Phoebel said, "The sweetest is love, and the most bitter is love." "
At the 55th Golden Horse Awards, the Taiwanese film "Who Fell in Love with Him First" won three awards: Best Actress, Best Editing and Best Original Song. The film breaks away from the love triangle concocted by the law, and chooses the love of the gay theme, which leads to a different kind of entanglement.
"Who Fell in Love with Him First" is a film full of dramatic conflict. Diderot once said: "The development of conflict forms the basis of the plot of the play." The conflict in this film is expressed in the process of generating, developing and resolving the contradiction between Xiao San, Xiao Wang and his son.
The film begins with the widowed woman Liu Sanlian competing with her husband Song Zhengyuan's gay man Ajie for her husband's insurance money, but because of the quarrel with her son, the son and the "enemy" are getting closer and closer, and they are forced to contact Ajie, and in the process of mutual contact and understanding, they heal several wounded hearts...
The film uses a narrative method of "messy but not chaotic", first starting from the perspective of his son Song Chengxi, taking his son's psychological counseling as a clue, leading to the simple child getting the answer to the question "Is he really a bad person" through his own relationship with Ajie. Through the son's insight into Ajay's relationship with his father, Ajay's relationship with his mother, and his mother's relationship with his father, he promotes the development of the whole film.
The beginning and end of the film are narrated from the perspective of the son, while the middle is interspersed with the man Ajie's memories of Song Zhengyuan and the woman Liu Sanlian's complaints in the memory, in the stage play, the memories connect the relationship between Ajie, Song Zhengyuan and Liu Sanlian, and also unveil the mystery and untie the knot.
Compared with the same type of montage technique of "Later Us", "Who Fell in Love with Him First" adopts a multi-line memory group narrative, which more vividly and clearly expresses the mental journey of each protagonist in the film, making the film have a richer and more delicate emotion. With the development of the story, Ajie's feelings for Song Zhengyuan have also developed from a trend of "not caring about Song Zhengyuan's death" in the eyes of others to a moving love, thus gaining Liu Sanlian's understanding.
In addition, the film is full of innovative additions of anime hand-drawn and voice-over elements, in the display of children's views and understanding of the entire event, the smart hand-drawn image melts the notes of the heavy emotional line of the film, and the relaxed voiceover seems to ease the relationship between Ajie and Liu Sanlian. Sometimes the hand-painted transitions even simulate the existence of the child's father, Song Zhengyuan, from a divine perspective. The novelty here not only conforms to the cloak of the film's comedy, but also strengthens the son's heart to see the world, adding a touch of humor to the film.
In addition to the plot structure of the film, the use of audiovisual language will affect the audience's feelings with subtle and even impactful stimulation.
Film tone performance is not only a grasp of the film at the technical level, but also a potential form of expression of the director's psychology and his style composition. The film basically runs through the tone similar to "Chongqing Forest", through the dim and colorless filter dark tone, containing deep feelings, in the tone of the film, you can find a kind of ambiguity and romance in the air, so that people feel the fullness of love.
But the director of "Who Fell in Love with Him First" showed a unique charm in the control of tone. Watching the whole film, you can feel that the film makes a clear tonal distinction when expressing reality and memories. When the camera turns to reminiscence, the tone creates a hazy retro feel in light tones.
In addition to playing a role in distinguishing between the past and reality, this feature is closer to the emotional relationship of the protagonist, and also makes the audience feel the beauty of the feelings in the past, but in the end it is regrettable, and the past that has passed is only a vague memory.
To give two examples that impressed the author: the terminally ill Song Zhengyuan and Ajie in front of the mirror, the two helplessly embraced each other, the close-up face highlighted the fusion of blue and black tones, fully reflecting the sadness and despair of the two people, discouraged; in contrast, when recalling the two playing guitar, the warm yellow color reflected on the red background was mixed with a long shot of Ajay's face close-up, the expression of love, and the atmosphere of love surrounded.
In addition to the clever use of tone, the film's photography and editing are definitely the "technical flow" of the industry. In the film, there are three clever transitions between reality and past in one shot:
For the first time, Liu Sanlian recalled the sweetness of her family of three in renting a car, and after the transfer, she crashed into a taxi on the road in reality;
The second time, Ajie recalls that he took care of Song Zhengyuan who was seriously ill in the hospital, and after the camera moved out of the ward, Liu Sanlian, who was waiting for Ajie to bandage in the hospital corridor, sat in the hospital corridor;
The third time, on the stage, on the side stage of the troupe that was performing, crouched Ajay from many years ago.
