Revisited "Twelve Monkeys" after twelve years
The best part about it is that it keeps giving the audience the illusion that Cole (Bruce. Willis) can save the future by traveling back and forth to the past, so each time he is led by him to try to find a way for him.
In fact, this is a story about fate, which allows the audience to see the powerlessness of people in the face of fate. In any case, you cannot change the established facts, all efforts are in vain. This gap between expectation and reality brings an extremely strong emotional experience to the audience.
In this movie, what I remember is not the plot, but Cole's face. Bruce. As a tough guy on the screen, Willis interprets the complex emotions of a human being living in the end times very realistically in "Twelve Monkeys".
There's a shot in the story where Cole travels back in time to 1996, when he can breathe fresh air and hear music, his expression is as innocent and innocent as a child; another shot is the moment before he dies at the airport. He was shot at the time, and as he died, he held Catherine's face, staring at her desire and silence, unspeakable nostalgia. These details are bruce. Willis handles it quite well, allowing the audience to see his anger, his confusion, his pain, and his vision of a better life.
There is also a premise in the story that the willpower of the time traveler will become weak due to the increase in the number of crossings. So Cole had already begun to trance by the time he crossed for the last time. He fell in love with his past life. He loved walking on the surface, he loved being able to breathe fresh air, he loved Catherine, the psychiatrist, and he wanted to stay in this life forever.
These are all out of human instinct. In the sense of survival, how precious it is for Cole to be able to live in a space with sunshine, music, and vitality; in terms of emotional needs, how happy it is to fall in love with someone, stand side by side with her, and feel the throbbing of the heart. These two things were unimaginable to Cole, who had lived underground before, but in 1996, he owned them.
Who doesn't crave love and freedom?
Cole thought of a lot of ways. He took off the tracker, confessed to Catherine, and decided to go with her to the sea. But in the end it was all in vain. Cole had never seen the sea in his life. He had the opportunity to go to the coast of Florida, but he fell on the way before arriving.
Sadly, he paid for his life, but he still could not return the safety of mankind. The virus has spread, and history cannot be changed.
Seeing Cole struggling to stay in 1996, I thought of a story we had written before. In that story, a warrior of a race lives only three years. After three years, he will die and be reborn. When he is reborn, he retains a skill, such as combat effectiveness or learning ability. And after experiencing love and betrayal, he chose to keep the memory of the person he loved every time.
In the final battle, he repeatedly died and came back to life to protect his beloved, each time draining his abilities. Finally, in his last rebirth, he was unable to retain any memories. He said goodbye to his beloved once and for all, and he wouldn't even know what he had lost.
The world, as if restored, ceased to exist. No more need to be forgiven, and no more traces. "I don't know how he will cry at that moment."
Thinking about those details, and thinking about Cole's eyes, the sadness of the world's separation is probably similar. Life is short, and if you can repeat it as written in the movie, what will you take with you to the next life? If you knew that everything was nothing, such as getting together, would you still struggle to grasp it?
Or, looking back on the days to come, I just think that everything is like a dream, as if it never happened.