A murder case occurred at the back door of No. 10, Lane 5, Kuling Street, Taipei City. Mao Wu, a second-year student in the night department of Jianguo Middle School, failed to negotiate with his girlfriend when he returned from school at night because of his girlfriend's love affair. The short knife he carried with him stabbed seven times in a row on his chest, back, forehead and shoulder, killing the girl on the spot.
This case is the first case of juvenile homicide after the Nationalist government returned to Taiwan. After disputes from all walks of life, the punishment of the suspect Mao Wu has not been decided yet. In this case, Mao Wu was sentenced to 15 years in prison by the District Court, which was reduced to seven years after appealing to the High Court.
In this year, Yang Dechang was fourteen years old, and he was studying in the second day of Jianzhong Night School...
In the 1980s of the Republic of China (Park 1991), summer. Forty-four-year-old Yang Dechang brought the sensational underage killing he heard about as a child to the screen.
That summer, the 237-minute "Guling Street Teenage Murder" was released in Taiwan, and it was crowded. I think the success of this film is not only due to the gimmick that the screenplay is adapted from real events, but also that in this more than three-hour film, we can glimpse the traces of the times:
In the thirty-fourth year of the Republic of China - the thirty-eighth year of the Republic of China, four years of civil war, the Nationalist government was defeated and fled to Taiwan. During this period, millions of people moved to Taiwan with the Nationalist government. Most of them came to Taiwan with the mentality of being able to have a stable job, in order to give their next generation a stable environment. However, from the 38th year of the Republic of China to the 50th year of the Republic of China, in the 12 years, the National Government's "ambition" of "counterattacking the mainland" has gradually changed from a "plan" to a "dream". The generation who moved to Taiwan with the Nationalist government lived in the unknown and fear all day long, and could not see a glimmer of hope... At the same time, their next generation, those boys and girls who were in their puberty, were also led by them. I became more and more confused in the uneasy attitude towards the future caused by my parents. During the period, these teenagers may be trying to strengthen their weak and weak will to survive. Therefore, among these groups of teenagers, youth gangs such as "Little Park Taibao Gang", "217 Taibao Gang" and "Nanhai Road Taibao Gang" appeared one after another... ...
And this is the background of the first juvenile murder case after the Nationalist government returned to Taiwan.
Back to topic. First of all, to make a movie that truly reflects the murder of a teenager 30 years ago, there are many choices in front of director Yang Dechang: a crime-themed movie that can be made into a fog like Hitchcock's "Psycho" The murderous style relies on psychological hints to win the audience's approval; it can also be made into a style like Billy Wilder's "The Witness for the Prosecution", where the suspense can't be guessed at the end, and the "last minute rescue" rule is used to attract the audience Until the last minute; of course, he can also shock the audience with a bloody murder like Zhang Zhezhu's "The Beginning and End of the Kim Funan Murder"...
The final choice of director Yang Dechang was to make this murder into a Ukiyo-e movie mixed with the story of the Taiwan era in the 1960s and the past of his own youth. Whenever I talk about this movie, it will remind people of Federico Fellini's "The Swinger" or Hou Hsiao-hsien's "The Man from the Windbox". In these films, there is a director's art of his own childhood past. The
difference is that, whether it is Fellini's "The Swinger" or Hou Hsiao-hsien's "The Man from the Wind Cabinet", we can easily find the character that represents the director himself hidden in the film; however, In Yang Dechang's "Guling Street Teenage Murder Case", the audience has never been able to find a boy character who can represent the director himself. In fact, the smart Yang Dechang has integrated his boyhood into many roles in the movie:
Yang Dechang in his boyhood was the "little four" who had good grades but was reluctant to live, but not the one who was later because of his girlfriend. The "little four" who is empathetic and murderous; is the "kitten" who is obsessed with "Elvis" Elvis Presley, but may not be the "kitten" who knows how to flatter girls...
In addition, director Yang Dechang also used similar patchwork techniques to piece together the secular life of Taiwan in the 1960s for us in the film:
It was an era when military tanks would often be encountered on the streets of Taipei. The Taiwanese military is still dreaming of counter-attacking the mainland;
it was also an era when the Western concept of life was widely spread in Taiwan, and rock music, which represented freedom and unrestrainedness, was obsessed by many teenagers for a time;
it was also a place with no hope for the future. Times, the parents of that era, while continuing to struggle in this unfamiliar land for a tomorrow that cannot see the future, they are looking at the direction of their hometown time and time again, looking forward to the day when they can return to the mainland The arrival of...
