Are the fireworks that night real?

Shoplifters

"Mime" and invisible fireworks

In "Burning", Li Cangdong introduced the concept of "pantomime" through the mouth of the heroine at the beginning of the film. The essence of "mime" is not to imagine the existence of things, but to forget that they don't exist. The connection between the material scarcity and spiritual life of the low-level characters is cleverly connected through this concept.

What’s interesting is that in the "Thief Family" that competed on the same stage in Cannes, there was also a scene with a similar meaning: a family looking to the sky outside the narrow door, together "watching" the fireworks show in the distance- they could only They can hear the sound, but the splendor of the fireworks requires their own imagination.

When this fleeting beauty can be confirmed by the presence of invisible voices and other "family members", the small living space shown in the next shot seems to have lost the repulsive social meaning and transformed into a kind The "fetters" of happiness.

However, if it is Hirokazu Kee who still dwells on this kind of warm-hearted "family" relationship description, then the whole family of thieves may still be reduced to an off-screen (probably) audience with an optimistic interest in low-level life. external gaze -

We feel the vitality of life at the bottom, and the facts that are trapped by money and survival have become fragments that can be tasted by aesthetics. We seem to subconsciously agree that this kind of vitality can be self-consistent and maintain their actual lives-in other words, this kind of forbearing warmth also blocked the outlet of catharsis and accusation from the other side, blocking the reality of the audience and the bottom characters in the film. The touch of life.

In fact, this is also the reason why I personally think that many of the previous works of Hiroshi Edema fall into a certain kind of narrow taste in the social sense and strip the real institutional structure . Fortunately, in "The Thief Family", I saw a breakthrough. This may be the deepest time in Zhi Hirokazu's contemplation about family and society.

It's Zhi Yuhe's determination and suspicion

In the first seventy to eighty minutes of the film, what we see is quite familiar is Hirokazu Kee. The discussion about the non-blood "family" has already been conducted in "As Father Like Son", and we can still see the skill of Hirokazu Kee to accumulate emotions and portray relationships through details.

The difference is that, on the one hand, Hirokazu Kee focuses on life at the bottom of the society, and does not involve too much cross-class interaction. Therefore, it does not form the separation and separation of the elite and civilian perspectives like "Father Like Son". A sense of jerky; on the other hand, the details of the film not only act on the overall mood, but also provide the possibility for subsequent plot reversals.

In the process of watching the first half of the movie, it is difficult for the audience to clearly perceive the hints of the latter layer, at most it is just a kind of suspicion.

We saw the little boy stealing under the guidance of the "father", and saw the "vicious" curse of the "father" after the injury and the "mother" wishing him to be hurt a little bit more for compensation, and seeing the "grandma" broken mouth The family who disliked the "sister" gave too little money; we also saw that the "mother" decided to keep her before sending the little girl home. We saw the simple, direct and unconcealed sexual relationship between the "father" and the "mother" after the meal. Love, when I saw "grandma" sprinkle the little girl's palm with salt.

Perhaps it is because the overall atmosphere is still rather light and pleasant, or perhaps it is the mindset formed by the depiction of Hiroshi Kee and his family in our long-term observations. We think the latter, which seems more positive, tolerates the former: even if it is caused by financial relationships and life difficulties. Entangled, the people at the bottom are still able to cuddle with each other, brewing true affection.

This is a common low-level image (or a shaped low-level discourse ) in contemporary society : fluid and lagging, loose but tough, no need to look at it coldly, no need to analyze, let alone too much criticism, only life experience and subtle emotions Mixed intuition -a state of being pushed away. We have already grasped the idea of ​​Yuka Kee, family relationships can be constructed through acquired nature, and "home" can be chosen.

But we have forgotten that the premise of the so-called "choice" is that there is a choice.

Under this premise, the confusion brought to people after the film is undoubtedly extremely powerful and even devastating.

Why did the "mother" hesitate to say nothing when confronted by the investigators about "mother" or "mother"? Why did she finally think that it is not enough for her and her "father" to be the parents of the boy? Not to mention the disastrous ending: why should the boy be caught deliberately?

What does this seemingly intimate family mean to each member?

Imaginary harmony and real choice

At first glance at the end, I seem to be able to feel that Hirokazu Kee's distrust of the "home" he has made up by himself. Is all the previous warmth just a mirror image? Could it be that Hirokazu Ke still has more identification with the traditional family structure?

The answer can still only be found in the previous details. When we reconsider the life of this non-blood family, we may have to give up too many beautiful imaginations and recognize the cruel reality.

Although the act of "stealing" can be regarded as a hidden rebellion against the social system by the bottom, we have to admit that in fact they only made a choice from the simplest need for survival and from the perspective of not overly harming others -this may be It is the description that truly conforms to the current psychology of the bottom of society.

They may have some breathing power in the face of severe social hierarchical oppression, and even can entertain themselves in this weak breathing. But this kind of subjectively positive posture still cannot erase their objective life is difficult. Even if the bitterness can be chewed out of sweetness in different ways, the continuous bitterness itself and the process of this transformation are still oppressive and painful-this is even another Ah Q-style "spiritual victory method."

