Poster for the movie "Brigade Three"
Documentary literature "Please tell the Director, the mission of Brigade Three has been completed" is based on real events, and the heavy words give the story an irreplaceable impact. The movie "The Three Brigades" further expanded the story based on this, telling the story of five people traveling through seven provinces and traveling tens of thousands of kilometers, just to hunt down the real murderer and bring an old unfinished case to a conclusion. The move made by the Third Brigade back then finally received an echo 12 years later.
Four Separations: A Hero's Journey to Regain Glory
Joseph Campbell's "The Hero with a Thousand Faces" summarizes a narrative pattern that is constantly being told from the perspective of myth-archetype, which the author summarizes as the hero's journey. In literature, drama, and film works, the stories of heroes have been written repeatedly. They are called by a duty, embark on an adventure, make friends, go through trials, and finally return with treasures. Also telling the story of departure, "The Three Brigades" writes about a lonely hero's journey. The protagonist sets off on a journey together, but returns alone, experiencing separation, displacement, and aging along the way. Loss seems to have become the main theme of this journey, and the characters seem to be traveling in the opposite direction of the journey described by Campbell. However, it was this experience that allowed the uncrowned hero to regain his former glory. This kind of glory does not come from swords or medals, but from everyone's heart. On the way to chase the murderer, Cheng Bing walked step by step towards the high-spirited Captain Cheng, and finally completed the confirmation of his belief. Faith that never fades is his glory.
The protagonist of "The Three Brigades" is not a typical interpretation of the heroic motif, and even tries his best to trivialize the hero. Just like this, it expands the possibility of the hero's journey. Even if the protagonist is not a mythical protagonist born with power, nor a brave knight holding high the banner of justice, his struggle and persistent pursuit echo ordinary people's expectations for ideal character. . Cheng Bing's story has touched countless people, not only because he accomplished something that is almost impossible for ordinary people to accomplish, but more importantly, he showed people the power of faith. This belief is dazzling yet extremely simple. For Captain Cheng, handling the case well is his natural responsibility. It was not adventure but mission that called him on his journey. Even if time has changed and things have changed, the fetters of mission can still call him to embark on an unknown journey.
Righteousness is born in the heart. Captain Cheng’s righteousness needs no introduction. Every parting in the story confirms its preciousness. In stories about chasing a murderer, dissident forces often exist in a hidden form, but the protagonist often lacks strong and sustained power. So, in the absence of a villain, who does the protagonist take on? The movie "The Three Brigades" did not preset a villain for Cheng Bing, but gave him four beautiful what-ifs. Every time he bids farewell to his companions, Cheng Bing makes a choice to abandon his inherent ideas. Ma Zhenkun returned to his family for his wife, Liao Jian wanted to be reunited with his children, Xu Yizhou valued new love, and Cai Bin was forced by his health. The reason why the four of them withdrew could have been the reason for Cheng Bing to give up chasing the murderer. Whenever his companions told Cheng Bing why he had to leave, they also told him about another life that Cheng Bing could have chosen. In the separation, Cheng Bing's simple justice was repeatedly verified.
The four companions bid farewell to the past and walked towards a new life, while Cheng Bing rushed to deal with the knot in his heart that he couldn't let go, and the regret that he couldn't let go, until his temples were gray and his clothes were ragged. As his body becomes increasingly stooped, Cheng Bing gets closer and closer to his former captain. His persistence in faith allows the crowned hero to regain his own glory.
Sorrowful but not sad: writing that breaks away from praise and suffering.
This story of a lonely man chasing a murderer is always filled with the aesthetic meaning of tragedy. The tragedy in the aesthetic category does not lie in the happy ending or not, but in the aesthetic meaning brought about by its conflict. Nietzsche used metaphysical consolation to explain the aesthetic significance of tragedy. Its focus is not on destruction, but on the fact that tragedy makes people feel that life is still indestructible and full of joy. Cheng Bing suffered a misfortune that he should not have suffered due to his mistake, and thus paid a heavy price, which is regrettable.
The turn of Cheng Bing's fate is disappointing. "Third Brigade" uses a restrained attitude to polish his story into a realistic texture, neither praising his extraordinary nor exaggerating his suffering. The process of chasing the murderer could have chosen a commercial narrative style. Typical techniques could have been used to carve out the thrilling pursuit of the murderer and the various gaps caused by the character's identity change, and the suffering could have been depicted in more detail. But "The Three Brigades" chose a peaceful expression to release the rough and tangible power of the original story. The power of the movie does not come from praise and bitterness, but from the heavy reality. As Nietzsche's philosophy of life says, struggle, pain, and the destruction of all things are constant. Cheng Bing is also an ordinary person who has struggles and hesitation, but as an ordinary person, he fights against the impossible. The blade gets rusty as time goes by, but it's still a sharp blade. The impact of the
prototype story is that it allows people to see ordinary people in reality persistently accomplishing something difficult to accomplish. "The Three Brigades" sets Cheng Bing in a realistic situation and uses the texture of life to restore the impact of the story. The character creation, plot design and scene art of the movie all create a life-like texture. Barbecue stalls in the night market, half-used clothes, dumplings during the Spring Festival, cross-sections of life flow in the movie, making the characters as familiar as friends around you. , and then establish a connection between the story and the audience.
However, the movie "Third Brigade" tells the story of Cheng Bing, but ignores the questioning of his spiritual world. What supported his actions during these years of chasing the murderer? What does he think about when he is alone? The original work left a gap in Cheng Bing's mental journey, but the movie failed to fill this gap. The story does not leave any space to describe the spiritual picture, nor does it find the core image to support the characters' spiritual world. It focuses on the metaphysical narrative and ignores the metaphysical exploration. In classic works, what leaves an aftertaste are often those images that touch the soul, such as the ruined wells in "Spring in a Small Town", the flickering green light on the other side of the river in "The Great Gatsby", and the figure in the mist in "Nostalgia" , the meaning outside the story is often more profound and moving than the story itself.
All in all, the movie "The Three Brigades" retains the real and shining touching power of the prototype story in plain writing. Cheng Bing found the glory that belonged to the Third Brigade with simple justice, fulfilled the responsibilities that belonged to Captain Cheng, and brought a rough and bright end to the mission of the Third Brigade. (Author: Peng Xiaochun)
