Please note that there is no man's land 500 kilometers ahead! This movie is not made for "people" at all

Does Ning Hao want to be Quentin?

No, he doesn't want to.

Who does he want to be? Spielberg or Cameron? Could it be Nolan? No, he doesn't want to either.

Because he is Ning Hao.

Why? I think there's a movie that illustrates the problem. The movie I'm referring to is No Man's Land.

Ning Hao is known to us ordinary people with big ears who live by the rules and live by the rules. We should rely on the slightly crazy "Crazy Stone". It's really good to watch. After reading it, I laughed so much that I was frothing at the mouth, laughing so hard that I even remembered the name Ning Hao.

But the common people just laughed and nothing else. Therefore, Director Ning Hao wanted to shoot something that people would remember.

This small-eyed, scornful man looks a bit like Mr. Wang Shuoshuo from Beijing Courtyard at first glance. But this "No Man's Land" is something that "ruffians" like Wang Shuo who are accustomed to civilized society can't come up with no matter how many "Animals are Ferocious" they write.

Because in the no-man’s land, let alone good and bad people, there are no people there!

"No Man's Land" was a movie that was completed in 2009 but not released until 2013. It took 4 years of editing before being released. One can imagine how powerful the core of its story must be.

It is said that the original manuscript was not "harmonious" enough and was killed by our wise and powerful radio and television, leaving it floating in no man's land. As for his abridged version, I don't feel that much of its charm has been lost. On the contrary, I feel that it has a more "human" flavor.

Just like Schindler is to "Schindler's List", Keating is to "Dead Poets Society".

However, there is everything in "No Man's Land", but there is no "people".

The movie did not intend to hide the theme. It was said at the beginning - this is a story about animals.

The story of "No Man's Land" is actually not difficult. Don't be afraid, Ning Hao is not Nolan, and he won't make a movie that will kill tens of millions of your brain cells. One sentence can explain "No Man's Land":

At the beginning of the movie, the background is the majestic and majestic desert of northwest my country, accompanied by Xu Zhengzhonghou's voice, telling a story about monkeys : One monkey picks peaches, another monkey watches, and then there are people. But what does this matter of monkeys picking peaches have to do with our high and vast northwest desert?

If you watch the whole movie, you will find that there are no monkeys.

This is no man's land, there are no people, but there are animals.

What is an animal? What is a human being? We, the higher primates who can speak, write, think, and use tools, are of course humans. After all, biologists and sociologists have been harping on this for thousands of years. And after watching "No Man's Land" you will find that we are just those monkeys, even worse than monkeys.

What Ning Hao is best at is shattering your inherent opinions. In this fable-like story, he peels away all human civilization bit by bit, smashing all the laws and morals that humans are proud of. Some are just bites between beasts, and some are just trends. Benefit and avoid harm and the weak eat the strong.

The hawk traders played by Huang Bo and Dobjie are of course beasts. They don't have any emotions, they don't have any humanity. But the eagle trader lay in the desert, waiting for days and nights, and exhausted all human wisdom to catch the raptor falcon.

Is he human? If not, how can we use human wisdom to catch this bird that comes and goes without a trace?

But when he is caught by the police, he will also discuss with the police, "All the money belongs to you, let me go." Isn't this still a human being? Look at that cunning and shrewd face.

Of course not, seeking advantages and avoiding disadvantages is something in the bones of all animals. Even a paramecium will try its best to live a little longer.

The black boss played by Dobjie is almost like a ghost, like a Rakshasa wandering in the desolate desert north. There is no law, good or evil in his eyes, which is very similar to Anton in "No Country for Old Men". But Anton still has principles, and he only cares about profit and harm, without any principles.

Compared with Anton, he is a more pure "beast".

Ning Hao completely transformed him from a person into a symbol. In the ecosystem of no man's land, he is the top of the food chain, dominating the barbaric "laws". But what he did shows that he is definitely a person, smart, sophisticated, shrewd and courageous. He killed a policeman calmly and quickly thought of countermeasures. This is human wisdom. Do animals have it?

