异世浮生

阿德里安·莱恩是上世纪八九十年代美国香艳电影的大师，他的作品比沙曼京、丁度之流的艺术价值要高，但照着大师那个级别还稍微矮了一截。他导演的《致命吸引力》、《桃色交易》、《不忠》、《新洛丽塔》等都被内地影迷广为传播，津津乐道。

然而《异世浮生》就像是林恩先生的番外作品，一向带给大家感官娱乐的他怎么会拍了这么一部恐怖片呢？由于这部电影经常被恐怖片榜单中收录，我注意它很久了，但本片的资源很难找（盗版商也是死心眼），所以我直到今天才得以一见。

故事很简单，就是男主角蒂姆·罗宾斯在战场上被重创，他临死前对自己一生和所爱之人的迷幻回顾，好像一场噩梦，结尾以他的死亡结束。看过此片我有一种恍然大悟的感觉，原来那么多我曾以为是原创idea的电影都是和老片“偷经”来的啊！！如果早就看过《异世浮生》，那《第六感》的结局也算不上惊艳了；《生死停留》也近似于抄袭了。老实说，容易一惊一乍的影迷就是因为看片量太少，才给后世的模仿作品不应得到的高分！

片中的蒂姆·罗宾斯还是鲜肉期，非常白嫩，像个大宝贝，看他被折磨得死去活来，真是我见犹怜。值得一提的是，片中前半部分的感情戏给了莱恩空间干一些sexy的老本行：女主角衣不遮体地在屋里乱逛，还心血来潮地钻进浴帘里和罗宾斯共浴，让人看得心神荡漾；罗宾斯发高烧，女主角毅然扒光了他，并召集一干邻居收集冰块，将罗宾斯镇在了浴缸里。我感觉由早逝女星伊丽莎白·佩尼亚Elizabeth Peña扮演的这个女主角更像罗宾斯的妈妈。

本片也绝不如国产恐怖片（观众知道结局后有一种被欺骗、被糊弄的感觉）那种一次性产品，而是通过层层的迷宫似的慢慢剥离，让观众的心理恐惧越来越深，渐渐有了一种不愿相信，但又不得不面对现实的可怕预感，似乎只有死亡才能让男主角解脱，只有死亡才能让这一场噩梦结束。看到最后，我倒替男主角松了最后一口气。

片中的几个“魔鬼”形象也被后来者给“继承”了（如《入侵脑细胞》），所以说《异世浮生》确实不负盛名，我今天看这部电影真有deja vu之感，只是相见恨晚啊。本片的编剧也很有名，他写的《人鬼情未了》让他得了一尊奥斯卡奖，此人叫布鲁斯·乔伊·罗宾Bruce Joel Rubin。

片中还出现了最可爱时期的麦考利金，忘记他如今的模样吧，他曾是这个世界上最cute的金发小男孩！怪不得男主角咽气前还想着他，真是一个小天使。

《异世浮生》不只是一部经典的恐怖片，也是一部值得反复品味的艺术片。片名直译是《雅各布天梯》，它取自希腊神话，有着深刻的哲学含义，但片中它是一种美国军队研制的超强兴奋剂的代号，它被使用在战士身上让他们在战场上玩儿命做炮灰。影片最后用字幕揭露了这一真相，但美国国防部坚决否认了这一说法。

据说二战期间给士兵滥用药物的事件就屡屡发生，如日本的神风敢死队就滥用过安非他命。那些飞行员在上阵前都吃下超大剂量的兴奋剂，变成了一个个疯子，完全丧失了理智，才敢于冲向对战方的军舰、战机，飞蛾扑火般同归于尽。这样的事情在中国也似乎发生过（吃大烟），估计在片中所描述的越战时也不可避免地发生过。

Sonny boy’s music was mentioned and played in the movie - and that’s why I was invited to watch the movie for the symbolism analysis.

