In 2019, the year of the Heisei era in Japan, the memories of the film and television of the Heisei era are overwhelming. At this time, I want to talk about a movie, a movie produced in 2002, the new samurai movie "The Qinghei of Dusk" directed by Yamada Yoji.
The opening scene of the movie is the scene of the heroine Iguchi Kiyobei's wife being mourned in the bitter winter.
Seibei Iguchi was a junior samurai with an annual salary of 50 shi (20 shi was an advance payment, that is to say, the actual annual salary was only 30 shi, and the annual income of ordinary farmers at that time was about 20 shi or more). Fan’s treasury must be compared to a scene we are familiar with, which is probably equivalent to an ordinary civil servant without a job in the financial system of a third-tier city in China. There is an old mother who suffers from dementia, a ten-year-old and a five-year-old daughter, and a low-minded servant. Because his wife has been in bed for many years, in order to take care of the sick wife and her family, she will leave work every day when the drum beats. When I go home, I never go out for a drink with my colleagues, so I was nicknamed "The Qingbing Guard of the Twilight", a low-level samurai who worked hard, and this nickname really fits.
Because of his wife's treatment and funeral expenses, Qingbingwei owed a lot of debts. He was busy with housework, farming and sideline business. His clothes were naturally tattered, and he had no time to take care of himself. The head and the unshaven beard were a headache for the superiors and colleagues. One day the lord of the feudal lord inspected and was warned by the lord of the feudal lord for being sloppy and smelly. Since then, it has been a joke in the city.
It's already a salted fish. It's the same in terms of taste.
The first half an hour of the film describes the embarrassed daily life of a struggling lower-class warrior. In the bland narrative, there are two moving parts. One is Qingbingwei, who is engaged in the sideline business of weaving insect cages by the fire pit at night, and the opposite of the Analects while doing needlework. The dialogue with the eldest daughter, encouraging her to study well and rationally, the second is the flat face that is not flattered, when talking about her life is not as embarrassing as others think, "Watching my daughter grow up day by day, it is like watching my daughter grow up day by day. The growth of crops or flowers makes me very happy." The gentle smile on his face involuntarily showed a smile for the first time in the movie.
The time node in the movie is the end of the Edo period, in 1865 before the Meiji Restoration. Although Japan had enjoyed 250 years of peace, it was also generally poor and lagging behind the times. The attack of the black ships of the American fleet opened the closed country gate of Japan. So far It has been more than ten years, and it is the turbulent and magnificent era of the end of the curtain.
In the current words, it is the outlet where a pig may fly to the sky. No matter what, you should fight hard. It is a good time to seek fame and prosperity.
Therefore, Iinuma, a close friend of Qingbingwei, encouraged him to go to Beijing, "A talent like you should not be buried in such a rural place."
Qingbingwei's answer was, I'm just a mediocre person. If the times change, I'll be a farmer and ploughing the fields is more suitable for me.
Iinuma has nothing to do with him who has no desires, you are such a weirdo.
The so-called weird people are people who are different from the world and out of touch with the times. My uncle is thinking about renewing the string for Qingbingwei, saying that you are good to marry someone who is in good health and can give birth. Girls will not get married if they study. It is common sense to have a drink with colleagues after get off work, and work hard to advance in your career. The salary increase, Qingbingwei disagrees with the above, and Qingbingwei has always been such a weirdo.
What kind of samurai is Twilight Kiyobei? Isn't he just an embarrassed low-level office worker?
The change in Seibei's embarrassed life comes in the spring when the cherry blossoms are in full bloom. By the way, when Qingbingwei was on his way from get off work, he saw a rhododendron tree in the courtyard of the roadside residence, said "Oh, the rhododendron is blooming", and stopped to admire it.
