Director Yang Dechang is a leading figure in Taiwan’s new films and a master of Chinese-language films. He is a master of realism, known as the "scalpel of Taiwanese society." Most of the films are based on the contemporary Taipei city of the film. But in 1991 The "Guling Street Juvenile Murder Case" is an exception. It tells the story around 1959.
"Guling Street Juvenile Murder" is adapted from a real case. This murder can be regarded as a point. How did the protagonist Xiao 4 know the heroine Xiao Ming and why killing her is a main line. Others are the family of Xiao Si In life, his father’s political persecution is another line. The gang struggle between the "Little Park Gang" and the "217 Gang" is also a line. Many clues and a large group of characters form an intricate social pattern that looks like a long A 4 hour documentary. If you don’t understand why the director shoots in this way, you will most likely lose it. Even if you barely finish watching it, you may not know what the director wants to express.
Yi Ge watched this movie more than ten years ago. I watched it several times. At first, I just felt that the life of the protagonist's little fourth was similar to his youthful years, but I was lost when I watched it. I don’t understand. The motives and choices of the characters in the movie. Later, with the understanding of modern Chinese history, especially some of Taiwan’s history, I slowly understood some of it. Then I saw the interpretation of director Yang Dechang’s friend and Taiwanese film master Jiao Xiongping, which gave me a more comprehensive understanding of this film. Cognition.
First straighten out a main line
The 48th year of the Republic of China was 1959, the 10th year that the Kuomintang government fled to Taiwan. In 1949, more than two million people fled to Taiwan together, and their descendants gradually grew up and entered adolescence. A whole new generation of people lived in a peculiar historical and geographical environment. More than two million people come from different places in China, all kinds of strange dialects, and huge cultural conflicts make them at a loss.
The little four family moved from Shanghai to Taiwan, but his father is Cantonese, and he speaks Cantonese when he gets excited. His father is a government official and his mother is a primary school teacher. The family income is not high. The fourth name is Zhang Zhen, and he uses the actor's name. There is a brother and two sisters on the top, and a younger sister below. A family of 7 lives in a small Japanese-style bungalow. Can only sleep in the closet.
Both parents are literate people. Primary 4's academic performance was good, but the Chinese scores in the junior high school exams were unexpectedly low. My father failed to ask for the examination papers, so the primary 4 could only study in the night department of Jianzhong. The school atmosphere is very bad, students are used to playing truant and fighting with gangs, and Little Four’s friend, Cat King, is a member of the "Little Park Gang".
There is a movie studio opposite to the night department of Jianzhong. Xiao Si and Kitten King were on the set to watch the film, but they were found to be driven away. They stole the flashlight of the security of the studio and used it as a light in their narrow closet. It may be that he often reads in places with poor light. The eyesight of Xiaosi is not good. There is no money at home to equip him with glasses, and he suspects whether it is pseudomyopia. So Xiaosi often goes to the school infirmary for injections. Xiao Ming, a female classmate of grade.
Xiao Ming is actually a poor child. His father died young and his mother had asthma. He worked as a servant in someone else's house. My mother pinned all her hopes of life on Xiao Ming, who was a minor, which made Xiao Ming's psychological burden very heavy and he appeared precocious. Intentionally or unconsciously, she is always looking for support, often changing boyfriends. It is said that it is for her that Xiao Park’s gang leader, Honey, and 217’s former gang leader Hong Mao duel, Honey killed Hong Mao and ran away.
People from the two gangs are staring at Xiao Ming closely, and the relationship between Xiao Ming and Xiao Ming will inevitably irritate the upper body. First, because I accidentally saw that Xiao Ming was with Xiao Park’s slippery head, and was retaliated by slippery head, which led to a big mistake.
Later, Xiao Ming took Xiao Ming to play at the military training range, and was seen by 217 members. Xiao Ming fought with 217 for the first time, and he did not back down one-to-four. Later, he was avenged by 217 and besieged in the school. Fortunately, Xiao Ma, a new classmate, relieved him. Xiao Ma is the son of Ma Sling, and the two became good friends.
One day, Xiao Ming’s ex-boyfriend, Xiao Park’s gang leader, Honey, came back and ran into Xiao Ming and Xiao Si together, but Honey did not embarrass him. Honey was later killed by 217's gang, Shandong, and Xiao Ming became seriously ill.
