I cried when Katsumoto's son dies at the bridge riddled with bullets as he charges towards the Japanese soldiers and then when he dies himself in a blaze of glory in the movie The Last Samurai. Tom Cruise ofcourse survives. I cried when Akshay Khanna dies with a look of complete surprise on his face in Border.I get so moved by the music track and sounds of war cries. I get swept up in emotion when Orlando Bloom swoops down the stairs on a shield shooting arrows at the enemy killing them by the dozen in The Lord of the Rings. I love the way music rises up as the son of the Last of the Mohicans falls at the hands of the evil Magua. Death is never more glorified than on the battlefield especially in the movies.
I always thought I didn't like violent movies. I now realise that something about the death of a loved hero in the battlefield moves me. I like the sensation it causes. And at the same time I find myself wondering about the real people who go to war on behalf of us civilians. Does God switch to slow motion when the real heroes die? Is it really worth it to be a hero when your destination is a premature violent death?
And there is one question which bothers me and I ask many times... What is the difference between a man who is sentenced to death because he is a murderer for hire and a soldier who gets a medal when he dies heroically at the front? Both die. Both are hired. One a hero and the other a villain.Why don't I cry when Kevin Spacey gets killed by Brad Pitt in Seven. Is it because Brad Pitt is a hero. Because the director wants me to feel relieved... there is no slow motion... no soaring music even though Kevin Spacey is a hero in his field of murders... I don't know
3 comments:
just a play on what we believe? people who dont think, yet express, are able to ensure that we dont think either.
why did i cry in Agneepath when AB dies? Was it because he is AB or because it was Vijay Dinanath Chauhan? For the villian, for the robin hood, for the actor?
:)
jeeez! you ask some difficult questions!!!
The tragic hero is an old concept. In death lies glory.
As far as difference between a murderer and a soldier is concerned there is a tremendous one. Thats one place where the reason why justifies the action.
People want 'heroes' (and I use the word advisedly) to elevate themselves from their loves of quiet desperation. And socialisation ensures that we fawn in their presence - posthomously or otherwise.
However, I'm more inclined to follow the credo of a German writer who said, "The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of a mature man is that he wants to love humbly for one."
- The 7th Son
Post a Comment