When Qingbingwei returned home, Pengjiang, a childhood sweetheart, visited him at his house. Qingbingwei had completely failed to recognize her who had not seen her for many years. Iinuma's younger sister, Tome, because her husband Koda was a violent alcoholic, fled back to the Iinuma family many times, and eventually divorced her husband. The Koda family was an upper-class samurai with an annual salary of 1,200 shi.
That night, I sent Tomoe back to Iinuma's house, where the ex-husband was drunk. After the drunkard slapped Tomoe, Qingbei took action to stop it, and peacefully agreed to fight Iinuma with him the next day.
Samurai forbids private fights, and if you die, you will be finished. What should you do? Qingbingwei took a short wooden stick and stood opposite Kotian, saying, my school uses wooden sticks as weapons, a sword will kill people, but a wooden stick will not.
Who will believe you! Serious nonsense.
After all, Koda was a high-ranking samurai with high martial arts skills. Feeling humiliated, he decided to kill the low-ranking samurai Kiyobei who uttered wild words.
The duel of the samurai in the Showa samurai movie, because of the rendering of the scene, music, atmosphere, and because of the black and white film, the short-lived sword, light, sword and shadow quickly decided the winner, one samurai fell neatly and the other stood upright. It is an aesthetics of violence that is absolutely tragic.
In the duel by the river in this movie, there are two samurai brought by Iinuma and Koda at the scene. Koda and Qingbei confronted each other, and Koda slowly approached Qingbei.
If you apologize, you don't care about the past, Koda said.
Kiyobei answered firmly in a deep voice, you should be the one who should apologize.
The murmur of the river and the constant chirping of birds. Not far away, two peasant women picking wild vegetables fled in a panic. The scene of this duel is very real, and because of its authenticity, the seemingly ordinary scene exudes a breath-taking effect. of tension.
Jiatian wanted to draw his sword, but Qingbingwei suppressed it, Jiatian pulled out his sword and slashed, Qingbingwei dodged and parried, Qingbingwei's wooden stick hit Jiatian's back, and Qingbingwei's wooden stick was placed on Jiatian's neck. With the sword, Koda's head has already fallen to the ground.
Jiatian struggled unwillingly, Qingbingwei shot down Jiatian's sword, and Jiatian fell to the ground with a pale face, Qingbingwei gasping for breath and sweating on his forehead.
Kotian screamed and grabbed the knife on the ground, picked it up, and slashed horizontally. Qingbingwei jumped forward, turned around, and hit the back of the neck with a wooden stick.
Tsk, what high-ranking samurai is indeed a rogue. Can't help but think so.
And Iguchi Kiyobei, for the first time, showed the heroic appearance of a samurai.
Qingbingwei explained that Iinuma should not let Tomie know about the duel, and thought that the prodigal Koda would not preach it by himself. But the news spread quickly.
"The life of a samurai depends entirely on the farmers." Pengjiang, who said this, also forced his brother to ask about the duel. Pengjiang, who was protected by Qingbingwei as a child, is now protected again as an adult.
Since then, Pengjiang has often visited Qingbingwei's home, cleaning, cooking, sewing, educating and accompanying the two children. Not only that, she rejected several families who came to propose marriage, and even boldly proposed to her brother that she wanted to marry Qingbingwei.
Iinuma proposes a marriage to Qingbingwei.
"She comes from a salary of 400 shi, and she won't understand the plight of a poor warrior with a salary of 50 shi." Qingbingwei immediately refused. Obviously, this was not a lighthearted answer, but an answer that had been pondered many times, an answer that had been in his heart.
Looking at love when you are young is naturally pure, and you cannot tolerate such vulgar considerations. As long as there is love, it is enough. If you are poor, you can work hard together. You will look down on Kiyobei's answer. As I get older, I gradually understand that being in the same household means that many habits are similar when living together for a long time. Countless details in daily life are derived from the influence a person has received in the family since childhood, which is now called the traces of the original family and the economic conditions of the family. The hidden dangers buried by the huge difference can kill love countless times in daily life.
