Monday, May 03, 2010

POLL 78: DILEMMAS

POLL 78: DILEMMAS

My Poll 78 is inspired by BANG RAJAN 2, in which the main characters face a dilemma or a difficult choice. These characters are Thai villagers during a war. Food is very difficult to find at that time. And there are many other Thai people who try to flee from the war and want to go to live in this village. The villagers must decide whether they will accept these newcomers or not. If the villagers accept these newcomers, the food might not be enough and they will starve. If the villagers drive away these newcomers, these newcomers might die. I think this is a very difficult choice. I'm just glad I don't have to make a decision like the characters in BANG RAJAN 2. If I were in their situation, I'm not sure what my decision will be.

The dilemma in BANG RAJAN 2 reminds me of the fact that there are many occasions in our lives in which we have to make a very difficult decision, especially the decision between two evil choices. I wish my life is full of "difficult decisions" like—Should I choose Maurice Ronet or Jean Sorel as my boyfriend? Or should I choose Hiroshi Kawaguchi, Yûzô Kayama, Tatsuya Nakadai, or Ryo Ikebe as my husband? But in my life this kind of difficult choices never come by. The difficult choices that often occur in my life is the kind that some eastern European people faced in World War II—Should we choose to support Hitler or Stalin? This dilemma is found in the film ENIGMA (2001, Michael Apted).

I LOVE THE DILEMMAS OR DIFFICULT DECISIONS THE MAIN CHARACTERS OF THESE FILMS FACE. WHICH FILMS DO YOU LIKE?

1.AE FOND KISS... (2004, Ken Loach)
If you were the hero, would you deny your heart to be with your family or would you follow your heart?

2.BANG RAJAN 2 (2010, Thanit Jitnukul)

3.BEAUTIFUL CITY (2004, Asghar Farhadi)
If you were the protagonist, what would you choose to do at the end of the film?

4.BEFORE THE STORM (2000, Reza Parsa)
If you were the hero, would you kill a guy to save the lives of your family members?

5.THE BOX (2009, Richard Kelly)
Would you push the button when you are not sure if your actions would cause the deaths of other people or not?

6.THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY (1995, Clint Eastwood)
If you were the heroine, would you choose to abandon your family to be with your lover?

7.CASUATIES OF WAR (1989, Brian De Palma)
If you were the protagonist, would you choose to be gratitude to the man who saved your life by participating in the rape and murder of an innocent girl to satisfy him or would you choose to be ingratitude to that man by exposing his horrendous crime?
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51MMYPZEMEL._SS500_.jpg

8.THE DEVIL'S ADVOCATE (1997, Taylor Hackford)
If you were the protagonist, would you do your job as a lawyer by helping evil clients or decline to do your job?

9.THE FAREWELL – BERTOLT BRECHT'S LAST SUMMER (2000, Jan Schütte)
If you were Bertolt Brecht's wife, would you choose to betray your friends to save your family from Eastern Germany police?

10.GONE BABY GONE (2007, Ben Affleck)
If you were the protagonist, would you expose one crime of a man who has done many good things in the past? If a man has done many good things in the past, does it mean he can be allowed to commit a crime?

11.THE GOOD SON (1993, Joseph Ruben)
If you were the mother, would you choose to save your good nephew or your evil son?

12.LUST, CAUTION (2007, Ang Li)
If you were the heroine, would you help the one you love even though he is evil?

13.MUSIC BOX (1989, Costa-Gavras)
If you were the heroine, would you choose to help your evil father or to
expose his crimes?

14.PARADISE NOW (2005, Hany Abu-Assad)
What would you do at the end of the film? Does standing up against tyranny justify killing innocent people?

15.PERSONNEL (1975, Krzysztof Kieslowski)
If you were the protagonist, would you choose to denounce your friend to save yourself or to possibly ruin your life by standing up for the right thing?

16.LA PROMESSE (1996, Jean-Pierre Dardenne + Luc Dardenne)
If you were the protagonist, would you help your evil father or help the victim of your father?

17.THE RIDER NAMED DEATH (2004, Karen Shakhnazarov)
If you were the protagonist, would you help overthrowing the tyrannical government if it involves killing innocent children?

18.ROCCO AND HIS BROTHERS (1960, Luchino Visconti)
If you were in Rocco's family, would you help covering the crime of your family member or expose it?

19.SOPHIE'S CHOICE (1982, Alan J. Pakula)
If you were Sophie, who would you choose to save, your son or your daughter?

20.WATCHMEN (2009, Zack Snyder)
Would you choose to do like Rorschach or Night Owl II at the end of the film? Would you choose to expose the truth or think the truth is not important? Do you think that peace which is based on lies can last long?

You can cast multiple votes.




6 comments:

celinejulie said...

My own votes are for AE FOND KISS..., BEFORE THE STORM, CASUALTIES OF WAR, THE DEVIL'S ADVOCATE, THE FAREWELL – BERTOLT BRECHT'S LAST SUMMER, GONE BABY GONE, MUSIC BOX, PERSONNEL, LA PROMESSE, and THE RIDER NAMED DEATH.

initial A said...

ถ้าเอาเข้ากับสถานการณ์

ฉันเลือก Watchmen

merveillesxx said...

เพิ่งดูและเขียนถึงหนังเรื่อง THE FAREWELL – BERTOLT BRECHT'S LAST SUMMER ไปฮะ เป็นหนังที่ไม่ช่วยให้รู้จัก BRECHT มากขึ้นเลย (ฮา) แต่ชอบหลายๆ อย่างของหนังเรื่องนี้

celinejulie said...

น้องเมอร์เขียนถึงหนังเรื่องนี้ลงในไหนหรือคะ อยากอ่านมากๆค่ะ

เราชอบ THE FAREWELL มากค่ะ โดยเฉพาะฉากที่ภรรยาเบรคท์กลับหลังหันไปมองและเห็นเพื่อนสองคนโดนตำรวจลากตัวไปในช่วงท้ายเรื่อง มันเป็นฉากที่สะเทือนใจเราอย่างรุนแรงมาก และเราก็ชอบวิธีการที่หนังเรื่องนี้ไม่ได้ทำฟูมฟายกับประเด็นนี้มากเกินไปด้วย

ฉากนี้ใน THE FAREWELL ทำให้เรานึกถึงตอนจบของ "บันทึกกรรม ตอน ปาณาติปาตา" ที่น้องเต๋อกำกับด้วยเหมือนกัน เพราะมันเป็นฉากของตัวละครที่ "รู้ว่าการทำดีคืออะไร แต่ก็ไม่สามารถทำได้" ภรรยาของเบรคท์รู้ว่าการทำดีคือการเตือนเพื่อนล่วงหน้าให้หนีตำรวจไป แต่เธอก็ไม่สามารถทำได้ เพราะไม่งั้นเธอก็จะซวยแทน ส่วนนางเอกของปาณาติปาตาก็รู้ว่าการทำดีคือการไม่กินเนื้อสัตว์ แต่เธอก็ไม่สามารถเอาชนะใจตัวเองได้ อย่างไรก็ดี วิธีการของผู้กำกับในการนำเสนอสองฉากนี้แตกต่างจากกันอย่างสิ้นเชิง ฮ่าๆๆ

Vespertine said...

Your poll reminds me of many good films and my own dilemma. Esp the dilemma along the past 2 months.

celinejulie said...

Thank you very much for your comments, Initial A and Vespertine. :-)