"Three Seasons of Love" was co-produced by the United States and Vietnam and released in 1998. It was the first American film after the Vietnam War to be filmed in Vietnam and all dialogues in Vietnamese. It is the debut feature of Vietnamese-American director Tony Bui, with screenwriters Timothy Linh Bui. The film made a big splash at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival, becoming the first film in history to win the three awards of the film festival: the Jury Prize, the Best Film Award and the Best Cinematography Award, and was shortlisted for the Berlin International Film Festival on the European film stage. .
Similar to Kieslowski's "Red", "White", "Blue" trilogy focusing on human nature, nation and society, director Pei Toni depicts three groups of very different characters in today's Vietnamese society, the fate of The intertwined, tragic and interrelated living status quo depicts five social roles that have been impacted by Western civilization, and shows the living conditions of people in the process of economic development in modern Vietnam, especially the people at the bottom of the society, with delicate and sensitive methods; A gentle gaze truly records the love, family and friendship of the pure and simple Vietnamese people.
Story 1: The old poet has since contracted leprosy at the age of 23 and has locked himself in a temple in the middle of a lotus pond, far away from the hustle and bustle. An girl from the countryside is a new flower picker from the lotus pond. Between work, the female workers sang the same song year after year, and the new song brought by Ann broke the calm that had been maintained in the pond for many years. Songs taught to her by her mother rekindle the passion of life for a poet who has lost a terminally ill finger. Ann admired the poet's poetry, and the poet, inspired by Ann's singing, began to write poetry again. Ann recorded the poet's last swan song before his death, and also fulfilled his last wish in life.
The second story: Hai, a penniless tricycle driver, persistently loves Lian, a prostitute who worships material life. He goes to the hotel where Lian picks up customers every night to pick her up from get off work. He hopes that he can make Lian change. In order to satisfy his wish to spend the night with Lian, he cheated to win the prize money of the tricycle competition. In the spacious and luxurious hotel room, all he asks is to watch his beloved put on the white dress he bought and sleep peacefully. Hai finally awakened the true and beautiful love that was sleeping deep in Lian's heart with her sincerity.
The third story: James, an American veteran, set foot on the land of Vietnam again just to find his daughter born with a Vietnamese woman. He met Woody, an orphan who was selling cigarettes and lighters with a wooden box around his neck in a bar. Woody lost his crate in a bar and had to wander the streets, looking for James and his crate. JAMES is also looking for the last confession of his life. Just when James was about to leave Vietnam for a drink, he found his daughter among a group of Vietnamese women at the same table, but she was laughing in the arms of a wretched man, and the old soldier burst into tears in an instant. On the night of heavy rain, Woody met a little girl who was wearing the same raincoat and scavenging waste. The girl gave him half of her dry food. The two children fell asleep snuggled together in the rain. In the end, Woody found his suitcase on the street on a rainy night and continued his simple life.
The story takes place in summer, and at night, it is endless subtropical heavy rain. However, its name is called "THREE SEASONS". After watching it, I understood why: the three pairs of characters in the film represent the three seasons in life, childhood, adulthood, and old age. Different seasons in life have their own beautiful scenery and different fragrant flowers. The director uses the cycle of human birth, old age, sickness and death to symbolize the endless vitality of the entire country.
From the life of the dying poet, the classical and unworldly purity represents not only the way of life of Vietnam in the past, but also the season of middle and old age in life. Although it has been tortured beyond recognition by the disease, it still has a pure and quiet fragrance like a lotus flower; even if it passes away, it still floats on the lotus pond for many years. Hai He Lian and Ann who picked lotus all represent the youth in life, beautiful and full of hope. Even if there are scars, it makes people believe that they can be healed. Woody and the girl, who always appear in raincoats on rainy nights, are in the early years of their lives, but unfortunately they do not have the care of their parents. When they perceive the complex world in front of them with eyes full of fear, they are also innocent because of their youth. , leaving the last bit of human selfless nature in an intriguing society. In the first season of life, due to too much rain, the colors were dim, and the only bright colors were these children full of vigor and vitality. The encounter between JANES and Woody hints at a confrontation between youth and old age, new life and the past, a rising Vietnam and a civilized America.
