Reporter | Dong Ziqi
Edit | Yellow Moon
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The recently released film "The Myth of Love," starring Xu Zheng, Ma Yili, Ni Hongjie and Wu Yue, shows the emotional entanglement of a middle-aged man living in downtown Shanghai.
Although titled Mythology, the focus of the film is not on the point of the final myth. The whole film does not create a "mythical" atmosphere, showing the emotions of people's daily lives, which are repeated in three meals a day, picking up and dropping off children, and trivial gossip, and are consumed without attention. The story also lacks a dramatic climax, and the slightly romantic atmosphere is insufficient. However, isn't a faint romance exactly what ordinary people can find in life?
Many of the current criticisms revolve around the outside of the film, such as the analysis of Shanghai sexuality, feminism and class consciousness, but lack of evaluation of the film's internal narrative structure, imagery and style, and lack of connection with the real life style of Shanghai, making many critical voices insufficient in text analysis and relatively uniform conclusions. Such comments often end up returning to the criticism of Shanghai's suspended commodity life and the quiet and good years, but standing still does not help us to deepen our deep exploration of the film, this article attempts to interpret the text from the inside, around the film's realistic romantic color, gossip narrative and relationship with the actual life of Shanghai.
A faint romance in reality
Although the identity of lao bai, the protagonist played by Xu Zheng, is divided into multiple layers - painter (non-famous), drummer, chef, poet - but it is more practical than romantic. At the beginning of the film, Lao Bai, played by Xu Zheng, and Miss Li, played by Ma Yili, sit in the theater, and the three stage actors high-pitchedly confide their inner monologues, Miss Li may shed a few lines of tears because of the association with her life, while Lao Bai just dozed off and had no experience of the plot. The same is true at the end of the film, where close friends yawn while watching Fellini's "Love Myth" at Lao Wu's memorial service, and Miss Li just picks up her mobile phone and prepares snacks in the kitchen with Lao Bai". Even the most "out of the ordinary" romantic night has not been hyped up by the parties involved - Miss Li rushed out of that night, and Lao Bai gave the carefully prepared love omelette breakfast as a fork in the head; Gloria was vaguely expressing attachment, but in fact, the relationship between her and Lao Bai was more and more muddy, and did not want to let the romance be put on the table.
"Love Myth" movie poster Miss Li rushed out to twist the heel of her shoe
There are no big waves in the protagonist's life, and the main itinerary of Lao Bai's day is as follows: teaching people to draw, chatting with students, going out of the house to buy underwear in foreign trade clothing stores, going to grocery stores to purchase food, and finally going to cafes. Breaking the routine schedule is naturally a visit to Miss Li's residence. The sound of violin came from the door of No. 185 Yongkang Road, and he saw Miss Li's not so elegant and mysterious internal life through the name of sending books- she lived with her mother, the light bulbs in the corridor were broken, the circuit aging could not be repaired, the high heels with broken heels were placed on the shoe racks in the corridor that morning, her room was narrow, full of clothes, only a small round table, and the wall was pasted with children's literacy pictures. Miss Li took off the mysterious and graceful goddess costume that night, quarreled with her mother over overnight dishes and living expenses, and tutored children who failed exams to do their homework. Miss Li taught her children the words she wrote silently—"calm, distance, regret"—as if it were also an emotional dilemma that she personally could not break free of.
The characters in the film complement each other, and the clues alternate between light and dark to jointly promote the development of the story, which is quite the use of "interspersed with Tibetan flash" techniques. As for the three main female characters, Miss Li is about to watch the play in the front, Gloria is learning to paint in the back, and the situation of her ex-wife Bei Bei is revealed through the mouth of the little shoemaker. One night, the three threads they pushed forward separately finally converged at a point, the party was full of coincidences, misunderstandings and gunpowder, and it was as beautiful as the night feast of the Yihong Courtyard in "Dream of the Red Chamber", and the three women were more inspired by each other's desire to express their nature.
