Written by / Kong Shan
10 minutes and 41 seconds, 15384 frames.
This is the most intuitive difference between the mainland's public release version of "Long Time" and the international version.
Some details were removed.
For example, at the beginning of the film, Xingxing goes home for dinner. This is a long shot of following the stars into a Chinese family, a small room that combines the building, aisle cooking, public water room, bedroom, living room and dining room.
The family is very warm, Xing Xing is obedient and obedient. He washed his hands and waited for dinner after entering the door. Liyun scrambled 5 eggs for him and Yaojun awarded him 3 peanuts. The food was steaming.
Soon, the second dinner scene appeared. The mood was resentment and dissatisfaction. The space was open but messy, and flies were circling the meal. The family's life and state have changed dramatically.
The mainland version has cut the first dinner scene, weakening the contrast.
What attracted more attention were the other two important scenes - Yaojun and his wife won the "Family Planning Advanced Individual Award", and the factory announced the list of laid-offs, causing confusion.
The media who have watched the film in Berlin before have already revealed the relevant information, but only after seeing these two passages can you feel the power.
After the release of "Long Time", Wang Xiaoshuai was once rated as "compromising", "forgive" and "cowardly".
The complete international version can probably remove such suspicion.
One of them was a "human blood steamed bread eating feast" that was almost watched, and the other was a more direct and vivid refutation of a certain arrangement.
The two scenes that disappeared in reality also formed an intertextual relationship with Haohao's confession in the film.
Haohao said: "You don't mention it, and they don't mention it either. I hope that after a long time, I will slowly forget about this matter."
But some things should not be forgotten, impossible to forget, blindly ignore, avoid, and even cause more harm and hidden dangers.
Wang Xiaoshuai had an interview with Nortel professor Hou Keming, and he said at the end: "If you don't touch it, that's the problem."
01. You eat your own "human blood buns"
"Human blood steamed buns" is an important vocabulary that Lu Xun left to the contemporary Chinese Internet. This is pretty much the highest level of attacks and accusations in the network.
If we accept the broad definition of "human-blooded buns", then there is a scene in "Long Time" where you eat your own "human-blooded buns" with a smile on your face.
The clip that Wang Xiaoshuai gives here is very crisp, with cheers followed by death.
Liyun was taken to a forced abortion. There was a problem during the operation. Yaojun was stopped in the operating room. He looked in through the crack of the door. It was a blood-red stage, and a group of children with strange blushes were singing.
This is a recognition ceremony that takes place after an abortion. On the stage, the children wore uniforms and were very happy. Under the stage, the adults wore uniform and were very happy.
Only Yaojun and Liyun could not laugh. Yaojun, who had just lost his child, closed his eyes and slept to resist these elation. After Liyun found out, he hesitated for a while, but still touched Yaojun's arm.
Their good friends, the fashionable Meiyu and Li Haiyan, the director of family planning, were grooming each other on the stage, and they were about to present an award to Yaojun and his wife.
Meiyu is an exaggerated broadcast tune, and Li Haiyan is a standard leadership tune, and they faithfully play their roles.
Here is another detail. When Li Haiyan happily read out the list, Meiyu on the side of the stage also signaled to Yaojun and his wife with a smile on her face.
The children who had just sang praises did not leave, sitting on both sides of the stage to watch. It's hard to tell if they know what "family planning" means.
When the two took the stage, there was thunderous applause and cheers from the audience, and some even whistled.
No one felt unwell, and Li Haiyan said "congratulations" to Yaojun and his wife. Everyone is celebrating an abortion, celebrating the death of a fetus.
A large group is enveloped in the same high-spirited emotion, and only the parties feel the pain.
Yaojun couldn't avoid shaking hands with Li Haiyan, and Liyun took the certificate uneasily.
It's a weird picture. With our help, you killed your own children and lifted your spirits. Don't be sad, although you died a child, but we gave you money.
You are even forced to smile when you are hurt.
Others may resist, but Yaojun and his wife are probably the best common people in the world, representing a considerable part of ordinary Chinese people, kind and forbearing.
No matter how many punches the society gave them, the most outrageous action they did was to smash the wall with their flesh and hurt themselves.
So they worked hard to cooperate, twitched the corners of their mouths and forced a smile, and there were waves of applause from the audience.
02. A speck of ashes of the times will fall on certain people precisely
In the edited layoff conference, the focus is not on the visual impact of the workers rushing to the stage at the end, but the art of the lines first.
Wang Xiaoshuai and his screenwriter turned the meeting into a dialogue between leaders and workers. The "dialogue" may not be accurate, but more like a refutation and a voice of the workers on the layoff announcement.