What's more, it was the Edo period when the class was frozen, and Qingbei was not a person who would progress in his career.
I am still moved by pure love, and at the same time, I can understand Qingbei's refusal.
After that, Pengjiang no longer set foot in Qingbingwei's house.
A few days later, the lord of the feudal lord died of a sudden illness. The two high-level factions in the feudal lord fought for power and profits and launched a brutal infighting. The loser was sentenced to be cut to the stomach. As the bottom-level Qingbingwei, he could have stayed out of the matter, but because of the previous duel with Jiatian, he entered the high-level vision, and the high-level executives in the middle of the night. Summoned, he was ordered to defeat Yugo Zenemon, the master of the failed crusade the next day, who was the strongest swordsman in the domain.
Qing soldiers and guards sharpened their knives at night. "The look that night was different from usual" is a deep memory of her daughter.
The next morning, Qingbingwei's house was as usual, the servants were doing things, the mother was chanting, and the two daughters hurried out to go to school after breakfast. Qingbingwei went to the door and watched the daughters go out without saying a word. This look is goodbye.
As you get older and experience more, you know that even if the most important thing in your life is about to happen, or has happened, and the world outside is running as usual, it seems that nothing has happened. After experiencing this kind of moment, you will understand that after all, people are Lonely passerby.
I believe it was this great sense of loneliness that made Qingbingwei invite Pengjiang to his home to prepare his appearance before his departure.
At the entrance of the tea before the trip, the season of life and death let Qingbingwei, who had forbearance for a lifetime, reveal his true feelings. He said, he had dreamed of marrying you since he was a child, and this dream has never faded.
Pengjiang agreed to a marriage proposal a few days ago.
This is another very real scene. Life is like a river, flowing forward day and night. It may rotate and stop for a while, but it will never stop and wait. If I'm qualified to woo", the probability of missing is extremely high. The fantasy of "I'll wait for you until you don't marry" should be kept in romance novels or comics.
Shouldn't you let yourself get emotional before a duel? Because the boss promised that he would ask the vassal to take care of his family in the event of an accident with Qingbingwei, then Pengjiang was the last concern in his heart, and he confided his heart to the love of his life. Since then, all preparations have been completed.
Qingbingwei went out.
The restrained and restrained Pengjiang burst into tears when Qingbingwei's mother said an old idiot's daily greeting "Which family's young lady are you?". On the other side, Qingbingwei entered the Shura field of the duel of life and death.
The duel between the two people in the Yuemon's room began with the accusation of Yuemon.
Uemon became a tragic ronin due to a major change in the master's family. Both his wife and daughter died of poverty and illness. He finally obtained an official position in the Kaiban domain, but because the high-level servant he served failed in this power struggle, he was sentenced to be cut to the stomach.
"What's wrong with me?" The angry Eemon refused to commit suicide by incision, probably because he was afraid of the ronin's life, and he was unwilling to escape from the Kaisaka domain.
Qingbingwei was moved by the story of Uemon, and also described his embarrassment. Because he was going to hold a funeral for his deceased wife, he even sold the family samurai sword that represented the dignity of the samurai. Now this long sword is just a bamboo sword.
Uemon, who had a sullen expression and a yellow-black face, was drinking wine. Hearing this sentence, his expression changed drastically. Are you going to kill me with a bamboo sword? Perhaps it was because the dignity of the samurai was violated, or maybe it was because he thought that he had seized the opportunity of Qingbingwei's slack in his heart, and people stood up and took a knife and slashed at Qingbingwei.
Kiyobei dodged and defended, I belong to the small sword genre, and I want to fight you with a small sword.
The Uemon attacked again and again in the room, and Kiyobei kept dodging and did not fight back. He was injured in two places, and he was still urgently saying, you have not rested for two days, your breathing is intermittent, stop quickly, you have to escape while you are now.
The nobleness of the samurai is revealed.
