffocated, as if she was strangled by a note, and her lips squirmed at the end. He didn't understand straightness, until the explosion started, she stone landed on the ground, he suddenly realized, the captain who escaped from death rushed out of the door, all his friends were killed, and the two looked at each other across the flames of war, which was probably the farthest distance in the world.
Afterwards, the neighbors were taken away without any suspense, their fate was known without asking, only the child entrusted to her, Anna decided to go to the captain to intercede. The two looked at each other in the air, and she suddenly realized that he was a German, he was an aggressor of his homeland, and in the cruel war, everything was deprived.
Anna cried very sadly that day, if there was no war, they would certainly be walking on the seashore, chatting with Bach about the years are clean, the years are quiet, the twilight clouds are exhausted, the parting is so sudden, the captain wanted to say goodbye without saying goodbye, but the house miraculously heard Grandpa's voice "Come in Sir." He went in and stared at Anna, trying to engrave her image on his heart forever, and the captain said, "I'm leaving, going to the Russian front, where it's minus 40 degrees, a hell of ice and snow, a parting day, no more tomorrow." Those murmurs in front of the fireplace, to listen to the desire of the sea, now only a sentence remains, "Good night and goodbye."
She was stunned, the oppressive sea, flowing from her eyes, could no longer hold herself, and walked to his car with trembling. War brings encounters and also comes with parting, his deep affection, can only be poured out with his eyes, her thousand words, can only be turned into a farewell, open your mouth is goodbye, but Natsume Soseki once said "Tonight the moon is really beautiful, but in fact, it is a sentence I love you." The captain smiled and calmly rushed to his fate, he stood where he was, full of love sinking into the bottomless deep sea.
Quietly, when the spring flowers were blooming again, Anna walked alertly into a house, and then posed a pot of geraniums, it bloomed, it was silent, she loved him, she loved the country, that love, silence like a flower, calm as the sea.
Directed by Pierre Boutron and released in 2004, "Still as the Sea" breaks down national boundaries in two ways: war and love. But how can love overcome the clearly defined shackles between enemy countries, even if they love each other, they cannot break through the bottom line of the soul. This cleanest French literary film in his mind is silently indicting the ruthless deprivation of everything by war. That night, Bach was confronted by him in disguise, as the aggressor. Bach continued that day, she loved him who resisted war, who was obsessed with literature and music. When I first heard Bach that night, he respected her, her love for the motherland and her awe-inspiring pride. Continuing Bach's day, what she loves is her love for music, her silent and stoic attitude towards life, a moving song, her heart, he is not, not to mention the harmony of the piano, the heart is related. But love can never transcend the country and the nation, the country hates the family and the family to separate them, in that cruel war we have heard too much helplessness, the country and the nation, humanity and dignity, responsibility and betrayal, strategy and resistance, they are the epitome of the background of that era, can only be loyal to their duties and missions, go with the flow. When the sails of fate are blown so strongly by the wind of desire that they are about to burst, and are forcibly pulled by the reins of war, perhaps talent is something that must be transcended.
Well, today's story says this, like can like and pay attention.