Released in South Korea on January 16, 2004, Yoo Ha's Brutal History of Ma Cong Street unveiled its restless youth with a nostalgic approach and a Douban score of 7.8, the film won the Best Art Direction Award/Best Art Design Award at the 25th Korean Film Blue Dragon Awards, the Best Film Award at the 25th Korean Film Blue Dragon Awards, and the Best Actress Award at the 25th Korean Film Blue Dragon Awards.
"The Cruel History of Ma Congee Street" is ostensibly about the past of youth love and friendship between model student Hyun-joo, class boss Yu-sik, and beautiful student sister Yin-so, but in fact, it puts the needs of school students who aspire to freedom and equality to the bright side after suffering from campus violence, expressing the practical significance of everyone at the level of self-freedom and equality realization.
The film tells the story of the model student Hyun-joo transferred to Ma Cong-ji Main Text High School in the spring of 1978, when the class contradictions between teachers, campus inspectors and students became fierce, and the director described the occurrence of this cruel history of campus violence through the perspective of the transfer student Hyun-joo.
Many people think that this Korean movie is a film that misses the love of youth and runs through a strong hormonal flavor. This is because most people only interpret from the plot development, hormone-stirring action pictures, which is a bit too one-sided. To understand Liu He's "Cruel History of Horse Porridge Street", it also needs to be interpreted in multiple dimensions.
This article will interpret the practical significance of the film in three aspects: "story background, film metaphor, and theme expression". Based on the content of the film, when we explore the contradiction between self-freedom and equality and social class and social cognition, we should learn how to balance ourselves.
<h1 class="ql-long-25586217" >01, interpreted from the background of the story: The high-pressure ruling methods in Korean campuses have caused students to be physically and psychologically depressed</h1>
In the film, Korean schools use violent force to manage and oppress students, so that force violence is the absolute authority on campus. Under the high-pressure rule of the school, the students' physical and mental being disrespected, resulting in the students' physical and psychological repression. This is mainly manifested in two aspects:
(1) Under the high-pressure rule of Korean campuses, students are often forced to undergo corporal punishment.
At that time, under the high-pressure rule and campus violence in South Korea, students began to be deliberately implanted when they entered the school, and only needed to obey and endure, and the students' physical health was not valued, and corporal punishment was common.
At the beginning of the film, it can be seen that when the model student Hyun-joo enters the main text high school on Ma Cong Street on the first day of school, the student inspector checks whether the students wear the school badge. All students who did not wear the school badge to school were arranged for corporal punishment and beaten. Although Hyun-joo had heard of this notorious high school, it could be seen from his helpless expression when he endured the beating that he was depressed and helpless at that time.
It is in this kind of "live broadcast of school violence" that the film embodies the reality of violence management in Korean society and schools at that time, and leads to thinking about this reality.
(2) Under the corporal punishment of the student's body, it is the student's repressed psychology.
In societies and campuses where violent management symbolizes absolute authority, it has become a daily practice to endure beatings and scoldings that are disrespectful.
It is precisely because there are many behaviors in the management of violence on campus that are not accepted by students' hearts, Korean students' bodies and minds are not respected and loved, and they often take a self-repressive way to suffer alone.
As can be seen in the film, in 1978, at the Ma Porridge Street Main Text High School, the phenomenon of teachers insulting students during class and bullying classmates during student inspector inspections often occurred. During a recess, Hyun-joo's classmates accompany the class boss Yu-sik to play Bruce Lee. Through this kind of play, students fantasize that they are a hero like Bruce Lee, and vent their inner depression and bitterness about the high-pressure management of the school.
When a person is ridiculed, ridiculed and bullied, it will make him feel pain in his heart, so that the student has a victim mentality, shame, fear, and powerless anger, and even spiritual despair. This also laid the groundwork for the later male protagonist Hyun-joo to end up with a violent resistance. The film uses this behavioral contrast to present the crisis that surged under the violence of the school at that time.
<h1 class="ql-long-25586217" >02, interpreted from the metaphor of the film: multiple clips in the film metaphorically describe the students' desire for freedom and equality</h1>
The film does not directly depict the scene of students' desire for freedom and equality, but in many details, we can see the students' desire for freedom and equality. The use of metaphorical techniques to express emotions enables the audience to more deeply appreciate the mood and desire of students in the process of watching the film. For such details, we can see from many places:
(1) The title of the film, "The Cruel History of Ma Congee Street", shows the cruel history that has occurred on Ma Congee Street, and metaphorically describes the pursuit of freedom and equality.
In order to show the theme of the film to explore "freedom and equality", the story line of the film is very concise and clear, but spares no effort to use elemental metaphors in details. Therefore, with the help of the emotional entanglement of the three people such as the elemental film title, Hyun-joo and Yu-sik, the story structure is filled with metaphorical expression, so that students can be more rich and vivid in the whole process of pursuing freedom and equality.
In the film, it can be seen that the Jiangnan District where Ma Porridge Street is located is still a new development zone, the new system has not yet been established, and the old system is still in progress. This means that everything new is unclear, representing that the colors of chaos and darkness continue, and it is a clever metaphor that Hyun-joo who transfers to this street will go through a brutal struggle to fight for the desire for freedom and equality.
It can be seen that the film is called "The Cruel History of Horse Porridge Street", which not only indicates the place where the story takes place, but also metaphorically refers to a story that pays a "price" for the pursuit of freedom and equality.
(2) The emotional entanglement of the three people, the model student Hyun-joo, the class boss Yu-sik, and the beautiful student sister Eun-soo, is a metaphor for Hyun-joo's desire to surpass himself and realize his desire for freedom and equality.