Just as the "mother" can happily socialize with the "father" after being expelled from the factory, it cannot conceal the fact that she has lost her financial resources; just as the "sister" can get the care of her grandma in the "home", but she cannot be denied There is only a deeper layer of emptiness in the work of the erotic industry; just as the "father" can get happiness in the process of getting along with his children, but still thinks about a sufficiently spacious house while working on the construction site.

The postures represented by these two value orientations seem completely opposite, but they are integrated into the life of this "family" in such a self-consistent way. But in fact, this kind of appropriate mixing is just an imaginary harmony. The ending of the film is to tear this layer of concealment softly and coldly.

On the one hand, they seem to exist so self-sufficiently, but in fact the laws, regulations, and traditional moral values ​​of the society do not allow it. Such marginal families are like the suspects in "The Third Homicide". They only serve as a container in front of the huge Leviathan: they are inconsistent with the law and traditional definitions, and they are bound to be dismantled, and the emotions in them are bound to be Was completely obliterated. At this level, it is Hirokazu Zhi that affirms the authenticity of the construction of kinship.

On the other hand, despite the seeming harmony within the family, in fact in the ubiquitous relationship of interest, this harmony is not completely trustworthy. When the most natural or even abstract emotions of human beings have to be mixed with different impurities such as money and desires, it is actually very easy for people to fall into a state of being bound by the social system. Then how do people determine this kind of "home" Can the emotion of "can maintain enough purity, abundance, and reality?" At this level, it was Zhi Yuhe who questioned the authenticity of this kind of affection.

Therefore, when the little boy gained a bit of "moral sense" in the somewhat mischievous "stealing" rebellion, his heart has slowly begun the process of separating from this "home". Perhaps the innocence of a child prevents him from completely and properly handling the contradiction between "moral sense" and "family affection," and he can only choose to leave; or perhaps he has already made a choice among this group of contradictions. , He was grateful for the upbringing of his "father," but still chose to leave.

Perhaps the "mother" being interrogated also has such anxieties in her heart. As an adult, she is already familiar with the psychological process of transformation, and she is even capable of burying wounds deep in her consciousness. But when she was asked about the title of "mother" and "mother", she fell into aphasia. On the one hand, this naturally means the interpersonal relationship of marginalized groups that cannot be tolerated in this socially compulsory "naming" system; on the other hand, perhaps she suddenly broke into the inescapable hesitation in her heart.

This was even more evident in her behavior of telling the boy where he was picked up later. It was Hirokazu Kee’s notion that he agreed with the point of view, but it retained the integrity of this character: the various shackles that life cast on her finally made her give up the "fetters" of her own choice of ideals. The trust of her, and her experience made her believe that there are also completely irreplaceable things about parents by blood.

In the same way, the "sister" can't turn a blind eye to the behavior of the grandmother played by Shu Xilin after all. "Father" can no longer catch up with the boy, nor can he fully understand the anxiety and even the secret fear in the boy's heart. The emotional bridge is actually so fragile that it collapses when touched.

This collapse from the inside out obviously does not meet the expectations of the audience, but it is the reality that the bottom people have to face.

Unsolvable or solvable "family" experiment

It seems that Hirokazu made a "family" experiment. He blended this group of people together, but it collapsed under external pressure and internal alienation. In the end, there is no clear conclusion.

But this lack of solution is not the stagnation of the experiment. Obviously, he did not fully affirm the family constructivism, or even doubt it. But this kind of questioning attitude is not a castle in the air, but is rooted in the reality of the alienation of people from the outside to the inside in the current hierarchical society of money, thus taking the thinking about the family to a higher level.

What is constructed in the first half of the film is nothing more than an imaginary space that can be appreciated and praised by onlookers-this is also the harmonious concept that the characters in the film more or less agree with. But the problem is that in the current social context, when society’s differentiation of people and people’s dependence on money still exist, and the bottom is oppressed to the lowest limit of survival, how do we fully trust this construction? What about his "love"? Isn't this imagination of the "love" of construction another construction that is equally vigilant?

This non-blood "family" is a pure ideal state. It does not involve any essentialist discipline or legal tradition, but a mobile, autonomous and caring collective. But when society does not have the conditions to truly establish such a utopian unity and collective, when the foundation of this illusion is still broken, what power do we as viewers have to force the people at the bottom to paint the so-called beautiful picture? ?

At this time, the "unsolvable" treatment of destroying the good is obviously a true respect for this group.

But Yukazu Ke will not extinguish all hope. Although the meaning of those emotional details is divided and blurred, it will not lose the possibility of meaning in its ideal state. The fine pieces of goodness in life are still real and sensible in front of the audience, condensed into an undercurrent of "solvable". Even if "love" is difficult to reach purity under the impact of different directions, the purity can still be extracted from that impurity.

We seem to be able to glimpse the future direction in that part of purity. In that pure ideal state, the "fetters" between people transcend the shackles of money and social hierarchy, and enter true liberation. That is the meaning of the real "home", and people's autonomy, freedom and mutual care and harmony are the only ones.

So, are the fireworks that night really real?

It can’t be seen, is it true or not?

Or, it can at least be heard, it is still moving towards reality, towards you and me in front of the screen.

This article can be found in the public account : Fengying Movies

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