I'll kill you before escaping, Uemon said. Qingbingwei finally pulled out the small sword and fought.
"It's so dark," "It's hell," said Uemon, who finally fell slowly.
Qingbingwei, who limped back home, found Pengjiang waiting.
In the Showa period, there was a period of crazy militarism, a period of post-war waste and economic boom, and a period of nouveau riche when the bubble economy reached its peak. The imprint of the times and the temperament of the times will be revealed without omission in the film. In the 1960s and 1970s, the golden age of Japanese samurai films, in the samurai films by the godlike and talented director Akira Kurosawa, the samurai was a ranger who sacrificed his life and did not love his body in Sima Qian's writings. The knight who is deeply hidden and famous is the loyal warrior who is loyal and ready to die generously at any time, and the knight who is struggling in the whirlpool of fate in the tragedy of Shakespeare.
The beginning of the Heisei era was the bursting of the bubble economy. People woke up from a dream of being intoxicated with money. Minimal life and separation became popular. Income and prices remained unchanged for 20 to 30 years. The GDP figure that measures economic development is extremely low. From the middle stream of 100 million to talking about the downward mobility society, and the development of affordable clothes Uniqlo, such a Heisei era has produced the movie Twilight, which I think is the most Heisei temperament.
The film is adapted from Fujisawa Shuhei's novel "Twilight Qingbingwei". The eight short stories are all 50 stone samurai, and the eight similar short stories are like eight black music tea bowls made by a tea maker. Although they are different, they have similar temperaments. Although they describe the life of a samurai more than a hundred years ago, they still move people today. Interestingly, Fujisawa Shuhei was not well-known during the Showa period, and was well received during the Heisei period.
Director Yoji Yamada is also a screenwriter, combining several short stories into a film.
Not only in Japan, but also in China, in fact, it is the same in many parts of the world, there are many such adults: working in an ordinary job, with an ordinary salary, maybe living with their parents, maybe Live alone, may live with a lover or get married or have children, prefer to go back to their own home, get along with family members or be alone, rather than participate in lively activities, do a good job of their own work seriously and have no career aspirations, rely on the development of science and technology and The blessing of the market economy, food and clothing is not difficult, do not have to worry about being the corpse that died of starvation in the movie down the river, can not afford a place to live, can rent a poor house, there are small troubles and small happiness in daily life, generally have their own favorite What I do, in this era of impetuous anxiety, I hope I can be a little calmer. In short, I am an ordinary person who is not so in tune with the world and is unknown.
These people should be able to find some gentle comfort and perseverance in the story of Qingbingwei.
Qingbingwei and Pengjiang lived a peaceful life together for three years.
What is life like in these three years, the movie does not say. I suddenly remembered that Pengjiang visited Qingbingwei for the first time after the divorce. When Qingbingwei returned home, Pengjiang said politely, "You are back. Qingbingwei didn't recognize Pengjiang's restraint at first, but after Pengjiang Daoming's identity, he suddenly realized The joy burst out, and then everyone sat around the fire pit and had a simple dinner. Pengjiang smiled and told the two children about her childhood with Qingbingwei. After the meal, Pengjiang and the children did needlework and taught the children. Singing nursery rhymes, the two girls kept laughing, the idiotic old mother didn't recognize her son but Pengjiang, Qingbingwei made a worm cage with a gentle smile on her face.
Under the full moon, the shabby room emits a warm light. It was a beautiful moonlit night.
Three years of this life. I smiled and thought, unable to hold back the tears.
At the end of the movie, in the Meiji era, most of the former bosses and colleagues of Qingbingwei made a fortune. After they became famous, they often said that Qingbingwei was really an unfortunate man.
Qingbingwei's daughter said, "I don't think so. My father is not a person who demands fame and fame. He will never consider himself unfortunate. He loves his daughter deeply and is loved by the beautiful Miss Pengjiang. His short life is full of beautiful memories. , I am also proud of such a father.
2019.5.14
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