nostalgia wave
This film is adapted from the novel "Dance on my Grave" (Dance on my Grave, Yilin Publishing House, 2004 or "Youth Covenant" published in 1982 by British writer Aidan Chambers (1934-), Hunan Literature and Art Press, 2013). The adolescent Ou Rong read this book and liked it very much, because the descriptions of homosexuality in literature at that time were relatively negative, but this novel truly reflected the sincerity, beauty and pain of same-sex love. Ou Rong wanted to make it into a movie at the time, but he didn't have the ability at that time. After that, he has been waiting for British and American people to remake it. About 40 years have passed, and no one has set out to bring the novel to the screen, and the mature director who is over 50 years old has decided to realize his childhood wish.
In an interview, Ou Rong said that after filming the heavy and controversial film "Thank God", he wanted to try a lighter theme. He happened to see this book on the bookshelf and decided to start to realize his childhood. dream. But as an audience, the first impression of the movie is that Ou Rong wanted to make his own "Summer Finale" after the release of "Call Me by Your Name" (Call Me by Your Name). ". After all, "youth", "same sex", and "literary art" are all themes that the director is very grateful for his interest in. In the 1980s, he was also in his youth. "Please Call Me By Your Name" probably greatly resonated with him and sparked his creative desire.
Nor isn't the first mature and gay French director to start nostalgic. Robin Campillo launched 120 battements par minute at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, a gay group portrait of the early 90s that attracted a lot of attention. The following year, Christophe Honoré came to Cannes with Plaire, aimer et courir vite (Plaire, aimer et courir vite), as well as a story of homosexuality during the 90s AIDS epidemic another narrative possibility.
But Au Rong's summer love song reminds me more of André Téchiné's 2016 film Quand on a 17 ans. Tesine is born in the 40s, about 20 years older than those born in the 60s and 70s such as Campillo, Ou Rong and Honore, but "When We Were 17" outlines the state of mind and first love of discovering one's sexuality in adolescence. The atmosphere is so realistic and natural that it is hard to imagine that it came from an old man in his 70s. Generally speaking, "When We Were 17" is more delicate and more complete than "Midsummer of 1985", but both films involve the influence of the mother, the death of the father, the inner depression, etc., all exuding middle school students. The meaning of the cruel story of youth.
youth and death
The story opens with references to "corpses" and "death." It can be said that death is the central element of the story, and for the protagonist narrator Alex, death fascinates him in an abstract sense: the Egyptian conception of death, the bathtub like a sarcophagus; but from David's point of view, death is a reality, The death of his father made him bear the blow of his heart and the burden of life, and the rupture of love also made him truly usher in death. For Alex, death is different before and after meeting David. David used his own experience to teach Alex a lesson about death, allowing him to come out of his fascination with death and start to face the reality of corpses ( Morgues), cemeteries and unforgettable pain for true growth.
In a sense, David is the mature version of Alex, and Alex is the young version of Alex. Possessing literary talent, being valued by Chinese teachers, facing the choice of work and continuing studies, and being attracted to the same sex... David sees his former self from Alex, who has not been ravaged by life and is full of hope, exuding unrefined The beauty of youthful self. Alex saw in David the image of a more sophisticated, mature and confident man that he had not yet achieved. Alex felt confused about his life, and was more reserved and shy. He longed for someone to guide and lead him, and David was him perfect lover.
The movie is based on Alex's perspective, and we can clearly perceive the development and changes of Alex's emotions. But David's emotional direction is not particularly clear. In my opinion, David is a person who is happy on the surface and suffering in the heart. He is not as free and easy and happy as he looks. He seduces little fresh meat, interviews drunkards at night, rides a motorcycle, and dates British girls. . Like his mother said, before meeting Alex, David was in so much pain that he couldn't come out of the shadow of losing his father. David's cynicism is his disguise, he may be a flirtatious person, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have deep affection. There are at least three serious looks from David in the film, once when he asks Alex to promise a funeral, once when he talks about thinking about his father, and once when they have their final argument. Judging from David's actions, he had real feelings for Alex. Although he said he was annoyed with him, once Alex left, David still felt unbearable.
