Text/Liu Yan
With the popularity of the movie "Love Myth", Shanghai, a magical, open and inclusive metropolis that combines a rich petty bourgeois atmosphere and the atmosphere of fireworks in the city, has once again entered the thinking of many people, including me.
Regarding the film, love and dislike, the audience's praise and disparagement show a polarization.
One of the measures of the degree of social civilization is that everyone's aesthetic tastes and preferences need and deserve to be respected. Objectively speaking, this film is to some extent the "sentient beings" of Shanghai metropolis, a side of the middle class, and a relatively beautiful city business card.
How to settle a "home" in the modernity of the city?
Peace of mind is home.
For thousands of years, the main ideological trend of the Chinese nation has been Confucian classic culture. The feeling of home and country, the concept of family and family are the genes and blood flowing in the chinese people.
The pursuit and understanding of "home" is reflected in the body of every Chinese, and it is also reflected in the body of people of different ages and different classes.
The film focuses on the pursuit of Miss Li of the opposite sex by a middle-aged man in Shanghai, Lao Bai (fat and fat). Lao Bai has the advantages of respecting women, being humble, understanding art, having a mood, and being able to cook.
And independent and self-reliant, almost three points to Tongji University, almost a little bit to go to a famous foreign school Miss Li through Lao Bai, and her ex-wife Bei Bei, student (painting friend) Gloria two women became friends.
Lao Bai's good friend Lao Wu, looks and sounds like a single man who runs trains with his mouth full of mouths and loves to compile romantic love stories ." unreliable.
Three women and two men, two family dinners, Shanghainese talk, lips and swords, the debate is not winning or losing, but the exchange of ideas, the comfort of the heart.
Lao Bai's mother, son, son's girlfriend, and even the shoemakers in the streets and alleys, all kinds of people, etc., constitute a unique daily life and life picture of "sea breeze" mixed with a strong Shanghai well flavor.
Shanghai, with a high degree of modernization, after a century of modernization of the overall structure of deconstruction, reconstruction, turning, moving, the individuals in the traditional patriarchal society are attached, want to be independent and eager to jump out, but they are still inextricably linked in the social network.
The individuals in the "blood relations" rooted in traditional culture have the meaning of modernity "people", and the "soil layer" on the body for thousands of years is quietly peeling off.
The three women in the film have their own wonderful, each helpless, each with their own pursuit and living method. What they have in common is the ability to get rid of dependence on the opposite sex, religion, race, and ethnicity, and become independent individuals of freedom and dignity.
A large number of supporting characters in the film, as well as the existence of passers-by A and passer-by B, still show the traditional attachment network, as far as possible to have a multi-faceted nature of binding and inhibiting individual autonomy.
The economically independent, financially free, unburdened, carefree middle class in Shanghai still needs to be cared for and protected, looking around for a sense of security for "home" and family. Without a formal "home", even the middle class will have anxiety, jealousy and wandering.
The body of the flesh is highly free, and autonomy becomes a weight that the individual cannot bear.
Shanghai is a fertile ground for the cultivation of Chinese film culture.
In China's early century-old film works, there have been countless classic video presentations of Shanghai's urban culture, cityscape and social reality. The film continues the century-old tradition of Chinese cinema writing about Shanghai.
Shanghai's geocultural advantages are the foundation of regional spatial identity, and it is necessary and necessary to examine the Shanghai film "Love Myth" from the perspective of cultural geopolitics. It can provide a gradual, comprehensive and systematic guide for the traceability of Shanghai films.
Therefore, shaping and examining Shanghai films from the perspective of cultural geography is not only necessary to bridge the gap, but also an important guarantee for maintaining national identity, enhancing cultural self-confidence, and resisting the erosion of others' cultural ideology.
Drawing on the "triple dialectic" theory of space put forward by the urban sociologist Lefebvre, that is, natural space, social space and spiritual space, the film is aesthetically characterized by the local landscape, character and Shanghai spirit produced by space.
The aesthetic characteristics of Shanghai films presented in the film are not only the heterogeneous aesthetic qualities that have been formed for a long time, but also the model basis for its future genre development.
1. Local landscape
Shanghai's unique geography has bred a unique film style.
The streetscapes of the Bund, such as bungalows, fruit shops, beverage shops, coffee shops, and galleries in "Love Myth", not only constitute the modeling logo of Shanghai on its surface, but also convey a wealth of urban symbols.
