There are three different times in the film: time in Taiwan, time in Paris, and time in the underworld. The difference in time is equivalent to the difference in space, but it actually reflects the distance, the distance between people, and the distance between hearts. The characters in the film are torn apart by these different times, and they are all in pain. And these pains are exacerbated by the difference of each person's time, which pushes everyone in the movie into the abyss of loneliness. The various dials showing different times that appear from time to time in the film are a concrete manifestation of this state.
The film has three main characters: the girl who buys the watch, Xiaokang's mother and the protagonist Xiaokang. Let's take a look at the torment of the time conflict they suffered in turn.
1. The girl who bought the watch The girl who
bought the watch to Paris asked Xiaokang from the beginning to ask for a watch that could display two times (referring to the time in Paris and Taiwan?), which implied the girl's split attitude when she went to Paris, because from the heart It is still difficult to let go of Taiwan's time. This also paved the way for the situation in which the girl went to Paris and it was difficult to integrate into the life of Paris. Here, the difference between Paris time and Taiwan time seems to be understandable as a difference between different cultures. However, later in the film, we will see that even people living in Taiwan also follow different times. Perhaps in our eyes, because we live in the same cultural background, the differences in time between different people are magnified, while when looking at the lives of people in other cultural backgrounds, internal differences are magnified. Neglected, while differences between cultures are highlighted. It's like when watching foreign movies, I always feel that foreigners all look similar, but they are far from Chinese. And the director may also handle the difference between Paris time and Taiwan time with this attitude.
2. Well-off mother
Xiaokang's father dies shortly after the movie begins, so the time of the underworld emerges. Xiaokang's mother was obsessed with missing Xiaokang's father, and gradually began to move the whole family's time closer to the time of the underworld where his father was, and this gave birth to the contradiction between Xiaokang and his mother. In fact, because the father and mother are separated by yin and yang, all the mother's efforts can only be obsession. After all, if the differences in time in different regions can still be dissolved, then the differences in time in different dimensions are extremely difficult to dissolve.
3. The
protagonist Xiaokang Although the protagonist Xiaokang lives in Taiwan and spends his time in Taiwan, his own heart has been torn apart the most at different times. On the one hand is the mother, who is trying to bring the time of the whole family closer to the time of the dead father. Although she struggles hard, but because of family affection, the struggle of Xiaokang often breaks down on her own. On the other side is a girl who bought a watch by chance. The girl went to Paris. Therefore, in Xiaokang's consciousness, their distance is the distance between Taiwan and Paris. Converted to the time difference, it is the seven-hour time difference. So, Xiaokang's inner time began to gradually lean towards Paris time. He went to rent Paris movies that he had never watched before, and watched the black and white images of Paris streets in "Four Hundred Blows", trying to narrow the distance between himself and Paris. , when in fact it's just wishful thinking trying to match his time with the current time of the girl he met by chance. There is such a small detail, Xiaokang on the rooftop, set the clock hanging upstairs slowly, then opened a bottle of red wine and began to drink alone. In this detail, there is a lingering pain in loneliness.
As mentioned above, the film focuses on depicting internal differences when dealing with Taiwan time. Although this difference is small, it is more essential. Because it is this difference that leads to the difference between each person, the contradiction between people, the inability to understand each other, and the loneliness that is destined for human beings. For example, there is a detail in the film. Xiaokang was looking at a watch in a watch shop, and he met a man. He was followed to the theater and took his watch. Xiaokang chased to the toilet to get his watch back, but found that the man was naked and put his watch back. The dial was hung on the lower body, so Xiaokang had to flee. Here, the watch is the symbol of time, and the asynchronous time is revealed as a symbol of the gap between people.
The loneliness caused by time but actually the distance between people is difficult to console, so at the end of the film, the three main characters try to use sex to relieve the pain of loneliness (Xiao Kang's mother holds his father masturbating, the girl went to the residence of a Hong Kong girl she met in Paris to try to have same-sex sex, Xiaokang had sex with a prostitute in the car). (Here, let's talk about it, there are three people, only Xiaokang is doing it with a big butt. Sure enough, in the next two plays, the director directly asked him to act as an actor in an A-movie.) However, whether it was successful or After unsuccessful sex, the three still face loneliness, because sex cannot fill the gap of time.
When I write this, I think of a sentence that many couples often say when they break up is "we are not suitable", in other words, this sentence is actually "there is something wrong between us". When my watch can no longer calibrate your time, and your watch can't calibrate my time, in addition to breaking up, or goodbye.
Essentially, everyone's schedule and time are different, so life is doomed to be lonely. The ravines of time traverse the surface of this world, no matter how small the distance is, it can be infinite if you want to, and the large distance can be very small if you want, and this is how we live.
Finally, put up a song by Luo Dayou "My Hand
Through Your Black Hair" My Hand Through Your Black Hair
My Eyes Through Your Mood
So And Such Affectionate
Escape I don't know why the sea becomes a mulberry field
. Your hand, who holds my helpless hands,
illuminates my dark eyes.
If the cold world we live in is still difficult to change,
at least I still have your face that melts the ice and snow
. I need the promises they say
I don't believe the lies they make anymore
I don't mind the gossip people want
I know we don't understand sweet words
My hands
can't keep your back my eyes I can't keep your back
If such and such deep affection is fleeting , I
can't understand why the sea becomes a mulberry field . My hand through your black
hair is my hand
through your black hair.
The title of this article is actually modeled on this song. of the song title.
In a way, the song says the same thing as the movie. It's just that this song is more popular and has a smaller focus, while Cai Mingliang's film is a little more decisive, boring, and has a bigger focus, perhaps more than a little.
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