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Just finished watching Jacob’s ladder. Not so much ‘horror’ after they introduced the hallucinogens at the other half of the movie (as if try to make it seems more ‘logical’ to most audiences who cannot fathom the true meanings of the sceenplay writer) - I will make no comment on the ‘hallucinogens’ part - pointless in fact.

Symbolisms:

1. Orange sky with clouds, we saw helicopters crossing over river/underworld: Hermes: Jacob’s ladder, messengers between sky and earth

2. Scene of soldier dozed off: starting the ‘dreaming’

3. Woke up in a metro running train holding book Camus ‘stranger’ a separative third person perspective of self-viewing

4. Metro station’s name Bergen and its etymology: Bhergh: high; mountain; pyramid

(woman staring: eye; octopus tail: earth real; rat=Egyptian mongoose: Atum’s guardian/ Shu god; water or raindrops: Tefnet; Saw a light coming from train: Ra’s circle. That’s a pyramid from top to bottom and now it’s all the way going down)

5. Station poster: Ecstasy: Plato’s Karthasis insinuating the very start of journey of purgatory in bardo

6. The confusing switching of two lives, one with kids and another with Succubi Jezebel, as it always happens in stories of Bardo, THE Self trying to collecting self.

7. He saw demons tracing him, nurse’s horned head, etc that’s what the Tibetan bardo described as hell. The climax of it resulted a baptism by the ‘witches’. Making him realize gotta climb the ladder up-(looking for lawyers, talking with that chemist etc)

8. His name is Jacob Singer, singer (he is going to praise the god, so eventually he will “make it” ). His job is postman, same as Jez work in the post office both are hermes actually, messengers of the god.

9. Chiropractor Louis Denardo. De Nardo=De BernARDO. (Bardo), Louis here is /lu/ and /yi/ which I shared in several tweets basically it’s same race, descendant of enneads, the Cherubim. (Demons as well, even if appearing as angels)

10. His youngest son had an accident of Bike vs Car, wheels vs wheels. Cherubim ophanim seraphim are all ‘wheelers’ the race of wheel making. Had wars among themselves. Jacob in the passage had to remind self of loss of his son to be the strongest attachment of someone in his life who passed away, oftenly used as the ‘guide’ to lead them out of bardo (end of movie denoting that, with light, staircase- but those are disguises)

11. The pains he had inbetween two parts of life “down the hell” were as if real, once he made peace with the self, (had agreement with the Cherubim) The Self collects self, devil become the Angel in Bardo.

12. The scene of taking last taxi “home”, Sam open the door. Taxi driver name: Garzero, Gar is a town name at western Tibet. As well as see //garpedia.fandom.com/wiki/Gar_(God). Drivers in the movies are all captains of the cars/ships/wheels (same race). So like the “journey to the west” he reached the door of “home” and spoke with Sam the doorkeeper, a Janus type, janitor of the sundoor.- As I’m not very versed in the Bible and qu’ran, but generally speaking it could well be seen as such: after talking with Sam basically he’s now officially “dead” in the sense of experiencing that “ordeals/cleansing” from purgatory.

13. Did he really leave the hell? Bardo is a passage “down there” yet the scenery as if he finished the purgatory passage and made his way out. That’s very religious dogma there(all the -isms), spiritual pilgrimage of Brahma, accept we are sinners and we gotta go through judgement and final day etc (worst brain virus). It gives people a false idea of “light” at the end trying to mean the liberation, which it is not. It is of course not heaven at the last scene either, as Hollywood trying so hard to do the hell vs heaven dualistic moral and desire based judgement same old same old doctrines.

I take the screenplay writer must be very knowledgeable of the Tibetan Buddhism and Christianity. Didn’t focus much on the numeral links though (depends on the director’s knowledge of Gematria), all in all its a work that worthy copied and remake in Hollywood just so that ‘they’ could keep preaching their pyramidal scheme of enneads worshippings, as well as focusing on dualism’s extremities - the very reason of pains generator.

just found our Sam’s name as in Samkrama. Sam here has the value ‘completely’ or ‘absolutely’, full, all.