If this is not good, we should not be Jews. - "Fanny's Journey"
There was never a shortage of good films during World War II, especially about the Nazis' concentrated killing of Jews, and many people think of the genre's film Schindler's List, directed by the famous Jewish director Steve Spielberg.
There is a line in the movie that I still remember: to save one person is to save the whole world.
There is also the film "Beautiful Life" directed by Robert Bernini and co-starred with his wife, a story about fatherly love and lies, and after the film, I immersed myself in it for a long time, for the tragic death of such a humorous and great father, for the disaster faced by countless families during the war.
In fact, in that bloody war era, there were thousands of Jews who experienced all kinds of suffering.
There is a work based on real events, "Fanny's Journey", which tells the story of many Jewish parents in France during World War II, in order to protect their children from threats, entrusted their children to various organizations, and a group of brave children endured many hardships and finally escaped the Nazis.
The story begins when a mother sends her daughters to a shelter and promises her eldest daughter, Fanny, that soon the family will be reunited. The girl was naïve and did not understand the cruelty of war, but her mother turned around and shed tears, she knew that this separation was a farewell.
There were many children sent by Jews in the shelter, which was the refuge chosen by Jewish parents for their children, and the adults knew the horrors of the Nazis, but the children did not understand, and they spent two years here in paradise.
However, the good times did not last long, the headmaster received the news, the shelter was exposed, and the German army soon arrived. The children were evacuated to a house in Italy, where they met the hard-hearted Mrs. Feynman and the young Eli.
With the German occupation of Italy, Fanny and they were once again in danger, in order to send the children to a safer neutral country of Switzerland, Mrs. Feynman desperately tried to cover their departure, and Eli was also arrested to help them, risking the German army.
A group of children suddenly lost their main bones, and in the face of life and death, Fanny, although also afraid, accepted Mrs. Feynman's arrangement, as a new leader, and took the other children to escape the German army and go to hopeful Switzerland.
It was a desperate escape, and Fanny used her strength and bravery to give herself and her sisters a chance to survive. On this special journey, in addition to the wit of Fanny and her friends, helping them avoid danger after danger, there are also kind strangers they meet along the way, giving them a ray of hope.
This article will explore several important factors for Fanny's successful escape from the Germans and her final safe arrival in Switzerland from three perspectives.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > factor one: In the face of difficulties, Fanny is witty and brave and always full of hope</h1>
1. Be strong and face it
After Eli was captured by the Germans, Mrs. Feynman, unable to travel with a group of children because she wanted to avoid the Germans, called Fanny aside and said to her, "Now it is up to you to take care of everything, don't show your fear, don't show it at all." Mrs. Feynman chose Fanny, who was only thirteen years old, on the grounds that she was determined.
As the train began to move, Fanny asked Mrs. Feynman, "Have you never been afraid?" Mrs. Feynman firmly admonished her: If you are afraid, pretend not to be afraid, understand, pretend, for them!
These words gave Fanny an encouragement, and she put away her worries, gathered all her spirits, and led these children, who were younger than her, to continue to move forward.
When her partner Diane panicked and told Fanny that her sister was gone, Fanny didn't think much about it and risked looking for her partner.
Isn't Fanny afraid of such moments? She was just a 13-year-old, and she had promised her mother to take good care of her sisters.
But in such moments, she has no choice, between fear and strength, she chooses to be strong. Take on the pressure she shouldn't have been under.
I remember watching the TV series "An Jia" some time ago, and there was a passage that made a deep impression on me.
That episode tells that the real estate agent xiaolou, before the customer came to see the house, because of the stomach, on the model house on the big, but forgot that the model house did not have water and electricity, resulting in the consequences of the customer throwing away.
However, his colleague Wang Zijian, after learning of such a thing, took off his suit, personally washed the toilet, and then took someone to see the house and opened the bill smoothly, and got the commission.
Behind every industry, there are a group of invisible people working silently, and everyone has pain in their hearts that cannot be spoken to. But people's choices are different, but they will bring different results.
Roman Rolland said: There is only one kind of heroism in the world, that is, to love life after recognizing the truth of life.
So no matter what has happened in the past, no matter how cruel the world is, we must firmly believe in the way forward.
2. Have hope
But no matter how steady she behaved, how much she acted like a real leader, she was just a child, and she also wanted to lean into the arms of her parents and tell the little girl's grievances.
When she was in Mrs. Feynman's house, every night before going to bed, Fanny would secretly take out her camera after the other partners were asleep, and revisit the videos taken by the family together, how happy and joyful it was at that time.
At this moment, she is not sure whether her parents are still there, not sure whether she and her sisters will be safe, not sure what will happen in the future, but at this moment, there is hope in her heart, only by living, can there be a future.
Including a letter that Eli handed her after she was caught, he told her that it was meant to be sent to Mrs. Feynman, but it had to be there before it could be opened. Because of this letter, Fanny was even more determined by the hope in her heart.
It wasn't until later on the farm, when she saw that the letter carrying her hopes was just a blank piece of paper, that she understood Eli's intentions. When the buddies looked at her with eager eyes and asked her about the contents of the envelope, she weaved a white lie that inspired all the children.
She said: "When he wrote the letter, he kept thinking about us, we were going to take this letter away from the border, he said you are all brave, we can succeed, we will be free, we will find Mom and Dad." ”
She also sowed the seeds of hope to all the children, making them like her.
Just like in the movie "A Beautiful Life", guido and his son were captured by the Nazis and put into concentration camps, Guido, as a father, weaved one lie after another in order to let his son survive in the dark concentration camp:
On the bus to the concentration camp, Guido said, "We're going on one of the best trips, we have to hurry up or we won't be able to catch up!" ”
In his cell in the concentration camp, Guido said: "We are in one of the most exciting games, we must obey the orders of those who pretend to be fierce, in order to get points, the first place can get a real big tank!" ”
In this game of white lies, the little boy eventually survives, but his father Guido is sacrificed under the German guns.
