This is a dull story, and it has been told twice. The plot is very simple. During a business trip, a middle-aged director had a free and boring afternoon, and ran into a young literary woman. The director, Xian Chunzhu, was attracted by Yin Xijing, who was painting, from chatting up to visiting the studio to having dinner and visiting Xijing's friend's house in the evening. The next day they said goodbye.
That's it.
However, if you have enough patience to watch the first time, I think you may watch the second time and find it interesting. It is true that this story has been told twice. At first glance, it is repeated, and there is no earth-shattering reversal, but because of the different details, it has a different texture. Just like the beginning of the second edition, the temple scene looks the same, just with more sunlight.
In the first version, the director hooked up with words, and after three tours in the sushi hotel, Xijing expressed loneliness and admiration through drinking, but the director hid the fact that he was married, and did not say it until he was questioned at Xijing's friend's house. , which made Xijing in a bad mood, and the two broke up unhappily. In the second version, the same scene, similar to a conversation, the director seemed more frank, while Xi Jing was more reserved, and immediately refuted the director's evaluation of her paintings. Jing said love and gave her a ring, then went to a friend's house with her, and the next day she went to see his movie.
There is no major dramatic conflict, and the plot advances in dialogue. And those conversations were all so awkward, half-truths, half-truths, inaccurate greetings, clichés and compliments that were universal. Everything spins, bubbles, rises and fades in the language. This dialogue is very cleverly written, seemingly clumsy, infinitely close to real life, but in fact it has been refined and arranged. As observers, we must feel that there is a distance between the spoken language and the true hearts of the two characters. And how far is this distance, how close is it, and how far is it? All intriguing.
It's like the first time they went to Xijing's studio, Xijing said that if there was no coffee, she had to buy it for the director. The two talked back and forth several times, whether to go or not. But we feel the emotion in the words, obviously not related to coffee.
Isn't life like this, silence and loneliness everywhere? People say countless sentences, but they have difficulty in communication. When they see a little bit of "connected mind" Mars, they want to catch it. The moment of mutual understanding may be a moment of true love, or it may be just pretending to be flattering. Or to “feel that I can still love”—in other words, to move myself with love, or to rejoice that “I have no friends” and there is someone who appreciates it today.
These moments are moments when language is close to the heart, but they are often short-lived. After they are spoken, they only leave embarrassment in the air, and they need to be buried with countless sentences that are inappropriate.
The person who strikes up a conversation with him still speaks up to that detached beauty unskillfully, and the person who is approached still gets the appreciation and joy from strangers who have a halo of knowledge and culture. Although the two of them don't actually know each other, and they don't seriously intend to get to know each other.
But after all, people are different, Xi Jing seems to want to know more about the director. There is a line at the end of the second version, Xi Jing said, I like you, director, I want to watch all your movies.
This sentence sounds really literary and artistic, and it is full of admiration and love, but in the first hypocrite version, the director who was forced to find out the truth caused an emotional outburst at the sharing meeting the next day, and angered why To pursue the language of perfect cinematic expression. So, what is learned from the works, is it real or imagined? Is it the real emotion in the person's heart, or is it a deliberate reconstruction of language expression? This is a paradox.
Xi Jing may not know this. But Xijing has her way of life, not only she doesn't go out when she returns home late at night, but also has her literary side. Since there is an imaginary world in the movie, why not?
The most beautiful moment of this movie with ordinary appearance (the location in the small town is ordinary, the characters are dressed in ordinary clothes, and the male protagonist is even below ordinary), the most beautiful moment is the ending. After the movie ended, Xi Jing pulled up the collar of her coat and left alone. Her back gradually faded away, disappearing into the snow.
The oldness and clutter of the small town subsides, and white makes everything simple and clean.
In a movie that relies on dialogue to support the narrative, the actors are very important. Both protagonists showed their wonderful acting skills, Zheng Zaiyong played the kind of gentle and wretchedness, and Jin Minxi played the kind of loneliness and vague anxiety. Their coherent long-take scenes in cafes and sushi restaurants are excellent, especially in the sushi restaurant Xi Jing's controlled drunkenness. The first version of Xi Jing has a medium shot and a close-up after learning that the director is married. Her silent and layered expression changes are also very powerful.
Speaking of this film, it is inevitable to witness the film and reality. I don't know if the phrase "Director, I want to watch all your movies" is the inner call of Director Hong through the mouth of the heroine, which is narcissistic. But in any case, under his lens, the heroine shines brightly.
Looking back, it was like a love letter that Mr. Hong had scribbled and rewritten twice.
2016.09.12
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