"A pigeon sitting on a tree branch thinking about existence, it was
thinking that it had no money, and then it flew away." In the film, a little girl sang like this.
(Hanzhi Quejing's inspiration "Hunter in the Snow")
Hanzhi Quejing is such a simple story, or rather a ukiyo-e painting carefully arranged by director Roy Anderson than a story. The seven-year trilogy of life ushered in the final chapter, continuing the "singing from the second floor" and "you are still alive" is Anderson's distinctive personal artistic style. The calm and objective fixed perspective captures every corner. The world of snot-like yellow-green tones and people with pale zombie faces among them are full of absurd ridicule, and they have become Anderson's unique author's color. He considers painting as a form of expression that is connected to film, just like "Hard Branches and Quiet" is inspired by Peter Bruegel's painting "Hunter in the Snow", although the quiet and peaceful snow scene of the mountains and forests is the big picture of the holiday greeting card. Popular, but the world of tired hunters in the mountains and people skating in the distance that the birds overlook is full of human sorrows. The world of "Chilled Sparrows" is like the world in the eyes of birds. Under the lens of Roy Anderson, people's peaceful surface is full of insensitivity and absurdity.
Just like an ingenious Ukiyo-e painting of living beings, there is no obvious linear narrative in the film, and even time is blurred. Only the space is like an unfolding canvas, allowing the audience to peep into this peaceful and absurd world a little bit. What played an introductory role was the ridiculous investigation of death at the beginning. The middle-aged man who suffered a heart attack in order to open the bottle, the old lady who thought he could bring his belongings to heaven, and the beer that the deceased paid and could not return; Human death is no longer a natural process, but always linked to absurd values and money.
There is no clear timeline, and the two partners Sam and Jonathan run through the whole movie, like Don Quixote and the attendant Sancho. They dream of making a fortune but encounter all kinds of strange things on the road, funny and cute. In order to bring "laughs" to people, they sell vampire dentures, laughing bags and ridiculous uncle one-tooth masks, but all they get are the terrible laughter from the laughing bag, the embarrassment of the roadless sales, and the chicken ribs of not being able to collect the money. Have to make people think about whether "happiness" can really be bought and sold?
However, the absurdity is far more than that. In the most surreal part of the film, the army led by Charles 12 in history suddenly rushed out to fight and conquer with great arrogance. The woman was driven away. Although the handsome king was in awe, he was in harmony. The handsome bartender tuned in love, and the military anthem of one hundred thousand soldiers sang for them. The old man here drank wine alone, recalling himself as a young soldier during World War II. At this time, the same military song melody turned into a sad comfort, and the penniless soldiers hugged and exchanged drinks with the bar girl. drink. This same melody is like the bond between human memory and ideas, which is unforgettable. Since ancient times, human nature has not changed as if the melody has not changed. It is only the lyrics and the guilt memory that cannot be erased. The funny thing is that when the war was defeated, Charles XII not only had no access to the toilet, but also gave the women the veil of widows. The cruel and absurd Ukiyo-e is not just human belligerence, but the permanent scars left by human pain. The mistakes made by human beings are like ghosts, lingering in memory and turning into dreams. Devil and guilt.
Hidden behind Sam and Jonathan’s funny laughing bags and dentures is the pursuit of money. The nature of human nature and the past black slaves who were thrown into huge copper pipes to burn and play beautiful music have not changed, but the latter has The old-fashioned nobles just watched, the wonderful music is so beautiful, but at the same time it is so terrifying. If it weren't the zombie-like ordinary people who had been numb in it, but just a bird on a branch, I am afraid that the world would be strange and strange.
Anderson’s lens settings cleverly use oblique angles and fixed-length lenses to make people notice the different and wonderful things happening at the same time in the picture, even the subtleties that occur in the inconspicuous corners are not alone. "I'm glad to hear that you had a good time", it seems like a spell is scattered throughout the film, even if the people who are talking about don't seem to live like this, this ridiculous sentence is full of Anderson beside the monkey who was shocked. The witty irony. In this world where the weak eats the weak, the money drives everything, and the loneliness has nowhere to tell, I am afraid that only "I am glad to hear that you have a good time" is the most appropriate greeting.
What is life? The bird on the branch meditated. Maybe it’s just like the end, when you think it’s Thursday, everyone is telling you that it’s Wednesday. So you live helplessly in everyone's Wednesday. After all, time does not really exist, and the past and the future cannot be touched. Some are just living in the common sense among all beings and living in the world defined by mankind.
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