Youth culture should contain a sense of rebellion, a culture that is uneasy, rebellious, and sensitive to fait accompli, such as rock music and poetry in the late 1980s. I think young people at that time had a natural yearning for and identification with these things. . This recognition brings many opportunities for the progress of this society. It's a lively culture. But today's young people basically only identify with business culture, which is a pity. Today's business culture in China not only includes blockbusters, it actually forms an influence and transformation on a generation of young people. Seriously, like bacteria.
——Jia Zhangke
Ask a rock young man in the 1980s why he learned the guitar in the first place, and the most likely answer is a girl. Sing Street is also such a cheesy story. The fringe of the campus fell in love with the glittering model, so they formed a band, learned the guitar, wrote songs for her, and invited her to make music videos. A discordant family, an unaccomplished brother, an arrogant and unreasonable school bully, an old-fashioned and annoying dean, and a mysterious and charming girl across the street seem to have become indispensable ingredients in European and American youth romantic comedies. And my interest in this type of film has not diminished because of this, but it has become the best spice of my life, and I have to dig out such a film every once in a while.
Sing Street was left in the corner of my playlist, largely due to its Chinese translation (Chinese translation: the love song of first love). Director John Carney, I mistaken his name for the names of two important Beatles members (John Lennon and Paul McCartney), directed the musical romances of Once and Begin Again, and was a bass player for The Frames himself , With personal music appreciation ability, the reputation of the soundtrack is even bigger than the movie (Lost Stars and Falling Slowly probably many people have heard). Those who have watched the previous two films will find that his works have a lot in common. The protagonist struggles in the quagmire of life at the beginning, and finally opens a new chapter in his life through music. This film is no exception. The story begins when the protagonist Conor falls in his family and is forced to transfer to another school. At school, he was made trouble by his teacher, suffered school violence, and dared to walk along the wall. The appearance of the heroine Raphina changed all of this. Conor and a few friends formed a band. From playing guitar to standing in front of the whole school, he could use music loudly to taunt the dean, who used to bully him. Can't help but applaud him.
In one episode, Conor arrives at school wearing avant-garde rocker David Bowie's makeup, and is dragged to the bathroom by the dean, who shoves his head into the sink. Reminds me of the lyrics "We can be Heroes, just for one day." from David Bowie's "Heroes". Even if it is only for this day, we have to make a choice for ourselves, knowing the childishness and absurdity of this, and still insisting on our own way. Conor stood on stage and sang the song for the dean, saying it was the first time, and probably the last, he performed the song. We grew up being told that the only obligation of a student is to study, and everything other than study is despair. Even if I am writing this text at the moment, when I meet a student wearing makeup on campus, the first thing that pops into my mind will be those stereotypes that have been instilled over the years. They say, "You dress up at your age because of sexual attraction." They say, "Love at your age is an outdated game, and the person who will accompany you in the future cannot be the one you are now." In 2020, those Self-proclaimed "educational workers" are still narrowly defining young people's exploration and pursuit of beauty, are still passing on the concept of love "from one to the end" to the next generation, and are still dividing love, sex and marriage Equal sign, they even tell us that love at this age is a mistake by means of circular criticism and so on. Sing Street is a regular European and American youth romantic comedy, but it is impossible for any of its plots to appear in my life. When I see sadness in a comedy, the sadness is the reason for it.
*The quotation in this paragraph is based entirely on teachings I heard in my student days.
When I wrote the last paragraph, I didn't hear that sing street was going to be re-screened, and yesterday was the first day of its re-screening. I didn't go to the theater to see it, because the version released in the mainland had three minutes of cuts. These three minutes include the only two scenes of the film's male and female protagonists kissing and a smoking scene. Not only that, the subtitles also translated the Sex Pistols into a pistol band and replaced gay with a neurotic. It is understandable that among the several deletions, only the deletion of the smoking scene is the reason why the film is graded PG-13 overseas because of teen smoking, but this also involves the issue that the mainland has not introduced a grading system. In my chats with many of my friends, they will mention being blindfolded in the kissing scenes while watching movies with their parents as children, and even as teenagers still believing that kissing leads to pregnancy. I couldn't help quoting Professor Zhang Beichuan's countless quoted words: "In our sexual culture, fertility is regarded as the purpose of sex, ignorance is regarded as purity, ignorance is regarded as virtue, and prejudice is regarded as principle." Today, "there are three kinds of unfilial piety, and no future is great" is still used as an "argument" against DINKism, while "sex" is regarded as a dirty and shameful word, and even the name of a legendary punk band has to be withheld. . The so-called educators do whatever they can to find excuses for the failure of their education, and they are constantly trying to remedy the situation. After many cases of sexual assault of minors were exposed, they still did not choose to face the problem, and even the innocent kissing scenes had to be erased, as if the problem would disappear automatically when it was covered up. Of course, Sing Street’s cuts are not even the tip of the iceberg. There are countless film and television works castrated every year, and many independent film directors cannot release their works because they refuse to have their works cut. Even the lyrics and subtitles in variety shows have to be tampered with. Such a few minutes of deletion is not only a blasphemy to the original work, but also an insult to the minds of the people.
Going back to the sentence quoted by Director Jia Zhangke in "Jia Xiang", it is not to say that only rock music can represent youth culture, but the complex and changeable emotions expressed in rock and roll are suitable for this particular age group. I absolutely love "Uneasy about the fait accompli" here, which encapsulates my mood whenever I seek solace in rock music. The Sing Street soundtrack isn't as soothing as Begin Again and Once, but it's one of my favorites because it's my age. Bands such as Duran Duran and The Cure mentioned in the film can also be tried.
Finally, I saw an interview with the actor Shu Xilin, when the reporter asked Shu Xilin: "What advice do you have for young people today?" She replied: "Please don't ask me such a difficult question. If I am young, old I won't listen to what people say." Shu Xilin's words are my advice to some "educators"
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