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Lots of spoilers. Please exit if you haven't seen it.
It's not just a matter of spoilers, because if you haven't seen it, you probably won't understand what I'm talking about.
First of all, this should be called "A bloody case caused by a leather cloak".
Because the origin of the story is because of a leather cloak, but this origin, you don't know until the end of the film. So it's actually a flashback movie. Of course we all know that as a suspenseful crime film, of course it has flashbacks. However, after watching this movie, I will feel that this movie is actually about the theme of what Loser is pursuing in his life.
Let's start with the cloak.
The symbolism of the cloak is obvious, that it belongs to the wealth of the fallen. To put it another way, that means success. The people who belonged to the side of the leather cloak included the owner of the business card in the leather cloak, the owner of the leather cloak and the owner's wife, Zhang Zili's first woman, and the former captain Wang and later Captain Fatty of the criminal police team. But unfortunately, two of the characters on this side were killed: the owner of the leather cloak and the king team of the criminal police team.
On the other side of the leather cloak, the man advocates independence, the heroine Wu Zhizhen, the heroine's husband, and the heroine's boss. They belong to the loser group. From the perspective of the entire film style, you can see some landscapes that only appear in Jia Zhangke's films: a solid sense of presence, trucks, dilapidated roads, electric vehicles, motorcycles , clothes that show the identity of the class and region, the surreal horses in the corridors, the sudden and meaningless cries, and so on. The appearance of these landscapes heralds the power and irresistibility of the real world.
The film begins in the summer, but it's actually a cold story. So soon the story unfolds and the whole world enters winter. It's not just Zhang Zili who was robbed of his motorcycle on the street after being drunk, and it's not just the heroine Wu Zhizhen who accompanies the living dead. What's cold is actually people's hearts. But the strange thing is that this movie is actually called "Fireworks in the Day", the fireworks are hot, but the whole story is cold.
At the beginning, the first loser Zhang Zili appeared, and after his woman slept with him, he left decisively. On the platform, he was the one who was left on the spot. He was not reconciled, and even threw her to the ground in public. But in exchange for her greater disdain and contempt. All this is telling him that you are a loser. This scene obviously had a great impact on Zhang Zili's life: he was betrayed by a woman and finally chose to betray her.
And this scene also established Zhang Zili's life pursuit: he wants to save his loser life.
But unfortunately, not only did he fail, in the first link of the corpse case, he almost died because of his incompetence. The suspect was subdued, and several of them were not searched immediately, resulting in two police officers being shot dead. It's obvious that these police officers have poor awareness. Then, during the shootout, Zhang Zili's gun almost didn't come out, which shows that his training is poor. In the end, the criminal was wounded, but he was almost killed without killing himself, which shows his incompetence.
The video has a lot of blank space here. Zhang Zili was hospitalized and discharged, but in the car, Zhang Zili proposed to see the family members of the deceased policeman. Team Wang (the one who later became Team Wang) said something meaningful: The family members’ emotions had just stabilized, Don't be busy. Then five years later, Zhang Zili became a security guard. Why? In fact, the reason is that five years ago, Zhang Zili was responsible for the death of the two policemen, so it was not his choice to be a security guard, but was opened by the criminal police team. Obviously, Team Wang's words imply the hostility towards Zhang Zili by the families of the two policemen.
After understanding this plot, you will understand why Zhang Zili, who is already a top loser, is keen on Wu Zhizhen's case five years later. He was trying to save his own loser life. Specifically, he wanted to return to the Criminal Police Force. And this case is an opportunity. So when he succeeded, the film used a piece of his solo dance to express his pride in a quiet but intense way: success was at his fingertips. His loser life is expected to end here.
Strictly speaking, Wu Zhizhen is not a loser. Even if she used to be, the moment she rose up to kill, she was already detached from her daily life. The real loser is actually her husband Liang Zhijun, who has become a living dead since then. He can kill, but he is getting farther and farther away from his wife. Until he was finally betrayed by his wife and died on the street.
The fireworks are bright but short-lived, like Wu Zhizhen. For five years, she was with different men, and then watched these men get killed by her own men. In fact, she was deadly and beautiful at this time. She knew the fate of the men chasing her, but she was happy to see them chasing her.
In the film, she repeatedly warned Zhang Zili not to follow him, but that meant more like an invitation. Especially the first time note, in front of the store owner, she handed Zhang Zili a note, and Zhang Zili put it away in a panic, this was obviously not a rejection, but an obvious flirtation. The more obvious place is when Zhang Zili invited her to skate, she happily agreed. It is impossible for her not to know how her predecessors died. But she still did. And when she was on the ice rink, the scene where she danced indifferently on the ice was very similar to the scene where Zhang Zili danced alone. But this joy, while being publicized by body language, appears silent and ambiguous in the movie screen.
So, as the heroine of the film, what is Wu Zhizhen pursuing?
It's actually exciting.
From the moment she murdered five years ago, she could no longer be satisfied with her daily life. She began to pursue all things drastic.
Why does Wu Zhizhen risk being sexually harassed by the boss all the time to work in the laundry? Is she short of money? Of course not, the film clearly shows the scene of Liang Zhijun giving her money. It is conceivable that this is not the first time Liang Zhijun has given her money. So, she is not short of money. The only explanation, then, is: she likes it. She likes the tension of being sexually harassed by her boss at any time, just as she is reluctant to deal with her hand injury, she likes this kind of stimulation. And throughout the film, she is taciturn and almost expressionless. People with this character tend to prefer intense things. Another detail that symbolizes this is that she smokes. Yu Hong in "Summer Palace" also smokes. One of Yu Hong's lines can best describe people like them. She said that people like us shed blood in war and can't walk in peace.
When Wu Zhizhen broke the leather cloak, she was unable to move an inch, and after she killed someone, she shed blood.
Therefore, what Wu Zhizhen pursues is stimulation. Like fireworks.
It's just a pity that the fireworks are during the day. And the story itself is also, only if you go deep into it, you will find the thrilling inside. There is no explicit love part from the beginning to the end of the film, so this gives the viewer a chance to interpret it. In my opinion, Wu Zhizhen's pursuit of excitement towards Zhang Zili: what's more exciting than a murderer having sex with a policeman. So, the morning after the Ferris wheel, she's wearing lipstick for the only time in the film. It's certainly a sign of contentment. At the same time, it is also a symbol that she foresees her own end. In ancient times, it was a solemn thing to go to the execution ground, and here she used makeup to express this solemnity.
In the same way, Liang Zhijun actually foresaw his own ending. But he still chose to die, and died tenaciously in front of her. She saw Liang Zhijun running towards her and hid aside, of course he knew she was there. So, he overtook her and died where she just saw it clearly.
Wu Zhizhen chose to betray Liang Zhijun, and Zhang Zili also chose to betray Wu Zhizhen.
Actually, their names are quite interesting. Wu Zhizhen, Zhizhen Zhilie. Not chaste, but strong. (Infidelity, in the leather cloak incident, she tried to exchange her virginity for peace, but failed. Lie, she finally went to the road of fireworks, dazzling but inconspicuous, fleeting.) Zhang Zili, self-reliance and self-improvement, not standing, but strong. (Not standing, not standing at thirty. Strong, survived, succeeded, and finally sold his woman to complete his revenge on the woman and cultivated the most powerful heart. He is the big winner.)
The fireworks at the end of the film, Although the point, but in my opinion a bit redundant. Because it's a bit like being a bitch and having to build a torii.
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At this point, the plot of the film has been roughly interpreted.
This is a movie worth watching.
Basically so.
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