"Girls and poets, prostitutes and coachmen, American soldiers and orphans, three abandoned emotional relationships, a new generation who does not want to forget the past", this is the introduction of the film. The so-called "new generation" refers to Vietnam, which is waiting to be rebuilt, and I think it is also a compliment to the director. The director of the film, Tony Bae, was born in Vietnam in 1973. His family moved to the United States when he was 2 years old and grew up in the United States. The co-writer is his 4-year-old brother. The image that Tony presents in the footage of his film debut feels like a poem, laying out a poetic picture of his homeland. There is no bizarre storyline and no tense rhythm. To achieve satisfactory results, the director's control of the organization and structure of the story is particularly important. There are no abrupt and obvious narrative clues in the film. The director adopts the method of stream of consciousness and uses the lotus flower very cleverly to give the three groups of characters who seem to be unrelated to pass by. cornerstone. In Lian's house, a lotus flower that Hai bought from Ann was inserted, and James bought Ann's lotus flower at the market for his daughter, who was also a prostitute; all three women showed lotus-like beauty.
A good story also needs excellent shooting techniques to carry it. In the film, a group of beautiful, simple, or quite contrasting shots come one after another. Tony used many clever techniques to express the contradiction between Vietnam's emerging society and the impact of foreign material civilization. Like the first scene that attracted me, the yellow dusty road under the huge and bright COCO~COLA billboard formed a sharp color contrast with the tricycle fleet in the dark rest; the billboard and the fleet formed a static background against the blurred road The shadows of cars and figures constitute the contrast between static and dynamic, clear and blurred, and also indicate the suspense in people's hearts - in today's rapidly changing society, apart from the chaos of passing things, is there something that has never changed? What is the constant? That scraping scene made the ancient medical methods in the East appear so ambiguous and touching; even the humble people can have romantic love. Lian was ill, and Hai scraped for her. The hot weather, the dim lights, and the skinny body of the naked woman make you completely unaware of any cultural conflict in "Gua Sha", just using an ancient East Asian therapy, leaving one after another hope on the white back Eternal traces, maybe love grows at that moment. Especially outstanding is the superb use of the contrast between movement and stillness in the film. The quiet lotus pond, the rippling blue water, the slender white lotus flowers, the dewdrops rolling on the green lotus leaves, "the lotus leaves He Tiantian... fish play among the lotus leaves", the lotus-picking boat arrives unexpectedly, lotus flowers Swaying with it. Generally, the camera lens moves with the action of the characters. Here, the lens is stationary, the protagonist of the picture is the lotus pond, and the characters move into the picture, breaking the stillness of the picture. Such an abnormal visual contrast makes the effect of the picture very eye-catching, worthy of the Best Cinematography Award at the Film Festival.
Storytelling is a combination of sound and picture, which makes it easier to move. Although the lyrics of the girl in the lotus pond are incomprehensible, the quiet and simple tune is almost divine. Most of the storyline takes place on the streets of Saigon. Although the dust is flying, there is no noisy sound in the film. The director blocked all the street sounds and replaced it with quiet music, showing a pure world that has been washed away. The film shows not only the sound and shadow, but also the smell - the scent of lotus flowers. . . . From the very beginning of the film, the director has been putting lotus flowers in the audience's sight, intentionally or unintentionally, and repeated several scenes of different characters smelling the fragrance of flowers. Every time they smell the fragrance of flowers, the audience gets a hint: it is a white lotus flower. . So from the lotus leaves in the lotus pond at the beginning of the film to the blossoming white lotus in the floating market at the end of the film, the image of the lotus in the audience's mind is strengthened again and again, and a series of information about the lotus is followed by default, so this is a film with Fragrance film. After watching the whole movie, there will be a feeling of being washed out of the mud, as if the world has become a white lotus.
Unlike all American films about Vietnam, "Three Seasons" eschews accusations of war and a Western point of view. With the change of the seasons of life as the background, we present a picture of ordinary Vietnamese life. Director Tony is a contradictory skeptic, but also a very nationalistic and caring director. Throughout the whole film, the eternal theme of human nature such as equality, freedom and love is exactly what he wants to express. While showing helplessness to the real world in the film, a strong national spirit also exists and is unstoppable. The wooden box that Woody recovered shows that the Vietnamese nation in a developing country is still in a developing country. The strong and simple Vietnamese people will rebuild their homeland and find everything that belongs to them. This is the director's theme of human freedom. beautiful interpretation. The theme of "love" is also seen everywhere in the whole film. The sea's love for the lotus, the girl's love for the patient, the veteran's love for his daughter, the mutual love between orphans, the friendship between tricycle drivers, etc. . . It is very smooth in any corner of the film. The intersection of the three stories, both independent and intertwined, forms a trio of beauty, love and hope.
