"Zhou Zuo, thank you for finding me in this corner of the world, please don't leave me, please stay by my side all the time."
Towards the end of the movie, Xiaoling said to Zhou Zuo.
The poetic confession poured into the river under the bridge, plain as a cloud, but sincere. The compass of fate connects them together, and their "matchmaker", the uncle with the basket-carrying monster who appeared at the beginning of the movie, passed by the bridge. The basket used to hold young Xiaoling and Zhou Zuo.
It was rated as the first place in the Japanese film ten-day newspaper and just won the Grand Jury Prize at the Annecy International Animation Festival in France, which has undoubtedly proved the high-quality artistic level of this film. As the theatrical version of the original work of the painter Kono Shiro, there will naturally be some cases where the plot is simplified and deleted, which makes the transition of some parts of the film itself more blunt, but this does not prevent it from being an excellent animated film. In the form of a diary, with the tone of the protagonist Xiaoling, it tells various stories from 1933 to the defeat of Japan in 1945. And Xiaoling, the narrator and witness of this story, from a girl to a woman, from a daughter to a wife, the transformation and cognition of her identity is the main thread of the film.
The film is set during World War II, which is what we call the "Japanese War of aggression against China". The sensitive subject matter makes many people express disgust, just like Hayao Miyazaki's "The Wind Rises", which was once labeled as "beautifying the war of Japanese aggression against China". "In this Corner of the World" faced the pressure of public opinion like "The Wind Rises". The Japanese warships and navy that appeared in the movie were given a romantic and beautiful color. Many people thought that this was "whitewashing the war". It is a tribute to the "greatness of the Japanese Empire".
But is it really so? On the one hand, from the perspective of the narrator, it always revolves around Xiaoling, from the beginning of her self-introduction - "someone always says I like to be in a daze", and then through various things to reflect Xiaoling's character, the whole film The laughing point of her is also focused on her "dizzy and dizzy" characteristics. She always gets lost and loves to forget a lot of things. When she married Writer Zhou, she didn't even know the house number. This is clearly a kind, simple and even a little confused girl. In her innocent and imaginative head, there are beautiful things like watercolor paintings. It is no wonder why fighter jets are shot down like blooming flowers, and ferocious warships are like works of art covered with holy radiance. Because these are all viewed from the perspective of Xiaoling, from a daily childlike perspective, irrelevant to political positions, war itself, and no ideological tendencies, how can such a confused girl understand what war is? ? Although she burst into tears after the defeat, it was only to express her own powerlessness and helplessness over suffering. After working hard for so long, she also lost a hand because of the war, and her relatives left one by one, but in the end she was defeated, which is right The unwillingness of fate is the catharsis of the pain caused by the war.
But from an ideological point of view, a fact that has to be admitted and is extremely sad is placed in front of us: the creator is indeed consciously or unintentionally to avoid the crime of Japan's aggression against China, and the whole film does not talk about Japan's aggression against China at all. The condemnation is only to describe the devastation of the war to people, as well as the courage and hope of the Japanese people in the war. This kind of treatment is undoubtedly "pleasant" to the local audience, and also very cleverly avoids some historical problems, but this kind of The very vague handling is undoubtedly hurting the people of the invaded country, so many Chinese people are very disgusted with this film, because they can't see the correct attitude of an aggressor country towards the crime of aggression against China, compared with the one who bares the crime and whips it again and again. Germany and Japan's reflections on aggression against China seem to be too insincere, which is indeed a pity.
But from the creator's point of view, aside from ideological issues, what the director really wants to describe is the daily life of a Japanese national, which is reflected in the relationship between people. So we will see the friendly relationship between neighbors, the harmony between family members, the respectful lingering between Xiaoling and her husband Zhou Zuo, and so on. Under such an interactive relationship of family, friendship and love, the beautiful side of human nature will always shine. Just like Xiaoling lost her way from her mother-in-law's house and met a kind-hearted woman in a custom shop to guide her, Xiaoling painted watermelon, ice cream and other delicacies for her, so that she could 'draw cakes to satisfy her hunger'. And this woman was a homeless child who stole watermelon at Xiaoling's house before, and at that time the young Xiaoling asked her if she had enough watermelon. Even at the end, Xiaoling adopted a war orphan and wrote a warm and bright ending to the film.
