The French may be romantic. Don Juan has been popular for so many years, and it is still used today to refer to those youths who are irritated by clothes. And if you don’t know what you can do to see the leopard, what I’m talking about is French romance or love, and what flows in its foundation is not a rosy color that cannot be turned away, but a dull gray blue. There are so many words that have not been uttered, and the dead silence disappears, only the impression of each other's heart. Two recent French films have been hand-picked, which is a little bit of evidence.
"Un Cœur en Hiver". The Chinese translation of "The Heart of Winter" (also translated "The Love Is Coming") is full of ordinary French life scenes from beginning to end. The cafe, his studio, her practice room, the recording studio, and his violin teacher’s home in the suburbs. Except for the protagonist's profession, which is slightly special-he and his friend run a violin repair workshop in partnership, he is responsible for the technology, and the friend manages the overall management; she is a rookie violinist, and the song Ravel is like weeping. She has a face like a virgin in Raphael's pen. The difference is that this face is seldom soft, and there is a kind of quiet cold color, and he almost lacks expression, it seems that all the enthusiasm is invested in listening. He listens and adjusts the violin so that each violin fits the hand that controls it. He almost only watched and listened to her from beginning to end. This violin girl who is sure to succeed is the lover of his best friend and partner, but it is not the so-called ethics or morality that prevents him from grabbing his love. He stared, his silent and thoughtful eyes carried weight into her heart. She told him excitedly after the performance: I pulled it for you. He rejected her mercilessly.
He spends most of his time in the studio. Besides, he either listens to her rehearsal or visits Weimu's teacher. He has a female friend, and every time he meets, he just listens to each other's rants. He opened a monologue in the movie: "There is something inanimate in my heart". When she let go of all her dignity and arrogance, she came to him to beg him, losing her dignity, but he still stubbornly refused, as if in this way he could shut off his vitality. It's as if he loves music but only makes violins, so indirectly, he pours all his own with precision. His partner witnessed his lover's embarrassment and beat him. The two broke up, and he opened a small workshop by himself. The story does not end here. The teacher is already weak, and he personally helped the teacher to euthanize him. One day after that, he met the inhumane face again in the cafe where he had been beaten. She was still by the partner's side. The two men have simply reconciled, and the three of them say peace to each other. The cafe is as warm and noisy as ever. She left in the car, he sat in the same place, looking at her, just looking at her, always.
"L'homme de Sa Vie". The Chinese name is "He and Her Man". This cannot be called the French version of Brokeback Mountain. Similar to "Heart of Winter", nothing has happened. Fred lives in a big house in the country. He has an elegant wife, a childish son, and a group of noisy friends who come to vacation. Every day, he lives in the open air with everyone for dinner, nap, and jogging in the mountains. Before neighbor Hugo appeared, his life was as full as the afternoon sun in the countryside. Hugo did not shy away from being gay, and said with a smile that his ethnic group is equivalent to a disabled person. Fred invited him to dinner, and the two continued to chat after everyone had separated, sitting in the yard watching the sky light up. The fragments of their chat are divided into segments, and they keep flashing in the scenes of Fred's daily life. You can say that this is unforgettable, or just a concern.
Fred is the husband and father, Hugo is the son expelled by his father, both of them are facing their families in different ways. The only thing they have in common is jogging. Hugo said: You are not your complete self, you just pretend to be Fred. Hugo has hard eyes and doesn't want to fall into any form of fixed relationship. He said that this is the only way to maintain truth. Fred's image of a good husband and father, who has remained unmoved for many years, suddenly disintegrated slowly because of a conversation. Nothing happened, Fred fell into an absent-minded trance, and his wife felt a sense of abandonment sensitively. Hugo finally gave up the resistance and went back to visit his dying father. On the night before leaving, Fred dragged his injured leg to the night spot where Hugo haunted and looked for him. He watched him deeply, and finally just said: You are leaving.
Technically speaking, both films have open endings, and we have no way of knowing where the entangled characters will eventually go. This is like life itself. Undercurrents may be able to overturn people’s lives, but many times, all words are thrown into the void, because we are afraid of change, because we have concerns, because there are some words that are impossible to understand. Exit, it dissipates in the air. In this sense, what French movies are telling is actually the views of falling flowers and flowing water. There may not necessarily be an end, or a beginning. After watching these movies, you will ponder for a long time, and you will not know what you are pondering over time. From this we can draw a conclusion that the labeling may still be biased: France turns out to be a country that has nothing to steal.
*This article has been published in "Kai La", please do not reprint, thank you.
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