"Mountains and Rivers" has become a phenomenon before it is released, but the film is not a product that was born out of nowhere. Jia Zhangke has a free balance between change and change, taking care of old fans who have been following for more than ten years, and also taking care of the first The audience who went to the theater to watch his movie. Just like the soundtrack of this movie, it not only takes care of Yoshihiro Hanno's long and light style, but also does not lose the turmoil of Lin Qiang's electronic beats. It's just a section chief's movie, do you really understand it?
The unchanging section chief is Fenyang's old friend
. Many people were hit by Zhao Tao's solo dance in the heavy snow at the end of "Mountains and Rivers". They couldn't help but burst into tears. "Mother" and "Fireworks in the Day" directed by Diao Yinan, who won the Golden Bear last year, both feature solo dances. In fact, as early as fifteen years ago in "Platform", when Zhao Tao listened to the song-on-demand program on the radio, his thoughts and night fell a little bit, and he couldn't help dancing alone to Su Rui's "Whether or Not". Lay the groundwork for today.
They are all solo dances, all alone and unilaterally concerned about the distance. Yin Ruijuan in "Platform" misses Cui Mingliang, Zhang Jun, and Zhong Ping, a group of friends who are far away from home and abroad. Because of the distance, the ambiguous love between her and Cui Mingliang is becoming somewhat clear. Shen Tao in "Old Man in Mountains and Rivers" is over half a hundred years old and alone. He has only an old dog as his company. He misses the flesh and blood on the other side of the earth. The northern hemisphere is a snowy winter, and the southern hemisphere is still a scorching summer.
It's no wonder that some people regard "The Old Man of Mountains and Rivers" as a sequel to "Platform". At the beginning of the movie, "Platform" was performed by members of the cultural and art troupe "The Train Runs to Shaoshan", and Yin Ruijuan made an announcement on the stage. "Old Man in Mountains and Rivers" is a popular activity in the Spring Festival, and Zhao Tao still recites it on the stage. But Cui Mingliang disappeared and Zhang Jun became a miner. This time, the coal miners have changed from the dull Sanming in the past to a gentle and affectionate Liangzi.
Was "Go West" an accident? The male and female protagonists are carnival in (KTV), and they have a "report" in the "Hometown Trilogy". In "Xiao Wu", Xiao Wu, who can't sing, sings with Mei Mei. In "Platform", the private art troupe is about to break up, and everyone is holding Liu Juan and Liu E's twin sisters to play in a simple disco with the dance song "It's Up To You". The first episode of "It's Up To You" (depends on you) was performed by famous German disco singer Lian Ross. In "Ren Xiaoyao", Xiaoji, Binbin, and Qiaoqiao vented in the music of Zheng Jun's "Naked" in the disco, and the elder brother from the coal boss was jealous.
The "gun" in "The Old Man of Mountains and Rivers" is obviously not unexpected. This prop, which symbolizes the mentality of the nouveau riche and the loyalty of men, has long been foreshadowed. There are also guns in "Platform", which are the air guns that Cui Mingliang used to shoot birds. In "The Good Man of Three Gorges", it was a gesture made by "Little Brother" with his hands. In "Tian Destined", Jiang Wu's shotgun was a happy and vindictive shotgun. , Wang Baoqiang's tool to relieve boredom and walk around the world. Chinese men love guns?
The empty public bathhouse in "Xiao Wu" is still there in "The Old Man of Mountains and Rivers", but Liang Zi is in the hot water, but his heart is still cold. From various spaces, the introduction of news patch-style social life through radio, TV, Internet, and conversation is also a bridge that the section chief is familiar with and can easily grasp. This time, it is news such as anti-corruption, Sydney Olympics, cross-century, immigration and so on.
As for "dollar", money, this element, is it obtrusive? Not abrupt. Jia Zhangke used it with ease in the morning. In "Xiao Wu", the craftsman Xiao Wu makes a living. In "Platform", Cui Mingliang gave Sanming's school sister a few dollars during dinner, secretly saying that it was handed over; in "Ren Xiaoyao", everyone wanted to take it The US dollar is exchanged for RMB, and even Qiaoqiao is supported. The two teenagers take risks for money; in "The Good Man in Three Gorges", Sanming takes out the pattern of RMB to compare with the scenery of Kuimen, and "Brother Xiaoma" learns the look of Brother Fa who burns money and lights cigarettes. There is also the renminbi that Wang Hongwei smashed at Zhao Tao in "The Destiny of Heaven".
What about those sudden events? It was the house that rose from the ground in "The Good Man in the Three Gorges" and rushed into the sky like a rocket; it was the thunder-like explosion on the ground behind the car accident in "Tian Destined" (the train incident?), and it was the plane that suddenly fell in front of him in "The Old Man of the Mountains and Rivers". What about the redundant characters, the tightrope walker in "The Good Man in Three Gorges" and the boy walking with Guan Gong's knife in "The Old Man of Mountains and Rivers", how lined up and opposed to each other.
The bright northern warm color is the wildfire set by Cui Mingliang on the river beach in "Platform", and the wildfire set by Liang Zi in the foreign land where he works part-time in "Mountains and Rivers", all of which symbolize loneliness and silence. Similar to the common elements and landscapes in Jia Zhangke's films, there are many recurrences, such as crowds of onlookers, local dramas, etc., which can be seen with a little attention.
