Like the poet's impromptu meditation, Hou Hsiao-hsien's films always belong to a poetic state of "situational moments". In order to drive away her husband and friend who had been occupying the room downstairs for a long time without paying the rent to make room for her daughter who was about to return, Susan, who taught drama at the university and was also the voice of a puppet theater group, did not hesitate to break with him. However, his husband stayed in Canada on the grounds of creating a novel and refused to come back to deal with it. Trapped in work and trivial matters, Susan had no time to take care of her son Simon, so she had to entrust a Chinese student to accompany and take care of her, so she became little Simon's best friend because of her loneliness. Time flows away in people's loneliness, conflict, helplessness, and embrace. The people who live and exist in these "situational moments" (the poet said: the moment of me who has everything) are intertwined into a modern picture. Imagery of Paris.
This is the film "Red Balloon" directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien at the invitation of the Musée d'Orsay in 2008. The Musée d'Orsay is famous for its collection of Impressionist paintings that emerged after the mid-19th century. Hou Hsiao-hsien ingeniously incorporated the Impressionist painting style and techniques that focused on the flow of light and shadow outdoors, as well as the compositional themes of the general life situation, into the film to enhance its poetic realm. The flow of light and shadow is "ephemeral", so the artist's painting focuses on "instant capture", and the light and shadow are not the original appearance of the object (for example, the green of the lake is just the reflection of the shade of the tree, not the true nature of the lake. ), attaching importance to "the sense of momentary change" rather than "eternal existence", which makes the painter gradually dismantle his views on what he sees and realize his own subjective perspective.
Film differs from painting in its ability to use technology to control time and space, says cultural theorist Edgar Morin, through the enhancement of time (slow motion) and space (close-ups), complemented by exaggerated, prominent lighting effects or framing angles. The film is able to focus and retain "eternal moments" (romantic kiss, heroic chivalry, tragic death), thereby forming a kind of image charm (the so-called dramatic tension), attracting the viewer's attention and guiding the viewer's emotions, thus creating a " dream image". These "dream images" in turn shape our waking lives, teaching us "how to live" or "how to refuse to live."
Hou Hsiao-hsien's films are often classified as "boring", because a major feature of Hou's films is the lack of "image charm" in terms of visual stimulation - no slow-motion close-ups, long shots that are always stagnant and end-to-end, and no lighting effects. , all film techniques are simplified to a minimum. The very important reason is that he does not want to guide you to "how to live", but to "observe life". It is at this level that Hou Hsiao-hsien and Impressionists have achieved a very ingenious combination.
Life is never an "ideal state" like a "dream image", and is often full of "trajectories of change" such as struggle, hesitation, joy, helplessness, anxiety, etc. Impressionists use the momentary capture of light and shadow to express this imprint of life. Hou Hsiao-hsien presents several scenes such as the loneliness of a little boy playing a game console, Simon recalling the happy time he spent with his sister in the past, or Susan roaring and complaining to her husband on the phone in the car. Processing, forming a poetic emotional rhythm in each "moment of the moment", like an impression painting style.
The biggest difference between the "moment of the moment" and the "eternal moment" is that the "moment of the moment" is the "emotion of life" captured naturally, rather than the "purpose of life" (that is, how to live) that is deliberately created. The natural reaction in the situation is the most real "life existence". No matter whether it is joy or sadness, it is a kind of "taste" of life. Buddhists say "too much desire is suffering", and regard people's "life purpose" for prosperous desires as "a fait accompli", so they feel "suffering" because they cannot grasp the eternal immortality of "life purpose"; Here, Hou Hsiao-hsien is concerned with "emotions in life", so even suffering comes from the taste of a life situation. It does not involve value judgments, but is purely a taste of the moment. Although Hou Hsiao-hsien's film scenes are always so self-made, there is no "dramatic tension", but there is full "life tension", because everywhere is full of human warmth.
The movie ends, but life goes on... In the familiar melody, the French chanson sings slowly: "Remember that we loved life, hot milk, cinnamon and water. Now, every night, a glass of wine is full of bitterness. The taste..." The red balloon that visited the little boy from time to time rose slowly and disappeared into the depths of the Paris sky...
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