When I see this scene, I was shocked as if I was one of the people or soldiers. The war stops immediately when everyone heard the crying from the baby. People start gather to the baby, reaching out their hand to touch her. Soldier of both side cease their fire and make their way for the baby. Two soldiers even kneel down and make the sign of the cross. It is like a tiny spark, which ignites and then spreads the hope of human species. At the end of this scene, someone fired a bazooka from the building and break the peace.
I'm not sure about this. But I always have an illusion that I am a third person in the film with Theo and Kee, especially in the pervious scene, when Theo walks in the building and searching for Kee and her baby right before this scene starts. I guess it is because they didn't change the camera and used it follow Theo for too long. Anyway, when this scene starts my illusion is still there. This illusion keeps me highly alert. The crying from baby, the religious background music and the gun fire are mixed together and becomes a symphony. My alert is gradually removed with the background music and the baby crying. However, it is also raised with the gun shots occasionally. My alert reaches the peak when the bazooka is fired.
This scene seems very real to me. I say it real not because of the hope from the baby, but the humanity from the refugees and soldiers. It puts both the promising and despaired future of entire human being on the balance of war. Eventually, the humanity is awaken, thus people gather to the baby and soldiers cease their fire and make way for Theo and Kee. However, this shiny humanity does not last very long. Even everyone has witnessed the baby, someone still fired the bazooka and eliminate the temperate peace. The scene could just end with Theo and Kee left safely. However, instead of ending with peace, the war restarts with the bazooka. And even at the end of the movie, there are still flights bombing the city, which indicates that the war is still going on even people knows there is a baby, a hope for all human beings. I guess the meaning of this bazooka and the bombing flights are very symbolic. Even we have the hope, which brings up our humanity from the bottom of our mind and lead us to the temperature peace, we are still going to fall back to chaos. It is sin engraved in our nature.
Great post! I almost chose to write about this scene because the way it made me feel and how it relates to hope for humanity. Connecting with your post, I chose to write about the visuals and the sounds in a specific scene, but the sounds that are in this particular scene made me feel a sense of hope and that humanity will be restored. Although the sounds of the gun and the wailing of the people being killed makes me feel a little upset, I know for that particular moment when everyone stops and looks at the baby, that there is a chance of the restoration of humanity.
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