Although the subtitles were not fully written, and although the venue was noisy, Wang Xiaoshuai left a lot of gaps, and many lines could be clearly heard.
This is a scene that is rarely seen on the Chinese screen now, and has a strong sense of irony, comedy and the heaviness of the times at the same time.
Leadership: The humble do not dare to forget to worry about the country, first worry about the world's worries, and then enjoy the world's pleasures.
Worker: Say the point!
Leader: The ancients had such great feelings.
Worker: Don't say those high-sounding words!
Leader: The country is in trouble.
Worker: What's the difficulty? Who will solve our problems?
Leadership: Heavy forces overwhelm the environment.
Worker: Stop talking nonsense there!
Leader: What about our soldiers?
Worker: What should we do?
Leadership: They will give their blood and life without hesitation.
Worker: You take the lead!
Leader: Now the factory is not working, there is a burden.
Workers: No layoffs! Don't get laid off!
Leader: What should we do?
Worker: Don't go!
Leadership: Someone has to make sacrifices and be self-employed.
Worker: Don't talk about it, get off the stage now!
Leader: There is no iron job!
Worker: Did we agree to lay us off? Leaders are laid off first!
Leadership: Diligent hands can also contribute to socialism.
Worker: I'm going to work!
Leadership: The same can be done on the road to a well-off society.
Worker: Let your wife be laid off! Lay off your son! Why don't you let your children be laid off?
Leader: If the country is in trouble, please help. If I don't get laid off, who will be laid off?
Worker: You are laid off! You are laid off! You are laid off!
Leader: I am now announcing the list of laid-off personnel, Phoenix Nirvana, rebirth from ashes.
Workers: No layoffs! Don't get laid off! Don't get laid off!
Leader: Yu Yongzhang.
Worker: Drive him out! Why? Why?
Leader: Wang Liyun. (heroine)
Worker: We have to work, why should we be laid off?
For many ordinary people, being laid off is a disaster.
Liyun has contacted the manager several times, and the answer he got is "advanced must lead an advanced head". The damage you get is just another excuse for damage.
Managers and leaders who speak at the venue should be more advanced, but they and their children are still holding iron rice bowls.
A speck of dust from the times will not fall on everyone. Even if it does fall, whether or not this ash will become a mountain depends on who you are.
03. You don't mention it, they don't mention it, I really can't stand it
Two blockbuster scenes that disappeared, it is easy to recall Haohao's confession to Yaojun and his wife.
It was an arraignment-style composition.
Haohao, who has become a doctor, sees Yaojun and his wife again after many years. He can no longer bear it and chooses to admit his mistakes back then.
Many viewers expressed contempt for this, thinking that Haohao opened other people's wounds for inner peace.
But on the other hand, there is an extended discussion here. That is, what is the historical truth? Who made the mistake? Should wrongdoers face history, state their mistakes, and make a solemn apology?
After listening to Haohao's confession, Yaojun asked him, "How did your parents tell you?"
Haohao said: "You are all trying to protect me. You don't mention it, and they don't mention it. I hope that after a long time, I will slowly forget about this matter."
A boy became the murderer of his friend when he was young. Without guidance, he was able to grow up without distortion of character or become a pervert. It is really fortunate.
But he didn't feel at ease. "From that day on, I felt like a tree grew in my body. I grew, and it grew with me. I felt that it was going to break me, and it was going to grow out of my body. I can't take it anymore."
This tree could have been cut down, but the more ignored and silent it became, the more it grew and destroyed the body.
After Haohao confessed, the clip was followed by a flashback from that year.
Haohao's father went to Yaojun and his wife with a kitchen knife and asked them to kill his son. Yaojun grabbed the knife and told him: "As long as you live, don't say a word. As long as you don't say it, he will forget it."
Victims think "no talk" would be the best option, thinking that they can end the pain by digesting it, but this is not the case.
Decades later, Haohao finally "spoke". Liyun told him, "Just say it, child."
Wang Xiaoshuai said in the interview: "In fact, when we look at the same thing at different locations, at different times, and at different stages, it will be different. More importantly, we don't even have the courage to face and speak out now. If you don’t talk about it, it’s someone else’s problem. If you don’t touch it, that’s the problem. ”
So what Yaojun said back then was wrong.
As long as you live, you should speak up.
You don't mention it, they don't mention it, and the children will mention it when they grow up.
Let's not mention the awards scene, let's not mention the meeting scene.
In the movie, Haohao has confessed, repented, and apologized. In reality, perhaps more face-to-face truths, confessions and apologies are needed.
*The pictures in this article are all sourced from the Internet. If you have any questions, please contact this number.
*Information for the international version is from the Blu-ray of the French version of "Long Time".
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