Synopsis of "The Wrongful Souls" | Appreciation | Afterviewing
1984 color film 100 minutes
Argentina Haiya Film Company /Co-produced by Spanish Mopara Film Company
Director: María Luisa Bamberg Screenwriter: María Luisa Bamberg Beda Sucampo· Fesa Juan Battista Stagnaro Photography: Fernando Arribas Main cast: Susu Pescolaro (played by Jamila O'Gorman) Emmanuel Arias (plays Ladislao Gutierrez) Hector Atrio (plays Adolf O'Gorman) Mona Maris (plays Mrs. O'Gorman)
< p>This film won the 1984 London Film Festival Grand Prize; was nominated for the 1985 American Academy of Film Arts Best Foreign Language Film
Plot synopsis
A tree-lined, secluded manor house in the province of Buenos Aires with bright sunshine. Little Gamila and her sisters are playing freely. The grandmother, known as the "bad woman", ended her years of prison life and was escorted back to the manor by heavily armed soldiers, where she will always be placed under house arrest to spend the rest of her miserable life. For the sake of freedom and love, the grandmother, who suffered humiliation and pain without any regret or shame, calmly got off the carriage, walked straight to her granddaughter Gamila, whom she had never met before, and asked: "Do you like love stories?" ?" The childish little Gamela was confused by all this. Why is his father so cruel and cruel to his grandmother, and why do people say that his grandmother is a "bad woman"?
As time goes by, little Camilla has grown into a graceful noble lady. , her innate rebellious character makes her incompatible with her domineering father Adolf. She did what she liked behind her father's back, raising some cute kittens in the attic, going to the bookstore alone to buy a few privately circulated books with democratic ideas, and even went against her father's strict prohibition to visit her grandmother and read to her. Those love letters that have turned yellow but are full of warm past, as well as the heartbreaking last words of my grandmother’s lover. All this was often severely reprimanded by my father.
One day, Gamila confessed to the priest the "sin" of quarreling with her father, as well as the confusion and shame of the erotic turmoil in adolescence. A young and unfamiliar voice in the confessional made her After we stopped talking, it turned out that a new priest had arrived.
A few days later, Gamila played hide-and-seek with her sisters at home, and accidentally caught the visiting guests as prey. She immediately recognized from the voice that it was the new priest. After opening the blindfold, Gamila was stunned. In front of her eyes was a handsome young man with clear eyes. When his father learned that the young priest Ladislaus was the nephew of the governor, he was particularly fond of him and invited him to come to his home often. In this way, Gamila and Ladislaus gradually became familiar with each other. She chose Ladislaw as her confessor and confided everything in her heart to him. Unknowingly, they reached mutual understanding and understanding.
Bookstore owner Mariano was beheaded by the authorities as a warning to the public because he sold books with democratic ideas. This bloody atrocity is chilling. When Ladislao Gutierrez preached in the church, he unflinchingly accused the "federalist" authorities of the brutal killing of souls. His sharp words made Gamila's family very dissatisfied. Only Gamila sincerely admired Ladislaw's bravery and integrity. She openly sided with the young priest, which angered her "federalist" father.
The bishop was uneasy about Father Gutierrez’s politically-involved sermons and reminded him of the seriousness of his carelessness. He also specifically warned him about his relationship with believers. He said: "Women may become the incarnation of the devil." As a clergyman, Ladislaus was determined to kill his budding secular love. He tried his best to alienate Gamila, constantly confessed, flogged his body, and punished himself.
At the same time, Adolfo chose a fiancé for his daughter and forced her to get married. But Gamila refused. She believed that only love was the basis of marriage. She wanted to marry someone different, someone who could make her proud and truly love each other.
Taking the opportunity of confession, she told the young priest that she was suffering from love, and boldly hinted that the person she loved was Ladislau himself. Although Ladislaw prevented her confession, he could not avoid his feelings. He had fallen deeply in love with this girl who bravely pursued freedom and love.
When her grandmother died, Gamila knew that Ladislaus was unable to attend her grandmother’s requiem prayers because of illness, so she desperately avoided everyone and came to live with the priest. 's small room. Seeing her beloved tossing and turning, suffering mental and physical torture, and holding her white handkerchief tightly in her hand in a coma, Gamilla gave Ladislaus a deep kiss. She understood that the young priest was caught in the double torment of love and responsibility, and was even more painful than herself
Gamila could not and was unwilling to suppress the strong love in her heart, as long as she listened When the church bells rang, she felt the call of her beloved. She boldly went on a date with Ladislaus, told him what she missed in her heart, and swore: "I will kneel down in front of you and spend my life." Gamila "confessed" frequently, and Ladislao was extremely contradictory. Dislao finally couldn't restrain himself and revealed his true feelings. During a mass, the young priest distributed Holy Communion to the believers. When he came to the kneeling Gamila, he stopped blankly and his heart tightened. Gamila's vow made him no longer able to be a priest. Go on being a hypocrite in front of her. Ladislaus made the final decision and took off his heavy robes.
On this day, when the whole family was taking a deep nap, Jamila cut off a strand of hair and left it to her mother as a souvenir. She silently recited: "Love forever." Me, mom." Resolutely left this suffocating family. Like free birds, they flew away.
