The movie "Seventeen-Year-Old Bicycle" features two seventeen-year-old boys as the protagonists. However, it is worth mentioning that the camera is often aimed at all kinds of little people living under the prosperity of Beijing - those old people who play chess in the alleys but do not know the world, those who are in every mundane corner Migrant workers who are busy with their livelihoods and rest at sunrise and sunset, those teenagers who have to talk about their worries for new words before the storm... Everyone has a story, and the protagonist of this story is among them.
Ten years later, in Beijing, it is difficult to find a place that can be as natural, quiet, beautiful, yet simple and simple as the Beijing shown in the movie, and can let two teenagers who have secret feelings be alone in the spring without any pretense. Ten years later, in Beijing, everything is covered with dust and speed. There are clean alleys that are not sheltered by trees for the elderly to enjoy entertainment in the open air. There are many streets that are so spacious that there is no other city comparable to them, and so-called elites who are dressed in fashion and delicate and still have a dazed heart; even if the express company does not have a van, It is also necessary to equip couriers with electric bicycles; and the crowds of people who ride to and commute by bicycles, who are full and calm and satisfied, are even more difficult to find in the increasingly diverse tide of private cars.
Various stories similar to ten years ago are still being played out every day.
The violence in the movie reminds me of returning home from winter vacation and reuniting with my primary school classmates after many years. At that time, I heard some people speak of various so-called "social phenomena" that they had experienced. Those chaos, numbness, darkness, and determination about youth are completely beyond the imagination of college students living in ivory towers; in contrast, a bicycle, two bricks, and a few wounds are not bloody violence enough. , not to mention that the director didn't even give a shot that was shot directly by the brick. But "Seventeen-Year-Old Bicycle" uses these little characters and themes to grab the hearts of the audience, and you can't help but reminisce, sigh, and think again and again.
Xiaogui's "escape"
He's too bad at talking, too good at running away. Even when it comes to finding his own bicycle, he is like a thief. Every time someone approaches, he turns around and flees without saying a word. As a viewer, I laughed at his ill-advised behavior, but it's understandable to think about it after watching the movie. This may be the fear that people at the bottom of society have for this society: because they have no dignity at all, they can only hold on to what they have - a bicycle - and never let go. At the same time he knew, or never doubted, that everyone who would come into conflict with him, no matter how unreasonable his nature might be, was stronger and more assertive than him. Because of his lack of education, he couldn't argue with anyone who came close to him, couldn't explain how he got to this position through ignorance and hardship, but could only repeat over and over a simple statement that was seriously lacking in confidence - such as "I'm not here to take a shower" or "This is my car". He was unable to convince the people around him, so he was exploited by too many people to speculate maliciously. That's why, he will get used to this kind of thinking inertia, accustomed to running away. The movie seems to tell us silently and clearly that this is a cannibalistic society. Escape is originally an animal's survival instinct, and in the movie, as a feature of Xiaogui, it highlights the lack of human dignity in him.
Xiaojian's "boring"
In today's words, Xiaojian may be called a boring man. In those days when he owned a car, he would gang up with classmates who had cars during the day, or act handsome in front of female classmates. His pride and cherishing of cars were no different from an adult who bought a BMW with his savings for a few years. ——It’s just that the reason and purpose of the former’s pride are much simpler and purer than that of the latter-but no one has seen how that silent teenager, in a white T-shirt, in the street lights at night, in an ancient alley. Hold your breath and train alone under the light. That shot may be another silent remark about his forbearance of life and the peculiar agitation of youth in his body. Maybe in the eyes of girls, his silence is a kind of cool; maybe only in this way, he can continue to endure the restlessness and dissatisfaction with life. So, even silence has become a brand of life on him.
Although the series of turmoil brought by the bicycle ended temporarily with the mutual compromise between the two teenagers, and this seemed to be a compromise that both parties could accept, but after such an incident, the pride and dignity that the bicycle once brought him has disappeared. cannot be restored. The disappointment of the family over the years smoldered in his heart, and the girl who walked away from him never looked back. At this point, the story is not just about bicycles, but also about youth.
Everyone laughed when the female characters in the movie
referred to Zhou Xun as "the old man who made soy sauce" in Xiaogui's hometown.
We also laughed when Gao Yuanyuan slowly stood up from under the camera for the first time.
Zhou Xun is a "virtuous" little nanny from out of town. This character without a single line was indeed played by Zhou Xun as "silent is better than sound". She seems to be arrogant and unattainable, changing clothes and drinking soy sauce, but her lips that are too grandly painted still suggest a little gaudy feeling. Behind Zhou Xun's sparse expression, we as the audience and Xiao Gui as the hero have all kinds of imagination and speculation. In the end, the truth revealed that she wanted to restrain herself first. She was just another thin little person (as thin as almost no lines), who just yearned too much for the beauty of women in her eyes - which, after all, required high heels and sexy skirts. decoration can be obtained. She had nothing, so the impression she left on the audience was finally her pale face and bright red lips that were wiped clean by reality in an instant.
Later, according to the teacher, there was a rival scene between Xiao Gui and Zhou Xun during the filming, but it was deleted by the director. Perhaps the similarity between these two people under the different appearances can be better implied through this indirect and vague expression.
Xiao Xiao, played by Gao Yuanyuan, is a high school girl with a pure appearance and a vain heart. All she admires is a boy with a good car and good driving skills that can make her face. This is another kind of dazed youth. If Xiaogui and Xiaojian are obsessed with the pride and dignity symbolized by bicycles and bicycles, and the nanny is obsessed with yearning for glitz, Xiao Xiao doesn't seem to be obsessed with personnel. When Xiao Jian lost her car, her disdain pointed out that the living conditions of the two were actually quite different. She neglected Xiaogui, perhaps because Xiaogui was impatient with her when she was most depressed, or perhaps she found that Xiaogui could not actually bring her vanity. No matter what the reason is, the person who "abandoned" himself immediately found another lover. For a teenager like Xiao Gui, who is more sensitive and has stronger self-esteem than ordinary children because of his family experience, it is tantamount to a blatant insult. When I was young, the feelings were hazy, and one look was enough to bring joy and fantasy to the other party for three days; even if one party did not express it, it was a kind of torture to the other party. No one talks about love, let alone intimacy. Such feelings seem innocent and harmless, but it is undeniable that Xiao Xiao was indeed the fuse of the first brick-and-mortar incident.
Epilogue
In this film, each of the main characters has its own tragic or vaguely tragic. Although this tragedy will always fade away with the passage of time, we, who have witnessed everything, always have to sigh and sigh. I remember a writer wrote a passage to the effect that when you look back at the old things, you will find that there have been so many joys that were not worth so much joy, and so many sorrows that were not worth so much sadness. I was thinking, after another ten years, these two teenagers have probably married, have seen the world more clearly, or have become more numb and indifferent to the world, when they recalled that bicycle and that period of frivolous years , will not laugh, will there be tears in the laughter.
At the time, they had no choice. Fortunately, there is always hope.
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