The Three Gorges Project is a background, a background of a symbol of the times, similar to the high-rise buildings that suddenly turned into rockets. And UFOs represent the confusion of people in Jia Zhangke's films about where to go. When the UFO was real, the woman whose husband lost her arm moved to Guangdong. The demolition workers decided to go to Shanxi, and the Zhao Taos went down the river to Shanghai. Although the destination is clear and the purpose is not clear, there is no choice.
Including other characters who showed their faces in the movie, Boss He, "Brother Xiaoma", Mr. Ma, Mrs. Ma, the Xiamen woman who never appeared... The author directly expresses the author's views on the relationship between people and the "world": People can only go with the flow.
Therefore, the Three Gorges is just the background, grand and beautiful, but depressing. On the surface, people will conquer the sky and the sky is bright. In fact, under the Three Gorges, there are various real problems faced by almost all the people at the bottom: demolition, trafficking of women, wandering, wandering, black coal mines, looking for jobs and finding a way everywhere. It is understandable why a little girl ran out of nowhere and asked Zhao Tao, a foreigner, if he wanted a babysitter.
Under the representative landscapes of "Three Gorges" and "Hukou Waterfall on the Yellow River" on the RMB, people live a similar humble and heavy life. The beauty of the Three Gorges scenery is in sharp contrast with the filth, ruins and rubble on the riverside, the grandeur of the Three Gorges is in sharp contrast with the insignificant back of Sanming, the “far” of the Three Gorges scenery is in sharp contrast with the absent-minded “closeness” of the Three Gorges. This contrast in the slow rhythm creates a tension that conveys a strong sense of alienation. I love that slow, flat shot. It's all under the lens.
Jia Zhangke is not trying to show the conflict between people and reality, people are powerless to resist, or they have already obeyed this understanding in their consciousness: resistance is useless. For example, "Little Pony", this highly symbolic character, full of romantic passion in John Woo's films, yearning for a happy life, ended up buried in a pile of bricks. The author presupposes a prerequisite: in the face of the exaggerated positive reality, the little people lack the ability to control their own destiny, lose their direction, or have no direction at all.
The premise of the "presupposition" - what the "Three Gorges Project" represents - was not designed by Jia Zhangke at all, it is already existing. And this presupposition is hidden behind the scenes, never appearing, and even the indirect representative "Xiamen woman" who is closely related to it only appears in people's words. Obviously, Guo Bin, who has an extraordinary relationship with "Xiamen women", is so comfortable in material life, which is also a strong contrast to Sanming. However, even if resistance is useless, most of the people represented by Sanming, regardless of any confusion, still have their own perseverance and stubbornness to return to their hometown in the black coal mine. was the only way he could: earn enough money to redeem an incomplete home.
This proposition appears "absolutely" correct in this "presupposed", yet practical, reality. Because, the "presupposition" is not the author, not the illusory philosophical premise, it is the reality we are facing, you clearly know it, but it cannot point to the object that cannot be stated clearly. The premise of a philosophical proposition is the object of reflection, and an "absolutely" correct premise has no possibility and necessity of reflection. However, under the correct premise, the actual result is not the same as the conclusion that the proposition should infer.
After Jia Zhangke returned to his own world, I felt that he found an outlet in "The Good Man of the Three Gorges", that is, the symbol of "Three Gorges Project", an image that had never surfaced in previous works. And he made a very useful mockery of the premise of this seemingly grand and absolutely correct presupposition with a seemingly realistic handwriting.
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