In order to avenge Honey, the Little Park Gang teamed up with Taiwanese to help bloodbath 217 and killed Shandong. Little Four participated in the action. Although he didn't dare to do it, he witnessed the whole process. After this incident, those who usually bullied him were very kind to him.
Xiao Si's father was framed, subjected to political censorship, lost his job, his family life became more difficult, and he became very nervous.
Later, because of Xiao Ming's relationship with the doctors and nurses in the infirmary, the fourth elementary school was caught by the school instructor and had to remember the big demerit. His father went to the school and asked the instructor to be lighter and humiliated by the instructor. The junior had an attack on the spot, attacked the instructor with a baseball bat, and was then dropped out of school. Here, the camera smashed a light bulb, but later in the conversation, Xiao Si said that he attacked the instructor.
Later, Xiao Si took Xiao Ming to Xiao Ma’s house to play, so Xiao Ming got to know the official second-generation Xiao Ma, and then Xiao Ming persuaded Ma’s family to hire her mother as a servant, so he moved into Ma’s family, and Xiao Ming engaged Xiao Ma again. Come together.
Xiao Si turned his face for Xiao Ming and Xiao Ma again, and took a knife to stop Xiao Ma at the school gate, and met Xiao Ming. Xiao four persuaded Xiao Ming not to change boyfriends so often, as he would be looked down upon. On the contrary, Xiao Ming said that Xiao Si was selfish, saying that she was just like this world and would not change. The angry Xiao Si stabbed Xiao Ming seven times, and while stabbing her with shamelessness, until Xiao Ming fell to the ground and died.
This is just a main line. If you look at this line alone, you will think that it is just a bunch of ignorant children fooling around. But in fact, the violent change of the primary four has an impact on the struggle between the family and the gang.
Gang fight
The so-called "Small Park Gang" is a gang with the ice fruit room as its gathering point. Most of their members are children like small four, and they are families of government officials who live in bungalows left by the Japanese. Taiwan was ruled by Japan for decades before the war of resistance against Japan. For this history, please refer to the movie "Sedek Bale". There are many families like Xiaosi, and the conditions are good or bad, but overall, it is better than 217.
The so-called 217 is the military's name for the number. Gang 217 is the children of the military villages. The military villages are the houses built for the families of military personnel who fled to Taiwan from the mainland. Most of the people living here are families of ordinary soldiers and their personnel backgrounds. Complex and culturally diverse, life is also more difficult. The military village is a unique culture in Taiwan. Yang Dechang himself has lived in the military village. Many celebrities in Taiwan’s political and entertainment circles come from the village.
217 are also half-old children. The fight between the two gangs is nothing more than a battle for territory, in the final analysis, to make money. The core event in the movie is to hold a concert in Zhongshan Hall, and disputes over interest caused by ticket money. But these young lads gathered together and couldn't avoid fighting for women and face. The grievances that Xiao Park helped Honey and Gang 217 had caused were caused by Xiao Ming.
Whether it is a small park or 217, in fact, they are both unweathered punks, but the main force of the bloodbath of 217 later, the "Taiwanese gangs" in this province are adult gangs, and they are the real gang terrorists.
Xiao Si entered the garbage school in the night department of Jianzhong unluckyly, met Xiao Ming, and got involved in the gang struggle. It was obvious that "the one who came close to Mo was black". His poor eyes may be a metaphor, including stealing the flashlight, which is a desire to see the reality clearly, but many things do not understand.
The gang killings and killings had a subtle influence on Xiao Si. His family situation was terrible, his prospects for being dropped out of school were slim, and his relationship with him had just begun and he was unable to provide resources for his girlfriend. All these pressures turned into an unnamed anger. It became a catastrophe.
Let’s talk about the influence of the family
The family is the epitome of the entire society. Children like Little Park and 217 are mixed in society because of the disorder and chaos in the adult world. This is the most important fundamental factor.
In the director's soundtrack of the movie DVD, Yang Dechang said that the motivation for creating this movie was that he doubted the history he learned in the middle school textbooks, and the reason was that it was different from what he saw. He carefully weaves numerous historical facts into the film, without criticism or complaint, allowing the audience to feel it for themselves.
