Germany's example
The protagonist in the film Sophie Scholl made a deep impression with her heroic stance on freedom of speech and ideas, yet somehow the images my mind keeps returning to are of the faces of the Gestapo police inspector in charge of her case, the woman prison officer at the cell she was held a few hours before she was beheaded, the German general who hung his head briefly after her brother Hans Scholl's defiant testimony. Especially the Gestapo police inspector - the scenes of him grilling Sophie took up most of the film.
There were instants in which the distance between Sophie and her Nazi persecutors seemed to disappear - when the inspector seemed to respect her patriotism, when Hans's speech seemed to bear the face of truth to the general who had seen the truth at the battlefront with his own eyes, when the prison officer saw the young girl and her brother and friend and offered them a cigarette and a few minutes together in the cell.
Why can't these moments have been less sparse? Why are they impotent? Why is violence never the last resort when communication and exchange of ideas between opposite camps break down? Is it possible to silence the opposition forever through fear and coercion?
There were instants in which the distance between Sophie and her Nazi persecutors seemed to disappear - when the inspector seemed to respect her patriotism, when Hans's speech seemed to bear the face of truth to the general who had seen the truth at the battlefront with his own eyes, when the prison officer saw the young girl and her brother and friend and offered them a cigarette and a few minutes together in the cell.
Why can't these moments have been less sparse? Why are they impotent? Why is violence never the last resort when communication and exchange of ideas between opposite camps break down? Is it possible to silence the opposition forever through fear and coercion?
Labels: cinema
posted by wheyface at 11:55 AM
7 Comments:
i like this piece. as a piece of writing - i've never even seen or heard of the film. it's quite tautly composed; normally throwing a bunch of questions at the end of a review doesn't really work, but here it does. flowing from the description, the concluding questions are rhetorical in nature and it is from that that they acquire their force.
thank you, orangeclouds.
incidentally, i found out recently that the film is based on a book called "Sophie Scholl: The Last Days", written by Annette Dumbach and Jud Newborn. (more details at www.oneworld-publications.com)
看了这部片子。喜欢。
听说，去年影展的时候被牺牲掉。政治理由？
不知道。
时间是相对的东西，事隔多年，观念的东西，走5步退4步。只是，片中女主角，走了20步。
真正的Sophie，英姿飒爽，真是好看。学生时候拍的照片吧。青春那么远，死亡那么近。
想起曾为希特勒拍过颂扬法西斯电影的德国女导演Leni Riefenstahl。以电影来说，她的天才和摄影格局，前无古人。
但在希特勒眼里，身为女人，尽管是美女，却还是二等生物。纳粹倒台，她亦被千夫所指，因为她曾为希特勒7个月。一生功绩就被抹杀。
同是女人，但生命短暂的Sophie，精神被歌颂，Leni活到现在，97岁，却始终背负历史的罪名。
她曾说过：“女人是不允许犯错的。”但她仍大胆地说：“不过，我那时确实非常崇拜希特勒......他很有魅力。”
革命需要勇气。坚持信仰，也是。
Leni电影的美，永远是一种带罪的美。
一个大时代。
两个美丽的女人，一场宿命。
看了你的有感而发，而有感而发。又对我的有感而发，作了一些修改。
大时代的影子
看了这部片子。喜欢。
听说，去年影展的时候被牺牲掉。政治理由？不知道。
时间是相对的东西，事隔多年，观念的东西，走5步退4步。只是，片中女主角，走了20步。真正的Sophie，英姿飒爽，真是好看。学生时候拍的照片吧。青春那么远，死亡那么近。
想起曾为希特勒拍过颂扬法西斯主义电影的德国女导演Leni Riefenstahl。以电影来说，她的才气风度和摄影格局，前无古人。但在希特勒眼里，身为女人，尽管是美女，却还是二等生物。纳粹倒台，她亦被千夫所指。她曾帮了这个暴君7个月，一生功绩就被抹杀。
同是女人，生命短暂的Sophie，精神被歌颂，Leni活到现在，97岁，却始终背负历史的罪名。她曾说过：“女人是不允许犯错的。”但她仍大胆地说：“不过，我那时确实非常崇拜希特勒。他在任何角度都不好看，不是那种会让女人喜欢的男人，但是他很有魅力。”革命需要勇气。坚持信仰，也是。Leni电影的美，永远是一种带罪的美。
女人是男人背后的影子，缄默却坚定。像Sophie望着审判官的眼神，一意孤行。那双眼睛会演戏。在想，那个兵荒马乱，人人自危的局势，那样的女子，和眼睛，可以直透人心，一定很慑人。她想只爱一个人，但心却向着人民和世界。所以我相信她的爱是崇高而伟大的。
像Leni把希特勒看成一个普通的男人那般。深情而无可自拔。他爱的是权力和全世界。她只爱他。所以我相信她的爱，是自私而真实的。
一个大时代。两个聪敏美丽的女人，一场宿命。
良心放在桌上，其他的，由不得历史去批判。
I like what you said about Sophie's eyes. What did the inspector see? He saw something, that's what the film seems to show. We see her radiant humanist soul. Brave brilliance in a dark age of tyrants and cowards.
Remember what she said about fighting with words? The act of writing - at a desk, searching for the right phrase or word, seeing the sentences come together, printed paper and back aches - is mundane, yet hopeful.
对。
民主的进度，总是缓慢。像我看这次的大选，我看到了一股骚动。不敢或从来不知道可以问的人，头上出现了问号。
民主的种子撒下了，我们或许来不及看到成果。
就像Sophie和她的战友般。
可是，我又相信，他们是看到的。
其实，很难忘的是最后死刑斩头那幕，3个学生民运分子“头头”又聚在一起了。literally. ha.
You are too dark, my friend. We will probably not live to see the changes we live in hope for, but I don't think we can choose to be otherwise. Even if we could, would you? I think it is better to be like this. More romantic. Ha!
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