One,The film is trying to do a position swap from the very beginning. The main characters are both models, one of the few industries where women earn more than men, and Yaya earns three times as much as Carl. Carl’s anger is not only because he always pays his own way, but also because Yaya said yesterday that “next time it’s on me” and didn’t do it. Once this gender formula is broken, the scene becomes extremely awkward, and this is where the dramatic tension comes from.
As a male, when Carl stubbornly interrogated me, I felt the conflicting psychological activities, from the shame of being in the role of a man, to the secret pleasure of having my grievances revealed by someone else. This proves that I am also the passive recipient of this kind of program, as well as the active performer. When Yaya confessed to Carl that she didn’t pay on purpose, she said she wasn’t embarrassed by it. This more or less made me feel a little upset. Taking the initiative to pay seems to be seen as a symbol of masculinity and manners, and after the director created a disparity in income between men and women, this stereotype was not broken in any way, but when you think about it, what’s the point?
Yaya’s biggest problem lies in the fact that she deliberately lied without paying. She later said that she just needed to verify that her husband would take care of her if she ever became pregnant and couldn’t work. This is a logical reason, but the fact that she said it after the argument is somewhat of a temporary excuse. It is not known whether Karl is not doing it for the money, as he says, but just to be fair. Guo has an interesting saying, as long as someone says “I’m not talking about money”, then he is actually talking about money. After all, as the captain read afterwards, no one will look in the mirror and say they see a beast, people will only try to find some way to prove they are right.
Two,Underneath Carl’s shiny exterior there is the villain’s insidiousness and nastiness. When Yaya was lying on the deck in her bikini, smiling and greeting the topless bearded sailor, Carl got jealous and insistently convinced Yaya that she shouldn’t do it, even deliberately saying that the sailor was very stylish and asking Yaya if she agreed, Yaya intentionally or unintentionally said yes, which made Carl even more glowing. If only this were the case, it would be the most common situation of possessive outbursts in a relationship. But Carl sneaks up on the foreman and snitches that it’s not appropriate for a sailor to smoke naked on deck, which is a purely petty act.
And judging from Carl’s reaction to looking at the diamond ring, he was indeed still sensitive to the expensive bill. The reason why he was looking at the ring was because he had just complained about the sailor and wanted to impersonate a rich man to make sure the foreman could deal with the sailor who had been complained about seriously, which makes sense to me. carl was going back to the deck and then suddenly turned his head back to look at the ring, which was probably a temporary idea.
Three,The greasy IT rich man wanted to talk to a beautiful girl, but did not seem to have much experience, hesitated for a long time, and finally got up the courage to go to the bar and asked Yaya and the fertilizer merchant’s mistress to help him take a picture. carl and the fertilizer merchant were sitting on the sidelines at this time watching the show, the shape and color was full of mockery of the IT man. But the girls suddenly invited the IT man to take a picture with them both, and the IT man instantly got excited, “It means a lot to me that you’re doing this! Let’s go to the counter now, I’ll buy you a watch! I just sold my company, I’m rich as hell! The bartender will open the most expensive bottle of champagne and get three glasses! Are those your boyfriends? Do they want a drink? Get five glasses!”
This IT tycoon is a vulgar to comical character who may be great at what he does, but when he tries to attract the opposite sex, he finds himself without any charisma other than using his wealth as a bargaining chip, and he suffocates so much that he can’t help but scream out his wealth as soon as the beautiful people give him a little good look. The lack of masculinity made money his only weapon in his search for pleasure. But the sad thing is that this weapon works quite well in many cases.
The fertilizer businessman’s mistress asked Yaya to show more flesh during the photo shoot, while Yaya took the initiative to dance in front of the IT guy. It’s not that they are deliberately showing off in front of their boyfriends because they want to get rich, but it’s clear that they don’t take the face of men seriously. Yaya in particular, the previous incident with the bearded sailor made it clear to her that Carl would be jealous, but she continued to do as she pleased, as if it was fun for her to observe Carl’s reaction to it. As she said at the beginning, she is a woman who is good at mind control. This mentality of playing men for their own pleasure is also a psychological profile of a lot of celebrities. The faces of Carl and the fertilizer dealer had changed as early as when the women posed for a photo with the IT guy. Their fragile male egos are sad, but at the same time, it is this fragility that fuels the budding of the women’s teasing mentality.