The Myth of Love movie poster is a party full of misunderstandings
There is another important woman in the film that cannot be ignored, that is, Lao Bai's mother. She often quietly delivers meals and walks things along, monitoring the turmoil in her son's life with practical actions. Mom and ex-wife appear one after another, explaining why Lao Bai is in a middle-aged life that is unresolved, and Mom's visit hints at the tentative mentality of his ex-wife, who often conveys his mother's will when he meets him — the two of them do not need to appear at the same time, but they have reached an alliance to work together and "resist foreign enemies". People who deal with complex relationships in real life may be exactly like this, and they don't always have really short-term encounters, and this entanglement of heavy relationships is also the embodiment of the realistic spirit of "Love Myth". The words of the former mother-in-law and daughter-in-law complement each other to reveal the truth that Lao Bai once lived hard and now he is begging for a hard life in vain, and they firmly believe that economic matters cannot be compromised to the outside world, but cleverly, there is no need to make trouble, just need to talk through the style and test the depth.
Gossip literature in "mythology"
Another notable point in The Myth of Love is gossip. The studio of the old Bai family is full of students' "Gasan Hu" (gossip), and Gloria is one of the leaders, she confessed her middle-aged life of having money and leisure, her husband is missing, and "don't be too spiritual". Compared with Miss Li's talk, Gloria's gossip, although funny and fresh, does have some meaning worth pondering. Lao Bai entered Miss Li's house, Miss Li's personality and affection were revealed through a seemingly innocent conversation, Miss Li's mother quarreled loudly outside, Lao Bai felt embarrassed, saying that her mother was also like this, Miss Li only said softly, "Is there a sprinkle like this?" This is indeed more flavorful than Mandarin in Shanghainese, and the exchange of information at this moment is not as important as the gesture of soft confiding and thoughtful confirmation.
The two of them ate a box lunch on the set while chatting, you pushed the emotional ripples one by one, Miss Li said, "If you can't get the best, you'd rather go a different way." Lao Bai asked, "Is the road easy?" Miss Li sighed, "It's going downhill, is it good?" Old Bai hurriedly answered, "Next time I ask you to go climbing the mountain." On the night of the gathering, Lao Bai burned a table of dishes, and the three women tasted different tastes: Miss Li complained and said that the private dishes became a big pot of rice; the ex-wife Bei Bei was not willing to show weakness, and the leftovers were also robbed by wild cats; Gloria said that it was quite good to be a wild cat after eating and rubbing her mouth.
Stills from "Love Myth" Gloria and Lao Bai
Titled "Myth", in fact, as the protagonist Lao Bai said, Lao Wu's life is full of myths, his own life is full of jokes, Miss Li laughed and said, this joke is quite funny. Myths and jokes could not coexist, Lao Wu told about his romantic night with Sophia Roland, nodded the topic "Love Myth", and then immediately ended with a joke about "I made it up". As soon as the joke appeared, the myth immediately disintegrated, and Lao Wu was scolded as "thirteen cuts".
Just like Lao Bai and Lao Wu are shadows of each other, saying that they want to talk about love, most of the passages in the film echo jokes. Some are ironic and anachronistic jokes, such as Lao Bai and his son's girlfriend accidentally revealing that his ex-wife cheated on him, and the shoemaker's coffee time also falls into this category. There is also a category of love jokes that consciously contrast with "love myths" – if myths are sacred and serious, jokes have mixed feelings, as if representing two very different patterns of feelings – adults can no longer believe in myths, but can smell the same because of jokes.
