As a southerner who has never lived in a northern city for a long time, he lacks the experience of going in and out of the bathhouse, so he can only feel the existence and characteristics of the bathhouse from the pictures of the films he has seen before. This review will be more inclined to analyze other parts because of the lack of subjective feelings about the bathhouse.
First, let me explain what I said in my short review:
[This is a subcultural film with clear regional/regional attributes, which can be called "Beijing film"]:
My evaluation of "Bath" as a "Beijing Movie" is actually the same reason I think "Hot Pot Hero" is a "Chongqing Movie". The key plot of the story of "Bath" is that the demolition of the bathhouse is very "Beijing". First, the big bathhouse is a unique building in an old densely populated northern city, and secondly, Beijing's rapid development is the reason for the demolition. . The combination of these two factors can point out the subcultural attribute of this film. This point can be used as a corresponding answer to the question "Will there be Hong Kong movies in the future" mentioned by Huang Qiusheng at the 37th Academy Awards this year: Hong Kong movies will of course have them, but it is likely to degenerate into a kind of Subcultural attributes or labels, not the "glorious past" that some self-pity people talk about.
The film takes "an important moment of the family" as the carrier, and it also talks about a lot of sidelines. This is actually a good example of a mix of genres: the line of He Zheng, who is full of creativity, is the urban irony type; the line of the couple It's a romantic comedy and even has a bit of erotic elements; Miao Zhuang, who sings, is an inspirational type; the two old men fighting crickets can actually be regarded as a sports theme - taking doping and stinking shamelessly do not admit that this is not talking about "Icarus" what...
There are three stories in the film about leaving the bathhouse and going elsewhere, one is the "bath station" at the beginning, the other is Lao Liu's talk about the fact that Erming's mother (Xiu'er) has to take a bath according to custom before marriage, and the third is the second Ming stared at the story of the pilgrimage to Tibet told by the photo. The idea of the "bath station" is very good, but unfortunately there is no money. Now that the "sharing economy" is so developed, this "shared bathhouse" should also be created. Xiu'er's bathing and the pilgrimage to Tibet, especially after "Kang Rinpoche", seem to be Zhang Yang's private goods. It can't be said that it is bad, but the organization is still a bit blunt. Undoubtedly, these two things are counterpoint to the status of the bathhouse in Beijing: bathing and socializing in the bathhouse are the customs and beliefs of Beijing gentlemen. The repeated scenes of the film’s opening preparations—making the bed, wiping the floor, wiping the table and flipping the brand to the music of radio gymnastics—and the passages of the guests entering and leaving the bathhouse, and the daily social interactions in the bathhouse, all emphasize the fact that the bathhouse replicates to some extent. It has the sense of ceremony of the church and assumed the function of the church. Zhang Jinhao went to the bathhouse to tell Lao Liu about his wife's shameful past and that he "can't do it" is like a believer going to a church to confess to a priest. The death of Lao Liu in the middle and later sections and the demolition of the bathhouse meant the death of the priest and the collapse of the church. The counterpoint was the destruction of the beliefs and customs of the old Beijingers. For those who are open and young, such as Zhang Jinhao and his wife, they can successfully find a new belief, "Mandarin Duck Bath", etc., but the old man who plays cricket can only regretfully announce that he has left the earth and can no longer raise crickets.
As far as the story of the three grandfathers is concerned, the main line of the plot of "caring for the weak in the family" has been maintained in the film. First, his father, Lao Liu, took care of Er Ming, then when Lao Liu fell ill, Daming took care of Lao Liu, and finally after Lao Liu died, Daming took care of Er Ming - the last point will be developed later. But even under such a mainline setting, Erming did not portray Erming as a "waste wood", but established his "divine" image through his two redemptions to Miao Zhuang: first, in Miao Zhuang's first Stage fright on the stage, after Lao Liu died again, he quickly assumed the function of a priest, despite Daming's dissuasion, business as usual and gave the only guest (mentally injured) Miao Zhuang a bath. Second, at the art gala, when Miao Zhuang had stage fright again, Erming picked up the water pipe to give him a "shower", and finally Miao Zhuang sang "My Sun" confidently. So when I go back and look at the relationship between Daming and Erming after the death of Lao Liu, I can decipher a deeper meaning. The two came back from exercising and saw that He Zheng had repaired the neon lights, which actually meant a rebuilding of the church's beliefs. Then Daming Erming's bathing and playfulness was actually the sign that Erming became the new priest: even the shot of Erming sprinkling water on Daming seemed to imply "sprinkling holy water" - especially if you look back and think about it, Erming gave Miao He can sing only after being strong (dumb state) sprinkled with water, which is what Jesus did when he performed miracles.
At the end, with the dismantling of the bathhouse, Lao Lin suddenly picked up the DV camera to shoot, Miao Zhuang gave Erming the player and earphones playing "My Sun" as a farewell gift, and seemed to comfort the audience: Don't worry , Losing the original belief, we can still find a new belief.
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