The story appears simple on the surface, but is revealed, especially after multiple viewings, as more multi-layered and textured than Cassavetes at his best. Ostensibly it concerns a 14-year old Catholic girl, Wynne (Agutter) growing up in this post-modern wasteland, who develops a crush on her much older adoptive brother (Marshall)- a crush which perversely deepens and grows into infatuation once she starts to believe he is the local sex killer. This is in itself an idea that makes you sit up and jolt, but as the narrative develops, it continues not necessarily along a linear path but in several confusing and fascinating directions: the family's history, (detailed effectively in chilling flashback during an improvised seance) is a chequered one, and has suffered at least one major relocation and upheaval in the last ten years. At the crux, however, it's the depiction of socialal changes that make I Start Counting so fascinating and elevate its language far beyond the confines of the standard horror film. The major subtext- that teenage girls were maturing more quickly than before, and developing full sexual and romantic appetites (even if in thought rather than deed) but were not possessed of enough discretion to make the right choices- was a step forward for a genre in which its young females had previously been portrayed as bimbo victims (Cover Girl Killer and The Night Caller spring to mind), but not one that all viewers would necessarily agree with. But most striking of all, and possibly the most enduring image which the viewer will take away with them, is of the masterful symbolism with which director Greene invests every shot. Every inch of the Kinch family's world- their house, their walls, their TV, Agutters underwear, bedroom furniture and toys, Sutcliffe's clothes, Marshalls van, the local Catholic church, their town centre, their record shop) - is painted a bright, scintillating white- a white which, by inference, is slowly becoming smudged and corrupted with the dirt of the outside world. White also symbolises, of course, purity and innocence (two qualities Catholic schoolgirls are supposed to hold dear), and it is into this world of innocence that the ever-present red bus (a symbol of violation and penetration), conducted by the lecherous yet similarly juvenile Simon Ward, makes regular journeys. The allegory is further expanded in one scene where Agutter believes she sees the Christ figure in church weeping blood: by the time we acknowledge it, its gone, but the seed has already been planted. Rarely in a genre production has the use of colour and background been so important or effective in creating a uniformity of mood. I Start Counting is as near-perfect an end to a decade as one could hope for, and exactly the kind of film people should be making now- which is, of course, exactly why they never will. A genre essential. by D.R.
真是一个宝藏女孩！
看到片尾字幕就伤心了，“曼德拉于1990年出狱，并最终当选南非第一位黑人总统……”于是南非就成了现在这个鬼样子。当年前赴后继的黑人兄弟们，他们的愿景真的是现在这样吗？
很真实啊。有时候理想是完满的，现实总是交错的、困惑的，而你在其中沉默，被批评，做了道德上“错误”的事，当你自己尚未理解一切。
第三人称和史实角度：他们可能只是政治生涯中的一枚棋子，所有人都在迎合政治去下这盘大棋。最后他们输了，或者说他们根本就没赢过，只是平白无故的牺牲。他们证明了什么，但好像又什么都没证明，只留下了若干具尸体。
自由的代价是什么，是一切
自由的代价是什么？
黑人主旋律电影就算了吧，黑人统治的下场是什么，对比一下以前的南非就知道了。
剧播的时候就很喜欢这个故事，所以电影也一直很期待。
温情满满的劫持人质事件，最后曼德拉出狱了，这是改庆祝还是……
精彩出现在最后四十分钟，细节拉满。差点误解了。
看到三分之二的时候愣是给爷整笑了。就这么放走了警察整个行动的头头？这智商也是没谁了。每个人的动机都不明，此片充分证明了南非电影水平和中国在同一个水平线。
可看可不好看，种族，劫持，都是喜欢的题材，可是这个深度不够…
或许白左们今天来谈南非现状颇为讽刺，但是这部电影真正关注的并不是历史与政治本身，而是自由与平等的诠释！是的，自由可以用用一切来换取，包括生命。自由也绝非妥协与忍让得来，反抗与牺牲是自古以来换得自由与平等的第一步！
i know that all the colonial shit and apartheid were very brutal, might be much worse than the time of Hitler, but movie wise, please give a rest.
这里没有斯德哥尔摩综合征患者，暴力的对象极其明确。傲慢的权力，迟早陷入愚蠢的慌张，和自戕的局促。在觉醒的民众面前，一切反动派都是纸老虎。有一种暴力是反抗，有一种对抗是解放，有一种牺牲，是献身，有一种精神，是自由。
纯从教室跳下去的场面，果然不管是剧还是电影都很有冲击性…
三星半 克里斯汀不该死的 有一点难过 “自由的代价是什么？一切。”
从影片中可以看出，导演和编剧带有一定的倾向性，落脚点是对种族运动的支持和同情，因此，对三名参与者在行动过程中所采取的行动，具有一定的美化意思。选取的几个角色也各有特点，三个为自由而战斗的“同志”，一个对种族问题有同情心的警察队长，一个司法部部长的女儿，具有深切的宽容、同情心，还有一个极力掩饰自己人种的混血儿等。影片的主题是把一场预先谋划的袭击案转化为一场不可预料的种族问题讨论会。
最后一幕拍的真好。whats the price of freedom? everything.
为了自由，好难哦。记住那些在获得自由途中牺牲的人，希望世界永远没有种族歧视。
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