The unchanging section chief has always cherished the nostalgia of Fenyang, and there are situations and props that make good use of it, but some people look carefully, and some people don't pay attention.
The changing Director Jia is a film "designer".
Many masters' changes started from making boring films not boring, and Jia Zhangke's changes also started from "not boring". "Tian Destined" is a watershed, the narrative is cut in two directions, from the closed narrative of the previous single path to the open narrative with clear layers. "Tian Destiny" is a quasi "ring structure", the four groups of protagonists do not know each other, and there is a passing intersection. The time axis of "Old Man in Mountains and Rivers", the intersection of the characters in the past, present and future, also has a structural concept.
"The Destined" and "The Old Man of the Mountains and Rivers" made many old fans feel a little uncomfortable. In addition to the change in the narrative method, the main reason is that the "sense of design" of the film is getting stronger and stronger, which seems to belong to the section chief's duty, simple and natural. The sculptural documentary quality is disappearing.
The most intuitive expression of this kind of "design" is to let go of restraint and subtlety, and start to "directly give" to the audience. "The Destiny" is violent and bloody; "The Old Man of Mountains and Rivers" is directly emotional, and there is no lack of love. As soon as the opening scene of "Tian Destiny", the fire-colored fruits on the road were billowing at the scene of the car accident, the sudden explosions and flames, and the lively disco group dance at the opening of "The Old Man of the Mountains and Rivers" indicated the intensity of the "direct delivery" method.
The section chief used to use long takes, with soft movements, slow rhythms, and few edits. Since "Apocalypse", due to the change in the way of narration, the rhythm has become faster and lighter, the shots flow smoothly and neatly, the switching between deep focus and shallow focus is skillful, the frequency of close-ups is getting higher and higher, the lighting is bright and colorful, and the involvement of non-professional actors is basically more and more. The less, there is a certain dependence on professional actors, sets, and props.
The changing Jia Zhangke, the industrial attributes of his films as films are becoming more and more clear. Everyone is thinking, it seems that before Jia Zhangke met the famous lighting director Huang Zhiming (once Wong Kar-wai's royal lighting engineer) and foreign editor Matthew, he seemed to be less particular about these aspects, try to use natural light when there is natural light, and do not use natural light when there is no natural light. very bright.
Animal symbols such as horses, snakes, ducks, and fish, which are talked about in "Tian Destined", are full of Imamura's human metaphors. "Old Man of Mountains and Rivers" still continues, but it is simplified to a pet dog that grows old with its owner, a tiger locked in a cage.
In addition to animal elements, Jia Zhangke also used a method similar to "synesthesia" in his two recent films. In "Tian Destined", when Jiang Wu picked up his shotgun and was about to go out to clean up the village cadres who acted as tigers, the still tiger on the canvas roared loudly. In "Old Man in Mountains and Rivers", Dao Le on the other side of the ocean softly called out his mother's name "Tao". It seemed that Zhao Tao, who was making dumplings in his hometown in Shanxi, was telepathically sensing thousands of miles away. The sound of the wind passed through the kitchen and passed by his ears. It seemed to hear a call.
All these designs are glued together. From an ornamental point of view, they are "WTO", good-looking and not boring. Compared with the calm and plain documentary style of the early stage, they appear strong, agile and dramatic. There is more craftsmanship and less naturalness of the past.
Jia Zhangke once told the media that he actually not only knows how to shoot county towns, but also doesn't want to shoot county towns for the rest of his life. "Tian Destined" and "Deceased in the Mountains and Rivers" are obviously the result of such efforts, perhaps to warm up the more "WTO" and more ornamental "In the Qing Dynasty".
Both change and immutability are a reality
. After "The Destiny of Heaven", Jia Zhangke's old fans believed that after his film design and industrialization became stronger and stronger, the subtle and objective simple emotions and the natural documentary charm would fade. Will you get lost in the maze of movie design, manipulation, and calculation full of game-like magic, forgetting the original intention of making the movie, and the characters in the play become calculated props? Those who accept this change think that Jia Zhangke's change is similar to that of China The reality of "every day changes" is very suitable. Maybe the section chief can change 72 times and make a more magical movie.
As a fan of Section Chief, I am neither obsessed with the past nor pessimistic about the future, but I just don't give up my expectations for him. Writing here, I don't know how to end this text, but I suddenly remembered Martin Scorsese's advice to Jia Zhangke: small cost, must keep small cost and maintain creative freedom. I also want to remind the section chief once again that capital itself is a "design" for filmmakers.
Looking back, the good-looking, beautiful, smooth and capital of "Tian Destined" and "Old Man of Mountains and Rivers" are inseparable from the previous level and budget. This is also a change, and this change itself may be worthy of vigilance.
Because, we know that Jia Zhangke is not needed in the domestic blockbuster, and he is required to break into the billion-dollar club and dance with the rich and rich; but in the field of independent films, Jia Zhangke needs to be a "Ding Hai Shen Zhen", to be a caring big brother , to comfort those hungry hungry artists and tell everyone that the next film festival may belong to them.
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