Gamila and Father Gutierrez eloped. The rebellious boldness of this pair made Adolfo very angry. He ignored the relationship between father and daughter and the suffering of his wife. I begged and immediately reported this "scandal" to the superior. The bishop wrote to the authorities, requesting that the police be mobilized to arrest the two "criminal men". In the church, the priest sternly warned the parishioners; arrest warrants signed by the authorities were posted everywhere in cities and towns.
Gamila and Ladislao came to live in the town of Goya near the Brazilian border under the pseudonyms of Brandier Maximo and make a living by teaching. Although their lives are poor, they feel extremely happy. The villagers like them, and even the local police officer takes care of them from time to time.
However, even in this remote and remote rural area, the two young people did not feel a little relaxed. Whenever night fell, the pilgrim villagers aroused the desire to betray God in their hearts. Guilt. As a clergyman, Ladislaus was particularly burdened. Gamela also often feels palpitations towards the omnipresent and almighty God, but she has no regrets. As the wife of "Maximo", she is very proud.
They were invited to the town at Christmas, and people thanked them for the enlightenment education they gave to the children of Goya. However, this joy soon ended, and a priest recognized him: "Father Gutierrez, God is everywhere." Ladislao had no excuse. He rushed to the church with a pale face, desperate and angry. The ground shouted to the statue: "Why don't you leave me alone?"
Outside the house, it was raining heavily, and the local police officer who sympathized with them came to report to Gamila: Gutierre Father Si was recognized and told them to escape as quickly as possible. After dawn, as a police officer, he has to perform his official duties.
Gamila went to the church to find Ladislaus in the rain. When she saw him kneeling and praying devoutly silently, she remained silent and left with tears streaming down her face. At dawn, Ladislaw came back exhausted, "I'm still a priest, I'm sorry." He knelt in front of Gamila and buried his head deeply in her skirt. Jamila couldn't hold back her tears and burst into tears. They hugged each other tightly and listened to the clanging footsteps of the police approaching outside the door...
The "federalists" in power wanted to prevent political opponents from using this scandal to make a big scandal. According to the article, the church wanted to protect its reputation and did not demand a trial at all, and the authorities decided to sentence the prisoner to death. The cold, selfish father only wants to use violence and blood to restore the family's reputation and personal dignity, and refuses to make any efforts for his daughter.
Ladislaw had long expected that he would be sentenced to death. He was just anxious for Gamila. How he wanted to see his beloved girl for the last time and then die in peace. . Little did he know that poor Gamila would share his fate.
In the cold, damp Santos Prison, Gamila spent a lonely sleepless night, looking extremely pale and haggard. She fainted at the sudden sentence. When she woke up, the prison doctor told her she was pregnant. A gratified smile appeared on Gamila's face, and she shouted out the prison window with complicated emotions: "Ladislaus, we have a child." This sad and vital voice echoed in the prison.
The law prohibits the killing of pregnant women, which gave people in the prison a glimmer of hope for sympathizing with the lovers. The prison doctor and warden hurriedly submitted the medical certificate. However, Governor Rosas was unmoved, and the dispatch came back, upholding the original verdict, and hope was dashed.
Outside the prison, the wind howled, and in four hours, the death penalty was about to be carried out. Ladislaw wrote the last letter to Gamila: "Dear Gamila, I just learned that you will die with me. We can't be together alive. Let's meet in heaven..." Gami La, like her grandmother, read her lover's heartbreaking last words. What is even more tragic is that she will also be executed, and even the life in her belly will not be spared. For the sake of this life, Gamila wanted to live so much.
The execution drum beat heartbreakingly, and they finally went to the execution ground. Their eyes were intertwined, silently, and they looked deeply at each other for the last time, with the black eyepatch blocking their sight. The executive officer coldly and mechanically ordered to prepare to fire. Gamela asked eagerly: "Ladislaus, are you there?" "At your side, Gamela." The young priest replied calmly. With a burst of gunfire, Ladislaw fell to the ground first. The executive officer issued another shooting order, but the soldiers couldn't bear to shoot at the young pregnant woman, so they invariably pointed the muzzles of their guns down and pulled the triggers. Gamila was still safe. The executive officer gave the order again, and a soldier simply dropped the gun in his hand and crossed himself on his chest. It wasn't until the executive officer pulled out his pistol in a stern voice and threatened that the soldiers closed their eyes and shot randomly. A few seconds later, the gunfire stopped, and the execution ground was deathly silent. Only the strong wind was howling. The soldiers remained motionless, and two young men were lying in a pool of blood. At this time, their voice-overs sounded: "Ladislaw, are you there?" "At your side, Gamilla."
Appreciation
This film is based on true events in Argentina in 1847. The tragedy of the stranglehold of Jamila O'Gorman and Ladislao Gutierrez, the pure lovers pursuing freedom, has become a symbol of the Argentine people's historical and current spiritual pursuits. People praised this noble-born lady Gamila as the "Juliet of the Pampas in the 19th century".
