Wang Shuo's later novel "Looking Beautiful" can be regarded as a prequel to "Ferocious Animals". That day, I saw Zhang Yuan's film of the same name based on the novel at a stall selling pirated discs. I bought it without blinking. The reason is very simple: inertia.
It is said that this is the warmest film that Zhang Yuan has made. After watching it, I carefully recalled Zhang Yuan's films I watched in the past, such as "East Palace and West Palace", "Beijing Bastards", "Going Home for the New Year", indeed, "Looks Beautiful" is warm, even so warm People can't believe that this is from Zhang Yuan's hand.
Wang Shuo's novel, I read many years ago, it should be the first printing of the first edition, and I remember that I got it almost as soon as it went on the market. After many years, I still remember that novel. A lot of details in the novel, because those details are "that's pretty" close to my childhood. I read that novel with a smile and tears in my eyes. At that time, I was still young and had just "stand" for a few years.
Maybe because of my age, I didn't get a lot of excitement when I watched this movie. The advantage of not getting excited is that you can look at it calmly. Although Zhang Yuan said that this is a children's film for adults, "to commemorate the lost primitiveness and innocence", but I still see the "angry" temperament of Zhang Yuan before, just like his Head bang hairstyle like Zarizasa.
Zhang Yuan said, "This world has high rules and free spirits." He also said, "Children can cry if they want, children's fantasies will always come true, and children are never afraid of conflict and hurt. , Fang Gungun is regarded as an eternal troublemaker by the teachers... Will he be tolerated by the world? Has he, like us who have grown up, already understood how to live in peace with the world, and Others keep a safe distance and have learned not to use their tender hands to try to pull their stout arms?"
To be honest, what I saw was the conflict between freedom and repression, the conflict between the innocence of children and the adult world, while freedom He Chunzhen appeared so powerless and pale under strong oppression. After watching the film, I didn't feel a lot of warmth. Although the pictures it presented awakened my memory, I felt that I was overwhelmed, and my heart was not as certain as some film critics said. "It felt soft," but instead it was so heavy that I wanted to sigh. In the past so many years, the suppression of children's nature has not actually changed much. Children are still being shaped by the rules of adults and become nondescript things. They are like everything, but they are not like children.
I have another movie on hand, the French "Spring in the Cattle Class." It is also a film about children and education. The way of telling the story is different, and the feeling is different. After watching this old French film in 2004, the depression and heaviness in my heart were swept away, otherwise, I would not be able to sleep peacefully that night.
Sensation is generally a director, but whether it is good or not, it is extremely skillful. Invisibly sensational, it should be regarded as the highest state of sensationalism. While "Looking Beautiful" touched me with warmth and familiar details of life, "Spring in the Cow Herding Class" made me shed tears of joy in a quiet way.
Cattle-herding classes, as the name suggests, are a group of children who cannot be taught. When I was studying in the past, I was almost considered this type of naughty students. In our teacher's words, they belonged to the "sheep herding" group, a group that lived and died on its own. Because of being naughty, I can't see the teacher's smiling face; because of poor grades, I always hear scolding. It should be a corner that the sun can't reach. If you are not careful, you will slide into the abyss. However, Mr. Matthew changed all this with music, so the singing sounded and the sun was shining.
The story told by the French does not have many complicated techniques, it is straightforward and very plain. In "Looks Beautiful", Zhang Yuan played some so-called tricks, trying to detach from reality, but it brought the effect of alienation. The film looked very "isolated" and it was difficult for people to follow.
After watching the two films, I compared them. In addition to the differences in cultural backgrounds and educational methods between China and France, a very important issue is that the perspectives are different. The perspective of "Spring in the Cattle Class" is from an adult's perspective, while "It Looks Beautiful" is an adult trying to use a child's perspective, so the difference arises. From an adult's point of view, everything seems natural and comes naturally; but using a child's point of view reflects the world that adults think children should or may see, but do not know what the world looks like in the eyes of children. That's about the difference.
A good film, no matter what country it is made by, should evoke universal human emotions in the hearts of the viewers. Although these two films are comparable, I also know that comparing them together is a bit nitpicky. After all, people will have choices. "Looking Beautiful" is enough to watch it once, but "Spring in the Cattle Class" will never tire of it. Although they are both good movies, there are differences after all. That ruler is in the hearts of every viewer.
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