The micro-film "Car Forty-Four" was released in 2001, the director is Wu Shixian, this only 11-minute micro-film, no exaggerated costumes, no bizarre plot, the director used a calm and restrained approach to shoot a film that pointed directly at the indifference of human nature.
The film won the Best Short Film Award at the 58th Venice Film Festival and the Special Commendation for Short Film Production at the 18th Sundance Film Festival in 2002. This film, which exposes the indifference of the Chinese people, will not be released until many years later.
1. A bus leads to a sad story, telling the indifference and selfishness of human nature
On the country road, a young man crouched on the side of the road waiting for the car, there was no one next to him, and after waiting for a long time, a 44 bus finally appeared.
The man was about to get on the bus, but found that the bus driver was a female driver with a good face. He reached for the money from his bag and handed it to the female driver, who smiled, found him a change, and gently instructed him to go to the back and find a seat to sit.
The man smiled and took the money, but found that the female driver's ID photo was not her, so he casually asked, do you help others with the shift?
After the female driver replied politely, the man found a seat and sat down.
The bus was shaky all the way, no one spoke to the whole car, and the man slept in the confusion. Soon after, the female driver saw 2 men with bags in front of them, waving their hands and standing in the middle of the road.
Signaling the driver to stop, the female driver saw it, stopped the car, 2 men got into the car, after getting into the car, a man in a suit took out a knife and yelled at the whole car: hand over all the money.
The female driver saw that the gangsters were so vicious, and also took the initiative to persuade the passengers to let everyone hand over the money.
At the summons of the female driver, the whole car handed over the money to the gangsters. The female driver thought that the gangster would leave after taking the money, and she also took the initiative to hand over her money, hoping that the gangster would leave as soon as possible and not hurt everyone.
But what she did not expect was that the gangster had evil thoughts about her, he dragged the female driver out of the car, the female driver panicked, shouted, her scream made the whole car instantly awake, but the whole car still did not move.
There was a man in the back row who was ready to get up to help, but he was held down by the wife next to him, so he did not get up, and the first man to get on the car saw that everyone was indifferent, he was a little anxious, worried about the safety of the female driver, so he said to the whole car: No one got up to help?
But the whole car did not answer, everyone sat in the position without saying a word, the man could only get out of the car to help the female driver, he got out of the car to hug the gangster, but was stabbed in the thigh by the gangster, the blood was direct, and the severe pain made him unable to stand.
In this way, he watched as the female driver was dragged into the grass by the gangsters, unable to rescue her. The female driver's terrible scream made all the passengers stand up and gather around the window to watch the scene outside.
They were still indifferent, without the slightest thought of getting out of the car, and in this way, the female driver was insulted by the gangsters, who then fled in a hurry.
The female driver returned to the car with tears in her eyes, and she remembered the humiliation she had suffered, and she lay on the steering wheel and cried. After crying, looking at the indifferent passengers of the whole car, she suddenly had a bold idea, and the toy puppy in front of the car kept nodding to her, as if agreeing with her idea.
At this time, none of the passengers in the car stepped forward to comfort the female driver, and even did not have the idea of calling the police.
So she stood up, looked at a car of "aphasia" passengers with mournful eyes, wiped away her tears, and prepared to drive. The injured man limped and prepared to get into the car, and he apologized to the female driver and said: Just now you are okay, sorry, did not help you.
After thinking for a few seconds, the female driver quickly closed the door and then threw the bag to the man, who did not react for half a day. Eagerly said: Why is this, just now, but I saved you.
The female driver was still speechless and drove away. The man was speechless and continued to stop the car on the road. Soon after, he got into a car, and in front of him, he saw the policeman talking with a walkie-talkie, so he stepped out of the car.
The policeman was heard saying, "The No. 44 bus fell off a cliff, and none of them survived." ”
At first, he was stunned, but after a few seconds of thought, there was a smile on his face.
2. The inspiration given by the movie
The whole group of passengers "aphasia", their inaction, so that the female drivers were insulted by the gangsters, afterwards they were indifferent, unremedied behavior, this kind of human indifference and selfishness, eroded the justice in their hearts.
Chekov said: "Indifference is the paralysis of the soul, it is premature death." ”
It is true that when they act only as spectators the whole time and do nothing, their souls are paralyzed. Their indifference and disregard made the female driver feel cold.
Under the mixture of pain and anger, the female driver chose a path of total annihilation, which was undoubtedly a punishment for them. But in the end, she did not let the man get on the car, which is also a kind of reward for her rescue of the man.
Throughout the film, for 11 minutes, the "aphasia" and inaction of all the passengers in the car are quietly announcing their indifference and ruthlessness to the world.
The enthusiasm and kindness of the female driver cannot shake the goodness in their hearts, there are only 2 gangsters, but there are as many as 20 passengers in a car, but no one comes out to prevent the tragedy from happening, so that the female driver is hurt.
In fact, this tragedy can be completely avoided, everyone comes forward together to stop the gangsters, and perhaps the ending is another version.
Director Wu Shixian has been studying abroad for many years, deeply understands the human nature of the Chinese people, and also knows the psychology of "sweeping the snow in front of the door in front of the house, which cares about the frost on the tiles of others", so he adapts according to real people and real events, and tries to restore the truth of things in a plain way.
When this traditional thinking of the Chinese people contrasts sharply with the behavior of the gangsters, it further reflects the indifference of the passengers in the whole car. When the female driver takes the whole passenger to the road of death, whose fault is this?
In the final analysis, it is the indifference of human nature that has caused tragedy and heartache. The director portrays the indifferent passenger, the righteous man, in the stark contrast between justice and indifference, and in the end, the man survives.
The director uses such an ending to expose the indifference and selfishness of human nature, and also through the survival of men, encourages people to reject indifference, and at key moments, bravely stand up and unite against all ugly acts.
And in the end, the man's laughter is also the focus of everyone's controversy, in my opinion, why can't he laugh? His laughter is undoubtedly an affirmation of his own behavior, and it is also a relief under high pressure.