This true incident has been circulating in Argentina for 140 years, and it can be said to be a household name. Many baby girls were born named Gamila, which fully illustrates her ideological influence. So big. Of course, this is by no means just a simple love story, because through the surface of this love story, it also profoundly reflects the contradictions and struggles of Argentina's social reality. In 1912, this subject was filmed in the form of a silent short film, but it was banned. From that time on, film creators have lingering fears, and no one dares to reflect the tragedy of Gamila and Ladislaw. The reason is self-evident.
Screenwriter and director Maria Luisa Benberg, with the support of producer Lita Stantic, without the approval of the Argentine *** Taking risks and shooting is also courageous. However, she was the lucky one of the times. On the day the filming started, the newly elected President Alfonsin came to power. The first decision he made was to abolish the censorship system, which cleared the way for the filming of the film. Without this important process, the fate of this film is also conceivable. As we move from contemplation of the fate of the film to contemplation of Gamila's tragic fate, we discover similarities between the two. Because the significance of the film is by no means just to express an anti-feudal love theme. In the final analysis, it touches the most sensitive social and political issues in Argentina.
If this were not the case, why would the love between a pair of pure young people alarm the church, the army, the police, and the police, and why would they not be punished with death penalty?
The 18-year-old Benberg The descendants of Germanic Catholic immigrants in the 19th century, like Gamila, received a typical upper-class Argentinian education. She said: "One of my nannies strongly advocated the philosophy: 'Religion must be instilled in the minds of aristocratic ladies because it will keep them out of trouble.' This is obviously the same view held by Gamila's father in the last century. "It's exactly the same." Ben Bella was born in 1923. He wrote his first autobiographical script "Chronicle of a Wife" at the age of 47, and directed a short documentary "Toys" at the age of 52. It was only at the age of 62 that he filmed the world-famous "The Wrongful Souls", so he can be said to be a late-blooming director. She said: "Gamila was a rebel who violated the accepted Argentinian model, not to mention the decency of women. She not only enjoyed the love affair with her confessor, but also opposed the patriarchy with her actions. order, that is, the trinity composed of family, church and state...In fact, the reason why the story of Gamela has been circulated for so long among the Argentine people can be directly traced to the fact that this circulation reflects. The tragic fate of Gamila makes us feel indignant at the interference of the Communist Party in her and Ladislao's history. No regime has the right to impose its authority on people's private lives. Milla believes that she is only responsible for her own conscience, and in this regard, she can be said to be a role model for modern Argentina. I think her repression is a tragic symbol of the repression of people throughout Latin America. "It should be. It is said to be the director's best interpretation of the film's theme.
Faced with this real historical event, screenwriter and director Ben Berg did not use the melodrama technique that is usually the easiest to please the audience, with twists and turns of the storyline and intense appearance. Use dramatic conflicts to grasp the emotional direction of the audience. If the audience feels that they are watching a play, it will mean failure. "The Wrongful Souls of Love" uses realistic techniques to reproduce the life scenes of the last century. It follows the trajectory of the character formation of an aristocratic lady under the influence of strict church ideology, and adopts a scattering and point-based accumulation method (rather than a linear method) to express. Such as the imprisoned grandmother, Echeverlia's democratic works, Mariano who beheaded, and the forces from the opposite side such as the aristocracy represented by his father, and the forces from the church represented by the Canon Society. , as well as Ladislaw's dual personality, etc., all affected her growth. Under the combined influence of this historical "parallelogram of forces", Gamila has become a symbol of people's pursuit of truth. This cannot but be attributed to the choice made by Benberg, because this is the most faithful approach to real life. This method is precisely the structural method of film, which requires the work to be like life, rather than like a performance of a drama. For example, when Ladislaus and Gamila fled under pseudonyms and were discovered by Father Canon, the director did not use the "parallel montage" technique usually used in movies, but instead used the sound of military steps to enter the scene, thus canceling the external tension. And strengthen the inner tension of the character's thoughts.
As a mature director, Benberg uses her works to show her mature thinking about movies and her proficient use of techniques. Because movies are not just about telling a story or an experience, but how to use the language of movies to achieve touching effects.
In the face of cruel reality, Benberg creates very charming, even poetic visual images, which are far more thought-provoking than those superficially bloody images. This aspect should undoubtedly be attributed to the efforts of the famous photographer Fernando Arribas. The film gradually transitions from warm tones to cold tones, revealing step by step the coldness of life and the cruelty of struggle. The innocent Gamila always wore pure white clothes, and even wore a white gauze blindfold to play with young people in black clothes. However, this short-term joy could not suppress the impact of human passion in her heart. She chose her own The road, until it was massacred, the black blindfold was so visually impactful. Gamila wore black clothing once in prison, and we clearly felt the maturation of her thoughts. The author's accusation and the ideological connotation of the work are powerfully displayed through images rather than the characters' language.
The film very cleverly controls the color flow of black, white, and red, allowing the audience to better understand the "trinity" of Argentina's church, family, and political power that strangles humanity.
As a female director, Benberg uses her delicate techniques to give "The Wrongful Soul" artistic charm; similarly, as a feminist, she uses her own The work sends a deep cry to Argentina and the world.