Author: Li Xiaotian
Obviously, it is a war film, but the name is very literary and artistic, called "The End of the Journey". People who like war movies, it's time to be vigilant.
What is the end of the journey? After watching the film, I found that the journey is the journey of life, and the end is death. This is a literary film cloaked in war, and the theme is several views of life that are bound to die. The three protagonists, one after the other, go to meet the unknown death, just like Rogue One. In this process, the three postures they show, the three attitudes towards war, or pessimism, or indifference, or courage, constitute the focus of the film.
Saying that it is a war film, in fact, there is no decent war, and people who like war movies will inevitably be disappointed. The background of the story is the forefront of the First World War, which is March 1918, which is a decisive time, the Allies led by Britain and France and the Axis powers led by Germany are about to be divided, and the war will end completely after half a year. At this time, in the Saint-Quentin region of northern France, the British army and the German army were hiding in their respective trenches, only 60 meters apart at the nearest point, and the deadly battle was about to break out.
Now that we have such a setting, everyone must want to see a fierce battle full of gunfire and human flesh. However, it did not.
"The End of the Journey" is not about war, but about people under war, three views of life and three kinds of human nature in a state of war.
In fact, the topic of humanity in the war, whether artistic or academic, appeared in large numbers after the Vietnam War. We are exposed to a lot of this kind of topic, but it was initiated by Hollywood, reflecting the anti-war sentiment of the people into the film, and then making it a big view. "The End of the Journey" moves this topic forward, avoiding the Vietnam War and the subsequent Bosnia-Herzegovina War and the Gulf War, but jumping directly into the First World War, the environment is strange enough, but as far as the theme of the movie is concerned, it is a dangerous move, and it is not so appropriate, just like the foreign humiliation problem in the Qing Dynasty had to be discussed in the Tang Dynasty. During the First World War, the biggest problem was that the weapons had been modernized, but the tactics of warfare were mostly the tactics of the cold weapons era, paying attention to the tactics of the sea of people, and the hardness between people in every battle was mainly based on the hardships between people, so the casualties were extremely large. Unlike the current war, as far as possible to avoid the confrontation between people, rely on the contest between science and technology, bombing first, people are only used to do the final stage of cleaning the battlefield. The combination of the few war scenes and the advanced topicality of "The End of the Journey" has affected the attention and scoring of this film. Those who like war films think it is too abrasive, and those who like literary and art films are difficult to accept the setting of war, and both do not fall well, which is somewhat embarrassing.
Let's talk about what the movie says, let's first see what the background of the story is.
The background is the "Spring Offensive" of 1918 that took place in World War I, also known as the "Emperor's Offensive", "The Emperor's Battle", "Ludendorff Offensive", etc., and there is no unified name. As a result of the "October Revolution" in Russia the previous year, 1917, The Soviet Russia under lenin's leadership reached a consensus with Germany, and Russia ceded a large area of territory to obtain an Armistice between Germany and Russia. In this way, the German army was able to empty the air on the eastern front, and the German army with nearly fifty divisions and nearly one million troops was released on the western front, making the situation on the western front sudden, and for the first time Germany was more numerous than the allies. At this time, the US military has officially entered the war, although it takes time to mobilize, but it has been able to send nearly 50,000 soldiers to the battlefield every month. Therefore, Germany must make a quick decision, and problems will arise when the time drags on. Finally, in the spring of 1918 (March), the Germans launched a huge offensive. Because the commander-in-chief of the German front was Ludendorff, this offensive was also known as the "Ludendorff Offensive", and some people believed that this was an attack directly launched by the German emperor, and the name should be called "Emperor's Offensive". But just talk about the offensive in the spring of 1918, everyone understands.
In 1917, before the offensive, France was defeated in the "Nivelle Offensive" launched by its own side in May; Russia, which had just completed the "February Revolution", also suffered a crushing defeat in the "July Offensive", followed by the "October Revolution" and the signing of an armistice with Germany. Faced with defeat and division, both the Eastern Front and the West had to rest, passively defending and unable to launch a counteroffensive. The Germans, on the other hand, were victorious and their morale was high. Of course, it can also be called the end of the crossbow, after all, the First World War will end in November 1918, and Germany will soon be completely destroyed.
Specific to the Spring Offensive, the German army withdrew part of France in advance in response to the French "Nivelle Offensive" in the previous year, and before leaving, Germany implemented a scorched earth policy, where wells were poisoned and roads were destroyed. This policy was so well executed that France had not been able to repair these roads until the Spring Offensive. So when the German commandos in the spring offensive reoccupied these areas of France, both sides were unable to complete the supply in time. This is also covered in The End of the Journey, and this is why the British troops on the front line could not get effective support.
Because the German army was more well prepared, and the manpower was superior, and new tactics and new equipment were adopted (the film finally occupied the LinkedIn army with gas masks as evidence), the Initial Almost defeated the British army, the British army directly killed tens of thousands of people, and later the German army even entered Paris, so that the military and political high-level of the treaty countries had a peaceful will; the French government was preparing to evacuate Paris, Marshal Hague intended to lead people to run, and the British offered a very low price tag, requiring the Germans to give up Belgium and stop the war.
