right hand
[My heart moves with my shadow] Thoughts after watching the movie "A Letter to Copenhagen"
He nodded, too slightly to be noticed, and his blue and blue eyes were as pure as the sea and as deep as the sea. I can't forget the calmness when he nodded, the calm answer, just like when you said to him, "Can you pass the pepper?" He immediately stretched out his right hand and grabbed the soap tightly held in the left hand of the child next to him. It reached his right hand, and he was shot on the spot on charges of theft.
Death is necessary
From birth to death, just a few seconds forced me to recall that gentle nod countless times. Every time I think about it, my heart aches from the tip of a needle that couldn't be any thinner.
But I couldn't help but convinced myself again and again in my aftertaste: He really and clearly decided at that moment to die for the kid who stole the soap... In the last few shots, he was still warning his children:
"Live! Don't even think about dying! Remember, as long as you live, there is hope!"
At this moment, he actually nodded, gently and calmly switching the positions of life and death, just like passing a pepper bottle from his front to yours.
▲David (second from left) and John (second from right), who are closely linked to life and death in the film.
taming of heart
「Do not be afraid, for I am with you;
Do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you, I will help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. "
(Isaiah 41:10)
James Patrick Caviezel played the role of two sacrifices in the same year. In "The Passion of the Christ" he played Jesus, who was crucified on the cross to atone for the sins of all of us; in "I Am David" He plays Johannes, who takes the death sentence caused by a piece of soap on behalf of David, a child who is also in prison. I stared at his face, wanting to know how many tears it would take to wash away the pain in my heart; I stared at his face, letting the pain linger for a long time, trying to use that face to understand the holiness and salvation of the right hand.
Twelve-year-old David is a young prisoner in a Bulgarian labor camp. He is secretly protected because of the warden's secret love for David's mother. On the surface, John became a cruel victim of the ulterior protection. The person who saw John nodding gently was the warden...
Their eyes exchanged in an instant, and both parties knew that it was twelve-year-old David who stole the soap. Then John nodded, and the warden took out his gun... Oh my God! What kind of deal is this? It was as if there were inaudible lines rising from my heart: "Are you going to take the responsibility?" "Yes, I'll do it..." Oh God! Who would be tamed by death if it were not for You?
▲"He makes me lie down in green pastures and leads me beside still waters", David who escaped from Bulgaria.
The pursuit of life
John became David's true protector and spiritual guide. After David escaped from prison due to the arrangement of the warden, the person who supported him in his brave escape was actually John who sacrificed his life for him and reborn him.
Twelve years old, is it an important age in many works? In the movie "The Kite Runner", Amir, a rich young man, spent his whole life repaying for the sin he committed when he was twelve years old... But the lucky David met the salvation of his life when he was twelve years old.
We will see the life derived from the death of Johannes, the Almighty God rescued Mary, the girl in the fire, from the death of John, and through the bravery of David... We will also see the escape along the way, No matter how hungry or wronged he was, David kept his hands clean and stopped stealing...until he found his mother.
It was such a long journey from Bulgaria to Copenhagen to complete David's growth and redemption, because redemption is not about being released from prison, but about being released from sin and one's own darkness.
God's justice
Twelve-year-old David and twelve-year-old Amir prove that environment is not the root cause of sin, because they grew up in an evil prison and an upright and wealthy family respectively, but their sinful natures are the same. Original sin that cannot be borne by man. Fortunately, twelve-year-old David was saved, but Amir would have to wait until a long time later. The meaning of John's resurrection from death lies in this comfort.
Why the right hand, why always the right hand? I asked God, but God did not answer, and stupidity will not be answered. He just stretched out his right hand, which I held tightly. In His right hand was freely given to us grace and salvation that we cannot understand, and love that we cannot even imagine. How can humans fathom God’s love? Just like I tried my best to recall Caviezel's gentle nod, maybe I still just found the answer self-righteously.
Movie skills
Sending a letter to Copenhagen (Ｉ am David)
- Time: Produced in 2004
Director: Paul Feig
Actors: Ben Tibber; James Caviezel; Joan Plowright; Maria Bonnevie
Original work: "North to Freedom" (North to Freedom, published in 1963) by the best-selling Danish novelist Anne Holm
Awards: Audience Choice Award for Best Film at Austin Film Festival; Best Film and Most Promising Newcomer Award at San Diego Film Festival; Best Newcomer Award at Monaco Film Festival; Crystal Heart Award at Heartland Film Festival
For David, an orphan who grew up in a concentration camp in communist Bulgaria, freedom was just an unattainable dream. In 1952, when he was twelve years old, he stole a piece of soap in the camp. He should have been killed, but because of John's entrustment, he escaped from the concentration camp with a compass and a piece of bread, and sent a mysterious letter to Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark. Travel long distances and embark on arduous journeys.
David has been defensive about people since he was a child, but when he met an Italian family on the road, he tasted the warmth of love for the first time. The people and things he came into contact with during the journey made David begin to learn to trust, care for others, and cherish everything around him. David met Grandma Joan in Switzerland. This kind and kind old lady regarded him as her missing son, loved and cared for him in every possible way, and even tried her best to help him complete the task of "delivering a message to Copenhagen"...
From the concentration camps in Bulgaria, through Greece, Italy, Switzerland and to Copenhagen, this is a journey that changes lives, finds hope and fulfills dreams.
Author profile
Heimaia, fashion designer, chairman of Shenzhen Heimaia Image Planning Co., Ltd., columnist for "Weekend Pictorial", "Yangcheng Evening News", "Shenzhen Evening News" and other media, author of "There is a Skirt Called Swan Lake", " My dear, you want to be better", "52 Problems of Fashion", "Charming is the Armor of Time".