The story of the seaside stopped abruptly after Xiaomi's departure, but he really couldn't think of a better way to continue on the road.
The thoughts that came to me at the time were surprisingly consistent with my friends who watched the movie in advance: This is 2017, and the best Chinese movie I have ever seen in a movie theater.
The maturity of "Carnival" not only means Wen Yan's amazing improvement from the filming of "Watermark Street" to this film, the unity of the lens language and the author's appeal, secretly tossing, and the smallest details, creating a reality, broken dreams and despair. Oriental Space-Time.
Its success is not an isolated existence. The black house girl, Xiaomi, is not the "Stupid Bird" that flew from Hunan, or the more distant "Smell of Rice Flower" from the border of Yunnan. The association of such a span is only to illustrate the emergence of "Carnival", not only an affirmation of the director's artistic talent, but also a social phenomenon reflected in the realistic style. It is not an isolated, small section in China. They are well-founded in black and white.
In the vernacular, "Carnival" is a rare film in the past decade, focusing on contemporary social contradictions and cases of sexual assault on young girls. Some people try to tell foreign audiences that China in the movie is exactly the same as China in reality. What I thought was exactly the same. The space where the characters in the movie appeared was exactly the same as the town where they lived in reality.
The characters in the film include black households, migrant workers, hotel owners, unemployed people, thugs, elementary school students, ordinary parents, police, lawyers, doctors, as well as powerful and obscure figures. The reason why these identity professions are counted one by one is precisely because the audience will have actual contact with these characters in real life experience and make effective observations.
"Carnival" starts from a beach, a seaside city, and a homestay hotel that is rooted in everyone's travel image, leading to a dark secret in a room. Curious, puzzled and uneasy watching all this, in addition to the cinema audience, in addition to the surveillance camera, there is also the eyes of a young waitress.
In Wen Yan's conception, the female characters in the film have diverse personalities and their own characteristics. It is not difficult to find that the female cast members of "Carnival" have features such as big eyes. From Wen Qi and Zhou Meijun, who rose strongly after the 00s, to Shi Ke, who was once one of the five golden flowers in Chinese opera, there is a certain resemblance. In them, there is the possibility of changing the fate of the characters: for example, when Xiaowen grows up, he becomes Xiaomi. Xiaomi in the future may become Lily. Married, gave birth to children, and became Xiaowen's mother again. If it is not so pessimistic and desperate, there is still the possibility of becoming a lawyer representing justice and credibility.
There is also a capitalized, condescending female image in the film. From the poster, the beginning, the play and the end of "Carnival", this huge female sculpture repeatedly appeared. It is worth mentioning that it has never appeared in a large panorama. The Monroe we saw was only a small part, part of it, until it was detached, hoisted, and pulled away by the trailer.
The statue of Monroe by the sea, she has gathered the charm of female sexuality, and also absorbed the thousands of projections of male desire. The good people study said that when Monroe's eyes widened, she was like a young girl like a doll. When she lowered her eyes slightly, she was again a passionate and sexy goddess. The chaotic desires of the patriarchal society led to the occurrence of "Carnival" events. Just like the girls, left-behind children, primary and middle school students, postgraduate doctors on Weibo...every time they see such news reports, netizens will feel helplessly, they are not the last one.
In Xiaomi's mobile phone, Monroe's skirt was photographed. People who took wedding photos just used Monroe as the background. Her red high-heeled shoes, flying skirt, unscrupulously facing the sea, also attracted a small advertisement of the mad bee wave butterfly.
The only man in the play who has a sense of justice and upholds normal conduct is Geng Le, who does not look like his father. It is ironic that this father has problems with his marriage, family and work and career, and he is in an equally bad situation. What makes some viewers feel that it is not enough is that he seems to have exploded more intensely and rudely.
For Geng Le, "Carnival" once again suppressed the burning anger. That's not what the movie wants.
No one, the deserted seaside playground is waiting for an upcoming grand carnival. However, on the inflatable passage of the behemoth, only two girls avoided the parents, the school and the crowds. They stayed at a certain moment in their lives like a small, futile pendulum.
Such a scenario still cannot arouse the loneliness, loneliness and sighs of the adult world. The secret of Room 306 will only be pierced and attacked after Xiaowen grows up, enough to destroy a pure human being.
Recalling this scene, you can find the sadness of "Carnival": their happy growth only needs company. It's like going back to the time Xiaowen was with his father. Even the boring scene of kicking branches is happy to win over gods.
Of course, what "Carnival" wants to say is more than this bowl of chicken soup. The relationship between girls and money, beer, wigs, and lipstick, without exception, points to the greedy temptation of the adult (male power) world. In the face of this collusion between the top and bottom, the infringement is constantly staged. Xiaowen's tragedy may only be the beginning. Chairman Liu, who barely showed up, is not a weak villain in the genre. On the contrary, his vagueness, his ubiquitous tentacles, GPS positioning, and the police and doctors are already powerful enough to reverse the black and white, and bury the madness and absurdity on the spot.
The departure of the Monroe statue caused some fans to think of Angelopoulos, "Goodbye Lenin", and even more, feel that the girl’s motorcycle is galloping-feeling the rhythm of life in the change of speed. Also think of "Goodbye Southland, Southland" and "Roadside Picnic". In my opinion, although the fan-like crazy associations are too far-fetched, it also shows that the time and space of the environment represented in "Carnival" is a real, credible and artistically appealing world. "Carnival" was mentioned together with it, indicating that the standard is reliable.
Of course the statue will die too. The opening scene of Fellini's "Sweet Life" is a statue of Jesus, hung in the sky by a helicopter and pulled away, all over the void. The protagonist has lost himself, lost an innocent heart and an open attitude towards life. That absurd story took place in Rome, but Fellini thought it was an inner city, an eternal city.
The same goes for the seaside cities in "Carnival." It is easy to sympathize with Xiaowen and Xiaomi in the film, but what "Carnival" has to say: love, warmth, and stop the secondary harm from the outside world and relatives. It's actually harder.
View more about A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy reviews