As a result, the original sensational juvenile murder incident became an epic drama reflecting Taiwan's reality and secular life under the lens of Yang Dechang. Then, when the title of "Guling Street Teenage Murder Case" appeared in front of us under the red background, it was time for us to calm down and reminisce with the film the image of the Taiwan era in the 1960s mixed with the red murder case. .
In the title of the movie, the homicide is named an incident, which is not a deliberate exaggeration. After all, this real case was the first juvenile homicide case that occurred after the Nationalist government moved to Taiwan. After this case happened, many media followed and reported the case on the front page headlines. "Minor", "Love Killing", "Taibao Gang", "School Bullying"... These dazzling words became the subject of discussion in the streets and alleys at that time. The discussion about juvenile delinquency and the concept of youth education have also been paid more attention by the media and educators after this case. As a result, a case finally gradually evolved into an event under this wave of public opinion.
The protagonist of the incident, the suspect "Little Four" (played by Zhang Zhen). Male, second-year student of Jianzhong School, student number 84089. The parents are still alive, and there are five siblings in total. Because he ranks fourth among siblings in the family, he is called "Little Four". His mother's surname was Jin, and he was a teacher; his father got a half-office job in a government department. In Jianzhong School, the impression he left on all his classmates and instructors was always taciturn, diligent and studious. Perhaps, this also explains the shock of the police officer at that moment when Xiao Si was arrested on suspicion of homicide: he said to himself, "I don't know which gangster in this school, but I see a The stunned look after the name of the suspect I had never heard of..."
And the change of "Xiao Si"'s character may have started from that first encounter with "Xiao Ming". It was a summer when "Little Four" met "Xiao Ming" who was injured playing basketball in the infirmary. And love, maybe it will often take root and sprout when this kind of person is most vulnerable? When "Xiao Si" and "Xiao Ming" leaned against the corner to avoid the instructor's camera, the two leaning against the red brick wall each looked away, where the endless unknown waited silently. them. Perhaps it was at this time that the originally cowardly "Little Four" began to want to become strong and be trusted by more people...
Later things, the acquaintance and love between the two, were not like the campus. The common love stories are so sweet and simple. The source of this complex emotion lies in the victim of this murder, "Xiao Ming".
"Xiao Ming" (played by Yang Jingyi)
The heroine of the incident, the victim "Xiao Ming" (played by Yang Jingyi), a daughter from a single-parent family, a student at Jianzhong School, student number 8452. Formerly the girlfriend of "Honey", the leader of the "Small Park Taibao Gang". The financial conditions of the family are average, and as a result, all the burdens of the family fall on "Xiao Ming".
Perhaps it is the special family environment that makes this beautiful "Xiao Ming" always hope to find a person who can give her the most sense of security in her life. Later, because "Xiao Ming" was intimate with other boys in the process of dating "Honey", his boyfriend "Honey" caused a murder case because of love and hatred, and then fled to Tainan without any news. It was also during this period that this "Xiao Ming" met "Little Four" in the school infirmary, and gradually developed a favorable impression of him. Later, when she found that the simple and honest "Little Four" could not give her enough sense of security, she gradually distanced herself from her current boyfriend, and walked with "Little Four"'s close friend - the rich young master "Pony". In the end, "Xiao Si", who felt that "Xiao Ming" was playing with his feelings, killed "Xiao Ming" because of love and hatred. After being stabbed several times, he died on the spot...
[Case Analysis]
1. "Xiao Si" "Little Four" in the movie was always a simple and honest imagination before he stabbed "Xiao Ming" with a knife. Even after he fell in love with "Xiao Ming" and became daring to compete with the campus Taibao Gang, there was no trace of murder in his eyes and behavior. Accordingly, the case can be tentatively classified as temporary intentional homicide. The reason why the long knife he carried should be the weapon prepared when he wanted to argue with his rival "Xiao Ma", not a long knife specially prepared for killing his girlfriend "Xiao Ming".
2. After visiting the suspect's relatives, friends and classmates after the crime, it was preliminarily concluded that the murder of "Little Four" had a connection with several recent events that cannot be ignored.
