After watching "Dog Thirteen" at the end of last year, I was overwhelmed by a sense of resentment. Until this month, after watching "Long Time", I finally felt that I couldn't bear it anymore, and I had to vomit quickly.
Both "Dog Thirteen" and "Long Time" have obvious advantages, such as the portrayal of the highlight moments of ordinary characters, such as the aria of family and friendship. However, despite these superficial advantages, the two are surprisingly consistent with the infinite understanding of male creators for male characters. The family life under their lens, especially the image of women in the family, is extremely rigid.
Liu Yaojun in "Long Time", a simple skilled worker, lost his son in middle age, and his wife Wang Liyun lost fertility due to forced abortion by family planning. In order to get rid of the shadow of losing their son, the couple went south to Hainan and Fujian. It seems that in order to make up for his misfortune and to make waves, his former female apprentice Jasmine came to go abroad to find him for a one-night stand. Let's not talk about how middle-aged and greasy this kind of setting is, it's purely the director's lust, at least he can say to the pregnant Jasmine "Our husband and wife live for each other" (to the effect) and refuses Jasmine to give birth to a child. . Later, his wife Liyun used her "sixth sense" to see what was wrong with him, and wanted to commit suicide for relief. But he was found in time and sent to the hospital for rescue. The two lived together peacefully.
If the first half of the film contains a lot of reflections on the transformation of factories, laid-off workers, and the national policy of family planning in the 1980s and 1990s, the second half is a straightforward account of the life of a tragic Chinese couple who lost their only child. At the climax, Liu Yaojun could understand that they were living for each other, but then he didn't see that living for each other was valuable and happy, the husband and wife were in the same mind, and it could only be written in one stroke. A white head returned to two words - son.
They went back to Beijing to reconcile with their godson, to receive a call from their adopted son, and to visit the grave of their own son—they were still just two people led by their "son" from beginning to end, and they didn't feel like they were at home. . What will last forever, only with the next generation can it last forever, otherwise this life will seem pale and long!
The mainland release version of the movie still lasted nearly three hours after the editing and editing. After watching it, I only felt one thing—tired. too long. As a woman, I can neither understand Jasmine's one-night stand nor Liyun's suicide. Is it worth it for a man who is nothing and a home that has no love? ! To put it more bluntly, it's not worth it for anyone else! But from director Wang Xiaoshuai's point of view, it's probably worth it. When some Chinese men reach middle age and have a successful career, they can't help but feel that women do anything stupid for them, and no matter what stupid things they do, they will be forgiven. Liyun won't get a divorce. Neither will the army, no matter how lackluster the second half of their lives are, they will pretend to last forever.
Well, I'm saying this too harshly. But put it in "Dog Thirteen" and it's completely innocuous.
"Dog Thirteen" is almost an advanced version of "Long Time". The girl Li Wan is pitiful and deplorable, and many viewers have tears in their eyes. But how could Cao Baoping be satisfied with this? The father, who appeared as the opposite of Li Wan for most of the film, was heartbroken in the end and got everyone's understanding with a big cry. However, the crying was so appropriate and inexplicable. It seemed to be a remorse for the loss of his ex-wife, and it seemed that he could not bear the guilt of Li Wan. Director Cao wanted to say that each of us, every adult, was forced by Li Wan. Having to grow up, our adult life is also very hard.
But is it really so? ?
Could the sane father be a victim of patriarchal thinking? He himself is a man of the highest order. In the shopping mall, it was not someone else who was forcing Li Wan to toast with his business partners. Just such an adult, how can Cao Baoping explain that his life is also a dog? How did the audience transition into a mood of understanding? can not. So in the end, we can only get a happy ending with Li Wan winning the prize in the physics competition.
It seems like this, this Chinese-style family is still in harmony and unity.
And these kinds of intentions, we may call them—
Township wishes.
In a hypocritical way to achieve a form of peace, these works may represent reality to a certain extent, but they do not hold any judgmental attitude towards this reality, and even implicitly agree with it - this is the Chinese in China of. The creator has neither any subjective intention to transcend the painful reality, nor is he using this human pain as an excuse for his own submission. Through such literary and artistic works, literary and art workers are not only identifying with the vulgar normality of society, but also strengthening the audience's sense of identity - we are indeed like this, and the international community agrees. "Long Time" may not have been recognized internationally, but in fact, the Berlin Film Festival recognized the performance of the two actors, not the director and the film itself!
But I must say that we are not like that.
When female directors show up with their work, we can say, we really are not like that.
2017's "Carnival" and this year's "Over Spring" are both imperfect in terms of maturity, but the female directors see family and society as more ruthless and alienated. Different from those middle-aged male directors who have become famous, they often say "please forgive us, we don't want to grow up, we don't want to grow up", but they have to say "we have to grow up and we have no choice", and the women in their works Families are also fragmented and their identities are questionable. In contrast to men's late maturity and refusal to grow up, women tend to mature early. What role does society play in this? On the other hand, women in the film industry, especially female directors, have so few resources and opportunities, and there are even fewer women-themed films with real social significance. It is precisely because of the lack of training and reference that their works are not perfect, and they are not perfect, so there are fewer resources and opportunities for them... This is the reality, I hope our support can give more women's films People bring spring.
So, are all male filmmakers the same as going home?
This month, the new work "On the Balcony" by Zhang Meng, the director of "Steel Piano" and a native of the Northeast, was finally released. This film is so personal and completely oriented towards the heart, and vividly expresses the ignorance and anguish of a young man from the bottom of Shanghai. The image of Zhang Yingxiong is completely unwilling, not hypocritical, and does not seek great harmony in life. After watching Wang Xiaoshuai's middle-aged and boring movie, and then watching Zhang Meng, I realized that this is what we are . Life may not have a specific answer, and it may not be complete, but it is possible to go on by facing the desire in the heart.
Fortunately, our literary and art circle still has these forces, so I still have expectations for the future of Chinese films.
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