There are reasons to look forward to "Long Time": Wang Jingchun, Yong Mei Bolin's best actor, the honor of the actress, and the rare contemporary life themes on the screen.
I would also be curious as to how director Wang Xiaoshuai would express family planning and layoffs under the current film censorship system, which are policies and events that are almost forbidden to be expressed.
The film is very long, three hours, slow and subtle, with three timelines, cross-plots and flashbacks, with a sense of floating, like the changes of the characters in the play being carried and washed away by the tide of the times. The story is about two families who have been emotionally entangled for 30 years because of the accidental loss of a child.
The director's ambition is to tell the pain and ups and downs of the Chinese family under the torrent of the times, and the epic of the common people under the changes of the times.
The released version is an abridged version. Many "national policies" as the background of the times cannot be clearly pointed out. Only a few strokes are left. The individual suffering originally caused by the loss of independence, the loss of the opportunity to have children due to the family planning policy, and layoffs. , can only focus on rendering loss of loneliness (but that is more of an accidental reason). In the end, the responsibility of sin fell on the individual. A family planning director and the child who caused the accident used their guilt and repentance to complete the reconciliation of the pain.
The pain of the times has been blurred.
As a result, what is meant to be told and what is actually described become disconnected, and the film is disconnected in some places.
In the end, it can be said that it is a family tragedy caused by the accidental loss of a child.
Therefore, in the current environment of the film censorship system, it is actually difficult to draw a conclusion to evaluate whether "Long Time" is good, because it is incomplete and incomplete, and the plots deleted from the public release version may be hidden. The director's attitude may or may not have been. We didn't see it, or what we felt was a vague attitude, with no clear criticism and no reflection.
Maybe the version shown at the Berlin Film Festival will be better.
The same film won the honor of the best actor and actress in the same session of Berlin, creating a record for Chinese-language films. Similar honors include "A Farewell" in 2011 and "45th Anniversary" in 2015.
Wang Jingchun and Yong Mei's performances are very real and delicate, like ordinary couples in thousands of Chinese families, restrained and forbearing, they have suffered so much pain, but there is no venting or explosive scene, they are all in silent pain , In the numbness and repetition of the daily life, in the occasional memory of the lost moment, the patience has lasted for a long time.
In a single state of forbearance, the character image is flattened after all, and the performance is very good, but it cannot substitute for the character's emotions, can see their sadness, understand their sadness, but cannot empathize with the character.
Including his father Yaojun's derailment, his starting point was his resistance to a hopeless life or a response to his love. There was no clear foreshadowing. He saw more of his obsession with wanting to have his own child through another woman, and his obsession with his son. Nian, the emphasis of "with a handle", brought some discomfort and wretchedness.
——The concept of fertility expressed in the film is still so traditional and narrow.
Among all the characters, it is the role of Li Haiyan, the former director of family planning. Because of his job duties, he executes the orders he thinks are correct, and he has suffered and depressed for 20 years. It has the meaning of the scars of the times.
I liked the first part of the film, especially the scene of losing a son by the river and running at the end of the tunnel with the corpse of his drowning son in his arms. It was desolate and desperate.
The film ends with a warm ending. It arranges the reunion of the two families after 30 years, the reconciliation and forgiveness of the past, and the return of the adopted son who ran away from home. Every character shows a kind and tolerant side. The suffering will eventually fade with time, and life has shown them (mainly Yaojun's family) new hope.
——The consummation of resignation, a very Chinese-style happy ending.
But it is this kind of gentleness, wishing to use understanding, forgiveness and warmth to dilute the cruelty of reality (system), so that the film lacks the space for thinking and loses its strength. You must know that moving the audience is never the biggest part of reality-themed films. significance.
Similar regrets also include "I am not the God of Medicine".
Because after being touched, we are all too forgetful.
Wang Yuan spoke at the end.
It is estimated that half of the audience of "Long Time" is watching the movie and half watching Wang Yuan.
The rebellious teenager played by Wang Yuan this time, although he has not many roles, is a scene of disputes, rebellion and hesitation that needs to show emotional changes and facial details. His performance has a sense of role, and he did not play.
Without the fan filter, it is slightly higher than expected.
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