In my meditation, however, the first thing that jumps out to wake me up is the almost ignored element of the film.
As a nation, Japan has a very contradictory understanding of the family. From Ozu's "Tokyo Story," that struggle and repetition phantom fills the stage. Behind the strong sense of dependence, there is a strong and broken power surging in the dark. When this power reaches the extreme, the crazy walk of "Swallowtail Butterfly" and the grand ending of "The Age of Cardamom" are formed. Pens and monasteries represent stillness and forbearance that are no longer valued in tradition, and then Chinese, where the remains of a more distant past are gradually weathering. However, there is no choice for his father and Yazhi, who are in charge of the story of Alice's death in her heart. Obviously, she did not agree with this result, because the flowers who participated in the cross talk club were distraught flowers. However, the seemingly open society and young people still have some traditional imprints in their hearts. Alice's criticism of her sister betrayed her heart. Friendship is marriage, and almost no one believes that this is from Alice's mouth, but I know Iwai must believe it.
The brief meeting between Alice and her father is the most delicate part of the film. There is no blooming cherry blossoms and snow, no quiet green bamboo forest, but the calm picture reveals Iwai's inner conflict with the family. Deja vu is a gentle and kind but powerless father and a powerless but rebellious child. Although the contradiction between them is not sharp or even just the child's pure youthful turmoil, in Iwai's heart this contradiction cannot be reconciled. Perhaps only growth can complete the transformation of youth, so in each of his films I have seen the seats reserved for growth. "I-love-you", these three simple and often difficult to speak Chinese characters, the completion of their mission is something that Alice can't stop in any way, which has nothing to do with her poor pronunciation. Because of growing up, after saying goodbye to the youthful and unworthy love, he is completely free to fly.
The whole film is filled with a half-tone gloomy atmosphere, and the desolate rain and the dim cloudy sky constitute the shadow in the child's heart. Yazhi, who is extremely allergic to rainy days, never understands why the scene is always covered by a huge tree canopy or an umbrella. Because the love of flowers needs to be filtered, she is not Yazhi's choice. Even though Yazhi's fainting again and again inadvertently conceals the flower's deception, her fate cannot escape Alice's clumsy performance. When Alice's lie gradually became true, the only bright sun in the film appeared. She obediently projected the light of harmless love, and softly surrounded the child who was connected with her heart.
The only thing that made me feel unfortunate was the appearance of 2 Aces of Hearts, which broke the tacit understanding between Alice and Yazhi. Iwai's slightly mischievous design makes us miss the wonderful picture of the two coming together. In the end, Yazhi didn't understand Alice's confession, and Alice also missed Yazhi's love. Everything that was lost came to an end in the tears of flowers. The truth about that mysterious amnesia is impossible to test, but the childish grin and tongue twister provide a less disgusting excuse for the flower deception. The inadvertently revealed little details about Hanayashiki also explain why Iwai is overly partial to Alice. For this disguised episode, the absurd contrasts in the play's performances justly came to an early end.
This film would never have been made by Iwai without the final piece of Alice's ballet solo. I think everyone likes this completely unbridled performance, not only Alice herself, but also the beautiful youth of her and the flower dancing with the energetic and dynamic body. When Alice calmly wrapped up her dance steps, everything related to youth ended, and the fireworks at the tail turned into a bright smile on the magazine cover.
Tears of youth were once again stepped on by the footprints of growth, and life was again cut into pieces without a trace, quietly blending into the gentle and soft sunlight.
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