I recently rewatched " Sunny Days ", and today I want to talk to you about this movie.
You may think, such a classic movie, what else is there to talk about?
Then let's talk about what's so good about it and why it's a classic.
First draw a frame, this is a youth film about China in the 1970s.
I don't know if you have noticed that the "youth memory" in the movie often appears together with the "age memory".
"Guling Street Teenage Murder Case" tells the story of Taiwan in 1948, when a boy used a knife to pierce an era of total martial law.
"Dream of Paris" tells the story of France in 1968. On the eve of the May storm, two boys and one girl went to the climax of revolution and youth.
The Beautiful Legend of Sicily takes place in Italy during World War II , and a boy peeks into the seduction and destruction of a goddess, just like this messy land.
Once Upon a Time in America tells the story of Prohibition-era America , how a group of boys and a girl's American dream was disillusioned.
"Four Hundred Strikes" tells the story of Paris in the late 1950s, where 13-year-old Antoine ended his childhood at the mercy of others.
When "youth" meets "age", there will always be bright and fiery sparks.
So what kind of era was the 1970s in "Sunshine"?
It was an era when the " red sun " was shining. In Ma Xiaojun's own words, "it seemed like it was always summer, and the sun always came out to accompany me. The sun was full and bright, and it made the eyes black in bursts."
It was an era when red songs were floating everywhere. Listen, a strong baritone is singing: "The revolutionary wind and thunder are turbulent, and the soldiers have the sun in their chests. Chairman Mao, Chairman Mao, we sincerely wish you a long life without boundaries, a long life without boundaries, and a long life without boundaries!"
It was a time when people endorsed their speeches and shouted "Promise Chairman Mao". Even when Ma Xiaojun approached a girl, he would say, "Promise Chairman Mao, this is my first time."
It was an era when revolutionary enthusiasm was unprecedentedly high. The troops of the three armies and the two armies boarded the plane to the majestic music. Ma Xiaojun wanted to fight the Sino-Soviet war all day long in order to be a war hero.
From the perspective of today's people, it was an era full of scars, a nightmare for countless ordinary people, and a turbulent year that a country can't bear to look back on.
But for Ma Xiaojun, who grew up in the army compound, it was very simple. It was only his youthful years, and it was his most unforgettable memory.
As Wang Shuo wrote in the novel:
I am grateful that I lived in a time when students were freed from learning useless knowledge that was then doomed to be forgotten.
Although the essence of youth is "waste".
However, right now, we are forced to use rules that we can't do anything about.
However, they actively waste it in a presumptuous way closer to youth.
Which one is better, no one can say.
Ma Xiaojun's youth was obtained by sliding the door and picking locks, which was a way for him to open the unknown world.
He haunts strangers' homes like a ghost. Eat their meals, sleep in their beds, watch their TV, and finally leave without a cloud.
Until one day, an accident happened, and he was fascinated by a cloud and did not want to leave.
That cloud is "Milan".
On a not-so-special afternoon, Ma Xiaojun broke into a room by chance, and through the telescope, while spinning, he caught a glimpse of the picture on the wall.
The person in the photo is Milan: I saw her with two short braids, a red swimsuit, white skin, innocent smile, sexy, and no evil thoughts.
It was film history, comparable to Noodles' glimpse of Deborah.
And Ma Xiaojun is also destined to catch up with his entire youth for this casual glance.
In fact, before this encounter, Ma Xiaojun was just a rambunctious boy.
He hangs out with a bunch of bad boys in the yard, headed by Liu Yiku, Liu Sitian, Yang Gao, Big Ant and others. They idle around all day, skip classes, swim, fight, and pat the old lady...
They don't know anything about "sex", but there is an instinctive call in the body, just about to move.
Just as Ma Xiaojun pried open a drawer at home and found a condom, but it was just a balloon, blowing it up and playing with it. Until the "balloon" burst, Ma Xiaojun was also exhausted, lying on the bed panting heavily.
At that moment, he seemed to understand something, but he didn't understand anything.
It wasn't until a year later, when the parents gave birth to a younger brother, that the answer to this unsolved case was vaguely revealed.
If we put aside the age, and regardless of the region, isn't that the case with youth?
Isn't it all unfolding secretly in the naive affection between the same sex and the mutual temptation between the opposite sex.
It is a kind of sexy that can't be wrapped in school uniforms or military uniforms. It is also the idle afternoon and evening, the sleep on the roof, or the face of the emperor under the street lamp.
Ben makes no difference.
It should be said that "Sunshine" is a grand memory of Jiang Wen's youth.
This memory is full of "nostalgia".
And man, why be nostalgic?
It is the dissatisfaction with reality that makes the memory extra bright.
This is the most touching part of "Sunshine".
In fact, it uses nostalgia to complete an implicit criticism ; it uses that period of time when there is only summer and the sun shines to deny the gloomy, gloomy and gloomy today.
Therefore, the memory part of the first half of the film is in color, while the adult part of the last paragraph is in black and white.
Because that yesterday belonged to Jiang Wen's "Golden Age"; and today, step by step, is Jiang Wen's "Romantic Death History".
To complete this critique, just having feelings is not enough.
If only presenting yesterday and refuting today is just wishful thinking, what's the point?
The most unique thing about Jiang Wen is that he didn't indulge himself too much in yesterday, talking to himself and unable to extricate himself. Instead, he aimed his suspicions at himself first.