David's death was an accident, but this accident had a certain element of wishful thinking: the blow of his father's death, the death-defying racing car, the account of what happened behind him, and the emotional trauma. Before meeting Alex, David probably had the desire to die, so he had the promise to force him to dance on the grave. "a feeling of.
Although the movie has a lot of roughness in the script, the acting skills of the two leading actors are very good, especially Alex, from the initial temptation, the later indulgence, to the uncontrollable anger and jealousy, to the final collapse and Heartbroken. Love brings infinitely beautiful intoxication and infinite destructive power to the people in their short relationship.
Youth is often the first moment when a person experiences love. Love in this period is whole-hearted and unforgettable. In a relationship between two people, love is everything, without the interference of social and economic status. This also explains why adolescent love brings more impulses, and behind this impulse also hides danger and death.
the power of literature
"Summer of 1985" is obviously not Ou Rong's best work, and even compared with the works of recent years, it is not particularly outstanding. As far as the story itself is concerned, there is not much fresh content, which is probably not unrelated to the foundation of the original novel. The novel may have had an enlightening effect on Ou Rong at the time, but as far as the work itself is concerned, especially today when a large number of masterpieces of the same sex are emerging, I am afraid it cannot be regarded as particularly outstanding.
But the original novel also brings some British elements to the film: The Cure's Brit-rock style hits the face with In Between Days, Rod Stewart's touching Sailing pushes the film's emotional climax, and the British involved in it is unknown. The girl Kate drives the plot...
However, Ou Rong's adaptation obviously added a lot of his own flavor, the most prominent being the introduction of literary elements.
Mr. Lefèvre, the secondary French teacher played by Melvil Poupaud, is easily reminiscent of Mr. Germain in Dans la maison (2012). The Chinese literature and French teachers in the two films have obvious saving power for a relatively marginal but literary talented middle school student. Reading and writing play a very important role in the advancement of the plot and the self-recognition of the protagonist.
The introduction of literary elements into films is a common practice in the films of French authors: from Truffaut's "The Four Hundred Blows" to Krapis' "Spanish Apartment", from Cauchy's "The Life of Adele" to Honoré's "Apartment in Spain" Like, kiss, run", on the one hand, it shows that many French directors were literary youths earlier, and on the other hand, it is also related to the fact that France attaches great importance to humanistic education.
The starting point of Ou Rong's literature is the (high school Chinese) teacher's inspiration to students. A teacher who loves literature but has not been able to become a writer is excited when he sees the talents of the students' writing; the students did not want to embark on the path of literature, but they discovered and achieved themselves with the encouragement of the teacher.
In the film, when Alex picks up his typewriter and starts to write, he goes from a miserable, helpless, torn between a young man to a man who can control his own destiny. Not only did he explain his behavior, but he also let himself out of the emotion that had nowhere to go. The teacher pointed out such a common truth throughout the ages: when a person picks up a pen, it is more often to tell stories that cannot be told.
Writing is to reconstruct memories in one's own way and to give all meanings again. Alex's telling is not lacking in literature, but he is not the one who tells the story. He is the novelist and narrator. He already knows the meaning of each plot in the story and informs the reader when the time is right. How did the capsize incident make the protagonist appear, what the music David played him in the ballroom meant, and how the reappearance of Kate heralded the end of the story... But he did not forget to set the suspense, starting from the end of the story, let Reality and memory are intertwined, and the whole process of the story is revealed little by little, which tickles the reader's appetite.
After writing, Alex has a better idea of what this relationship means to him than before, he can face the judge's judgment and start a new relationship on the beach. Writing, as his teacher said, was a means of healing for him who was experiencing trauma.
It can be seen that Ou Rong did not make too many breakthroughs and attempts when creating this film. What he did more was the repetition of his own mother, and this repetition was somewhat casual and careless. From the director's point of view, he wanted to shoot the teenager himself and tell the story of the teenager from the perspective of the teenager. But art without adventure is conservative art. Although sincere and smooth, this comfort zone work does not bring too many shocks and surprises to the audience.
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