Angelopoulos' work "Landscape in the Fog" / Organized by Fan Daming /
Time: 11:20-11:45 am, April 14, 2012 (Saturday)
Venue: Henglu Art Museum, No. 202, Nanshan Road, Hangzhou Lecture Hall
(post-viewing scene of Angelopoulos' work "Landscape in the Fog" at Henglu Art Film Bar)
Participants: (Preface) Fan Daming, Wang Xiling, Shen Chenchen, Shen Xinran, He Ji (viewers: Chen Xingsheng, Sun Furong, Xingyue, Huang Huawei, Xu Shuhong, Ji Boqing, Wang Wei, Niu Yuzhu, etc.)
Moderator: Fan Daming
Record: Liu Haiqing
Anzhe Style of the film: heavy, restrained and poignant
Fan Daming: Last week's "Wandering Artist" 222 Minutes are 3 hours and 42 minutes. It is not easy to keep reading (to be hungry), and there is no time to chat. Today's "Landscape in the Fog" is two hours, there is not much time left, and there are very few people left, but let's have a chat with a few of us here. Madam Wang speaks first.
Wang Xiling: The film is very casual and delicate. Some of the shots seem to be framed inadvertently, and the whole film is heavy and restrained. Filmed in 1988, it can be seen that foreign films at that time really had various styles. But if this kind of film is imported, it will really not sell. Films such as "Atonement" and "Pride and Prejudice", etc., when I go to the cinema to watch them, I am alone.
Fan Daming: "Landscape in the Fog" is the first work of Angelopoulos that I saw. I remember reading it after I turned on my computer and searched the Internet. An Zhe's other films. It should be said that the "Wandering Artist" we showed last week is more representative of An Zhe's film. Its basic image element is a group of cultural people or entertainers, each carrying a suitcase and an umbrella with a pointed and curved handle. On the road without losing elegance and grace. In "Landscape in the Fog", the sister and brother later met a kind-hearted touring troupe actor and driver, and they also attracted a similar group of people. Each of An Zhe's films can be regarded as a part of a large film series created by himself, just as Balzac's novels belong to his "Human Comedy". This approach is also beneficial to him personally. The formation of the style of the film.
The title of "Landscape in the Fog" is like a statement about life. Who can see
Chen Chenchen clearly: I only learned about the director Angelopoulos and this event after reading the introduction of "City Weekly". The title "Landscape in the Fog" is very attractive, with fog, scenery, and straightforwardness. The story tells that a pair of siblings didn't even know who their father was, or even if their father was in Germany, so they went to look for it. This is like speaking about life, who can see clearly? The sister and brother insisted on finding their way into the fog. They have met well-meaning people, setbacks, and even rape. This is the cruelty of life. Of course there is also warmth. A person who sells things at the train station at the beginning of the film asks, "Why do you come every day?" This shows that the sisters and brothers did not come up with a whim, but a careful consideration at their age. At the end of the film, the elder sister asked the younger brother: "Are you afraid?" The younger brother said, "I am not afraid". There is also the story that has been told but never finished: "In the beginning it was pitch black, and then there was light", which is a bit like "Bible • Genesis". I don't know what the background of the film was. It should be consciously reflecting the social status and characteristics of the time. For example, the scene of the troupe rehearsing at the seaside shows that they could not find a suitable theater, there is no place to perform the play, and they even had to auction the props. Clothing, which also means some kind of loss and fault of culture. I think the film has a spiritual belief that everything will be fine. The process of finding his father has its own meaning, including musical rendering, such as the violin performance in the film; a piece of music that stops abruptly at the end of the film. Although we do not know the future of our life, there should be dawn and confidence should be established.
There is also a girl's hazy and beautiful girlish emotions. The boy taught her to dance but she ran away. This is her normal response to shame. Because she likes him and feels that she is not perfect, although it is not her fault. And the boy sold the car until night, and then the two of them went deep. It does seem to be a hint of homosexuality. The part of the hotel is also worth thinking about. She took the initiative to find the boy. Later, a large hand with a broken index finger was hung from the sea, which should also be a symbol. When they finally broke up, the boy said: "I don't want us to be separated like this." "It's the first time." It means that he knows she likes him, so he comforts her and is very reserved. This film has the characteristics of a niche movie. (Sister Wang Xiling gave Shen's speech warm applause)
A story of growing up
Fan Daming: is your daughter next to you? (Shen Chenchen: Yes.) Can you tell me a few words about your opinion?
Shen Xinran: I think this is a growth story. The hazy love between a young man and a girl is the scenery in the fog. He doesn't know anything about her, he just finds it strange. Have a good feeling. To catch the train at the beginning, there are two times. The first time was frustration, hesitation, and then a decision. The second time was to make the big decision: to find my father. The back is stumbled, encountering different people and things, and finally achieved the purpose in my heart.
Interpretation of some details in the film
He Ji: (to Shen Chenchen) Your daughter made a good comment. I think that when the siblings' father is in Germany, there is a specific meaning. This statement may not be made up by the mother at random, but it is true. The film says that the two children are illegitimate children, in fact, they are the result of the rape of their mother by a German soldier (or officer). This hints at the historical background of Greece being invaded by German fascists in World War II.
Fan Daming: The director may not have made such a deliberate arrangement, but we interpret the film in this way, which is also a word of the family.
Wang Xiling: The sister and brother go to the station time and time again because they are looking for an opportunity to get on the train. They have no money to buy a ticket, so they evade the ticket to take the train.
Fan Daming: The experience of going to the station again and again without success is also an experience of the determination of the siblings and their families to leave Germany without saying goodbye. In the last section of the journey, they got the money and bought the tickets to get on the train, so they could accept the conductor's ticket check calmly. This description also shows that although they are still teenagers, they still do not lose their dignity as human beings. The marble sculpture of the lifted hand is obviously an excavated monument, and it should be a hint to the splendid ancient Greek culture of our nation - but it also has such an implication: the splendid ancient culture either slept in the depths of the sea for thousands of years, or Being hoisted by a helicopter and sent to the distant sky, for contemporary people, it is separated by a large distance, which is indeed an expression and reflection on the rupture of a kind of cultural heritage. As for the relationship between the two heroines, I think the film is nothing more than a description of the emotional sparks of two people passing by, and that's it. Because one is going to Germany to find a father and the other is going to serve in the army, and they each have their own "top mission", there can be no emotional outcome in practice. In addition, there are shots of the barracks raising the flag in the square. At that time (1988 or before), it was actually still during the Cold War, and the socialist camp led by the Soviet Union had not yet collapsed; Greece has always been a militarized dictatorship, and in our socialist society The camp's eyes have always been "reactionary", while film directors are more progressive.
Chen Chenchen: To add, judging from the film, the truck driver who raped the girl is not entirely a bad person. He had just gone through the adult game (competing with people on the way to the restaurant waitress) and failed, and he was drunk and evil. After sobering up, he scratched his scalp, somewhat remorseful. And the soldier at the station (when the girl asked him for money) was also very tangled. He could take advantage of the danger, but he still had a conscience and did not let the girl sell his body for the ticket money. So the film is not completely pessimistic.
Finished in the afternoon of May 6, 2012
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