After returning to the room, Yaya also deliberately asked Carl if he was jealous, and Carl did not question Yaya about it, but instead played an AV drama with Yaya. This is also the most common way for men to deal with the sexual aspect of the conquest to dissipate their frustration of losing their dignity.
Four,The film’s second identity swap is the fertilizer dealer’s wife proposed to swap with the waitress master and servant. But this so-called swap is false and vicious. On the surface it is a favor, but in fact it is a self-righteous “grace”, is a condescending command. The old rich woman ignores the work the staff needs to do, first letting the waitresses go down the pool in their uniforms, and then letting everyone go down the water slide. The camera is always focused on the smiling face of the waitress, who, despite her internal revulsion and rejection, despite the possibility of getting her into trouble, even though she has already said NO, has been rigorously trained to accept this ridiculous request.
Another noteworthy role here is the foreman. Because of the preparation of the captain’s dinner, she initially wanted to refuse this unreasonable request, but the alcoholic captain locked the room door, and she did not want to refuse the customer herself, so she went to the first mate to refuse the passengers for her. Part of her job description is to train the crew to be like that aforementioned waitress who caters to all the needs of the customers. And when the risk comes, she naturally wants to push the responsibility away and let someone else take it. How else can people become foreman.
Five,Due to the captain’s lifelong alcoholism, only and foreman through the door for mutual inaudible, donkey lips do not match the mouth of communication, the captain’s dinner was finally set on the Thursday of the approaching storm. The camera begins to tilt as the ship sways and everyone stands distorted in the dining room. But the rich and elite still tried to maintain their noble manners and prepare to enjoy the fine cuisine. The swaying of the ship caused severe seasickness and some people began to vomit, while others remained poised at their tables. But more and more people were vomiting, especially the fertilizer dealer’s wife. Others advised her to drink water, she insisted on taking champagne to suppress it, as if drinking water to stop vomiting would lose her aristocratic style. A glass of champagne down, the abdominal tumbling, filth more and more violent spray out, and even splashed to the neighboring table. The scene gradually got out of hand, some people began to leave the table, violent vomit after violent vomit, a mess on the table and the floor, while the foreman was still distributing ginger candy, trying to restore the sense of dignity and ritual that had long since collapsed.
Soon the only people left in the restaurant were the captain (an American Marxist) and the fertilizer merchant (a Russian capitalist), who began a great contest of the aphorisms of their respective beliefs and finally ran drunkenly to the captain’s room to continue shouting their claims over the radio. And in the tourists’ room, some vomited in pain and others pooped their guts out. The toilet burst into a salacious torrent, the cabin was flooded with filth. The next day, the pirates blew up the yacht, the crowd scattered adrift. One of the old couple selling arms were killed by a grenade they developed, also considered karma.
This is the most absurd bridge of the whole film. The yacht is like our world. The politicians talk about their ideas and the capitalists maintain a noble posture under the surface tranquility. But in fact, the world is sinking, with heinous atrocities, absurd and ridiculous current events, unpredictable changes, and unmitigated suffering that never cease. What the director does is to shatter this false world and let the illusion of civilization collapse in a moment.
VI,There was another absurd incident at the captain’s reception dinner, when a rich woman complained to the captain that the sails were too dirty and should be washed. The captain said this was unlikely to happen because this was a motor ship and there were no sails at all, and the first mate said what you see is probably the top of the deck. But the rich woman asked her husband for advice and insisted that there was a dirty sail. The captain said in that case, we will wash it. The foreman also came over to round things up and said we’ll fix it for you. And the foreman had actually received this rich woman’s complaint long ago and had already indicated to her that he would help resolve it.
I’m sure no one knows their ship better than the captain and first mate, and this ship definitely has no sails. This again echoes the captain’s remark that people will find ways to prove they are right. And he didn’t bother to argue, you name it. From his Marxist beliefs and extremely lazy work ethic, it was clear that he had little affection for the bourgeoisie on board. And the foreman’s “too much” is that she knows that what you say is wrong, but for the sake of pleasing the upper class, she will still agree with your outrageous remarks.