After the Kuomintang government fled to Taiwan, millions of people needed to be resettled, to organize production and maintain their livelihoods, and to always guard against the liberation of Taiwan on the mainland side. They also dreamed of counterattacking the mainland, but after ten years, both the government and ordinary people basically understand that it is already impossible, but no one knows where is the way out for Taiwan. This is a total confusion. .
The strongest American culture after World War II has a huge attraction to the whole world. Many people yearn for the United States. For example, Wang Gou, the friend of Xiaosi's father, often laments the goodness of the United States. The eldest sister of Xiaosi also dreams of immigrating to the United States. , This is a typical fugitive thinking. The teenagers watched American Western movies in the cinema, and watched the "Playboy" magazine thrown away by the American soldiers on the bookstand. Rock music from the United States was originally a product of the American young youth's rebellious society, and it quickly set off a frenzy in Taiwan.
The character of Cat King in the movie is also adapted from real things. At that time, there was a rock band called the Star Choir. The lead singer Xu Qingfu was famous for imitating Elvis’ voice. Later, he sent his singing tape to Elvis. Elvis actually sent him a ring and said, “I didn’t expect to be in a There are also my fans on the unknown island." At the end of the movie, Cat King went to visit Zhang Zhen, who was sentenced. No one was seen, and the tape was thrown into the trash.
Xiao Si's father is an honest scholar who doesn't know how to be flexible, and he doesn't want to participate in collusion between government and business. This is the moral dilemma caused by traditional Chinese culture in the initial stage of capitalism. Wang Gou is a very flexible type of person. He promoted his little fourth father in order to form gangs and make money for himself. He hinted more than once that he might have a way to deal with the transfer of Xiaosi to the day department. The condition was that Xiaosi's father would approve his official-business collusion plan. Little Si's father just didn't turn this corner. He felt that one yard fits into one yard. You helped me because of our decades-old old friend, but I will not do things that violate the regulations.
Later, in order to clear the obstacles, Wang Gou reported his little fourth father, which caused him to be subject to a long period of political censorship, resulting in the loss of his job position. This paragraph corresponds to Taiwan’s "white terror" history. The martial law in Taiwan was lifted in 1987, and the mainland and Taiwan were allowed to visit relatives and friends. Before that, they had been very sensitive to political issues, and I would never let go of some clues. According to historical records, there are close to 200,000 "white terrors" in Taiwan, who have suffered various degrees of persecution, and almost one-tenth of the population going to Taiwan.
Primary 4’s parents and Teacher Xia have a very good relationship. After Teacher Xia’s family went to Taiwan, Teacher Xia went back to Shanghai alone to pick up people. As a result, Shanghai was liberated, and Teacher Xia and his wife could only face each other across the sea, like this at the time. There are many things, but this has become a taint for Xiaosi's father. The situation on the mainland is similar. As long as any family has a Taiwanese relative, the composition will basically not be better.
Fortunately, Xiao Si's father didn't have any substantive problems, and it was finally released, but this incident completely changed his father. His mother guessed that Wang Gou might have reported him in order to clear the obstacles, but his father was furious when he heard this, and he did not want to believe that his old friend for many years would frame him like this. He said: "We have worked hard enough, I only have you and the child, don't scare me anymore!" Then the couple cried in each other's arms. It means that if people's hearts become so bad, then what hope is there in this world.
It was impossible for people at that time to know that the moral decline after the budding of capitalism was an unstoppable trend. This is profound in Yang Dechang’s "Terrorists" and "Mahjong", including "Yi Yi" in 2000. criticism. Later, Taiwan's economy took off and became one of the four little dragons in Asia. However, the moral problem of the entire society became more serious. Yang Dechang used the movie to describe everyone as a "terrorist."
There are two long shots of Xiaosi and his father pushing a bicycle in the movie. The first time I was bullied by Xiaosi, he was remembered as a big offense. After his father fought hard with the instructor at school, he said that it is impossible for people to apologize for the mistakes they have not made. Reading is to understand the truth of being a human being. The second time after he was censored, Xiao Si really cursed the doctor and was arrested by the instructor this time. Then his father would only beg in a low voice. Instead, Xiao Si broke out that he broke the chandelier with a baseball bat and was dropped out of school. On the way back, Xiao Si mentioned what his father had said before, but his father absently said that if he quit smoking, he can save money to equip Xiao Si with a pair of myopia glasses. Fairness, justice, poetry and distance are no match for the present stubbornness. .
