In the late 1930s, the novelist and screenwriter Dalton Trumbo read an article about the Prince of Wales paying a visit to a hospital in Canada for veterans of the first World War and meeting a soldier who had lost all of his limbs and senses from an explosion. From that inspiration Trumbo wrote his most famous novel, Johnny Got His Gun, about a soldier who wakes up in a hospital to find his arms and legs amputated and that he is blind, deaf and mute. It was published in 1939 to great success and in 1971 was adapted into a film that has since become a classic. But the adaptations didn’t stop there: it was also turned into a play in 1981, and the version you are probably most familiar with was the inspiration for Metallica’s 1989 song “One,” with scenes from the 1971 movie appearing in the music video.
When it was published in 1939, Trumbo knew that Americans were hoping to avoid having to enter World War II and that people would respond well to a book portraying the horrors of war at its worst (incidentally, that sentiment backfired on him after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, after which his book went through a period of great unpopularity). The film adaptation was not made until 1971, when anti-war sentiments towards Vietnam were at their height and younger filmgoers were once again open to the message Trumbo (who also directed the film) had originally tried to convey. By the time the late 1980’s rolled around and Metallica recorded its version, much of the controversy around the book and the film had died down and so the group was able to write a song that spoke to the horror of being imprisoned inside your own body without the baggage of pro or anti-war sentiments. --by Adam Breckenridge
导演达尔顿·特伦布创作了这篇小说，并将它改编成剧本。主人公的悲惨遭遇引人深思，并在回忆中展示出和平时期的美好生活。主人公遭战争破坏的残缺生命同其渴望生活的心灵形成鲜明对比，发出了对战争抗议的呐喊。为达到阴郁的效果，达尔顿·特伦布最初想把整部片子拍成黑白片，但在拍摄中又作了调整，在拍闪回镜头时用了彩色胶片，同黑白胶片所反映的现实形成对比。
本片竟然在美国遭禁，其反战的激烈程度可想而知。而艺术上的追求也让它不出意料地在戛纳获奖。 布努埃尔盛赞本片的艺术和力量。他本人其实也参与了剧本的改编和创作，片子里的梦境片段确实有明显的布努埃尔特征。
When it was published in 1939, Trumbo knew that Americans were hoping to avoid having to enter World War II and that people would respond well to a book portraying the horrors of war at its worst (incidentally, that sentiment backfired on him after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, after which his book went through a period of great unpopularity). The film adaptation was not made until 1971, when anti-war sentiments towards Vietnam were at their height and younger filmgoers were once again open to the message Trumbo (who also directed the film) had originally tried to convey. By the time the late 1980’s rolled around and Metallica recorded its version, much of the controversy around the book and the film had died down and so the group was able to write a song that spoke to the horror of being imprisoned inside your own body without the baggage of pro or anti-war sentiments.
--by Adam Breckenridge
未看，目前是隨意評分。