For a movie like this, the key is to have a character with Western-style thinking. For example, in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", Yu Jiaolong's thinking is actually that of a Western-style rebellious girl. Li Mingyu plays such a role. Her thoughts and behaviors are Western-style. Zhou Jiasheng finally touched the depths of her soul. Although this man was a little older and less educated, she felt that she would be very happy living with him. Regardless of his father's objections, the two came together. In fact, Mr. Li also half-heartedly agreed. Li Mingyu was a widow after all! He has a very traditional concept. If a widow remarries, it will be difficult to find a good family. The two got married and had a child named Xiaojie. Zhou Jiasheng has the stability and sense of responsibility of a mature man, and also has the unique temperament of a Shanghai man - A young Shanghai man, he is very family-oriented, very good at coaxing his wife and taking care of his children. He often plays games with his children and buys many toys. Li Mingyu chose the right person and was indeed very happy. A few years passed in the blink of an eye, and a set of quick shots changed: In 1941, the Pacific War broke out, and the Japanese army occupied the concession and strictly controlled foreigners. In 1943, the Wang puppet government "taken over" the concession. After the concession was taken back, it was still the most prosperous place in Shanghai.
In the same year, concentration camps were established and Jewish ghettos were divided. In order to save his family, Mr. Li increasingly compromised and gave away a lot of money. Fortunately, Li Mingyu's school is a church, and the Japanese are not afraid of arousing the resentment of Catholics around the world, so they are not as crazy as they are to ordinary Chinese. By the beginning of 1945, something happened. One of Li Mingyu's colleagues was considered a spy. She was implicated and her family was taken into a concentration camp. At this time, the defeat of the Japanese army had been revealed, and all the soldiers were transferred to the front line. The personnel in the rear were not interested in carrying out their tasks. Everyone was thinking about making money. Multiple concentration camps were merged and various types of mixed detention were conducted. As the film enters the second half, the style of painting is completely different. The camera moves as Xiaojie observes: a square concentration camp, It looks like a warehouse or a prison. There is a large open space in the center, with idle soldiers standing guard with guns, giving the soldier played by Zhou Yemang a close-up. And a foreigner was sitting cross-legged on the open ground, head lowered, facing the direction of Tokyo. He felt a car coming in and took a sneak peek. Zhou Jiasheng and Li Mingyu also glanced at him, and they were shocked to find that it was the Italian neighbor who ran an art school. Bruno. "cloth!" Just when Zhou Jiasheng was about to call his name, Bruno winked and made a shushing gesture, then glanced at the Japanese soldiers patrolling one after another, and continued to bow his head and repent. Yes, he was being punished. The soldier led the family through the doors of each room, stopped in front of a door, opened it, and kicked Zhou Jiasheng directly. "Hey, it's okay, it's okay, daddy is okay!" Zhou Jiasheng patted his butt and smiled at the child, and the three of them went in. Only then did a shot of the inside appear. In a small room with simple beds, men and women were mixed together.
There were more than 20 people, all in rags, tired and numb. Looking at the newly arrived family of three, their expressions became a little more lively, but instead of acceptance and enthusiasm, they were filled with cynicism. "Oh! Newcomer!" "Is there anyone new now?" "You are so unlucky that you came in at this time. Between being beaten to death or freezing to death, I hope you choose to starve to death, hahaha!" It was Ed who spoke. He played an American expatriate who was arrested together with his wife. imprisoned. "Sir, you have no manners at all. I would be happy to see you experience these three ways to die first!" Li Mingyu shot back in English. "You speak English? That's great. Although I can speak Chinese, it's hard to speak!" At this time, an older man came over and said, "I am the captain of this room, and I will tell you the rules here!" "Hello, my name is—————— "I don't want to know what your names are. Anyway, you will soon have no names. People here don't have names, so they have to be replaced by numbers. This is Room 13. You are the 23rd, 24th, and 25th people, so you are called 1323, 1324, and 1325 respectively. Oh, there is also a child. You are the only child in our room. " "Remember your number, it determines your life or death!" "The Japanese call your name twice a day. If you don't answer in time, they are happy to make you taste the pain of your skin!" "Don't even think about escaping, you will hurt all of us!" "What will you do when labor is assigned every day?" Li Mingyu has no special skills, and Zhou Jiasheng speaks broken English. Said: "I am a tailor!" "tailor?" "He's a tailor? Haha!" Unexpectedly causing a commotion, Ed shouted: "Chinese, if you can put my two half pairs of underwear together into one, I can give you a stone for free!" "Can you help me mend my clothes? I can give you two yuan!" The orders came immediately, but the family could not understand what they were saying. The captain also introduced the basic rules in a routine manner and left it alone. The three of them found a place by themselves, Xiaojie was always in a state of fear, and Li Mingyu couldn't coax him no matter how hard he tried. The Zhou family suddenly had an idea and started a game. "Don't cry, don't run around, and listen to your parents - there are points every day. If we save 1,000 points, you will have a real plane!" "Mom, is it true?" Xiaojie looked at his mother suspiciously, and Li Mingyu forced a smile: "Of course, don't you like that airplane toy the most? If you can do it, you can see a real airplane!" "Hey, what are they talking about?" Ed asked his wife, Amy knew more Chinese, listened and relayed it to him.
"Ha ha ha ha!" Ed seemed to have heard the funniest joke in the world. He jumped out of bed and shouted at them: "What do you think this is? An amusement park for children? You are so naive that you are like a clown, oh no." , you are simply stupid and there is nothing more stupid than you!” As he spoke, he suddenly became excited, and he didn't know who he was venting to. "I stayed in the concentration camp for two years. My brother was thrown into the incinerator just a few months after arriving. My sister-in-law is still pregnant - this is not a place for you to play house, not your playground. ————-It’s better to die quickly!” He yelled like crazy, and Amy opened her mouth. She wanted to comfort him but couldn't say anything, so she just sighed. "you!" Li Mingyu was about to refute, but Zhou Jiasheng stopped him, saying that the child could not understand English, so there should be no conflict. Li Mingyu snorted, covered Xiaojie's ears, and made faces to tease his son. Ed was furious for a long time. Seeing that they didn't respond, he just felt bored and fell on the bed angrily. The original version of "Life Is Beautiful" was a solo show for the male protagonist, who always took care of the children alone. Now it has become a couple together, and a lot of elements from reality have been added. Foreign concentration camps have foreign characteristics, while Chinese concentration camps have Chinese characteristics. However, this content unfolded like a hook, firmly catching everyone's attention. They stared at the big screen. After watching the first half, they could predict that the second half would be like being imprisoned in a concentration camp, but they I didn't expect it to be expressed in this way. Themes merge! From a simple concentration camp, it merged into the most basic and resonant part of human nature that everyone can understand: a father and a mother, protecting the innocence of their children and their love for their children.