"People of my age started a war, why did they let young guys die."

In "Dunkirk", which has few lines, sailing a civilian ship The words spoken by the old man who went to rescue the soldiers were calmly scored in Hans Zimmer's colorful score, but they were a heavy blow.

Compared with the complex structures in Nolan's previous films, "Dunkirk" has been much restrained, but this "structural genius" still uses multi-line narrative to create a story that is completely different from the classic war. The time and space world of movie mode.

This is a major evacuation involving more than 300,000 people and three periods of time and space. Under the seemingly collective heroic team behavior, the small but great efforts made by each individual are not lost. It is not a soldier's song that shuttles among stray bullets, flows under the waves, and echoes above the clouds.

Nolan chose the "Dunkirk Evacuation", a famous military retreat in the history of World War II, and used three parallel narratives of land, sea and air to present those who were in the midst of the retreat. Individual behavior under different circumstances, and the tremendous power formed by individuals united.

In the long history of movies, we have also witnessed countless vivid figures of soldiers. Flying fire and flowing fireflies, they are either charging to capture a position, or planning a retreat to preserve their strength. War is the ambition and cruel game of big men. For every flesh-and-blood soldier who is forced into the pain of war, I am afraid that only "one general will succeed and ten thousand bones will wither." All they want is to live intact and return home.

These war-themed movies do not fully deconstruct any actual war, but choose a very special angle to observe the soldiers in each battle.

1. "Paths of Glory"

Paths of Glory

The victims of the system behind the war

Kubrick in 1957 This anti-war film about World War I was made, and it cleverly transferred the cruelty of war from the battlefield to the dark system behind the war.

The "Path of Glory" in the film's title was once considered ironic. A corporal and two privates were accidentally taken to the execution ground. In order for the general to advance his career and preserve his reputation, three low-level soldiers were convicted by the military court of the ridiculous charge of "showing cowardice in front of the enemy" for no reason.

On the battlefield, they were deployed pawns. Off the battlefield, there was still a pair of invisible hands controlling them. They were completely innocent and were sentenced to death in this way. They died from the systemic evil behind the cruel war, such as Like ants.

The only one who cares about these soldiers and has always defended them is Colonel Dax, who fought with them on the front line. When faced with the unfair verdict of the military court, Colonel Dax said: "I have been ashamed several times. As a member of the human race, this will be the first time."

2. "Full Metal Jacket"

Stripped of personality

It’s still Kubrick. “Path of Glory” ends with the soldiers who are about to return to the front line. “Full Metal Jacket” opens with close-ups of soldiers being shaved before joining the army, and then follows What follows is a military training session filled with foul language, which is destined to leave its name in film history. An instructor yelled and insulted the new recruits in an almost roaring manner. These foul words contained strong personal attacks, sexism, sexual orientation discrimination, and racial discrimination.

Even so, this absurd opening does not make us scared or uncomfortable at first. On the contrary, it has a sense of American comedy.

On the eve of graduation, a fat soldier finally couldn't bear the endless insults and ostracism from his peers because of his lack of physical fitness, and chose to kill his instructor and himself. It was then that we realized this was not a game. Before the real war began, a young soldier died in a pool of blood in the boot camp. In a high-pressure and inhumane environment, a soldier's personality has been stripped away.

3. "Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk"

Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk

The immeasurable trauma of war

The trauma a soldier experiences in war is immeasurable to ordinary people. Due to being trapped in the highly tense combat state of the Iraq War for a long time, Billy Lynn and his comrades still showed discomfort with some ordinary daily situations after returning home, even in a peaceful state. The extremely exaggerated instinctive defensive reaction every time he was suddenly touched by someone in an unknown state, and he was severely frightened by the stage fireworks during the rehearsal of the halftime show.

When blood is shed in war, it is difficult to move forward in peace.

Billy Lynn became an American hero because of his rescue of his comrades. He was invited back to his country to do a halftime performance at a football game to reward his military exploits. And the day he was praised for his heroic battle was "the worst day in his life." The best squad leader and comrade died that day, and he almost died.

Some surveys show that many long-term prisoners are unable to adapt to the life order, rhythm, communication rules or the law of the jungle in normal society after they are released from prison. Then, some people deliberately commit crimes and choose to return to prison. Because there, they can gain the "security" of collective life.

Billy Lynn finally chose to return to the battlefield in Iraq, where artillery fire was everywhere, but for a scarred soldier, it was a "safer" place than his hometown.

4. "Song of the Soldier"

Баллада о солдате

The place of no return

The core expressions of the films chosen by the director are different , the viewing experience the audience will get will be very different. It is also about a short return home after achieving military success. Ang Lee talks about the self-war trauma that a soldier realizes after returning home from the battlefield. He is depressed, sad but helpless.

And Chukhleyi allowed a soldier to experience friendship, love and family affection on his journey home. Although he finally saw his mother only for a few minutes when he returned home, the viewer felt regretful that You can feel the warmth that the soldier Alyosha gave and was given along the way.

"Song of the Soldier" uses a flashback technique and reads in the narration at the beginning:

"This is a small road leading to the city,

Those who left the village and those who returned home

passed through this path

She was not waiting for anyone,

her son. , Alyosha,

could never come back from the battlefield

He was buried in an unknown place far away from his motherland. In the village, strangers laid flowers at his tombstone.

They called him a Russian soldier, a hero and a liberator.

But to his mother, he is just a son,

She knows everything about him,

from the day he was born to the day he went to the front line. ”

Whether it was Billy Lynn or Alyosha, they eventually returned to the battlefield. From then on, fathers, sons, and husbands were collectively called "soldiers." These soldiers, from the day they left home, they never came back.