In the film, on a bus, Hyun-joo and Yu-sik encounter a gang of rogue seniors who rob Eun Seol's bag, and the male protagonist Hyun-joo weakly pleads with the senior to return the bag to Eun Seol; the second male Yu-sik directly beats the senior. However, the rogue masters were crowded, and Hyun-joo, Yu-sik, and Eun-so had to jump out of the car and run wildly.
Hyun-joo falls in love with Eun Seol at first sight, and coincidentally, the class boss Yu-sik also has a crush on the beautiful student Sister Eun Seol, and catches up with the student sister Eun Seol through the bitter meat meter of the rain on a rainy day. And Hyun-joo has an introverted personality, and can only secretly like Yin-soo and does not dare to take the initiative to take a step forward.
Yu-sik and Hyun-joo pursue love in different ways, and Yu-sik successfully talks about campus love with her sister Yin-so through active pursuit. Hyun-joo can only hide his love for Eun Seol in his heart and is devastated alone. The emotional entanglement of the three people's love triangle, the male protagonist Hyun-joo is not in love, that is, he lost love, losing his sense of existence, but it also promotes Hyun-joo's desire to break through his cowardice and get a new life, to be able to bravely pursue emotions, and to achieve emotional freedom and equality.
In my opinion, the director borrowed the title of the film and the emotional entanglement of the three people (Hyun-joo, Yu-sik, and Eun-soo) is a good metaphor for the students' desire for freedom and equality, and promotes the development of the storyline of the follow-up male protagonist Hyun-joo's hard practice of double sticks and duels with the student inspector rooftop.
<h1 class="ql-long-25586217" >03, interpreted from the theme expression: with the help of class antagonisms, social cognitive biases to reflect the practical significance of individual freedom and equality</h1>
The director focused the camera on campus life, and behind the simple and beautiful campus emotions, I saw deeper metaphors and irony. Next, I will talk about my thoughts and opinions on the theme of the film based on the content of the movie "The Cruel History of Horse Porridge Street" and combined with real life.
(1) Use school violence to reflect social class antagonism.
Wrapped in the inner conflict between violent management of the campus and Hyun-joo, the male protagonist Hyun-joo is faced with the choice of values between obedience management and freedom and equality, and even more the problem of social class antagonism. In the film, in order to pursue freedom and equality, Hyun-joo secretly practices double sticks at home, and then resolutely duels with the campus inspector on the rooftop, pursuing his so-called freedom and equality, that is, class equality.
In the film, through the perspective of the model student Hyun-joo transferring schools to enter the main text high school on Ma Congjie Street, it cuts into the process of pursuing class equality when unfortunately encountering school violence, from forbearance to resistance.
In my opinion, the class antagonism formed by the high-pressure management of the campus is more like a variant of the "authoritative father-son relationship", and the class antagonism is an unequal relationship, only authority, not the performance of educational duties. True campus management should not only have the "authority of the father", but also need to perform the responsibility of correctly educating students, so as to be recognized by students and society.
(2) Mapping society's cognitive bias towards school violence.
For the phenomenon of campus violence, schools mostly deal with it after the occurrence of campus violence, usually based on criticism of education, and consistently handled in accordance with the provisions of school rules and discipline, and did not further investigate the causes of campus violence.
In the film, the male protagonist Hyun-joo was threatened by the student inspector, bullied by his classmates, and insulted by the teacher, coupled with the parting of his friend Yu-sik and his beloved girl Yin-so, Hyun-joo's inner anger at campus violence was also completely stimulated, in order to maintain his self-esteem, he began to practice Bruce Lee's double stick and won the victory of the rooftop duel, but was eventually expelled from the school, which meant the end of the male protagonist Hyun-joo's student's academic career.
In my opinion, we should raise society's awareness of the harmfulness and legal aspects of school violence and create a system against school violence. To face up to the harm of campus violence to students' physical and mental health, after the occurrence of campus violence, it cannot be dealt with with consistent criticism of education or school rules, but should have a deep understanding of the causes of campus violence. Do not condone campus abusers, do not ignore the feelings and harm of victims.
(3) Free and equal mutual love is the eternal pursuit.
At the end of the film, the male protagonist, Hyun Joo, picks up his books again and prepares to enter the university. At the same time, Hyun-joo's favorite girl, Eun-soo, also returned to her alma mater to re-study. In the film, the two restore their status as students, re-read, and make their studies the most important task of their time.
By describing the details of the two restoring their student status, re-reading, and the reunion of Hyun-joo and Eun-so on the bus, the reconciliation of the model student Hyun-joo to the unequal treatment of the campus is expressed, and he begins a new life with hope.
In my opinion, when faced with unequal treatment, in addition to the courageous struggle for freedom and equality, it is more necessary to achieve reconciliation between oneself and others. No longer bound by past encounters, actively start a new life, and achieve a new self.
We all need to be loved, recognized, need to establish near or far contact with others, emotional connection between people, free and equal mutual love is the eternal pursuit of human beings.
<h1 class="ql-long-25586217" > summarize:</h1>
"The Cruel History of Ma Congee Street" is generally set in Korean campus life, which is very suitable for watching a film reminiscing about campus life in the afternoon, although its story is simple, the deep meaning presented in the film is the charm of this campus movie. Therefore, today I interpret the practical significance of this film from the three perspectives of the film's story background, film metaphor, and theme expression.
In my opinion, the viewers who watch this film will be grateful from the bottom of their hearts for our free and equal life today, and to be treated kindly by life. The reflections brought about by the film are progressive: from the physical and mental depression when being treated violently, to the reconciliation with oneself and others, and the eternal pursuit of mutual love for freedom and equality.