Such a joke with anti-mythical function, if interpreted as an anesthetic of life, can only show that the critic's understanding of laughter only stays on laughter, and does not know that middle-aged jokes have multiple connotations, as James Wood said in "The Irresponsible Self", good humor has multiple properties: one is to tolerate an alternative world that is different from the normative world, and the other is to confirm that we are in the same world, conveying a common sense of powerlessness. Miss Li later felt that "Lao Bai's life is full of jokes" is funny, which is equivalent to emotionally releasing Lao Bai. From the beginning of the film to a completely different reaction to a drama, the two of them finally came together on "think it's funny", is this not the best relief for a life that has gone downhill?
"Love Myth" poster Old White and shoemaker gossip
Another function of gossip is to write the real image of the character on the side. For example, Lao Wu quarreled with Lao Bai, and Lao Wu angrily commented on the two women around Lao Bai - one is an old vegetable skin, empty, and cannot be shaken off like flour after the interaction; one has eaten Western food, opened his eyes, and does not know how much to lose after the exchange. Miss Li's daughter Maya actually inadvertently revealed to Lao Bai that although her mother has suitors on WeChat, in fact, the door pays only Lao Bai. Both women seem to be dazzling, spread to the level of actual communication, and have insurmountable problems. It is precisely because he understands this that Lao Bai feels difficult to accept. Lao Wu and Lao Bai are naturally different in terms of women's appreciation, but the standard will not be announced one by one, but through gossip. Miss Li's brand-name shoes twisted at the door of Lao Bai's house are also a clue that has provoked countless gossip. The little shoemaker saw that the size was the same as his ex-wife, and the sexiness and intimacy implied by the high heels were clear in everyone's mind, but no one really pointed it out.
Not everything points to consumption, and not only cruelty represents reality
For the protagonist of the film, it is conceivable that they will live for a long time, and their reunion, separation, gossip, and entanglement are like the rhythm of a worldly love novel. It's a stable, cyclical, and sustainable life — the people in the bureau know each other's roots, and even if they meet for the first time, they can quickly get acquainted, forming a relaxed and harmonious atmosphere, and even if they become the ex-wife of the past, Bei Bei is willing to stay in the audience. People sometimes summarize life experience, how women can be considered complete; sometimes discuss which moss peanuts and butterfly crisps are the most delicious in the current life. It is precisely because at this moment it seems that it can continue to last forever, Lao Wu's death can become an important end point in the movie, and the reunion for death is also a cyclical event in life, there is no need to be too sad, people can carry their thoughts and continue to live.
Myth of Love Movie Poster The final memorial service
If this film is simply interpreted as a high-ranking image spectacle of Shanghai's local middle and high classes, it may ignore the daily nature that the film strives to show. It is true that the protagonist Lao Bai seems to be so idle, rich and idle, but his idleness is not pretending to be elegant and floating in the air, he goes to the temporary store to ask where the discounted goods are, and buy brand-name shoes to assess whether he has economic strength. Miss Li's situation is not difficult to understand, after the divorce and the mother crowded together, electrical use is not free, tell others to send the child to the United Kingdom, instruct the child to say how many years younger; the room is narrow and crowded, brand-name shoes worn for a long time, the future is completely unattainable; the consideration of men can not be without economic factors, but to rely on the other party to "give" to their own house, and feel that they owe too much and need to give up, which is a very common situation. Gloria is one of the more pompous characters, and only her story (Taiwanese husband was kidnapped in a foreign country) sounds so incredible, but she weaves such a husband adventure in order to have a reason to associate with Lao Bai.
As for mossy peanuts, butterfly puff pastry, baguettes or American coffee, it's hard to say how exquisite and upscale food they are. Foreign trade clothing stores are often the gathering places of "foreign trade original orders" from unknown sources, and in the words of the boss, they are "deceiving foreigners". The advent food store is a place with a good price and a nostalgic atmosphere, and the audience familiar with the pro-period store will understand that the chocolate, beer and biscuits sold here are far lower than the average price of the supermarket, and the customers in the store share the little tricks of life of washing their hair with beer or watering flowers, which are also familiar street jokes of the public. These objects are more about people's memories of the same intimate land and the same familiar food, rather than the internet celebrity marketing.
