The Delinquents: Children, Please Move Forward to Modern Society

Our childhood joy in playing games comes from using a series of actions to uncover or solve a mystery. In this film, these actions aren't just tied to the characters (reflecting their childlike essence) and the camera (capturing the mystique of mysteries), all within a particular setting. In childhood, this mirrors the rules of a game, but this film delves into the complex relationship between society and space, depicting a social geography of interest.

The social and geographical setting in this film emerges from two main aspects: vertically, it's the unpredictable passage of time that can be disrupted by unforeseen events in the future, akin to how Roman is repeatedly interrupted by his wife whenever he tries to access his money bag. Horizontally, it's the ongoing introduction of new characters and locations that blur the existing scenes. It's crucial to recognize that this kind of geography serves as a way to construct a mystery. Mysteries aren't built by becoming clearer; rather, they take shape from the ambiguity created by countless overlapping mysteries. Each 'missing' scene sparks excitement, evoking memories of what has been lost.

For instance, observing the bank's surveillance footage reveals Morand's absence, prompting us to mentally construct an image of him, which we find intriguing. In the forest, the absence of the city triggers reminiscences of Buenos Aires, while the forest itself showcases a distinct yet captivating landscape. While hiding money, the absence of a clear future leads us to ponder various potential outcomes for that money. The significance of the split-screen lies in its nature as part mystery and part solution.

So, isn't the genuine pleasure derived from these actions — reminiscent of childhood games — found in discovering joy amidst ambiguity? This serves as a direct commentary on modernity. Despite the geography guiding all actions towards this ambiguous mystery, the actions themselves seek the joy or the solution, thus altering the landscape of this mystery.

Within the film, both the city and the forest serve as distinct game modes. In the city, the geography itself contributes to the enjoyment of actions, and characters persistently engage within a realm of mysteries. Conversely, in the forest, actions manipulate the geography in both horizontal and vertical directions, leaning more towards the pursuit of discovering solutions. This interplay essentially represents the game between the characteristics of the city and the forest.

The city, with its myriad buildings expressing diverse ideologies and intricate relationships, complicates the execution of actions. Consequently, characters face challenges in navigating this complexity, leading them to opt for the forest—an open and exposed setting that offers clearer pathways for actions and provides a stage to uncover answers more distinctly.

Let's look at these actions: close-up shots of counting and loading money during the robbery, landscape-style long shots when hiding money, close-ups of holding hands after watching 'hands' in the cinema, and high-speed photography of holding hands when running in the forest. Each of these actions returns to childhood games and is an effort to dismantle the vertical and horizontal constructs of modern order and geography. Isn't this the ethical origin of action, the passion of childhood?

After discovering that it's Bresson's 'hands,' we should further discover that it's also Straub's 'hands' because Brecht's 'hands' aren't as intriguing. The recitation of poetry near the end is the reversed playback of 'Every Revolution is a Throw of the Dice.' As soon as the poetry is recited, the answer is unveiled. At the end of Straub's poetry recitation, Mallarmé's secret is hidden among the reciters, while Moreno makes the mystery disappear from each listener during the recitation. Straub's viewpoint is about creating a third-person perspective suspended between the sky and the earth, while Moreno is devoted to a fourth one entangling mysteries and answers, which is able to transcend any boundaries - a reversed Straub’s film.

There is also an inevitable creation in the post-pandemic era and a new cinephile-style creation reflected on media and individuals – including the cinema and film shooting themselves in the frame. For the former, we intuitively look at the movie theater and posters; they activate (note that this is an action) our deepest love. Doesn’t the movie itself complete a childhood game at a meta-level? And for the latter, isn't it the same as seeking answers in the forest? For film shooting, isn't it a childhood game for cinephiles? For cinephiles, the film brings itself and them both back to childhood.

Criminals are the most modern profession, symbolizing the collapse or an urgent need for a revolution in modern society. Money, on the other hand, is a symbol of modernity, which criminals aim for. Let's see how Moreno breaks this curse: criminals return to childhood, performing game-like actions. In the first part, they revel in the joy of mysteries, and in the second part, they revel in the joy of answers. They turn the bank (including its staff), representing modern power structures, into a joke, and turn the forest where riders ride into a far side of happiness. Here, the most benevolent actions are discovered, as well as the true joy of actions.