A Brief Comment on Pioneer

Three surges of emotion, one tear. ...

I'm afraid I'll write a film review. Before making a rational comment, I just want to express my heart simply: If you are passionate, if you are an idealist, if you are a person who knows and does, please go and see the pioneers!

The film is based on the blood tablet, and the countdown narrative begins 38 hours before the hero dies, until he dies heroically on the gallows in the execution ground at the age of 38. It takes 38 hours to condense a revolutionary's 38-year life. First, the film pays tribute to a revolutionary with this special number. Second, the rhythm of the whole film is full of tension from the beginning with this countdown narrative method, so that the audience is immediately brought into the revolutionary world by the film. The main line of the film is the memories flashed by the protagonist in these 38 hours, which string together a series of major events and important moments and show the mental journey of a revolutionary. The narrative branch describes the protagonist in depth from multiple angles from the perspective of supporting roles, making the protagonist's character image more three-dimensional, comprehensive and full, full of appeal, impact and personality charm. The most brilliant and direct use of materials in the film is the passionate speech of the protagonist, which fully shows the personality image of the revolutionary who died heroically for the truth.

The light and shadow lens of the film pays special attention to strong light and shade contrast and color contrast. The hero stayed in a dark prison for a long time, but there was always a beam of light overhead, coming from outside the prison. Revolutionaries are bathed in the brilliance of truth, and in the boundless darkness, revolutionaries themselves are a beam of light. The composition of this scene is like an oil painting by Rembrandt, and the revolutionaries are troubled by the truth. In the scene depicting Li Xiangyue's great achievements in Chen Bei, on a snowy night, the hero disguised as a coachman and personally escorted another person out of the city. In the heavy snow all over the sky, there is only a lonely carriage with a lantern hanging on the left and right sides of the roof. These two lanterns are especially bright and warm on a snowy night. This excellent shot full of symbolic significance, like the shot in which the protagonist leads everyone to dance under the banner of Dahong, has a strong stage effect and is a vivid portrayal of the revolutionaries of that era breaking through the darkness. In the shot overlooking Beijing from the top of Jingshan Mountain, the protagonist and Runzhi look forward to the prospect of revolution, and the red sun rises from the distant horizon Ran Ran at dawn. "If you look at the future world, it will be a world with red flags fluttering." Twenty-eight years later, the red flag of founding ceremony was planted all over Beijing. The use of a lot of thick red in the film symbolizes the blood and sacrifice, truth and light of the revolutionaries.

Behind the film narrative is a discussion of great philosophical significance. There is a short film in which the protagonist may have a chance to be rescued from prison, but he refuses the chance to escape. This reminds us of Socrates and Tan Sitong. The Great Revolution failed, and he wanted to be a revolutionary martyr. Revolutionaries also want to use his sacrifice to awaken more people who are numb and sleeping, and to inspire more people with lofty ideals to join the revolution. Revolution often means subversive changes in social, political and economic systems. After watching this film, the audience can have a comprehensive, direct and profound understanding of what revolution is, why it happened, different kinds of revolutions and revolutionaries' thoughts and characteristics. A large number of revolutionary images of youth and blood in the film can really inspire viewers to think about the meaning of life, explore the modern history of China and care about the fate of the country and the nation.

If there is anything worth discussing in this film, it is the application of individual narrative subtitles. These subtitles may be to take care of some audiences who are not familiar with that period of history, but they also bring some sudden feelings of watching movies, which will make people feel like jumping from watching feature films to watching documentaries instantly.

I strongly recommend that you go to see this film. Besides, I also want to read the articles written by Mr. Shouchang in those years.