Story
This is a love story, or maybe not about love. The protagonists of the story are two educated youths who go to the mountains and the countryside and a rebellious and wild little tailor. However, the movie is not a vulgar love triangle, but expresses two completely different loves with different personalities of two people: the passion of dry wood and fire, and the tenderness of fish and water. Luo Ming's bold and handsome love for the little tailor is warm and direct, while Ma Jianling's love for the little tailor is as restrained and gentle as the long music of the violin. And love is not the subject of this story at all. These two kinds of love are like the different sounds of a sanxian and a violin, representing two different cultures, reflecting people's curiosity and yearning for outside cultures throughout the Red Age.
In order to get a box of foreign famous novels, three young people risked to sneak into another educated youth's home and steal it. These stolen foreign novels were banned as counter-revolutionary books at the time. They could only secretly hide them in the caves under the waterfall. These novels not only change themselves, but the little tailor is also subtly changing in these stories. Every time Luo Ming and Ma Jianling read the plots of these novels for the little tailor, the little tailor would have a strange look. At the same time, life in the countryside is also quietly changing. After they read some French novels to the old tailor, the clothes made by the old tailor are all in the style of the French court, with ruffles and sailor patterns. The girls in the mountains were probably wearing the most fashionable dresses in China at that time. Even more incredible is that the value of a book far exceeds its original price. The little tailor is pregnant. In order to give her an abortion, Ma Jianling finds the obstetrician and gynecologist in the town and bribes him with a novel by Balzac. When the doctor saw the novel fragment he copied inside his clothes, he immediately agreed to take the risk of operating on the little tailor. Although the people in the village are illiterate, they are also very eager for the outside world. They sent Luo Ming and Ma Jianling to the town to watch a model show, and then told them when they came back to the slack. Sometimes they listened by the valley, and Ma Jianling used rice bran to make snow, which made the villagers shiver in July. Can't wait to urge, even the usually serious and fierce captain is listening intently at this time. Of course, sometimes they also tell the people in the mountains about the distant France, and people's faces flash with magical brilliance.
In that era surrounded by red, people's hearts were wrapped in simplicity, and this coat was just about to move under the impact of foreign culture, which seemed a bit unbearable. The little tailor is a typical example. At the beginning, she had never been out of the mountain gate. She was curious about Luo Ming's alarm clock and spoke a strong local accent. After meeting her, Luo Ming secretly made up his mind to change the girl. Finally, the little tailor finally changed his tone, cut his hair short, carried the package and left, abandoning the people she loved and those who loved her deeply. Luo Ming caught up with the little tailor on the stone steps, and shouted, "Don't go, don't you know that I love you very much? What changed you?" However, the little tailor did not have the slightest shake, she said lightly: "Balzac let me know the most valuable thing in the world of women's beauty." Luo Ming let go, and the little tailor walked away decisively, he understood that this mountain could no longer lock her yearning for freedom.
Screen
This film is adapted from director Dai Sijie's best-selling book of the same name. The book was sold in 19 countries and won 5 awards. The film is the opening film of "Un Certain Regard" at the Cannes Film Festival. At the same time, it was nominated for the 2002 Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film, but French is the producer, so few Chinese people know about this film. The whole film is immersed in the rebellion of youth and the restlessness of the red age, but there is still the tranquility of green mountains and green waters, and the romance intertwined with sanxian and violin. The beautiful, fresh and unique picture is the biggest highlight of the movie.
The movie screen uses a lot of big perspectives, and has a panoramic view of the winding and steep of Phoenix Mountain. People are so insignificant in the picture, and the upward shooting of the stone steps makes people realize that "Shu Road is difficult to climb to the sky". At the same time, the film also uses many subtle close-ups, especially the expression of the characters' eyes. When Luo Ming told the villagers about the movie, the camera cut through the focused faces of the villagers one by one, and each face showed a naked desire for knowledge. And it is even more in place when expressing Ma Jianling's introverted and deep love. A long shot looked through the window and saw the little tailor and Luo Ming were kissing passionately, and when he zoomed in to see Ma Jianling in the window, his eyes dimmed immediately, but it was still pure and sad, or more regrettable, without any resentment. Or angry, the camera stopped on Ma Jianling's expressionless side face, but this face showed the struggling heart at a glance. In the only passionate scene in the whole film, the director also used the expression method of close-up and close-up. The picture is half of water and half of people, and at the same time, it is interspersed with the scene of the old man playing the three strings in the room. There are too many passionate scenes in recent movies, and this scene is much more conservative in comparison. In the picture, the two people are lingering in the water like fish, the water waves are rippling, the mountain shadows are slanting, and the water plants floating in the water become barriers. , the crisp sound of sanxian came from the distance, and the old man sang long and long, making this passionate scene seem subtle and natural, with a little French romance. The scene of filling the captain's teeth also used a lot of close-up switching, the sewing machine was spinning fast, the little tailor's foot was pressing the pedal hard, the captain's face was twisted in pain, and the expressions of others couldn't help but laugh, with Mozart's brisk "Serenade" , the conflict came out with unexpected comic effect. Although the screen at the end of the movie uses special effects and is a bit suspected of plagiarizing "Titanic", it is still very beautiful. The water slowly overflowed the room, and the perfume that Ma Jianling was going to give to the little tailor. In the dimly lit scene, it was looming that they were playing the violin in the room and reading to the little tailor. Movies stagnated here, youth stagnated here.
plot
There are also many small plots to be commended in the film. The film does not directly show that the two young men are passionately in love with the little tailor, but it is shown through many small plots. One day the three of them were resting under the shade of a tree. The camera first shot Ma Jianling holding the little tailor's hand, and then the camera slowly pulled away, and the little tailor was holding Luo Ming by the other hand. In the scene where the little tailor was bitten by a snake, Ma Jianling gave the little tailor his blood in a trembling manner. The little tailor said, "It wasn't you who was bitten by the snake. Ma Jianling raised her head, a little disappointed in her eyes. . . . . Ma Jianling's love for the little tailor was all expressed in a sideways way, with the sound of the violin, but until the end he didn't find the little tailor and didn't tell her. At this time, love is no longer important. What they have is beautiful memories of youth and the endless pursuit of freedom.
A story about love, maybe not about love. Youth passed away like this in the mountains. In the end, everyone left the mountains. Luo Ming became a professor of stomatology. Ma Jianling became a violinist in France, but no one knew where the little tailor went. The last impression left by the little tailor is that of a stubborn figure walking out of the mountains, a Peugeot who pursues freedom. In the name of love, the film expresses a generation's desire for knowledge and yearning for freedom. The author may be nostalgic for that era and reminiscence of youth, but our generation, as the audience, has received an incentive to study and a call to youth.
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