Xiao Si said that if he didn't go to such a school, he tried hard to test the transfer students into the better day department. He was deeply disappointed with the teachers and instructors of the school.
Here are a few typical scenarios. One is that in class, the teacher complained that English is not as concise as Chinese, such as the word "mountain" and the English word mountain is too troublesome. Cat King asked the teacher how to say the word "I", the obvious word " "I" is simpler than the Chinese "I". The teacher punished Cat King to write 100 "I" on the blackboard. This cannot be simply understood as a teacher bastard. He is struggling with cultural invasion and is unwilling to give up his extensive and profound Chinese and learn English instead.
Another typical character is a military training instructor. The dialogue between him and anyone can instantly draw the mainland to the mainland. He said he is from Qingdao,
Qingdao is good, it was built by the Germans, especially the sewers are very wide, no matter how much rain it rains, the ground never accumulates water, and as long as it rains in Taipei, it will accumulate water.
The emotion of this character represents the deep homesickness of those who have moved to Taiwan, and it has basically reached a morbid level.
These are all social problems at the time, and the adult world is full of poverty and poverty. "Poverty" and "poor" in Chinese are two concepts. Poverty is poverty, lack of material and money; and poverty is poverty, a problem of the spiritual world. I don’t know when this poverty day will end, no Know what hope is in the future.
The director took the trouble to repeatedly exaggerate poverty. For example, the youngest sister of the Xiaosi family, every time she appeared on the scene, she was entangled in her clothes. When the eldest sister graduated from college, she didn't have the money to buy new clothes, so she made a set according to the magazine. My mother always quarreled with my father about work and salary. The only valuable thing in the family was the watch that my mother gave back. The second child was pitted by 217 playing billiards. He once used that watch, and the eldest sister gave him money to redeem it. Later, the fourth was upset and sold his watch to soak in Xiao Cui, just to forget about Xiao Ming. After returning home, he encountered his father beating her second child brutally.
The second child knew that it was the fourth child who took the watch. He went to the pool hall at 217 and won a lot of money. He was about to let the fourth child redeem the watch. Unexpectedly, the younger sister reported it in advance. He yelled at him, "Shameless, unpromising." When Xiao Ming later killed Xiao Ming, Xiao Ming kept repeating this sentence.
The only chance for Xiaosi to save is the second sister’s teaching to him. The second sister is a devout Christian. She persuaded Xiaosi to talk to the pastor the day before Xiaosi murdered, but Xiaosi gave up and went to the studio. The flashlight stolen before was returned. This can also be seen as a metaphor, Xiao Si no longer wants to see this chaotic world clearly, he has seen enough, it's all dirty and dark. It happened that Xiao Ming was still singing bad news in front of him, and the world would not change. When Xiao Si heard these words, he could no longer suppress the resentment in his heart.
Xiao Si may like Xiao Ming, but he doesn't understand Xiao Ming's pain and choices. It can be seen that Xiao Ming has a real affection for Honey. She once said to Xiao Si that in fact, Honey is very similar to Xiao Si, with an honest heart and a melancholy and calm appearance, but she just can't get used to some people and things around her. Xiao Ming survived after Honey's death, and maybe she really liked Xiao Si, but she knew clearly in her heart that liking someone and the pressure of real life were two different things. She seduce the little doctor just to see her mother, and their family can't afford the medical expenses. She later lived in Xiao Ma’s house and fooled around with Xiao Ma. Of course, it was for her mother’s work and her own life. She was also a teenage child and did not even have a normal family. What reason do others have to blame her? ?
The butcher knife that Xiao Si stabbed Xiao Ming was not simply a teenager's emotional confusion, but a resistance to the entire society. The juvenile homicide incident is actually the result of the chaos in the adult world. This is history. Yang Dechang reconstructed a piece of history through the film. Master Jiao Xiongping’s positioning of the "Guling Street Juvenile Murder Incident" is a profound epic film.
Yang Dechang said that this movie is a movie for his parents:
"They have suffered a lot, just to make us suffer less."
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