In the process of escaping, Fanny also constantly encouraged her friends: "We will regain our freedom and find our parents." When she depicted that scene, she showed a rare smile that infected everyone around her.
At any time and any place, we should not give up hope, as long as we persevere, one day we will pull out the clouds.
Pushkin once said: "If life deceives you, don't be sad, don't be anxious, the melancholy days need to be calm, believe it, happy days are coming!" ”
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > factor two, some of the goodness that existed during the war will eventually be condensed into great strength</h1>
1. Mrs. Feynman
Before leaving for Switzerland, Mrs. Feynman gave each child a pseudonym and told them over and over again not to call their real names, even if they were chatting with each other; to meet anyone who could only say that they were going to summer camp in the mountains, never mentioning Switzerland; and that they should never speak French.
As they were about to board the train, Mrs. Feynman shouted about theft in order to open up the German search, fearing that they would faint before they could get on the train, so as to cover their smooth departure.
For her part, the children were not related to each other, and although she was disgusted when she first met them, she knew how terrible the Nazis were, and she still had no hesitation in risking her life to help them leave.
2. Young Yili
When they saw the Germans on the train, they picked up their backpacks and ran off the train, and many people said that this young man, who was older than the children, was afraid so he left the group of children and fled alone.
But I don't think so, I prefer to believe that a man with such a cheerful personality, in order to attract the attention of the German army, he cast a net to help the children leave safely. This can be seen in the blank letter he gave to Fanny behind him, saying the words of encouragement.
3. Station workers
When they hid in a large truck and were discovered by the station workers who were being searched, the workers hesitated for a moment, did not report them, loudly replied that their companions were okay, and whispered to them: Wait ten minutes, get off the train, good luck.
It may be that for him, it was just a show of hands and a choice not to say it, but it is also possible that the Germans found out that Fanny was implicated and died. But such a stranger is willing to give them a ray of light.
4. Sweeping aunt
When the children were caught by the government and locked up in the abandoned teachers, the aunt who cleaned the yard saw it and informed the others to rescue them. We don't know the end of big mother, but we can silently pray that she will be safe.
5. Farm uncle
After the food poisoning, they risked their lives through the forest and asked the farm owner for help, although the uncle was afraid of causing a fire, but he still could not bear to see death and not save, he said to eat quickly, eat and leave, while providing them with shelter and food.
Until the Germans searched the farm, the owner of the farm was forced to ask them to leave, Fanny said: We give you money, you find a carriage to take us away, otherwise we will not be able to hide if we are caught.
The farm uncle was moved by her and eventually found a carriage to take them to the Swiss border.
It is precisely because there is such a group of kind strangers who are willing to extend a kind hand and let them escape again and again in this bloody war era, at the hands of the cruel Nazis.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > factor three, trust between peers and their innocence at all times</h1>
While locked up in the classroom, Fanny's sister asked her companions in childish language:
"Why did they arrest us because we were Jews?" If we weren't Jews, we could go. ”
It's really heartbreaking to say something like that from a 6-year-old girl, there are many things we can change, but we can't change our bloodline. They are not wrong, and if you must say it, they are wrong because they were born in the war years.
Caught by the police, questioned one by one, not a single child said that he leaked his mouth, even if they were reported by the woman holding the child, they did not hold a grudge.
Locked up, not given food, for adults may not be able to survive a few, but they are hungry, they did not betray their companions, even if they are hungry, Fanny only wrote on the paper "I am hungry!" "To vent.
When the police came to patrol again, the blonde boy also became brave, holding the policeman's gun and shouting: "You shoot, we are not many, we can solve it soon!" "They probably really intimidated the police, so they ended up leaving."
On the way to escape, the little guys were tired and had no strength, but under the guidance of the big brother, they could still run happily after the football and instantly left the fatigue behind;
The bespectacled boy's backpack was broken, and all the money his father had left for him was scattered, and they giggled to pick it up, played the counting game, giggled, and returned to the state where a child should be.
Coming to the edge of the stream, they played in the water, and at that moment they were like angels left behind in the world, and the breath of death no longer existed. The war behind him is a dream.
Perhaps in this context, only children can maintain such innocence and not be polluted by war.
Finally, they came to the Swiss border, they crossed the barbed wire and ran on the grass, unlike every time before, this time the run was a matter of life and death, with hope in front and guns aimed at by the Germans in the back.
Even at such a dangerous moment, when she was about to successfully escape the capture of the German army, Fanny found that her little sister in the team had fallen on the road, and she did not hesitate to turn back to find her.
When she ran with her little sister on her back, the white paper that YiLi gave her fluttered in front of her with the wind, as if it was guiding the way forward.
It is precisely because they have always maintained this childlike innocence and have not been covered by the haze of war that this escape is not so painful.
Otherwise, I dare not imagine whether this dangerous situation will make these children collapse and can they persist to the end? Without the children's mutual trust, always gritting their teeth and not surrendering to the enemy, would they still be able to get here smoothly?
Conclusion: The whole film reflects the cruelty of war through the perspective of the child, and many characters in the film who have not been accounted for have left enough imagination space for the audience, whether they are alive or dead, they can be predicted.
As for the title of the film," Fanny's Journey, some people say that Fanny and her friends are on the run, which is really not a journey.
But I don't think their thrilling experiences and occasional jokes and frolicking along the way are just a journey to grow up?
What moved us the most was not that they escaped danger again and again, but the innocence and laughter in the process.