"Dead Poetry Society" this movie does not need to be introduced much, as a classic film, lasting, in the precipitation of time, more and more the brilliance of its spirit of the times, it touches on the topic of education, life, but also constantly touch the emotions of generations.
Directed by Peter Will and starring Robin Williams, Ethan Hawke, and Robert Sean Leonard, the film has no exaggerated film skills, and uses simple lenses to tell the story, through poetic and philosophical lines, the fusion of teachers and students' emotions is stripped away layer by layer, conveying the true meaning of life. It makes us understand that a good movie has never been related to gorgeous scenes, and the depth of thought and the truth of emotions are enough to make it full of power.
The director is good at creating contradictions and conflicts, and the dramatic tension of the plot in the film, between the opening and closing, the mobilization and tearing of feelings are undoubtedly the most touching. The film starts with the entrance ceremony of the school, and the quick switching of the short shot vividly portrays the children's fresh curiosity when they first enter the school, and the youth is full of youthfulness.
The director skillfully interspersed the principal's speech in the middle, "tradition, honor, discipline, excellence", in this heavy and solemn speech, every word is with a majestic and cold force majeure, hanging high above the students' heads, and the dull depression created by the students is undoubtedly in strong contrast with the children's youthful vitality. At the beginning of the film, the theme of education has been gently unveiled.
Education is an eternal issue, a "human enterprise". As Jaspers said, "Education is the education of the human soul, not the accumulation of rational knowledge and knowledge." Education itself means that a tree shakes another tree, a cloud pushes another cloud, a soul awakens another soul, and if an education fails to touch another soul and cause change in the depths of the soul, then it is not called education. "
The true meaning of education conveyed by the film should be to cultivate a student's independent personality, be able to have a full understanding of self-intention, and be able to touch the ideal spiritual level. Under the distorted concept, how to guide children to form the correct value pursuit is the burden shouldered by the educator. In another movie about education, "Mind Catcher", the genius teenager Will seems to be arrogant and arrogant, but the bottom of his heart is hiding avoidance and inferiority, two very different educators appear: a professor who cares about his genius and infinite possibilities, a psychologist who really cares about Will's inner world, of course, the psychologist finally enters Will's heart with his love and sincerity, helping him get back on track in life.
There are two types of people we meet in life: one type of people value the value we create, and the other type of people value ourselves. Only the latter can achieve the closeness between hearts, which is conveyed to the audience by this film. When you can't really go inside a person,How do you influence and lead a person?
In the plot of "Death Poetry Society", the director also created a small conflict, refining the contradiction into three dimensions. Unfold the male protagonist Neil Perry's first argument with his father:
"Pay attention to your own identity and don't openly confront me!" "Do you know what that means to your mother?"
Behind the discourse, there is the pressure of authority and reality. After a feeble argument, Neil opted for compromise:
"Yes, Father".
After just four words, how much entanglement and powerlessness this kind heart carries! When the repression of reality is borne by the individual, the deep heartache and sorrow strike the heart even more.
When the film is covered with a layer of repressive color of the education system, which makes people sigh, the camera re-injects a bright color into us with a strange perspective - Mr. Kidding. He whistled into the classroom and walked toward the children, carrying the cool breeze of spring.
"Ah, Captain! My captain! "
This is the verse that Mr. Keiding opens in his first class. "If you have the guts, call me Captain." The short and powerful lines initially shaped the uniqueness of Mr. Keiding. He abandons traditional stereotypes and dogmas, and uses poetry, knowledge and enthusiasm to guide children to find the meaning of life and help them break through in confusion.
In "The Spring of the Cattle Herding Class", a classic teacher image is also created. The difference is that in "Spring in the Cattle Herding Class", the teacher guides a group of decadent, loveless children to feel warm again, return to society, and learn to love, while The Kitin teacher in "Death Poetry Society" leads a group of children who grow up in bondage and love, break through the cage of reality, and learn to fight and resist. Very different purposes, but all of them highlight the huge aura behind the profession of teacher.
Mr. Kidding stands at the junction of the real world and the ideal world, and he is the point of contact between the two worlds. After gaining a deep understanding of these two worlds, he guided the children with his light poetry and taught them to examine their own hearts. At this point, the teacher has idealized as a spiritual guide, any being that inspires you to have a major impact on your life.
The choice of this poem at the beginning of the film implies a deep meaning: the verse is quoted from a poem written for Lincoln by the American poet Walter Whitman, and is included in the "Commemoration of President Lincoln" chapter of the Blade of Grass. The poem "Ah, Captain My Captain" is tragic, comparing the struggle of the time to a difficult voyage. The most prominent of Whitman's philosophies of life is American-style democracy. Here, the film reveals a deeper theme – life and self.
We read and write poetry because we are part of humanity, and human beings are passionate. Yes, doctors, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits that are enough to support a person's life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are the reasons for our survival.