We can say that the way of life of the characters in the film is more old-fashioned, imagining a Shanghai center that has not been eroded by time, just like the protagonists watching a movie in Lao Bai's home as if they are in a utopian paradise, it is indeed almost unrelated to the wandering and restless life of outsiders, but it cannot be said that their reunion is false, and their nostalgia is false. There should be a fair distinction between concrete objects that truly embody life and consumer goods that are detached from the shell of life. After all, the specific objects are an important clue for the audience to understand the characters, and they are also the imagery that reveals the warm background, otherwise how to explain Zhang Ailing's writing in "The First Incense" that Ge Weilong misses the crystal ball that makes paperweights at home in Shanghai, "embedded with fine red, blue, purple flowers, discharging the tacky neat group case", "the family pinched her, the hot hand of the ice". Similar to Ge Weilong's glass ball, something tacky can also become an interesting image, resonating with readers or viewers who have similar experiences.
"Love Myth" poster Riding a bicycle old white
What is more easily overlooked by us is actually the way of life behind the imagery of ordinary people: Lao Bai will go to the temporary shop and café to buy things before getting to know Miss Li and Maya, and the shoemaker shop he passes by is next to the piano training shop; Lao Bai picks up Maya from school and leads her to the café to write homework; the unreliable painting exhibition halls that Lao Wu found for Lao Bai are also a tour of Shanghai public space - from milk tea shops to galleries, restaurants and bookstores, characters shuttle in public spaces, he is so familiar with everything. He was also overjoyed; Lao Bai heard a violin sound when he knocked on Miss Li's door, accompanied by the sound of the piano when looking for a shoemaker. This also reminds people that Zhang Ailing wrote that when she was buying vegetables in the autumn and winter, she passed by the storefront and heard the radio singing Shen Qu. At that time, she saw the maid returning from the vegetable market, the little girl carrying the pot, and the apprentices and female guests in the butcher's shop, carrying their own mesh bags, filled with bottles and cans, and feeling happy:
"When I am happy, the sound of the radio, the color of the street, as if I also have a share; even if the sorrow settles down, it is the sediment of China."
"Patched up and made up, connected and connected, patched the people of the clouds. ...... I'm so happy to bask in the sun to buy back a heavy and burdensome meal a day. ”
Ordinary people who live a life of buying vegetables and cooking and eating three meals a day are destined not to be heroes who lead great changes, but is the life of ordinary people a backwater and not worth mentioning? As Zhang Ailing wrote, patched citizens who buy vegetables in the wet market may constitute China's future. The relationship between "transcendent and revolutionary" and "harmonious and ordinary" may also be argued, as Zhang Ailing once said- "The struggle is temporary, in order to achieve the goals of ordinary people and live a peaceful and stable life." ”
Also telling the story of Shanghai feelings, in Xu Anhua's "Auntie's Postmodern Life", the reason why sichenkova's aunt appears "willful" in Shanghai is not only that she can be ambiguous with a man of unknown origin (Zhou Runfa) after middle age - of course, she also has to bear the danger of encountering emotional cheaters - but also because she can freely go to the market to buy her favorite dishes. After returning to the northeast, the aunt re-established the front with her husband and daughter, and her situation has indeed become more secure, and she has become more "unavoidable", in the vegetable market, the aunt sits on the stall and eats steamed buns on pickles, which seems to be completely integrated with the gray environment.
Stills from "Auntie's Postmodern Life"
People may think that the latter life, although cruel but more "realistic", is the right time for the literary and artistic young women floating in the air to return to the ground, but the touch of romance and reality does not have to end with the bursting of the color bubble. Being able to get people to go to the streets to buy their favorite small dishes, showing a smooth and stable appearance, perhaps with a little romance, rather than transforming everyone into the same face, ordering gossip and patches to disappear, may be another layer of inspiration for watching "Love Myth".