The story of Luo Shanji is undoubtedly related to Hollywood. A scout who specializes in finding actors gets off the plane and gets into the taxi of the tomboy played by Winona Ryder. At first, the scout was full of contempt for this shabby taxi and the driver who was full of swear words, but as the conversation between the two began during the boring time in the car, the scout's view of the driver changed. She found that although this handsome tomboy was uneducated and full of bad habits, he exuded a kind of innocence, a kind of sincerity, a kind of cuteness that was unconsciously revealed. She even decided that this tomboy was the future star she was looking for. So when they drove to their destination, she made an invitation for the driver to audition. She thought that everyone in the world wanted to be a star, but she was impressed by the driver again. The tomboy refused her invitation, she explained that she has her own dreams, and although her current life is not satisfactory, she is willing to work hard for her dreams. The scout laughed heartily despite losing a future star, because that's what makes that tomboy so cute.
The story of New York is about black people in Brooklyn. A black man takes a taxi on the street at night and wants to go back to Brooklyn, but no taxi driver in the city wants to take him there. Finally a bumpy taxi stopped in front of him, willing to take him home. But when the black man got into the car, he found out that the driver was a novice, not only did not know the road, he could not even drive. He wanted to get out of the car, but the driver implored him to help with the business. So they just dropped one by one, and the black people drove the car, and the driver took the car. During the chat, I learned that the driver turned out to be a clown from an East German circus. The East German's name is Helmert, which means helmet in English. The black people laughed at this name, but when the East German asked his name back, he couldn't laugh. It turned out that his name was Yuyu. It means yo-yo in Chinese. Two people who are equally undervalued in the city find each other's warmth. Halfway through the road, Youyou suddenly stopped and dragged a black woman into the car. It turned out that this woman was Youyou's sister-in-law. She was walking alone on the street late at night, causing Youyou's dissatisfaction. So the East German clown exerted his ability to please people, eased the fierce quarrel between the other two, and the atmosphere in the car returned to a joyous one. But when the car reached its destination, the East Germans were lost in this strange city again. Why can't society tolerate each other like people?
A black driver in Paris is carrying two self-proclaimed African "ambassadors". The two "ambassadors" were defiant, arrogant, and even made fun of the black identity of the driver, who was also an African immigrant. After they knew the driver was from Côte d'Ivoire, they canceled that it was an "invisible" country (perhaps the French word for Côte d'Ivoire means that). So the driver couldn't bear it any longer, put the two on a small street in Paris in the early morning, and punished the two. After he turned to the road, he loaded a blind woman into the car. The driver was full of curiosity about the blind girl, and he kept observing the blind girl's every move through the rearview mirror. He thought the blind girl couldn't see anything, but in fact the blind girl understood it better than anyone else, and knew all kinds of rude behaviors from him. Out of curiosity about blind people, the driver kept asking the blind woman some impolite questions, including how the blind woman had sex and whether she knew who she was having sex with when she had sex. The blind woman disdainfully told that she was using every inch of her body to make love, which is truly beyond the perception of a discerning person. Arriving at the destination, the black driver deliberately wanted to reduce the fare of the blind girl, but the blind girl told her that she did not need his mercy, and advised him to be careful on the road. Sure enough, the black man collided with the car on the side of the road again and again. Maybe the sighted can even see better than the blind. When you think you are superior to others, maybe you don't know that the people you look down on are actually much better than you.
The story of Rome is ridiculous. Bernini's driver has the flair and cynicism befitting the country of Italy. In the empty streets in the early hours of the morning, he was driving a taxi alone, but he seemed to have a lot of fun, and he drove fast in the opposite direction on the one-way street, chattering to himself, as if the whole city was his audience. Then he was tasked with carrying a priest. So he decided to tease the serious priest. In the car, he insisted on repenting to the priest, but the priest did not agree, because this is not a church, and repenting here is humiliating to the gods. But the driver didn't care, he chattered about his confession story. He said that when he was 12 or 3 years old, he had a relationship with a pumpkin because of his sexuality and desire; then when he grew up, he felt that he could no longer rely on pumpkins to solve problems, so he looked for a living, Who would have thought that he was with his little sheep; when he became an adult, he couldn't bear the temptation to have sex with his sister-in-law again. Pumpkin, sheep, sister-in-law, sister-in-law, sheep, pumpkin,,, the more the driver tells it, the happier he is, and the more unreliable he tells it. Sitting in the back represents the holy priest who was so angry that he had a heart attack by his dirty stories. Died in a taxi. When the driver found out that the situation was a big deal, he quickly put the priest on a bench in the roadside park, and did not forget to put on ridiculous sunglasses on the dead priest. Perhaps only in this religious birthplace with ancient religious culture, can someone dare to tease the gods like this.
The last story took place in Helsinki, but it took a big turn from the humorous style of the previous story and told a sadder story. In the early hours of the morning, Helsinki was covered in snow, and two people got into a taxi with a drunk, unconscious friend. The two told the driver that their drunk friend had the worst of luck today. He bought a new car to go to work. He was very happy, but when he got to the class, he found that he was fired. When he came out of the class to go home, he found that the new car was smashed into pieces. When he got home, his wife learned that he had been fired. Fired squid clamoring to divorce him. So this man used wine to drown his sorrows, and he drank like this. The driver told them his own more tragic story. The driver's wife was pregnant, and the child was born when she was in her sixth month of pregnancy. The doctor told them that the child would not live more than a week. So the husband and wife reluctantly decided not to put any love on the child, so that they would not suffer too much after the child died. Who would have thought that the child miraculously survived for 3 weeks, so the couple unconsciously turned all their love to the child. Who would have thought that when their love was strong, the child couldn't hold on and finally died. Nothing is more painful than the loss of a loved one. In icy Helsinki, only the hearts of lonely people are colder than the weather.
Jarmusch has always been a master storyteller. His stories are usually not like ordinary stories, with a complete structure such as a beginning, a climax, and an ending. His stories do not seem to be stories, but are cut off from one by one in life. It's a small clip, but it gives people Mo Ming's moving and resonance. The 5 stories reflect the customs of 5 regions and the lives of 5 groups of ordinary people. They are also full of Jarmusu's lost, estranged and wandering style. They are also stories of strangers and cities, but maybe you have a shadow in them. Maybe the next time you're in a taxi and chatting with the driver, you'll find your own story interesting too.
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