Survival, life, life is the three levels of life state, most people most of the time stay in the survival stage, more tragically, when people can jump out of survival, completely reach the stage of pursuing life and even life, people often have lost their voice, because people have a need to be accepted, this strong group consciousness will be a little bit of the self to wear out, into a calm despair and emptiness, and finally in the name of survival, through aimless busy work to cover up their emptiness and mediocrity.
Schopenhauer said that man's gregariousness was roughly proportional to his lack of knowledge and tackiness. In the end, there was a steady stream of people without faith, and the city was full of ignorance. Don't fall into this situation, rush out, and dare to open up your own world.
Mr. Kidding opens up a whole new world for the children, a dream of romance, freedom, and release of nature, and the children's desire to adventure and seek knowledge is ignited.
Here, the director arranged another strong collision. The children organized the first Death Poetry Society, which was on a cold, dark night when the children put on their hoods and dived into the night to find the unknown cave. Rendering a gloomy and terrifying atmosphere in a large area of black, a mysterious, unreal place that has never been set foot, evoking infinite curiosity and tension. However, in the cave, a carnival is staged, poetry slips from the tip of the teenager's tongue, dancing, clapping, excitement, shouting, jumping, here, letting go of all disguises, returning to the original wildness, enjoying the real existence of life and self. The soul gallops beyond the mundane. The camera zooms farther away, and in the fog of the night, there are the figures of several teenagers leaving in groups, accompanied by a rhythmic verse: Then I have faith, then I have imagination, I am infected by their indulgent ridicule, and then I see the Congo River, flowing through the black land, drawing a golden ravine in the forest...
The teenagers were inspired by the poetry, and then they wrote and recited the poems with enthusiasm. The charm of poetry may be greater than that, and it is no wonder that children are deeply attracted to her. It is not only art, but also the essence of the soul of life. As a symbol, it is deeply hidden in the heart of every person, sharing fate and breathing with people. As a carrier, poetry enables the most urgent desires of people's hearts to be expressed, and at the same time arouses the most primitive desires in people's hearts.
However, such a romantic statement is already a bit old. In modern society, the atmosphere of poetry has become weaker and weaker, and the arrangement and combination of simple words, how many people can still find the treasures contained in them? Poetry cannot change anything or destroy anything, but it can wipe away our tears and heal the wounds in our hearts in the dead of night. But how many people will shed tears and get hurt?
Neil's death undoubtedly had a huge psychological impact. With an innate romantic character, he was the most devout believer in art, dazzling, alive and enthusiastic on stage. The film's four-minute stage performance focuses on the blend of misty lights and soothing music that transports us into a dreamlike illusion. After the dance, the applause was thunderous.
Neil stands in the center of the stage, enjoying the aura of the stars and the moon, which is also called pushing the film to the climax, but the plot takes a sharp turn, and the father's opposition drags Neil from the free highlands, how can such a living and proud artistic elf say the answer of "yes, father"? Echoing the first answer at the beginning, this time with a deeper level of depression and despair.
Neil's suicide symbolizes the struggle of artistic ideals against cold realism. Among the scalpel and the poet, the majority choose the former, because the road has long been paved by the majority, it is stable and flat, it conforms to the universal values of society, and egoism tells us that only in this way can we hide in the shadow of our predecessors and not be excluded by criticism, but this comes at the expense of the consciousness of individual existence. The latter, destined to embark on a thorny road, under the feet is an endless abyss, you are still leaping, experiencing the tremor and intensity of life, but such a choice often makes life short. And this choice usually requires courage beyond ordinary people to support.
Some say That Neil's choice to die is an impulsive, childish gesture, but do we have the right to accuse it of cowardice? No one can predict whether we will make the same choice in the face of the cold and desperate reality. We can't falsely accuse the recklessness of this behavior, which can also be said to be a kind of spiritual purity, a blank gap in the spirit of modern people. He may love life more than any of us, closer to the true meaning of life than any of us, but in the face of despair, they choose a way to approach perfection in a way that they think is best, and in a way, how can this not be a kind of courage?
At the end of the film, Mr. Kiding leaves the school unjustly, and when he returns to the classroom to retrieve his belongings, Todd is the first to stand on the podium, and the humiliation and dignity of youth turn into the ultimate repression, and he shouts "Ah, captain, my captain!" Then, one by one, the children awakened, and they struggled to their feet and looked down at it all. At that moment, in their upright posture, are the souls of freedom, who use their actions to resist authority, dogma, threats, and defend youth justice and personality freedom.
The film stops abruptly at the strongest sound, which is thought-provoking. Everyone dies, but not everyone lives. Those who pursue on that endless path will be lost, and those who seek in that thorny wasteland will be lost. But I still hope that when we pass through a crowd of black and oppressive people and hear the neat footsteps echoing in the earth, we have no regrets about our choice.
Even if we don't make it to the end, at least, we come at our own pace, at least, our cries have been heard by the world.