The narrative space of the film is accurately frozen in the urban culture, and the target group is locked in the middle class and related life scenes. One after another, a new wave of sea breeze blows the hearts and minds of the people living here early.
The second is the cultural landscape.
The majesty of the sea and the abundant natural conditions of water resources have bred a completely different cultural landscape from Shanghai and the majestic north and the desert.
Among the folk customs of Shanghainese, there is a gentle and normal side of the water; there is also a majestic and unusual side, shanghainese who have seen the world, have eyesight, courage, and pride.
Whether it is lao wu or shoe repairers, they are in line with international standards to varying degrees. No matter how busy and tired, the shoemaker on the street corner also has to make time for coffee in the afternoon.
The portrayal of this detail makes the audience feel awe, which is the greatest respect for the laborers and the maximum interpretation of the humanistic spirit of "people-oriented".
The narrative of the film is even a bit exaggerated, but these audiences are receptive, all in the heart, remembered and remembered endlessly.
The film also fulfills the creative intent of the main creative team. The various types of urban cultural symbols that continue to appear in the film have become new images of Shanghai's urban culture.
2. Personality
The humid and rainy climate brings shanghai a wealth of species resources, but also brings changeable weather. The complex and changeable geographical environment objectively shapes the unique personality characteristics of Shanghainese.
On the one hand, industrious, brave, adventurous, and pioneering; on the other hand, they have to resort to the gods, believe in ghosts and gods, and resort to the protection of supernatural forces.
Dialects, spoken languages, slang and other dialects, spoken languages, and slang such as "Spiritual Very" and "Thirteen Points" are effective tools and materials for shaping the character image of the character.
In the film, the heroine Miss Li is a single mother who lives with her mother and daughter. The living conditions are simple, but they still do not forget to strive for self-improvement.
Here is the hope and helplessness of the men and women who live here. It is necessary to fight against fate, not to give up and not to compromise, but also to timely self-relief and psychological hints.
Different from the mountainous countryside, Shanghai's cities generally show openness and inclusiveness, and frequent business exchanges break the traditional shackles of closed self-preservation, the flow of population, and the intersection of cultures, cultivating an inclusive, open and accessible sense of innovation and autonomy.
"Made the mistake that all men in the world make" The ex-wife Bei Bei, alone but not lonely, regularly goes to the dance hall to dance tango, happy and happy.
The student (painter) Gloria wants to redeem herself by purchasing Lao Bai's paintings. She sang a solo scene in the cabaret box, true compassion, and the bustling background highlighted the unusual loneliness of the soul. Gloria's instantaneous change of face, excessive disguise, reflects the hypocrisy and fickleness of human nature.
The three women around Lao Bai became friends, and these were doomed to be not love. Their interaction is a playmate that everyone in the metropolis needs to pass the boring time.
The "entangled" contradiction between three women and two men does not actually exist, and its contradictory narrative promotes the development of the plot and the portrayal of the character of the character. The main line and sub-line of the narrative go hand in hand, and gradually become clear from dim and unclear.
At the end of the film, Miss Li asks Lao Bai to drink coffee, and when the audience thinks that the two have a scene, it is the happy ending of the film, and the story of the two people has long been over. Drinking coffee is simply drinking coffee, no drama.
This is the dispensable real love in the metropolis. There is not the slightest myth in terms of it.
3. Shanghai Spirit
Shanghai is located at the mouth of the Yangtze River, a national central city, a megacity, and a core city in a metropolitan area. The importance of geography speaks for itself.
Its convenience of foreign free trade, the interaction and integration of local cultures and foreign cultures, make Shanghai passively accept various cultures at the same time, constantly confirm and change itself, thus forming the Shanghai spirit of world service, inclusiveness, tranquility and far-reaching.
What is the Spirit of Shanghai?
First of all, the spirit of jingshi, that is, the "practicality" of the Shanghai spirit, embodies the spirit of the self; secondly, the spirit of inclusiveness, which is the "imagination" of the Shanghai spirit, embodying the spirit of the self; and the third is the characteristic of tranquility and far-reaching, which is the "symbolism" of the Shanghai spirit, embodying the superego spirit.
By reorganizing the historical transmutation, realistic logic and aesthetic characteristics of Shanghai's century-old films, we can confidently conclude that Shanghai films have made important contributions to Chinese films.
The cultural and historical landscape of Shanghai carried by it is an important component of China's image history, and the Shanghai spirit expressed is an important embodiment of the endless life of Chinese civilization.