He was even able to use psychology to deliberately suggest that Pan Xiao would drive away with the falcon in his car, and he also laid out a plan to avoid police interrogation.

The young lawyer protagonist Pan Xiao, played by Xu Zheng, came to this barbaric and uninhabited land because of the criminal boss's lawsuit. The ultimate irony is that he is a lawyer and this is no man's land. In the animal world, human laws are just waste paper.

The black boss took advantage of the policeman's smell of alcohol and hired lawyer Pan Xiao to file a lawsuit.

Pan Xiao is a lawyer and a typical civilized person. In a civilized society, wielding legal weapons, you can win a lawsuit by three strokes, five strokes, and two strokes. He is also a vegetarian, a civilized man who wears glasses even though he is not nearsighted to give himself a bit of intellectual flair.

He said: "I hate animals, especially horses." Why? He is a civilized man.

The use of tones in this film shows the mastery of director Ning Hao. The dark light and strong aperture contrast give this simple story a rich epic feel and fable style.

When Pan Xiao appeared, he looked down upon the rough people in these wild areas as a civilized person. He is disdainful and conceited, and even the water glass must be placed in a specific position. But in the first half of the story, he is just a "beast" dressed up in a polite manner. He doesn't care about the truth of the incident, he only cares about fame and fortune.

"If you don't see any profit, who will give you a name? How can you make a profit without a name?"

"What do you think? This is a court, and the court is about evidence. These It's just a clue." He easily won the case with just a few clever words and a few materials. Isn't he considered a human being? Are they all animals?

But as soon as he entered the no man's land, the line between civilization and barbarism was drawn. In a harsh world, the law is just a mouthful of spit from rough people. Pan Xiao hated that "phlegm" because he was a civilized man.

He was competing with the two brothers who were pulling oil, and felt that the truck should give way to the luxury car. He thought he could easily overwhelm the two tough guys, but he was indeed humiliated. Because in no man's land, there is no order to abide by. People can hit them if they want, and scold them if they want. There is no distinction between good and evil, as long as people do what they want. Compared to the sanctimonious laws of human society, these are the values ??of animals, and people in the no-man's land chose to abide by the latter.

The longer Pan Xiao lives in the barbaric world, the principles and laws of a civilized man seem to have gradually degenerated, and a beast gradually crawled out of its shell. He threw the lighter into the brothers' truck and lit hay with it, symbolizing the externalization of his inner beast. What was burned was not only the grass, but also the shell of his hypocritical civilization.

In the second half of the movie, after knocking out the hawk dealer, being blackmailed by the gangster shop owner, being chased by the gangster boss, and being entangled by the fallen woman, he no longer believed in human nature.

After accidentally knocking over the hawker, there was only one thing he wanted to do: how to dispose of the body without anyone noticing. He thought of burning the hawker's body. Then he left the fallen woman behind, flew away, and continued to pursue his "barrister dream." It seems like a good deal, and it's definitely the civilized thing to do, but in no man's land, that's what animals think.

Seek advantages and avoid disadvantages.

The group portraits in the story are very brilliant. These characters, who are both humans and animals, greatly expand the tension and core of the story.

The black oil seller, the gas station owner who illegally detains people, the cunning philistine grocery store proprietress, and the delinquent woman who tells lies... They are all just living in human skin. animals deep in this desert.

There is no difference between hawks, lizards, snakes, monkeys and horses. The wind and sand made their hearts extremely hard.

"I'll tell you the truth. In our industry, as long as we say: I'll tell you the truth, it's all lies." The woman who lost her footing said this to Pan Xiao more than once, but He never continued to lie to Pan Xiao.

What a black humor, yet so true. In no man's land, do truth and lies matter? Just as laws and civilized standards don't matter either.

