Midsummer, six weeks, change the boy's life.
What I'm talking about here is not " Please call me by your name" ( hereinafter referred to as CMBYN), but François Ou Jong's new work " 85 Years of Summer". Although it is also about the boy's midsummer light year, the latter is obviously more inseparable than the former, so that many viewers hope to cut "85 Years of Summer" into two paragraphs after watching it.
In terms of chemical reaction alone, the first half of "85 Years of Summer" is better than CMBYN. Two beautiful teenagers, 18 and 16 years old, their hot and gushing love is like a ray of sun, shining utterly drunk. Different from the luxury villas, maid nanny, and Kochi parents in CMBYN, the boys in "85 Years of Summer" are closer to you and me: they are all working-class people, they will work in the summer to make money, they will hang shoulders and press the road, secretly The cinema is affectionate and lingering. When they cheered and shouted on the roller coaster, the audience could jump into the blue ocean of youth and familiarity with just one jump.
However, how strong the love blooms, there will be more thorny hearts when it withers. In the second half of the story, the story takes a turn for the worse, with derailment, quarrels, death, and other doggies brought up in a pot of blood, making people truly appreciate what cruel romance is. For Ou Rong's remnant fans, this kind of story is easy to understand: If you can make a boy and a boy's sweet water film, Ou Rong will not be Ou Rong! After all, from "Dry Chai Laihuo" to "Eight Beautiful Pictures" to "Entering the House" , Ou Rong, who molested different themes like a urchin, proved his ability to play suspense time and time again, never giving up the exploration of the dark side of death and emotion.
The same goes for "85 Years of Summer": In the summer of 1985, Alex, a Normandy boy, got acquainted with David, who was rescued because of a ship capsize. The two boys are only two years apart, one is quiet and shy, the other is enthusiastic and bold. They were quickly attracted to each other, and the sparks of love burned along the coastline. From movie theaters, grocery stores, dance halls to sparkling boats on the sea, they burned the most passionate emotions, but they also made jealous demons. When an exotic girl appeared, the wonderful summer love song suddenly changed its tone...
The film is based on Aiden Chambers's youth literature "Dancing on My Grave" , so it is hard to say that the director is responsible for the plot. But the special thing about Ou Rong is that he can bring any subject matter with the suspense brand that he is good at, so that the love that is in full swing can also be suspenseful. The film announced from the beginning: If you don't want to know how a glamorous boy turned into a corpse, you'd better stop it, this film is not for you! After that, the two timelines were constantly switched, letting the hot past and the cold present intertwined and advancing, and the audience was led by the nose through Alex's writing. If the original is just an autobiography of Guo Jingming (of course not), Ou Rong undoubtedly gave the film more of the temperament of "Genius Ripley" . And just when you are depressed by the plot, the director also mixes in some cold humor, making people feel like "whose youth is not stupid"...
There are many elements in the movie that Ou Rong pays tribute to his previous work. For example, Alex disguised as a woman and went to visit the morgue, and ended up riding a bicycle off the scene. It resembled Ou Jong's early short film "Summer Sling Dress" , and even the skirts worn by the characters were surprisingly similar. And the way teachers and students discuss writing to promote narrative has the shadow of "Entering the Hall". The setting of using the opposite sex to shake the same sex and result in the opposite sex (?) in "Dry Chai Raihu" also appeared in the confrontation between David and Alex. Of course, Ou Yung's films may change a lot, and the one who will never change is the French teenager. The youthful flesh of the boys exudes an aura of temptation on the screen, and there is joy in every gesture.
Since the film was shot in France in 1985, the popular elements of the 1980s are naturally indispensable. Audiences can listen to several golden songs composed by Therapeutic Band and Rod Stewart, and can also appreciate the amazing retro texture presented by 16mm film. What’s interesting is that the film was originally called "84 Years of Summer", and later changed its name to "85 Years of Summer" in order to accurately restore the era : Robert Smith, the lead singer of the therapy band, told Ou Jong that the band’s famous song "Inbetween Days" was released in 1985, if If Ou Rongfei wants to use 1984 as the title, he will refuse to authorize-because the song cannot take the time machine! Ou Rong replied that he was willing to change the movie's name to "85 Years of Summer" for this song, but can the copyright fee be lower... (Uh, director, your morals!)
Fans who like Ou Rong will not be disappointed with "85 Years of Summer", even if it ends up in a mess. It's not just about homosexuality, but also the hesitation and life-death opposition of adolescence. Ou Rong hopes that his male protagonist will be bathed in the light of life and shadow of death at the best age, and complete the frantic journey of pursuing himself. The audience will find that all occurrences are actually "not the beginning but not the end", but a short moment of a long experience. "The so-called growth is to strive to focus on every moment in front of you, and grow into the current self in the occurrence of moment after moment."
At the end of the movie, Alexis soon met another boy, a boy who had crossed with him and David. From the end to the beginning, only one summer passed. why? Because this is youth, because youth is used to squander, try and make mistakes, fall and climb forward. I dare say that if I watched this movie in my teenage years, I would definitely take it as my duty to find a boyfriend like David. - because only young once ah! Only by shining and bloody walking through youth, will life leave no regrets!
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