The true story of keeping promises.

■ Real behavior shows affection and loyalty.

In April and May of 20 1 1, when many people were wondering whether to help the strange old man fall, the story of "Fruit Tree Class" in Hebei Agricultural University spread like a warm heart agent among the media and readers.

Students in the "Fruit Tree Class" of Hebei Agricultural University silently supported Li Baoyuan's parents after his classmate Li Baoyuan died of illness, and the burden was 15, which was better than that of children.

Wen Guan Zhan, the screenwriter of the play, was also very moved after seeing this story. He has always wanted to write a script that reflects the humanities in Hebei. "Inspired by the cultural brand of the Propaganda Department of Hebei Provincial Party Committee,' Love for Hebei, Sincerity for Zhao Yan', I was suddenly enlightened. The deeds of the students in the fruit tree class of Hebei Agricultural University are worthy of the words' great love and righteousness'! " Zhan said:

It is reported that although "The Promise" is a theme movie, it breaks the traditional mode of theme movies. The protagonist inside is no longer a great man, tall and complete, but an ordinary person who really lives around us.

■ Highlighting the Soul of Hebei Culture

In the interview, screenwriter Zhan and producer Tan Qiuning repeatedly stressed that this film should not only show "love and loyalty", but also express Hebei's unique cultural background. Therefore, in the script design, a protagonist-Liu Quer was added, and he staged the story of 15.

Liu Quer in the film is a 50-year-old man who can sing Xihe drum. "Because Xihe Drum is a unique cultural feature of Hebei, it was very popular in the middle of Qing Dynasty, and now fewer and fewer people know it. We just want to promote this endangered Hebei culture through the synopsis of the golden chamber. "

It is reported that although Liu Kuier is not a prototype figure, he is the absolute protagonist in the film, because the span of 15 is too large, and the stories will be scattered, and Liu Kuier is the soul figure who put these stories up.

