After the screening, the audience asked Qi Xi and Amei why the director named the film for a long time. The two did not give a particularly good answer, probably saying that the film contains the span of time and space and the length of emotion. I thought of a better explanation: Son, after you left, our days on earth were as long as a lifetime.
Yes, it is long, just like the 3-hour length of this film, the group of people who came from the 1980s have always lived in forbearance and constant hammering: when their son died, they could only hold the photos in deep sadness; The second child was forcibly aborted, and he stretched out his fist to criticize the system. In the end, he could only vent on the wall and sat back to his wife with his injured hand; Relevant, forgive, avoid, leave; even the affair was not chosen by herself, it was a long-planned surrender by Jasmine... The protagonist in the movie is like duckweed, with no autonomy at all, being driven by the times The torrent of the torrent carried forward.
Why is the same dead child, the American film is "Three Billboards", a story of a strong mother who struggles with society in order to give her dead daughter a fair and unrelenting struggle; while the Chinese film is "Di Jiu" "Long Days", a couple who lost their only child did not speak up, did not resist, and lived a long grief after the death of their son. First of all, the characters of "Long Time" were in China in the 1980s and 1990s. Those who lived in the system in those days believed in collectivism. Later, they went through reform and opening up, economic system reform, and the mighty wave of layoffs made the characters feel very attached to the collective. For the first time, they were forced to stand up and take responsibility for themselves, and of course they felt confused and fearful about the future; secondly, traditional Chinese concepts were deeply influenced by familism and Confucianism, and the national one-child policy made every family Putting all the focus of life on the child, the accidental death of the only child at this time caused another spiritual pillar to collapse. At this time, the characters lost their dependence on the country and the family, and the collapse of belief led to the tragic fate of the characters. This is one of the themes that the film wants to explore.
Wang Xiaoshuai's shots are rational, recalling part of the hand-held swaying slightly like an ocean wave and a lot of fixed shots in reality; the emotion of the narrative is restrained, and only one emotional catharsis is the depth of field of Yaojun and Liyun in the hospital corridor after the son's rescue failed. Silent crying in the back light - that's good, the more hidden the inclination of the work of art, the higher the artistic value. However, the contradiction is that the setting of the characters in this film is too idealized, which may come from Wang Xiaoshuai's elitist perspective. He looked at everyone in that era with a sympathetic attitude, so everyone was portrayed to perfection— - Yaojun and Liyun suffered so much, but they never got angry or resisted. Instead, they repaid their grievances with virtue, so they got our mercy; the director of family planning forced Liyun to have an abortion, but only completed the work, and finally regretted for the rest of his life because of guilt , so he got our pity; Haohao was responsible for Xingxing's death, but he was still young at that time, after growing up under the protection and doting of his parents, he was still a successful doctor who knew how to ask for forgiveness from others, so he got our Mercy...everyone is not wrong, what's wrong? Only the times can be blamed. Wang Xiaoshuai threw his responsibilities on the times and the system, causing the audience in front of the screen to shed emotional tears. The audience could only see the accusations against the times, but not the reflections of the characters themselves, and the emotional balance was tilted to the side of the individual. But is there really nothing wrong with the characters? For example, Yaojun and his wife, because they had nowhere to rely on their loss of their independence, they found an orphan Wang Yuan who did not know where to find them to replace their son Liu Xing. What a ridiculous and cowardly choice? Of course, Wang Yuan should be angry and be rebellious. He is the most pitiful character in the whole film. For more than ten years, he has lived as someone else for more than ten years.
If the first two-thirds of the movie still have a certain record value for that era, the ending of the movie is really an inexplicable large-scale sensationalism. Reconciliation, constant reconciliation, friendship that lasts forever, cover up indelible pain with cheerful tunes. Haohao, who killed his son, also has a son. Lost friends can be reunited. Wang Yuan, who ran away from home, returns. The couple still call them Xingxing on the phone. After so many years, I haven't woken up from my dream, I'm still comforting myself and pretending, as if to say that the times have brought you pain, but in the end you will all be healed. So where did the previous criticism of the times go?
If you see such a big reunion without seeing a little bit of absurdity and irony, but with tears in your eyes, you should really reflect on your hypocritical and self-motivated heart. After all, it is already 2019. You may be able to change the fate that the characters in that era cannot change. You should think about what they have not thought about. Everyone should be responsible to himself, to others, and to society. Time is long and time is good. They are all clichés only used by cowards.
I believe that the birth of a tragedy is inseparable from society and individuals. Wang Xiaoshuai's over-kindness led to the film becoming a tender film wrapped in a rational form. Real reason should be like Bresson, a cold knife goes straight into your innards without a whimper.
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