Good movies are like this, no matter how long it has been, every time you watch the freshness is the same as the beginning, the classic is always a classic.
For example, I recently inadvertently turned over this film that I used to press the bottom of the box -
《Full Metal Shell》
This classic war masterpiece has influenced countless Chinese audiences, and now that 30 years have passed since its release, even if it is revisited after so many years, it is still enjoyable and shocking.
Let's talk about it today.
The "all-metal shell" is the name of a bullet, which is wrapped in a copper shell that helps the bullet enter the chamber more smoothly for faster bursts.
Naming the film with a killing tool shows its irony.
The Vietnam War was a scar for americans that will never heal.
The biggest stroke of the film is that director Stanley Kubrick unveiled this scar with a form full of drama and black humor.
As soon as the opening scene, the director came to a "shaved head montage" for the audience.
Accompanied by the melodious Western country music "Hello, Vietnam", the change in hairstyle marks the first step in absolute obedience.
Then – Instructor Hardeman appeared.
I dare say that he must be the instructor of the most unprecedented and unprecedented person in the history of world cinema.
Reprimanding, humiliating, and beating the recruits, every line refreshes your understanding of English profanity.
All kinds of political inaccuracies run through the beginning and end of the movie, making you cry and laugh.
But it is this kind of truth that allows you to reflect on war from the beginning with a more intuitive and profound perspective.
The role of Instructor is played by Lee Ermi, who made a cameo appearance in Apocalypse Now, which also depicts the Vietnam War.
Director Kubrick commented on Lee Ermi – he was so capable of scolding.
To achieve the best results of the film, Kubrick suspended shooting for five months to wait for Lee Ermi to recover in the hospital (Ermi was injured in a car accident).
Waiting is always longer than shooting, and Kubrick has that kind of boldness!
In addition to Instructor Hardman, there is another character that must have impressed everyone who has seen the film - Recruit Pyle.
Because of his clumsy behavior, he was repeatedly insulted by instructors and comrades-in-arms.
Such things are not new even in today's military barracks.
Gradually, you can no longer see the thick smile on his face, in exchange for a killer's expression.
One night, in the toilet, Pyle killed his own instructor with a gun.
It's a contest of authority and self-awareness —
A highly accomplished colonel, only death can make him relinquish his power;
A cowardly recruit, only by killing people can he gain the right to "be human".
The desire to be "human" eventually defeated the desire to live.
Seeing here in the film, many friends have already experienced how the so-called "boot camp" has turned ordinary people into a tool to kill people.
Here, the soldiers are most educated in the sentence is -
"A rifle is just a tool, and only a fierce heart can kill."
Throughout the film, the gun was fired countless times, shooting countless people, only three shots lingered in the audience's heart for a long time -
Recruit Pyle kills the instructor, commits suicide, and the protagonist "Joker" helps free the little Vietnamese girl.
In particular, the shot of the Vietnamese girl being shot also made director Kubrick's intentions clear .
Human beings themselves are tools, endowed by the Creator with the ability to create and destroy themselves and the world.
Of course, "Full Metal Shell" also has the most necessary elements of all war films -
War scenes.
Kubrick believes that direct and powerful visual effects are more helpful for the audience to feel the beauty and ugliness, good and evil of war.
Good and evil on the battlefield. They are just choices that must be made in the current situation of survival.
So when we see American soldiers with foul language and even shooting women and children with guns, we hardly hate the killers, but have a little more sympathy.
Because the only real evil is the war itself.
Only those who died on the battlefield can see the end of sin.
Therefore, a good war film is not always how grand the scene is, or the so-called "human nature" is always on the lips.
Instead, it summarizes the devastation of life and the distortion of individual consciousness by war, and ultimately leaves the right of judgment to the audience.
At the end of the film, the monologue of the protagonist "Joker" is very thought-provoking -
"I'm glad I'm still alive and well. I was born into death and danger, but now I am still alive and no longer afraid. ”
Losing fear is the greatest fear.
There are no victors, no glory, and this is true of all wars.