Vietnam in our impression is a close and distant poor neighbor. Vietnam in today's world has experienced the heavy losses of the Vietnam War and the pain of the civil war, and is gradually embarking on the road of equal and free economic development. According to the survey report of the World Economic Organization, the average economic development speed of Vietnam has been at the forefront of the world in recent years. Vietnam has become one of the most dynamic and developmental regions in Asia, occupying an indispensable position in the regional system of developing countries. underrated status. It is in this period of social transformation and rapid development that the contradictions and conflicts between society and people, business and moral standards, traditional values and new values are increasingly intensified.
Tranquil lotus ponds, fragrant lotus flowers, and secluded poets sing traditional poems, symbolize a Vietnam that is not invaded by Western culture and material civilization; Saigon is hot and dusty, and Western influences are everywhere. The country in transition also has a turbulent side to it. The economic prosperity brought about by modernization has not benefited everyone. The girls, poets, prostitutes, and coachmen in the film are representative of the vulnerable groups in the process of modernization. struggle. Some of the details, such as the plastic flowers vying for business with Ann, the Disney cartoons Woody and the little girl watched under the TV wall in the shopping mall, and the eye-catching Coca-Cola billboards, all reflect the western economy Cultural penetration. But pessimism is not the main theme of this film. The focus of the camera is on the lives of ordinary people. These people all yearn for a better life, face their own situation, and cherish everything they have. Although they don’t have much, they are still Live optimistically and work hard. Everyone has tenacious vitality and expectations for a better life, which is also the director's praise and hope for Vietnam, a reborn country.
At the end of the movie, everyone has a slightly melancholy but absolutely beautiful ending. Before the poet died, he remembered that he was young and harmonious. Beside the 芈 苫 , the thumb blows the smashing the C house holds the tomb of the tomb, which is fresh and harmonious. 谂 锝 鋫 ㄈ squid oysters with 妫 counseling animal husbandry ㄏ 蠛 恿 饕 馕 鰒 媪 魈 province D cut The Huai Wo team is in danger of crawling on the porcelain, and it is only troublesome. ǖ Male ÷ Fei Xian Teng Even the hard-to-follow, counseling, male, 7, 7, 6, 7, 7, 7, 6, 7, 7, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 1, 2, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 1, 3, 1, 3, 1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2, and 3 of AMES can finally give the lotus flower to his daughter. Woody also retrieved the crate he lived on in the American rogue. The most exciting is the scene at the end of the film where Woody and the street kids play football on a rainy night like other kids all over the world. There was no referee or spectator in the street ball game in the torrential rain. They just show their youth, their passion in the rain. Children represent the future of Vietnam as a country. Although he is still poor and ignorant, their perseverance and determination give people hope and represent the hope of this country.
"Three Seasons of Love" and "Tricycle Driver" by Chen Yingxiong are both films about the current situation of Vietnamese society. They both use tricycle drivers as typical representatives of the bottom of society, and both have stories of drivers and prostitutes, which reflect the backwardness and Poverty, focusing on the same themes, reflects a similar era, but in a very different way. In "Tricycle Driver", the scrawny, scantily clad driver is struggling on the edge of life and death, trapped in the suffocating abyss of sin at the bottom of society, showing that he is in extreme ignorance, poverty and backwardness There is only despair, it is a hundred times more cruel than despair. However, in "Love Three Seasons", Vietnam in the transition period, of course, also has a huge disparity between the rich and the poor, and there are many poor people, but at least it is not so ugly and ignorant. They have hope and believe that they can achieve happiness through their own efforts (such as tricycle racing). They are at the bottom of society but also have their own dignity, love and affection. It can be seen from the comparison of the methods of the two films that the same thing, different expression techniques, and different storytelling methods can show their completely different effects to the audience. In order to uncover those old scars and dark corners; and to express beauty, it is also possible to discover the beauty that was usually unexpected in those characters who were once very inconspicuous.
The river pond is light, the red leaves are everywhere, the girl is in a white dress, and the breeze is caressing. . . This is the world that "Love Three Seasons" left us.
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