Unlike "Grave of the Fireflies", which is emotionally tear-jerking, "In This Corner of the World" is to dry your tears, dissolve the unspoken sadness into ordinary things, and thus create a kind of contrast. Cold humor. For example, the father-in-law did a body cover for Xiaoling to avoid the bombing of the plane, and then suddenly fell down like a bullet. When Xiaoling and the audience thought that the father-in-law was unfortunately killed, suddenly everything was on the screen, only to know that the father-in-law was just too tired and fell asleep. The part where my brother was killed in battle and the body was sent home made people laugh and cry: Xiao Cheng (Xiao Ling's younger sister) opened the urn and found that her brother's body was just a stone, she picked up the stone and blurted out: "This is my brother's. Brain?" With such a knowing smile, the film itself is sad but not sad, as gentle and playful as a whistle, easily carrying through the pain.
But in fact, this deconstruction of tragedy to avoid sensationalism implies a huge sadness, but this emotion is hidden deep in the heart. Although it has not been exaggerated, it has always been buried in people's subconscious. Slowly gather into a river, thick and thin. On the contrary, there is a hint of "no words for each other, only a thousand lines of tears". Take the scene of my brother's death as an example, my brother's own role was very small, and his death was handled very blandly. When the audience had no time to accumulate emotions to feel sad, this scene was over, and my brother's relatives did not Without showing great pain, Xiaoling just said lightly: "Human life is so fragile and fleeting." As for Xiaoling's mother, because she couldn't see her son's body, she pretended to be relaxed and said: "So Let's watch this on a cold day, it's ridiculous, does that guy really die so easily?" While the father was smoking a cigarette, behind the two seemingly untouched, there was a brutal war against individual life in the face of The helpless lament of being vulnerable, this kind of emotion that slowly comes and directly hits the hearts of people, makes people sigh and heartbreak.
The narrative form of prose culture casts a layer of poetic magic on the film itself, trivial matters and "adventures" enrich the content of the film, and the truth of the world can be seen in the plain. The simplicity of the painting style creates a fresh and natural effect, which makes the tone of this film very soothing, but at the same time, the most brilliant thing about this film is that the simple strokes are brought to the extreme, and the effect is shocking. In the scene where niece Harumi was blown up, there was no introduction to how she was bombed. First, it was silently processed, then black, followed by white lines like fireworks blooming, and then the rough lines merged into a shaking image. , they are like Xiaoling's memories, flashing back and forth in her mind, and the sound is processed into the rolling grain of the film. This scene is the most quintessential part of the whole film, and it is also the part that best reflects the skill of this film.
Simple strokes and watercolor paintings are Xiaoling's specialty. Many of the transitions and storytelling in the film are done through Xiaoling's paintings. This picture-in-picture processing method is very advanced. For example, Xiaoling told her sister the story of her brother's adventures in Nanyang, who died in the war, and made a crocodile bride for her brother in a lively and funny way. And there is also the scene about the encounter with the strange uncle. The rough texture of the stick figures makes the authenticity of the matter questionable, and Xiaoling also wonders whether she is a daydream. In the end, these two stories were subtly merged together when Xiaoling confessed her true feelings to Zhou Zuo at the end.
Because we saw the strange uncle carrying the basket walking past Xiaoling and waving his hand without looking back, it was the Crocodile Bride who climbed out of the basket—she was the incarnation of her brother who died in the war. In fact, maybe the uncle blame does not exist, he may be imagined by Xiaoling, but the encounter between the young Zhou Zuo and Xiaoling is real. Because we learned from Zhou Zuo's mouth that when he first saw Xiaoling on this bridge, we suddenly realized that it was Zhou Zuo who was "abducted and sold" in the basket.
This is the most moving and magical scene in the movie "In This Corner of the World". From the beginning of the secret encounter to the last true love, it seems like a reincarnation, touching people's hearts. Love is the emotional breakthrough of this film, and its foothold is the warmth of human nature and the hope and courage for life. Just like Tetsu Mizuhara, who once had a crush on Xiaoling, said: "If you think of me, please remember with a smile, and live an ordinary life in this world."
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