Of course, the black shop owner is the villain. He is only interested in profit, he is domineering and unscrupulous, and he even dares to steal food from the tiger's mouth to sell falcons, but he can't defeat the black boss. His destruction was just a wolf being bitten to death by a tiger, something like that in the animal world.

And the boss lady, I think is one of the most outstanding characters among the few characters in the film. Although she is only a minor supporting character, she is a real "beast". The cunning of man and the greed of beasts are intertwined in her, and she is so shrewd that she has both sides.

No matter who she meets, she always says: "You should give me 50 yuan and I will keep it a secret for you."

Yes, she is well versed in human nature and understands that everyone has something in their heart. The ulterior secret, taking advantage of this, she has no disadvantages. But in the end, she died in the hands of her own greed, because she was greedy, and animals are just as greedy.

So Boss Hei said: "You are a smart man." Smart, of course "smart", like praising a cunning fox.

There are no good people or bad people here, they are all just animals. Seeking advantages and avoiding disadvantages, they bite each other. The boss lady saw that Hei Boss was a hawk trader, so she blackmailed him. Hei Boss knew that as long as someone gave her another 100, she would do the same.

So, out of animalistic considerations, he decided to kill.

And the black boss also said to Pan Xiao, "I sell my falcon, you publish your book, we are all the same."

The people in the no-man's land, They are just animals. They have no human or moral burdens, so they can do anything for fame, fortune and profit. The black boss does not think that the well-dressed Pan Xiao is higher than himself who commits crimes.

Pan Xiao can plan to burn corpses, the gangster can kill people, the delinquent woman can lie to others, and the gangster shop owner can rip off customers with peace of mind. None of them have any psychological burden, because in no man's land, it is all "legal" of.

So after realizing all this, Pan Xiao said helplessly: He was the monkey, and in this ancient era when wild beasts were rampant, there was no other monkey standing guard for him.

After watching the whole film, you will find that the only one with a name is Pan Xiao.

What is a name? Names are exclusive to humans, although many cats and dogs nowadays have some nicknames. But the name is still the glory and pride of mankind. In a sense, I think names are the great invention of mankind.

The black boss symbolizes the highest beast. He says that he is a meat-eater, so he bullies and eats the lower beasts. Pan Xiao is a human being, and he is also a part of being eaten. But he is higher than the black boss because he is a human being. At the end of the story, he had a chance to escape, but chose to turn back to save the woman. This was something that Boss Hei couldn't understand, and he explained: "You are not a human being, how can you understand?"

In this fable, Pan Xiao has a name and he is a human being. Yes, but how did he change from beast to man? How did the monkey change from a monkey to a human? You can see that at the beginning, he was of course a beast without any moral burden. He could help evil people fight lawsuits, and he could also consider burning people who were knocked unconscious by him.

Probably since he met the fallen woman played by Yu Nan, he had a seed in his heart, which fell on the wild land and grew into a small tree. The name of the tree is human nature. A monkey met another monkey.

When the hawk trader played by Huang Bo woke up, he angrily asked this lawyer, who was still prosperous before, why he hit and burned himself. Pan Xiao couldn't say a word, because he was an animal at that time, and all the behaviors of animals are to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages. There is no need for any reason to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages.

The hawk trader coerced the woman to light Pan Xiao on fire, but the woman was unwilling. Is it wrong for a hawker to take revenge? No, it is only right to complain when there is a complaint.

Is it wrong for Pan Xiao to want to burn the body? No, it's not worth losing your life for a rough guy.

But women are unwilling to submit. This is called human nature, even if they face a black hole of gunfire. Breaking away from animal thinking, human greatness will be revealed.

The younger brother also gave up his hatred, because little people like them only have emotions.

Pan Xiao is neither a good person nor a bad person, but he is a human being.

On the contrary, in the situation of being surrounded by wolves, Pan Xiao burst out his humanity bit by bit. It was human nature that allowed him to break away from the animal nature of seeking advantages and avoiding disadvantages, and chose to save the woman who had lost her footing. Human nature defeated animal nature. It was also because of his humanity that he was able to live like a human being in no man's land.

