: Train To Busan, A Horrifying Film Echoing Mentality in Mobs
Whenever picking a good film for a laid-back weekend, I tend to check some on-line reviews or comments on sources, like IMDB or words of mouths from someone close. There's no doubt that some commercials circulating on the Internet or social networks can do some tricks to me. Following the long-year production of Zombie-related films mushrooming in the States, across all big continents, directors or audience from Asia seemed to rarely bring up or appear intrigued by such themes in the films or be introduced on the stages because they were all considered copycats inspired by Walking Dead, the U.S. TV series about those survivors in the outbreak of Zombie-transforming virus nation-wide encountering their predicaments being besieged by hoards of "Walkers" and ganging up against other "liaisons composed of the living" slaughtering all the immortal creatures after getting infected. Sounds familiar to you when it comes to the plot in " Train to Busan". Honestly, I wasn't quite impressed by the storyline or some zombie-chasing scenes but I did derive quite some enlightenment from the panicked passengers struggling for staying alive; meanwhile, there're some features going on in the train ride and the director adopting an unconventional approach to dealing with some subtle issues.
☆The Day of Apocalypse Serves a Wake-Up Call:
The workaholic father traded almost everything for soliciting more funds from clients by all means at the cost of his dear family which he was supposed to give everything to protect from falling apart. Unfortunately, he wasn't fully aware of that until they boarded on the zombie-infested, blood-drenched train heading to Busan. If you did pay attention to the plot, it's plain to see that the broker's daughter happened to spend her birthday on the day when most people had been infected with viruses like rabies spreading all over the nation, completely vulnerable to where they stood helplessly
when the rest of them in sight were engulfed by the mobs of blood-craving mutants transformed from someone we loved. To each character in this movie, he or she was forced to make a choice of living alone, consequently surviving all the way on the ride to other cities for military protection or sometimes shoving other passengers off the train, leaving them unattended crying for remedies which could be the remaining sympathy left in our minds.
☆A Hidden but Incredibly Obvious Metaphor in the whole escape from the attack
Notorious for leeching on the wealth of those innocent investors who held high expectations for the forthcoming profits rolling bigger and bigger as the time went by, those broker managers simply took away their money to make some investments or schemed the portfolios particularly for their own interest. "It happens when you get all the hard-earned money to the drain .The higher profits your investment generates in the long run, the higher stakes your investment logically involves. You got no one to blame but yourself. We've been working our butts for your input of capital. Mercy us," reluctantly explained they with their eyes moist like they could understand how your life had been ruined since everything you used to own went up in smoke. Yes,they triumphantly celebrated your bankruptcy while clicking the champagne glasses for putting all money stained with blood and tears into their very own pockets. That's what I meant to address here: He, the broke manager, ran all the way with his white short tattooed with scarred blood stains on him while the rest struggled for survival around him weren't. The director was entirely a genius who guided us to explore a battlefield of life and death and also clearly conveyed a message: Some living ones live like the dead walkers already. That gave me chills when seated in rows at the cinema. I can assure you that there's nothing to do with the air-conditioning in there.
☆The Test on Human Nature and Mob Mentality on the enclosed room
While the three survivors blocked all the zombie attack from the train station they just disembarked for help from the military force already consumed by the outbreak of the virus, the rest just made all attempted to get back onto the train and urged the conductor to fuel the coaches and depart as soon as possible, leaving others unattended for survival. We might understand what coerced them to execute such cruel task, but the bus station director did all the push to sacrifice others' lives shamelessly and relentlessly drove those people away from where they stayed with great concerns over the idea that some passengers elbowed their way to the coach safeguarded by those remaining alive. The chemistry of mob mentality then spread everywhere in this scene where the pregnant man, the elderly woman, the little child used to be treated as the under-privileged, but under such circumstances any careless decision could lead to dire consequences. Clearly, any innocent offering to the zombie wouldn't solicit any sympathy from those mad crowds hoping for survival. Yes, people are born with the willpower for fighting or fleeing when the danger looms over from the cradle to the grave. One of those survivors, the elderly lady, was an elder sister to the one on the coach full of cynical, enraged crowds. She was tired of all the fighting, chasing, feel frightened by those transformed creatures and gave up herself to the zombies. By witnessing everything in person, her sister on the coach just saw how ugly human nature turned out to be simply for one's life without considering others' chance for living. It's not the world she's been looking forward to after go through all the pains and tears in life. To everyone's astonishment, she opened the door and unleashed those infected zombies to tear apart most of the remaining passengers on the train. To me, it's not hopelessly cruel but simply a reflection of an individual fed up with all dark sides of human nature turning a cold shoulder to others in desperate situations.
Take a good look at people around and sometimes my heart sank when seeking those pedestrians walk past the moaning beggars or vagabonds carrying the worn-out bags in their skinny figures, and that's the very moment I couldn't help but run my fingers through my pockets and bags for some changes for them. Those changes might be insignificant to you or some people loaded with great wealth living in the skyscrapers but a big deal and a matter of life and death to them loitering on the street. When spreading the good news that Taiwanese government has long upheld the Big Issue Sale for those barely supporting their lives. A small random act of kindness can drastically alter their patterns of living, earning themselves the sense of dignity. That good-will-induced policy will help a majority of people get back on their feet and contribute more labor forces to the society or workplace in all fields. Unexpectedly, teased by my students, they told me that I was supposed to donate money to a REAL CHARITIES instead of people with sound bodies lying on the ground like an eyesore to passers-by as well as a disgrace on the overall image of the city we're residing in. I was really startled at the first place considering I figured my students should have been sympathetic about others' mishap since I've been sharing a lot with them regarding some unsound heroes collecting some wastes traded for money which went to the funds of building a local library for the disadvantaged families in the community or some philanthropists have taken vows to jump in and help out those people deprived of privileges from health causes or occupational injuries, even establishing some hospitals for improve the local hygiene and medial advancement to save lives in time.
You don't have to be a billionaire to donate money or a celebrity wearing the T-shirt printed with slogans in the road race. You can just simply walk to those people dying for food and drink and offer them what they need most. Love can make the world go around and there's no beauty in your life without showing the world your compassion and affection. That you've rolled up sleeves to help others in the car accidents could likely be the chance you saved your own family under the wheel of the car wreckages. Impossible？ Check some TV news and CNN documentaries in the archive. Karma has it and hold the belief that giving is always better than receiving. If everyone turns selfishly callous, those in great despair might find it hard to process those emotions and start venting their fury to crowds like the man carrying out his " Grand Plan" of murdering dozens of passengers on MRT. Why? It's simple to decipher his demeanors. His family and friends cannot care less about his suffering or painful memories in the past. If someone could reach out to help him out in time, we could have put an end to the tragedy before it went really wrong at the very first place. Agree？（未完待續）