So we see that in the film, Jiang Wen is constantly questioning his own narrative in the way of narration: Is it true? Did it really happen?
When he saw the photo of Milan for the second time, Ma Xiaojun found that the photo had become black and white, and Milan was no longer wearing a red swimsuit, but a regular shirt.
Ma Xiaojun rubbed his eyes, did I read it wrong?
At that birthday party, Ma Xiaojun and Liu Yiku fought each other because Milan turned against each other.
During the tearing, Ma Xiaojun smashed the wine bottle and slammed into Liu Yiku's abdomen, one, two, three... Suddenly, the picture slowed down, and the character's face became dazed. At this time, the voiceover appeared again: hehe, Don't believe this , I have never been so brave or so heroic... In fact, on my birthday, nothing unpleasant happened at all...
Of course, there is also the confession in the rain.
It was raining heavily, and Ma Xiaojun rode downstairs in Milan and fell into the mud ditch.
In the rain, he burst into tears and kept shouting, "Milan, Milan."
At this time, Milan ran downstairs and rushed into the rain. She asked in a panic, "Ma Xiaojun, what's wrong with you?"
Ma Xiaojun blurted out: "Milan, I like you!"
Milan seemed to confirm: "What did you say? You should speak louder, I can't hear you clearly!"
Ma Xiaojun's consciousness came back again: "I fell into the ditch." Turned around and left.
Milan grabbed him and hugged him into his arms, unwilling to let go for a long time.
But the next day, the narration appeared again: it rained and the weather was fine, nothing seemed to happen, I tried to remind her (Milan), but she still didn't respond, she was still kind and polite to me. Could it be that what happened that day when it rained was unreal?
Perhaps, none of this happened at all; perhaps, what I told with sincerity was a lie at all.
Why does Jiang Wen have to question himself again and again?
Because he wants the audience to keep thinking rationally instead of blindly accepting a conclusion.
And this method of treatment originates from the " dissociation effect " in Brecht's dramatic theory , also known as the "defamiliarization effect".
It's a bit complicated to say, let's start with a person you are more familiar with - Stanislavsky, yes, the one who wrote "The Self-Cultivation of Actors".
His theory is exactly the opposite of Brecht's. What he advocates is " resonance-making ", that is, by creating a virtual reality, fully substituting the audience into it, and subconsciously accepting the emotions and opinions of the people in the play.
It sounds wonderful, right, but let's change the word, it's not so wonderful, such as " brainwashing ". Yes, if we understand it simply and rudely, Stanislavsky's view of drama is prone to brainwashing. He hopes that the audience can temporarily forget themselves and only immerse in the reality created by the drama.
The German Brecht did not think so. He refused to create resonance, instead emphasizing the importance of "speculation". Perhaps this is also the difference between Russians and Germans.
Brecht writes in the book:
(audience) acceptance or rejection of the point of view or plot in the play should be carried out within the audience's consciousness, (not subconsciously).
That said, the film should find some way to keep the audience rational, to think with the plot, and to make their own judgments.
How to do it?
It is by creating a "distancing effect". That is to build a world and break another world . Whenever the audience is about to be immersed, stand up and remind them, hello, this is just a play, don't be deceived.
Only in this way can the audience maintain a delicate distance from the film and remain in a state of indifference.
This is Jiang Wen's approach.
Jiang Wen has no intention of exporting cheap feelings, so as to deceive the audience's approval.
On the contrary, he kept questioning his own narrative, making the audience jump out of the reality created by the drama again and again, and instead, he was alert to such a question: why is there such a deviation in the memory of "I" in the play? What is it that makes memories beautiful? What is it that makes the illusion real?
In fact, the answer to this question has been told to us as early as the beginning of the film.
Jiang Wen said:
Beijing has become so fast. Over the past 20 years, it has become a modern city. I can hardly find anything from memory in it. In fact, this change has corrupted my memory, making it impossible for me to distinguish between hallucinations and reality.
Yes, it is the unrecognizable reality that tampered with the memory; it is the loss of innocence that makes the past innocence so precious; it is the gloomy today that makes the yesterday in the memory always so bright.
At the end of the film, the Ma Xiaojuns are adults, and they cross Chang'an Avenue in a stretched car, drinking red wine.
Outside the window, they saw a familiar figure, the idiot in the courtyard—the idiot who had been silently accompanying them and witnessed their growth. He was still riding a wooden stick and running mindlessly on the street.
Ma Xiaojun shouted at him, "Gu Lunmu! Hey, Gu Lunmu!"
This is the code used by the South Korean soldiers in the model play "Raid on the White Tigers".
According to the past, the fool will definitely return to him: "Oppa!"
But this time, the fool looked at him contemptuously and shouted loudly: " Fool! "
This sentence is not only scolded by Ma Xiaojuns who have changed their faces, but also in this fucking era that has fully moved towards "capital".
This is the most sincere contempt sent by the same fool to all the people who have changed.
In this way, Ma Xiaojun's youth, as well as that red era, passed.
This youth is always filled with the smell of burning weeds; this youth is always accompanied by the melodious melody of the interlude of Mascani's opera "The Country Knight".
The beginning of this youth will always stop in that classic clip: the young Ma Xiaojun, dressed in military uniform, stood in the overwhelming sunshine, he caught the schoolbag that flew from his childhood, got on the car, turned around, and walked away , plunged into the misty years.
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