It’s funny, there is a fool character in the movie, who is the son of a black shop owner. In this world without goodness in no man's land, he is alone. When the black shop owner found the hawk dealer and the woman, the black shop owner was scared because of the gun. But the fool is not. He is a fool and is not afraid of death. He doesn't look like a normal person, so he knocks whenever he wants. But precisely because he was so stupid, he seemed like a single person among such a group of beasts.

What he pursues is his true heart. He loves a woman and carefully moves the hair from her face. It's a pity that he didn't know what he did wrong until his death, and he didn't know whether he was a human being, but the answer was obvious. Ning Hao used this silly character as a funny mirror to reflect the bestiality and ugliness of this group of people.

Later, the black boss wanted to kill the woman, but Pan Xiao, the monkey, dared to grab the tiger's knife. Because he and the woman became the two monkeys in the story, one picking peaches and the other watching out, the monkeys became a crowd.

The woman is just a prostitute, full of lies, and regards money as everything. After meeting Pan Xiao, she said she was from Shanxi and then from Hebei. But when Boss Hei was about to kill Pan Xiao, he gave Boss Hei all his money and secretly used a lighter to save Pan Xiao.

Because she is another monkey.

Pan Xiao was later rescued by the police. This litigator who used to rely on so-called evidence to bully people now told the truth and no one believed it.

How ironic.

After pulling the handbrake and causing the police car to overturn. Pan Xiao decided to go back to save the woman. He lost all modern transportation equipment and saw a horse. He said "I don't like animals, especially horses." Quite simply, he is suppressing his animal nature, and he thinks he is a civilized person. But before, he was just an animal wearing the shell of a civilized man. But at this moment, he wanted to use the most barbaric way to become a real person.

The desert is vast and the sky is vast. In my impression, this is the most majestic section of Chinese western films. The galloping horse is not an ancient general, the horse is not a sweaty horse with fluttering mane, and his purpose is not to "break the Loulan and never give it back." However, Ning Hao showed the spirit of a western movie:

At the end of the story, Pan Xiao used a lighter to light the hay on the truck, and then he murmured: The biggest difference between humans and animals is that humans can Use fire.

And this fire refers to human nature.

The reason why the monkey group became a crowd is not because the monkeys are so skillful in picking peaches, but because the monkeys care about each other and rely on each other for survival. Only beasts will bite each other for their own selfish desires.

But people don’t.

With a loud noise and coins flying in the sky, everything was over.

A story about animals, but ultimately ends with man's self-sacrifice.

This is "No Man's Land". A story about how the beast in director Ning Hao's heart turned into a human.

The best thing about this movie is still the story and characterization. You can clearly see how Pan Xiao changed from a selfish beast to a person who sacrificed his life for righteousness. This growth trajectory is very clear. Although this movie, from time to time makes me jump to Xu Zheng's "Journey to the Road" series.

But Brother Shan Zheng in the movie is so handsome, elegant and upright, and has a heroic spirit. He is completely different from the greasy Xu Zheng in the "Jonny Road" series.

At the end of the story, the woman who escaped was accepted into the dance school. She became a dance teacher, walked out of the no man's land, and returned to human society. Many fans said that the ending of the original film was: there was no police, only a woman wandering alone in the desert, so desperate. The accusation is that the ending of the current version is a continuation of the story.

Honestly, put away your so-called art. I think the revised warm ending is actually a sublimation of humanism. Because people need each other and care about each other, our society and human civilization exist. It is precisely the woman played by Yu Nan who is accepted by society that truly echoes the theme of "No Man's Land" - the reason why humans are different from beasts is because we care about each other.

If there is no care between people, in fact, whether it is a city with high-rise buildings or a remote desert, it will be a "no man's land". So I think the tender ending of this noir film is precisely the most complete sublimation.

Pan Xiao died in no man's land, but no man's land is no longer "no man's land".

Isn’t it?