The first is the sudden death of "honey" (played by Lin Hongming), the object of his newfound admiration. After investigation, "honey" was the ex-boyfriend of his girlfriend "Xiao Ming". The reason why these two became close friends is probably because of their similar personalities. According to what the victim described to "Little Four" before his life, "honey" is actually a simple, honest and honest boy. The reason why he can become the leader of the "Little Park Taibao Gang" lies in his elusive performance and actions. And get. "Honey" is a gangster who dares to kill his rival for the sake of his girlfriend, but he is also a young man who reads many novels after fleeing to Tainan, but only thinks about "War and Peace". And when the new admiration "honey" was framed to death, it undoubtedly had a major blow to the suspect. The mood of "Little Four", who had few friends in the first place, after losing his best friend can be seen.
Secondly, the self-esteem and spirit of the father, who has always been respected, was seriously damaged by an incident. Once, the father in the eyes of the suspect "Little Four" was someone who dared to fight unfairly. But later, because of a political turmoil, his father was involved in it, and he no longer had the prestige he had before. So, when "Little Four" was unfairly remembered by the school instructor, my father no longer argued with the instructor as before, but reluctantly begged the arrogant instructor...
Finally, because In addition to these two incidents, the suspect was "see through" by "Xiao Ming" who "deceived" his feelings several times during a conversation with the victim, and "Xiao Si", who was vigorous and had a strong sense of morality, finally committed a crime. the road, expecting to end the root of the incident with his own knife.
[Case Summary]
As the first case of juvenile homicide that occurred after the Nationalist government returned to Taiwan, this case was by no means accidental. By investigating the relationship between the suspect and the victim one by one, it was found that this case was mixed with mutual hostility between gangs, infighting and infighting among juvenile gangs. In this love murder incident, the excessive impulse of minors to feelings is also one of the reasons for this evil result. In addition, the Taiwan authorities' militarized school management philosophy also revealed many problems. Excessive control over students will instead encourage the rebellious character of minors, and then make some outrageous or even illegal actions.
【Analysis of Film Art】
1. Characters and props
As a grand piece of work that wants to instill all the phenomena of the times in the murder incident, this will give the audience a better understanding of the scene of Taiwan in the 1960s through the interpretation of the supporting characters in the film, despite the murder plot in the main line of the film. One of the most representative characters among them, and also one of my favorite characters, is the friend of the suspect "Xiao Ming", "Elvis" (aka "Kitten").
"Elvis" is a heavy mechanical fan, loves rock and roll, and is a die-hard fan of American rock singer Elvis Presley. Be loyal to people. "Elvis" is not tall, but it is a collective microcosm of Taiwanese teenagers in the 1960s. At that time, the teenagers gradually became confused and hesitant in the face of a Taiwan government that could not see the future and the hopeless eyes of their parents. At this time, the prevalence of liberalism in Western culture and the style and genre of irony and irony aimed at social reality made the young people on this small island find a symbol of spiritual sustenance all at once. They can finally pin their hearts on the loud rock music. Perhaps, to be precise, it is not sustenance, but anesthesia...
In addition to expressing the director's personal ideological statement by portraying distinctive characters in the film, the use of props with ulterior motives in the film also reflects the life scene in Taiwan at that time. Kerosene lamps, flashlights... These seemingly inadvertent props allow us to glimpse the dilemma of life in that era. And the so-called nostalgic childhood may always exist only in our fantasies. If we go down and remember the people and things in our childhood bit by bit, there will always be some things we don't want to mention or experience again.
2. The use of empty scenes
Yang Dechang's films have a very interesting feature. In her films, an empty shot with no characters and only a scene often appears first, and then the characters in the film slowly appear in the empty shot. Such a one-to-one comparison gives viewers a novel viewing experience. It seems that what I am watching is not a well-designed movie, but a rehearsal stage play. The characters behind the scenes are nervously calculating their appearance time...
And the visual difference is an important part of capturing the viewer's vision. photography skills.
Postscript:
Once upon a time, in the hearts of thousands of Chinese movie fans, there was a wish in their lifetime, that is, to see a clear version of "Guling Street Teenage Murder".
In March 2016, when the warm and cold spring came, The Criterion Collection (CC for short) released a restored version of Yang Dechang's "Guling Street Teenage Murder". The wish of thousands of fans in their lifetime has been fulfilled. Coincidentally, the English title of the movie is "A Brighter Summer Day"... I think fans who have seen this restored version of the movie in the cold spring will be greeted by a sunny summer.
Written on March 21, 2016 (the first day and night after the spring equinox)
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