However, the German commander-in-chief Ludendorff made several blind mistakes in strategy, and as a result, he was defeated, and was shot by the British and French allies who returned to The Gods, but the German army was defeated in the situation of superior situation, and there was no ability to organize an effective attack, not even a strong resistance, and finally a total defeat, the First World War was completely over. Throughout the spring offensive, both sides invested enormous energy, killing and wounding nearly a million people before and after the entire battle, and the Allies, although victorious, were only a crushing victory.
Understand these big and small backgrounds, and then watch "The End of the Journey", you will better understand.
The film revolves around the first 6 days of the "Spring Offensive". The specific location is in the Saint-Quentin region in northern France, where the Germans and British have been facing each other for nearly two years. Although the Great War was coming, the soldiers at that time could not be predicted, and the soldiers on the front line could only be in a state of passive resistance, waiting for the Germans to come. They all knew that the Germans would call them sooner or later, but no one knew when that would be? Under the guidance of the superiors, a company of British soldiers stationed (the film is a British film, so the French soldiers are artificially filtered out, leaving only the British) is at the forefront for 6 days a month, withdrawn after 6 days, and then replaced by another company to change the defense. These 6 days are a kind of torture for everyone, after all, no one wants to die in battle, and many soldiers are afraid that the war will start within 6 days of their own garrison.
But war is always about to be fought, and it is finally being fought. "The End of the Journey" has no grand narrative, it is about the "Spring Offensive", but it condenses this fierce battle into a company (C Company). It was during the 6 days of their garrison that the war began.
However, the film does not turn the scene of the war, but the camera turns to talk about human nature.
Captain Stanop (Sam Claflin) is the company commander of Company C. Once, he was a combat hero and received a bunch of medals, but now he suffered from claustrophobia and was manic and irritable under the torment of war. Lieutenant Rowley (Asa Butterfield), an 18-year-old recruit, is full of energy and fearlessness, and he volunteers to come to Stanop's company because Stanope is her sister's boyfriend, his senior, who used to take care of him, and Stanops once told him, "If you want to join the army, remember to come to my company." Deputy Company Commander Osborne (Paul Bethany) is a middle-aged man with a kind personality, not happy or angry, very good to everyone, and has an indifferent mentality about war, and continues to do his own thing when he can't fight.
Three people, making up the three levels of war. In addition, lotte Trotter (Stephen Graham) and timid Hibbert (Tom Sturridge) and others as embellishments, outlining a group chart under the war, but the focus is still on Stanop, Raleigh, Osborne three people, and even Stanop and Raleigh two people mainly story. Of these three men, Stanops was tired of war, but as a commander he had to carry the responsibility on his shoulders, under great pressure every day, and his heart was tormented; for Raleigh, he had just joined the army and came to the company of his idol, everything was novel, he had a passion and blood in his heart, eager to fight, eager to make a career, to fight a piece of his own sky; and Osborne belonged to the typical old good man, in the company he was the only one who could understand Stanop, He tacitly knew most of Stanope's meaning, whether he expressed it or not, he was still the glue between the soldier and the company commander, very affinity, but he was also full of fear for the battle, but he was still able to face it calmly, since he came to fight it well.
At the beginning of the film, the camera is Stanops' C Company, about to change defenses and go to the front line. However, the war had begun during their garrison cycle, and the task of Stanop's company was to hold on to the German offensive to the death, unable to retreat and without reinforcement.
The final result of World War I was the victory of the Allies led by the Anglo-French Allies over the Axis powers led by Germany. If you don't understand the above background, if you look directly at "The End of the Journey", you will often think along the inertia and feel that the end of "The End of the Journey" must be the victory of the British. But no, the film gives a huge reversal. It is quite in line with historical logic, but for the unprepared audience, it seems to be caught off guard, and it feels like a big reversal, and the British actually lost.
At the very least, in this film, the British are the losing side, and Stanop's company is wiped out and none survives. First Osborne, then Raleigh, then Stanops and the likes...
The day before the war began, the British army had learned of the German offensive intentions. They also asked C Company to organize a team of 10 men to break through the German defenses and take a prisoner to get some confessions to confirm the authenticity of the German offensive. When it came to who was chosen to command this small charge, Stanop suddenly had no one who could do the job, and finally, at the direction of The Peak, Osborne and Rowley were chosen as leaders, leading 8 soldiers to complete the task. The result was that the task was completed, but 10 people went and only 3 came back. Osborne remained there permanently, with only Raleigh returning with two warriors and a German prisoner.
Despite their psychological preparations, the British were still unprepared when the war officially began the next day. As soon as the war began, Raleigh died under shelling before the German attack, while Stanops was killed by the complete loss of his trenches. In the end, the British position was lost, the C Company was completely destroyed, and the Germans won.
