忠勇之家

The first inductee of William Wyler’s Oscar BEST PICTURE triumvirate, MRS. MINIVER is an undisguisedpropaganda weepy that emphatically packs a punch what that particular time needs, in 1942 when our world was enveloped under the pall of WWII, and the United States freshly took a hard blow from the Pearl Harbor attack.

A burgher family living in the suburb of London, Clem Miniver (an agreeable Pidgeon as ever) is a successful architect, he and his wife Kay (Garson) has three children, a snug domicile and the film opens with the couple respectively splurging out on luxury items, darting back to the millinery for a with-it headwear or spoiling for a new automobile, and the day is rounded out by a mutual reconciliation that perfectly explains the allure of middle-class content, which significantly pales in comparison with what will soon ensue. The next day, their eldest son Vincent (a spiffy Richard Ney, whose acting days would be put paid to by the disintegration of the marriage with his screen-mother Ms. Garson, 12 years of his senior, in 1947), an undergraduate of Oxford returns home and over a spat with Carol Beldon (Wright, a delighted ingénue in earnest yoked with sublime outpourings of pathos when the crunch hits), the granddaughter of the old money Lady Beldon (Dame May Whitty, loses her Oscar to her co-star Wright notwithstanding, her wits-within-fierceness impression is a force to be reckoned with), he is an idealist and she is more a realist, the two actually are caught by a coup-de-foudre, and before soon Vincent proposes in a home dinner and Carol says yes.

With the war looming toward the isle from the embattled Continent, Vincent enlists in the RAF as a fighter pilot and the announcement of wedding has to be parked. Clem pitches in the mission to rescue British soldiers from Dunkirk evacuation with his motorboat, whereas Kay must come face to face under duress with a wounded German pilot (Dantine) right inside their home, and for the first and only time, she loses her temper with a slap across the aggressor’s face when the latter blusters with unrepentant zeal of extirpation, Greer Garson won her Oscar fairly and gracefully with this dignified portrayal.

The pulsating dread of losing beloved ones who are engaged in the warfare pervades through the story albeit the family collectively musters a can-do attitude in the face of adversity (a magnificent shelter-hiding episode speaks volumes of the horror of bombing relying inclusively on the upsetting close-ups and juddering sound effects), after tactfully convincing Lady Beldon that Vincent and Carol are a blissful union, Kay has a heartfelt tête-à-tête with Carol when the pair returns from their honeymoon in Scotland, Carol expresses her understanding of the stake she is taking by becoming a Mrs. Miniver, but in the climax, Wyler and his script-smiths forcefully overturns the casualties to those unarmed folks caught by strafing and potshots, it is this“everyone is in danger of perdition” gravity that potentially actuates the film's“pro-Britain, anti-Germany”impact in the states, beautifully bookended by the vicar’s (Wilcoxon) stirring speech in the half-ruined Anglican church.

Under Wyler’s well-adjusted administration, MRS. MINIVER - its title, apart from denoting the two women (Kay and Carol), is also the moniker of the rose cultivated by the station master Mr. Ballard (Travers, providentially chalking up a coattail Oscar-nomination), coined after Kay, and is awarded the first prize in the annual village flower show over the perennial winner Lady Beldon, which can be justly symbolized as the undimmed spirit of faith in humanity -, is a considerate homespun melodrama skillfully eschewing the direct war-zone spectacles and exacting an immense emotional weight in its story, potently attests how movie as a media can effectually spur the mass to the exact ideology of its behind-the-camera masterminds.

referential points: Wyler’s BEN-HUR (1959, 8.0/10), WUTHERING HEIGHTS (1939, 7.9/10).

二战期间的主旋律电影，节奏略显拖沓，抓住德兵，包括最后的教堂圣歌都让我这个共产主义接班人起鸡皮疙瘩，但是就是喜欢。

喜欢英国人的小幽默，喜欢家庭温暖的氛围。

“钱就是为了难得奢侈一把”

“我觉得你比结婚前更美了”

“不想浪费时间活在恐惧中”

和65年前的作品观念不谋而合。都说女性是一个家庭的灵魂，坚强而美丽的Mrs.miniver让人心生向往。

在一部传统典型的好莱坞式情节剧的创作里往往男性是家庭的主导人物，尽管《忠勇之家》《自君别后》这类影片里，男性不曾在场，但也是重要的隐藏人物。如果以母亲的角色，挑起整个情节剧的重担，这是以旁观者的视角，将为好莱坞传统家庭情节剧提供的一些新鲜气息。但别指望我会夸奥斯卡，传统和革新，也可以不矛盾！

很好的电影，二战，大英，一个中产阶级家庭。米尼弗夫人，爱玫瑰的铁道工人，米尼弗先生，大儿子韦恩，贝尔小姐，老贵族夫人，几乎每一个角色都给人留下了深刻印象。鲜活的人物，平凡的小镇生活，结合敦刻尔克大撤退和伦敦大轰炸的背景，电影令人回味无穷。然而不知何故，在欣赏之余，总是不自主地想到我们国家的1942。 这一年，苏德将斯大林格勒变成了尸山血海，英德意在北非杀得血肉横飞，美日也在太平洋战场血战到底，而在中国战区，远征军为保家卫国开赴缅甸，抗日根据地则在进行艰苦地反扫荡。 同样经历残酷的战争，大英帝国子民和中国百姓境遇却截然不同。电影中的人们虽然要忍受亲人上战场的生离死别，也经常到地下室躲避德军飞机空袭，但大多数时候他们有食物，有教堂，有鲜花，有着正常的生活。而抗战中的中国百姓，则已惨到了难以用言语形容的地步，这方面有太多的历史资料和影视文艺作品。仅仅是1942大饥荒就饿死上百万，数百万人流离失所。 宁为太平犬，莫作离乱人。同在乱世，老牌工业强国和百年积弱的农业帝国也有着天壤之别。生在当下，虽也偶有不如意，却已足够幸运。所以，是的，我想到的正是，大国崛起，才有小民尊严。