The film "Guling Street Teenage Murder" is nearly four hours long. It depicts the social outlook of Taiwan during the white terror period in the 1960s. There are many characters and complex narratives. It is a rare movie with epic temperament in Chinese movies. , the pinnacle of Chinese-language films. Under the dark Taiwanese night sky, there is a depressing atmosphere, accompanied by the hormonal breath exuded by teenagers and the singing of free and beautiful Western rock music, the terrorists in the air that indicate the imminent death are quietly brewing and growing.
This is a film about a persistent idealist who is gradually beaten or even destroyed by a realistic egoist. Xiao Si loves Xiao Ming, but is hurt by Xiao Ming's hypocritical and selfish words and deeds; his father is a decent gentleman who abides by his duties and takes Wang Gou as a friend, but he is framed by Wang Gou; he wears a navy uniform and talks about "War and Peace", full of Hani, the boss of the legendary "Little Park Gang", was killed by "Shandong", the boss of the rogue "Military Village Gang"; Xiao Si's good friend "Little King" Wang Mao recorded after Xiao Si was locked up. I wanted to give him a cassette of a cover of "Elvis" and "Are you lonesome tonight". I wanted to tell Xiao Si that "Elvis" replied to him, but the police threw it into the trash... But I Understand that it is not the real egoists who really hit these idealists, but the social environment shrouded in darkness.
The English name of the film is A Brighter Summer Day, which is selected from the lyrics of the song "Are you lonesome tonight" by Elvis Presley, which literally translates as "brighter summer", but in fact, the film's overall presentation of the image is all about It gives a dark and depressing feeling, which is ironic. There are several night scenes in the movie. The movie screen falls into darkness, only the light of a weak flashlight shakes in the dark night. This kind of "darkness" creates a dark life atmosphere for people under the oppression of power in that era. The scene that impressed me the most and made me amazed at Yang Dechang's audio-visual concept was the scene in which the "Little Park Gang" went to seek revenge for the "217 Military Village Gang" after Hani's death. The screen was so dark that I couldn't tell who was hitting whom. Only the light of the flashlight kept flickering and shaking during the fight. In this darkness, anyone could die, and death just happened in an inadvertent moment. .
The films directed by Yang Dechang are stern and restrained, often using fixed long-range and panoramic shots, so that the camera is like an objective and calm bystander, presenting all the problems. Even the heavy scene where Xiao Si stabbed Xiao Ming with a knife, the camera just recorded it quietly and impartially. Who is the real murderer? It seems that Xiao Si was the murderer who killed Xiao Ming. But in fact, who drove Xiao Si to pick up the knife and stab Xiao Ming's body? It's Xiao Ming, the pony, the school, and the whole society. These are the real murderers! Who is really selfish? There is no doubt that Xiao Ming is a selfish egoist who can sell her flesh and feelings in exchange for money and special treatment. But before Xiao Si killed Xiao Ming, Xiao Ming turned to Xiao Si and said, "You are really selfish". Xiao Si tried to change Xiao Ming and wanted to control what kind of person she became. In fact, being nice to her was in exchange for Xiao Ming's feelings for him. Isn't this selfish? As the narrator and scene arranger of the film, Yang Dechang just presented the course of events, and brought out his confusion and thinking through the mouths of various characters. As for the real answer, the audience is left to judge and choose independently.
What Xiao Si wants to kill is not Xiao Ming, but the world Xiao Ming represents, that false, flattering, dark world! In my opinion, the theme of this film is "The influence of social and family environment on a person". Xiao Si's innocence was influenced by his upright father, and he finally stabbed Xiao Ming because everything he was determined to have collapsed; Xiao Ming's sophistication was influenced by her family that followed the trend and her sick mother. The influence of her is her response to protect herself in such a turbulent society.
Yang Dechang is my favorite director, and "Guling Street Teenage Murder" is my favorite of his directorial works. If I have to say its shortcomings, it is probably the feeling of exhaustion and depression brought by watching the movie for four hours. There are too many characters and branches, which makes the whole story a bit lengthy, but I don’t think there is anything about this movie. deleted. It was the long viewing process that made me feel the oppression of that era, and saw the light and darkness of humanity shimmering in it. "Guling Street Teenage Murder" is as profound, as sharp, and as cold as several other films directed by Yang Dechang; but what is different is that it has a layer of romanticism more than the other films: perhaps derived from kittens Wang's affectionate singing voice may originate from the gleaming light in Hani's eyes, or it may originate from a kind of tragic strangulation of idealism.
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