This may seem like a very localized small war, but the actual meaning is very different. Judging from the state of Stanops, Raleigh, and Osborne, it was enough to reflect the entire war. See the big with the small, and confirm the war with human nature. Such a war, even if in the end Britain and France were defeated and won, was still not a victor, there was no winner in the war, and some were only losses and deaths. All journeys will have an end, and the end here is death.
It's not a great film, but it was Paul Bettany who attracted me.
Paul Bettany, the guy who was born in 1971, is 47 years old and is about to reach 50. As an actor, he was not as successful, not even as successful as his wife, Jennifer Connery. This wife has at least won an Oscar in her acting career (won the Oscar for best supporting actress for "A Beautiful Mind", and also won the Golden Globe Award for best supporting actress for this film), and Bethany has not received any decent awards in her life. The only best supporting actor who won the award was won for "The End of the Journey", and the award for him was actually awarded to him at the Beijing Film Festival of my Great Heavenly Dynasty. At the 2018 Beijing Film Festival, Paul Bettany won the Temple of Heaven Award for Best Supporting Actor.
And my attention to him began as early as 2001's Knight of the Holy War. That film not only made Heath Ledger, who was still unknown at the time, but also put Paul Bettany on the film scene, and the footage of him walking around naked has become a classic. In the same year of 2001, in the brilliant "Beautiful Mind", not only Jennifer Connery was radiant, But also Paul Bettany played an important role in the film, as an fbi agent living in the mind of "Russell Crowe", Bettany's role was quite heavy. Two films in the same year made Bettany get familiarity and received many film contracts. The next "Furious Sea" and "Dogtown" all have amazing performances, and the powerful actors look like they are about to rise. Therefore, he received a film contract for blockbusters such as "The Da Vinci Code" and "Iron Man".
Moreover, Bettany also teamed up with director Scott Charles Stewart to make modern magic films such as "The Return of Christ" and "The Exorcist". The film is not very good, but it has a distinct personal style and also triggers a momentary topic. For a time, the protagonist and the supporting role flew together, and Bettany's life was quite good.
But, suddenly there was no then. In 2011, Bethany continued to be the main match in "The Exorcist" with the best commercial war "Shang hai ultimatum", and as a result, he suddenly lost the opportunity to star. During this time, he directed himself and worked out a "Shelter", starring his wife Connery, with "Falcon" Anthony McKay, but the final effect was not bad.
In addition, Bettany basically only played in Marvel, early up to be the voice actor of the robot arm Jarvis in "Iron Man", and then Jarvis was upgraded to a hallucination, and played a big role in "Reunion 2", but Bethany never showed a straight face, until "Reunion 3" had a hard time showing his face, and the character became a weak chicken again, and he had to die twice. This year, he also served as the anti-number one in "Ranger Solo: Star Wars Story", which was also fun to travel back and forth between Marvel and Star Wars, but he did not expect Solo to become a dud. Moreover, in recent years, he has also cooperated with Johnny Depp on two "Noble Thieves" and "Transcendental Hacker", and the final box office results are not good.
The only thing worth talking about is this "End of the Journey", which allowed Bettanni to have a trophy in his hand. In the film, the officer he plays, Osman, is quite good, but unfortunately died too early. After all, the influence of the Beijing Film Festival is too small to know whether it will help Bettani's acting career.
The other two stars in The End of the Journey are Sam Claflin and Asha Butterfield. As for Sam Claflin, he first made a small appearance in "Pirates of the Caribbean 4", and then gained a large number of fans with the last three of "The Hunger Games". Then he took over two small-cost romance films, "Before I Met You" and "Their Best", and the performance was OK. But "Floating Dream" co-produced with Rachel Vichy is not too good, and "The End of the Journey" as the male number one, in fact, the final box office performance is also quite poor. Next, he will co-perform with "De Sister" Sherlyn Woodley in "The Waves", how can not have a good performance, it is estimated that there will not be too many opportunities in the future.
As for Asha Butterfield, this is a unique child star, who has starred in "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas", "Hugo", "Ender's Game", "Miss Pey's Fantasy Castle", "Back to Mars", in addition to playing supporting roles in "Rambo's Son" and "Werewolf", almost all of these works are born with halos, and the starting point is quite high. But unfortunately, since the beginning of "Ender's Game", the box office of the film has been very average, and the subsequent productions are not only not good at the box office, but also the reputation is not very good. Even "Back to Mars" has become a big bad movie. Asha was a bit of a high-flying, low-flying appearance, which cast a shadow over his future. The Asha in "The End of the Journey" can only be regarded as decent, nothing particularly eye-catching, and the advantage is that so far there has been no long disability. I wish he could seize the last chance, otherwise he might well become another meteor.
There is also director Saul Dieber, who looks like a newcomer, but as early as 2008, he has already made a work like "Duchess", which is also the work of Kayla Knightley at her peak, Ralph Fiennes showed superb acting skills, in addition to Hayley Atwell, Dominic Cooper and other powerful actors in this film, which is a very good work. Unexpectedly, Saul Dib did not take advantage of the chase, but silently presented "The End of the Journey" this year, but it was somewhat unsatisfactory, which is also a pity!
7
.3
The End of the Journey (2017)