Popular film critic: I've been thinking about this before: luc dardenne won the Palme d 'Or twice. Doesn't he deserve it? Why? Because they are brothers! Not only luc dardenne, but also the Cohen brothers and Viani brothers deserve twice as much as others, because they are two people! On the whole, it is true. For example, the Coen brothers won the best film, the best director, the best this and the best that, while luc dardenne won almost all the awards at the Cannes Film Festival. Of course, "brothers" and "winning prizes" are obviously not necessarily related. After all, I estimate that there are countless brothers in the world who have been working hard for the film industry all their lives, but the awards still flow back and forth among several masters. So later, what people are really interested in is no longer whether the winning rate of the two brothers is higher, but why the two masters luc dardenne are better. A promise as good as a promise seems to give us the answer. As luc dardenne's first successful work, this film is almost a monument. After it, luc dardenne is invincible, and no one can beat it. However, it is not easy to build a monument; Jean-Pierre Darnay once told the interviewer that before the film started, "we reached two tacit understandings: First, the film is not the whole of life. If we can't shoot what we want this time, we should do something else ... Second, we need to regain our interest and freedom in making documentaries, because only the two of us can express our opinions on our films at that time. " It seems that the master was afraid of positive films at first. But this is what makes luc dardenne unique. Just as they know how to arrange and choose shots, they are also very aware of their own advantages and disadvantages when shooting movies. They will never make a high-cost Hollywood sci-fi blockbuster, because they are just ordinary people in little Belgium; This is undoubtedly a disadvantage, but in their hands, this is an advantage. An ordinary person's promise may not be worth mentioning at all, but for them, it is definitely worth thousands of dollars. The story takes place in the border town of Belgium. The little boy Iger and his father make a living by providing houses and jobs for illegal immigrants. One day, the Immigration Commissioner made a surprise inspection, and Amido, a black man, fell to the ground from the scaffold in despair. Although he was badly hurt, he is still alive. In order to avoid responsibility and risk, the little boy's father poured amido directly on the cement steps downstairs. Before he died, the black man entrusted the boy to take care of his wife and children who had just immigrated to the building a few days ago. The little boy hesitated to agree; In order to keep this promise, the boy must pay the due price. In the end, we found that the meaning of this promise has gone far beyond the meaning of the promise itself, because if the boy wants to realize his promise, he must secretly protect Amido's wife, which runs counter to his father's and even his own vital interests. Therefore, on the one hand, the film begins with "promise" and gradually turns from promise to morality; On the other hand, Iger's transformation also shows the process from his father's life to his own life, from bohemian and treacherous to moral self-control. This process seems easy, but it is full of obstacles, because as the only support in life, my father gave Iger not only economic and material support, but also spiritual support and value influence. For Edgar, his father undoubtedly has the supreme say on the question of "how to live". My father did not regard Iger as his own laborer, but often rewarded him (whether it was pocket money or a gold ring) and took Iger out to see the world when necessary. He even admitted that the ultimate goal of making money so hard is to buy the whole house and leave it to Edgar. My father is definitely not a loving father, and sometimes even fights. However, my father knows very well how to educate children, how to establish a father-son relationship, and how to make Iger the heir of his property and spiritual temperament. But paradoxically, Edgar's commitment means betraying his father's property and spiritual temperament. At first, the contradiction was hidden, until one day Iger clearly found out that his father wanted to sell Hamudis's wife to Cologne on the German border, and the contradiction was completely intensified. A father can't indulge his children to run around all day serving a black woman, let alone accept that his children give their hard-earned money to an irrelevant or even humble person; After all, why should their father and son atone? Amido himself fell off the guillotine, and no one should take any responsibility for him, because he immigrated illegally and died without regret. At this point, the problem is not just the promise itself. Commitment itself is only a starting point, because Hamudis's wife has three identities in essence: first, she is Hamudis's wife; Second, she is an illegal immigrant; Third, she is black. These three identities are intertwined and progressive, and the essence of the problem can not be truly explained until the last layer. There is such an episode in the film. Amido's wife was waiting for Iger under the bridge when it suddenly rained heavily. His wife suddenly looked up and found that it was not a rainstorm. Obviously, the local people urinated on themselves on purpose. Acylamino's wife scolded casually, but she didn't want to be more angry. Two white people got off the bridge and ran over her luggage on a motorcycle. Everything in the bag was run over. No one knows who she is, and it is impossible for two strangers to know that she is an illegal immigrant; The only certainty is that she is black. Perhaps we have to ask, why are blacks so widely discriminated against and their rights trampled on, but they are unable to fight back? The reason is that she is not only a black woman, but also an immigrant who has no legal rights in her own country, a helpless wife and mother who lost her husband ... It is based on this triple identity that Iger is caught in a quagmire more terrible than fulfilling her promise. Because he gradually found that whether he can honor his promise is actually only a matter of form, which can only determine whether Edgar is moral or not to live up to his conscience to a certain extent; More cruelly, the external force that prevents the promise from being realized is immoral in itself. If it corresponds to the identity of Amido's wife, realizing the promise is not only a challenge to himself, but also a challenge to his father, and it is also a challenge to the moral upper limit that Edgar has always accepted. In this way, the form turned to the essence, and human nature surfaced. You gain something, you lose something. Iger finally chose to help Amido's wife get rid of her conscience, but he undoubtedly lost his affection. The father was tied to a chain by his son like a dog and let his son untie him. The appearance of this scene is not Japanese at all, but makes people feel sad. At the end of the film, when his wife heard that Amido was dead, she didn't intend to board the train for Cologne, but turned around and went back. No one knows what happened after that, only one thing is certain: Iger's moral growth has become an endless price, and all three people have become victims of each other. The real conflict began. The author coquettishly called this film a "monument", not only because of luc dardenne's bright but ambiguous conception. In The Promise of Gold, all the skills in luc dardenne's later creation have begun to appear. From a photographic point of view, stylized hand-held cameras and relatively dim colors give people a strong sense of recording and realism, which greatly enhances the credibility and shock of the film; From the writer's point of view, seeing the big picture from the small and the sudden change of plot have become the important elements of luc dardenne's film plot. It is worth noting that although the plot often changes suddenly, it does not feel abrupt, indicating that the bedding of change is sufficient, the rhythm of change is appropriate, and the logic of change is natural. Voice in reality is also an important part of luc dardenne's films. The roar of motorcycles in the distance, the muffled sound of amino landing, and the gasping sound when talking on the phone ... all kinds of voices are very expressive, and some of them are strong hints of the plot turning point of the whole film. In addition to these, the film also has a very important prop-the gold ring. As an object given to Edgar by his father, the ring is of great significance in both surface plot and deep meaning. It is paired with the ring on the father's hand, and can even be called the certificate and token of father-son relationship. The ring appeared in several key places in the film: when it first appeared, my father gave it to Iger. Iger was very happy and thanked him again and again, which reflected the harmonious relationship between father and son and a happy life. When the ring appeared for the second time, they took a bath after burying the amido group, and the father took off the ring on his son's hand and cleaned it. On the one hand, it is to clean the blood and destroy the evidence, on the other hand, it is also suggesting that my father evaded his responsibility and washed away the stain in this way. Next time, the camera deliberately stopped in Iger's hand, and the ring sparkled as his hand moved. This seems to imply that there is an invisible magic between father and son that drives Edgar to call his father and tell him where Amido's wife is. At this moment, the father symbolized by the ring defeated Amido's wife, who was in danger. Fortunately, when Iger came home, she found herself running into the road, hoping to take a taxi to the hospital to see the children, so she escaped. The last time Edgar appeared, he sold the gold ring in despair and bought a ticket with the money he got back. This is telling us that Iger has broken with his father or the moral values he represents and embarked on a road of no return without hesitation. This link is not only pulling, but also following the flow of the whole story, forming a very complete clue, which is luc dardenne's usual way and their genius. Since the Golden Promise, luc dardenne has made movies at the rate of one film every three years, and six works have been published so far. With two highest Palme d 'Or awards, a jury award, a best actor, a best actress and a best screenwriter, luc dardenne has undoubtedly become one of the best directors in the world. Masters can often create their own styles and refresh people's understanding of movies; After seeing the master, we will find that the land under our feet is so textured.