Gay films have been regarded as a taboo topic in the film industry for many years, but with the development of society and the increasing openness of ideas, gay themes have slowly entered the audience's field of vision. For the setting of an anti-traditional theme, the film also reflects the problems of gay love in real life: should homosexuals pursue their favorite object or follow the tradition to start a family?
"Who Fell in Love with Him First" wraps rather serious themes under the humorous and relaxed appearance of comedy, adding an intriguing thickness to the film, but after watching it, it does not give the audience an excessive sense of heaviness. In the shaping of the characters in the film, the director magnifies the imperfections in the personality of the characters through empathy thinking, so as to highlight the characteristics of the characters. Such a process seems to be self-talking, and over time it evolves into a kind of compassion for people.
For the role of Liu Sanlian, she is both a rebellious child's nagging mother and a humble wife who clings to love and struggles to keep. When she learned that her husband was gay and was leaving her, she trembled and asked the counselor, "Is it all fake?" No love at all. Helplessly, she asked the bodhisattva in the temple, "Doesn't it mean that good people have good rewards?" The simple two sentences revealed the grievances and love. Xie Yingxuan's acting skills also shaped the role of Liu Sanlian very well, every action and every demeanor is very in line with the character's heart, and the image of the sad woman under the unfortunate marriage and the hidden truth is completely and fully presented to the audience.
In these two intertwined and complicated loves, no one is wrong. However, Liu Sanlian's love for Song Zhengyuan is a vigorous love, and Song Zhengyuan's feelings for Liu Sanlian are more like the family affection in his world. After watching the film, we can't help but ask: "Is it really that important who fell in love with him first?" Apparently, the answer to the story has gradually changed from "who fell in love with him first" and "who loves him more" to "we all love him.".
Love is the favorite thing that everyone aspires to pursue, but at the same time sweet, it is also dangerous. In love, there are many established but imperceptible unknowns. But in the pursuit of love, whether it is same-sex love or opposite-sex love, it should be respected and recognized. It is precisely for this reason that it is also destined that one of the parties will suffer a direct blow to the heart and an unacceptable fact.
Also expressing the interpersonal relationships of gay people, "Who Fell in Love with Him First" is more innovative in the setting of the character than "Call Me by Your Name" and "Morris". Through the struggle between Xiao San and Xiao Wang, it not only expresses the redefinition of love, but also reveals the embarrassing situation of social relations faced by homosexuals. Same-sex love and marriage tragedy seem to have nothing to do with each other, but in fact, after homosexuals are under pressure from society and parents, after making choices for marriage, the seemingly harmonious marriage relationship may not withstand any wind and rain.
At the end of the film, after a long shot of the son reconciling with his mother, they sing together on the road, and in addition to the son and mother's singing, Ajay's singing voice is also fused in the form of a voiceover. This, perhaps, is the best ending after understanding.
Throughout the history of Taiwan's film development, Hou Xiaoxian, who started from the native Taiwan, Yang Dechang, who was based in the city; from martial arts films to realist films to Qiong Yao's love films; from the rise of Taiwanese films after the New Film Movement, to the gradual decline, and then to the current post-new film era, the emergence of new directors. In summary, Taiwanese films have undergone several twists and turns, recording the process from prosperity to silence. Realistic films have always been the focus of Taiwanese cinema. From the early embodiment of family lineage to the reflection of social issues today, its ideology and artistry have been recognized and praised by Taiwanese audiences and the film industry. The description that applies to most Taiwanese literary and art films is the word "niche". Like the movie "Sunshine", it is very realistic to describe the hardships and difficulties of life of the citizens at the bottom of the society.
In the development of Taiwanese films, Taiwanese films with the theme of youth love such as "My Girlhood" and "Those Years" are more popular in the market, but in the author's opinion, in the film "Who Fell in Love with Him First", the social problems that the author wants to express are higher than the love factors in the film.
In 2018, the marriage equality referendum held in Taiwan, although it ended in a conservative victory, but gay movies like "Who Fell in Love with Him First" will slowly penetrate its theme spirit. I believe that after watching the movie, no one will be confused about whether it is a marriage tragedy or the arrival of true love, and people will be touched by the love between the same sex and the opposite sex. As the line in the movie says, "Don't disturb each other is the best blessing." "All love deserves not to be disturbed, all deserve to be respected.