Seven,When the group first drifted to the deserted island, the fertilizer merchant questioned the identity of the black crew, while the black crew thought that the other side did not trust them simply because they were black. The foreman helped them reconcile the conflict, while saying to the fertilizer merchant that not every employee on the ship I know, so the black man may be telling the truth, while saying to the black man that you should not accuse the merchant of racial discrimination, which is a very serious accusation in Europe. After saying this, the foreman went back to work to check the condition of other tourists.
But it should be noted that at this time, the woman who had lost her speech was sitting in the seawater accumulated in the rubber boat, reaching out to the foreman for help, while the foreman told her to wait for a while, and the black and Russian businessmen next to her did not pay any attention to her. I am reminded of the many real-life situations where everyone is concerned with disputes about whether the position is correct or whether the wording is reasonable, but always ignores those who really need help. More than a hundred years ago Hu Shih said, “Let’s talk less about doctrines and study more about problems.
VIII,The plot on the deserted island is very similar to “A Good Show”. The disconnection from the original society caused a redistribution of resources, and a reshaping of social classes. Whoever has the most robust physique and the most powerful wilderness survival skills will hold the power of speech. But “Triangle of Sorrow” goes further than “A Good Show” because here there is a third and fourth identity displacement, not only about class but also about gender. The director has written the new leader as a woman, a Filipino cleaner on a yacht. She can catch fish, make fire, and keep a backpack of food resources while drifting. If you want her to share the smoked octopus with you, you have to acknowledge her current status as “captain”. And the IT rich man and fertilizer businessman’s Rolex and Patek Philippe, at this moment can only be exchanged for the right to sleep in the lifeboat for one night.
I have seen people praise the resilience of the cleaners and even Yaya, saying that they are independent women. In terms of the cleaners’ ability to survive, there is nothing wrong with this kind of commentary. But with all due respect, what I sensed was not at all such an expression of the author. What I see is that when a woman wields power, she too begins to boss around and consolidate her privileges. And the otherwise elite people will stoop to their level and even wag their tails.
The most interesting thing is that the janitor uses her resources and power to engage in a sex trade, hogging the youngest, prettiest man of all knowing that Carl’s girlfriend is present, and even letting Karl serve himself secretly in public. There is no fundamental difference between the male domination of women by force in a primitive society and the sexual harassment of leaders in the workplace in today’s society. And Carl’s cheap words like “You give me fish, I love you” are the standard soft-hearted man and money-grubbing woman’s tone. He also discusses with the cleaning lady whether he should show his hand with Yaya and be together openly. As the ruler’s male pet, he loses his dignity, and although he still knows shame, he never resists.
To sum up, what the director wants to satirize and explore is never a specific type of person, but a group of human beings consisting of certain concepts. It is not that a capitalist or a man is tainted, but when human beings are in a certain position, they will naturally behave out of instinct, and these behaviors are often despicable under the universal perception. The director is not saying that a certain person is irredeemably bad, but in the statement of the human race itself is pathetic.
Nine,The foreman was very surprised when the cleaners were dividing the octopus. This is the role of the strongest sense of class among all. As a middle manager, the foreman’s identity is already very delicate. She was very servile when dealing with the rich and famous visitors, smiling at everyone and trying her best to satisfy all requests, but when she faced the cleaners who tried to “revolt”, she showed her official authority. This is not the first time, in fact, when she asked the first officer to help refuse passengers, a resting employee next to her was also ordered to go back to work because she smiled.
The sad thing about the foreman is that she is accustomed to and even convinced of her class. When the class was reshaped, she did not understand for a while why she had to listen to a janitor. But she soon adapted to the new order again, and after Carl and the black man stole cookies, she attached herself to the janitor’s ear and said that they should be punished. Although she privately also scolds the shameless janitor who dominates the male sex, on the surface, she once again stands firmly with the upper class. When you saw this description, did some people in reality come to your mind?