"Love Myth" was a hit, and some scholars proposed the concept of "Shanghai film" and put forward and constructed it.
This is not only the promotion of Shanghai's culture and spirit, but also the expression of national characteristics and cultural self-confidence, but also outlines the grand blueprint of Chinese geopolitical films and depicts a clearer path for the Chinese film school.
Video narrative is an integral part of history and humanities and is indispensable. It is associated with human life and is commonly found in the mass field.
UNESCO launched an international initiative for the protection of intangible cultural heritage, aiming to develop traditional cultural resources, to take historical traditions as the object of "living protection", to incorporate them into daily life and into the current aesthetics.
American scholar Taylor Cowan, in his book Creative Destruction: Globalization and Cultural Diversity, covers traditional cultures from around the world.
That is, in the process of modernization and in the current way of digital communication, variation: integration with different cultures, integration with local cultures, and the acquisition of popular effects.
Popular (pop) culture is loved by ordinary people, especially young people. Popular culture is close to the masses, but it is constantly criticized by the academic community, and there are more negative opinions than positive opinions. The main problems of pertinence are commodification, vulgarity and the falsity of the media on which it depends.
American pragmatic aesthetics opposes these accusations and sets off a "life aesthetics" heat wave, such as Dewey's "Art as Experience", Richard Schustermann's "Pragmatic Aesthetics", "Life is Aesthetics", "Body Aesthetics and Body Consciousness" and so on.
Combined with relevant aesthetic theories, the film "Love Myth" generally presents two new characteristics of aesthetic "two phases appropriateness" and the rationality of cultural diversity choices.
1. Aesthetic "two-phase fit"
The film "Love Myth" has been favored by audiences of different ages, roughly in the range of 20 to 60 years old. When they take what they need, everyone is beautiful, and the key lies in the aesthetic "two-phase suitability" characteristic.
In other words, true aesthetics occur when people's aesthetic conditions are satisfied.
The aesthetic conditions include three aspects: people out of aesthetic purposes and desires; choose those that meet people's aesthetic abilities and aesthetic tastes; and enter the aesthetic process.
People in different cultures are different. When people are in the same cultural circle, the two are suitable.
Son and girlfriend, Lao Bai pursues Miss Li, Lao Bai and ex-wife Bei Bei, Lao Bai and Gloria, Lao Wu is both illusory or not vain exotic unrequited love, and the emotional type presents the richness and multi-layered nature of "two phases suitable".
Only in the aesthetic relationship is the aesthetic subject, not the object that can become the aesthetic object of all people.
2. Rationality in the choice of cultural diversity
In addition to aesthetic functions, the film also has a variety of practical functions, and these two functions are often mixed together to form a mixed function and value.
The use of diverse cultural types varies, but there are also similarities, such as family, rituals (farewell to the old Wu cemetery), etc.
Cultural diversity and pluralism always run through the film, and it appears at the narrative "node" just right.
The plot is specious, The East and the West are combined, and the logic is beyond imagination. This makes the film more effective than expected, in line with the different needs of the spiritual life of contemporary metropolitan people.
The cultural diversity of different classes of Shanghai citizens represented by various people and so on is accurately and in place. The writing of its living space, creative space and appreciation space is vivid and vivid.
The lines of the two dinners deliberately use Wu Nong's soft language, whether it is life or love, it is particularly textured, presenting exquisite and humorous audiovisual language and enjoyment for the audience.
The film has never depicted sex and violence, but always grabs the attention of the audience, portraying the Shanghai urban customs and customs, as well as the shrewd and cute images of Shanghainese people.
The metropolis of Shanghai in the process of modernization, between people, how to love, how to love, who to love, love or not love and other series of questions, the film does not give a unified answer. There is no standard answer, and there may be no answer.
On the road to love, whether it is myths or legends, it is a complex phenomenon of the transformation of modern society.
Modern urban people, whether it is the cape or the end of the world, are more or less at ease.
【About the Author】
Liu Yan is a young writer and critic. The first batch of special members of the China New Literary and Art Group Criticism Committee were selected for the first National Literary and Art Criticism Leading Talents Seminar. He is a member of the Chinese Critics Association, the China Film Literature Society, and the China Film Critics Society.
The collection published essay collections "The Imprint of Flower City" and "Taste of Flower City" series have been published. The script "Like a Shadow" was selected for the second Guangdong Provincial Excellent Film Script Award, and "72 Hours of Zhong Nanshan Retrograde" was selected for the 2020 Annual Anthology.
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