1993 was a year of great progress for Chinese cinema.
That year, at the Berlin International Film Festival in Germany, for the first time, two films won the Golden Bear award at the same time, and what is even more gratifying is that both films are from China:
The first is the masterpiece "Wedding Feast" by film master Ang Lee, and the second is the representative work "Fragrant Soul Girl" by Xie Fei, a third-generation director in the mainland.
For the former, that is, Ang Lee's "Wedding Feast", many people may have heard of it, but for the latter, that is, Xie Fei's "Fragrant Soul Girl", it is estimated that many people have never heard of it.
Why is it that such a classic film that once made a splash at international film festivals has been slowly forgotten?
Maybe we have to start with the "big scale" plot in this movie!
1, the husband is drunk and abusive, and the wife is addicted to cheating
The heroine of "Fragrant Soul Girl" is the second sister-in-law of Xiang, played by Sichenkova.
As the heroine of this film, the director arranged for her to have a tragic life.
At the age of 7, the second sister-in-law of Xiang was sold to the lame family who opened a sesame oil shop as a child bridesmaid, and at the age of thirteen, she was forced by her mother-in-law to have a house with her lame husband.
When the mother-in-law was alive, the life of the second sister-in-law was better, but as soon as the mother-in-law left, her life was miserable.
During the day, he had to support the family's sesame oil shop alone, and at night he had to serve his somewhat "perverted" lame husband.
The most terrible thing is that the lame husband still loves to drink heavily, and after he is drunk, he will commit domestic violence against xiang's second sister-in-law.
But this is just the beginning of the tragic life of Xiang Erjie, who really forced Xiang Er Jie to a dead end, and what really made Xiang Er Yi feel breathless was that she also gave birth to a mentally retarded son.
When she was young, a little crazy, she could still apologize to people, to the age when her son got married, to the age when her son wanted to be a woman.
Xiang Erjie was really forced to a dead end.
Fortunately, Xiang Er sister-in-law also has a happy moment, that is, she also has a driver who delivers goods to their family as a lover.
Over the years, if the second sister-in-law Xiang only has a little expectation for life, it is the day when she and her lover Ren Faithful are secretly in love.
The most interesting thing is that in this "Fragrant Soul Girl", Xie Fei invited Chen Baoguo to play the role of Ren Zhongzhong, sichenkova's lover.
If you have watched the TV series "The Gate of the Great Mansion", you can actually find that in the "Gate of the Great Mansion", Chen Baoguo plays the son of Sichengova.
Of course, this is what happened later, and it has nothing to do with this "Fragrant Soul Girl"!
2, accomplices of the patriarchal society!
Szchenkova can be said to be a victim of a patriarchal society.
At the age of 7, she was sent to be a child bride, and at the age of 13, she rounded the house, and her life and marriage actually did not have any autonomy.
I thought that as a victim of the patriarchal society, she might understand women better and sympathize with women in the future.
But unexpectedly, when she occupied enough social status, when she was able to control the fate of other women, she also became an accomplice of the patriarchal society.
I have to start with the stupid son of Xiang's second sister-in-law:
The stupid son Dunzi has reached the age of marriage, and although he has no ability to live, he seems to have an instinct in thinking about women.
And dunzi likes no one else, it is the village garland.
Xiang's second sister-in-law's family runs a sesame oil shop, and she counts the richest in ten miles and eight townships.
Therefore, when the second sister-in-law of Xiang let out the wind and wanted to find a daughter-in-law for their stupid son, there were immediately countless women who coveted their family property and took the initiative to find the door.
But the silly son, although stupid, also knew what he wanted, and he shouted out the non-village garland when he didn't want it.
For the sake of her son, Xiang Erjie could only think of a way.
It's just that Huanhuan is a village flower, and there are many suitors around, especially at this time, Huanhuan and her boyfriend Jinhai have come to talk about marriage.
Xiang Er sister-in-law wanted her son to change another woman, but her son did not want to be a ring.
Forced to be helpless, Xiang's second sister-in-law could only come up with a way to transfer Jin Hai to work in the provincial city, and she designed to let Huanhuan's parents marry Huanhuan to their family.
On the wedding day, Xiang Er's sister-in-law was very happy, and Dunzi was also very happy.
Only Huan Huan did not say a word, until the second sister-in-law personally sent the two into the cave room.
Suddenly, Xiang Er Sister-in-law heard the call of Huan Huan from inside the room, Xiang Er Sister-in-law did not dare to go in, and after waiting for half a day, she heard Huan Huan coming out of the house.
Finally, Xiang Er sister-in-law went out to take a look, just in time to see Huan Huan squatting at the water's edge to scrub her body.
At this time, Xiang Er sister-in-law knew that his stupid son did not know how to round the house at all, he only knew how to bite, only knew to tear.
When The second sister-in-law saw huanhuan, her heart was extremely uncomfortable, but what could she do?
She only has such a son, for the sake of her son, she can only break up the couple of Huanhuan and Jinhai, for her son, she can only destroy huanhuan's happiness in life.
3, people are too long in this life!
Second Sister-in-law Xiang pushed Huan Huan into the fire pit with her own hands, and she herself was quite miserable.
And just after HuanHuan married in, Huanhuan also discovered the secret of her mother-in-law Xiang's second sister-in-law and Ren Zhongzhong.
However, the first time Huan Huan saw Xiang Er Sister-in-law and Ren Zhongzhong together, she did not tell anyone, and even helped Xiang Er Sister-in-law to cover up this secret.
On the other hand, Xiang Erjie also became more and more sympathetic to Huan Huan's suffering.
His own stupid son is always crazy, just like his husband, likes to beat people with his hands.
Xiang Er Sister-in-law saw her young self on Huan Huan, until that night, Huan Huan was bitten by the pier again, and Xiang Er Sister-in-law rushed out to comfort Huan Huan.
Huan Huan asked Xiang Erjie, "Why is it so difficult for a woman?" ”
Xiang Er's sister-in-law was in a trance, and replied to Huan Huan's words: "Women are like this, just stay through!" ”
But at the moment when Xiang Erjie said this sentence, she suddenly recalled the scene when she was 13 years old and forced into a round house by her mother-in-law.
The mother-in-law also said the same thing to her at that time: "Women are like this, just survive it!" ”
Xiang Er's sister-in-law was suddenly stupid, she remembered her life, remembered her drunken husband's domestic violence, and remembered her life that she could only fear with her lover Ren Zhongzhong in her life.
She suddenly understood something, so she found her lover Ren Faithful, hoping that he would take her away.
However, the bravery of Xiang Erjie's sister-in-law scared Ren Zhongzhong away, and this cowardly man did not dare to take any responsibility, and he did not want to really be with Xiang Erjie.
After losing her lover's only hope, the second sister-in-law ran alone to the deserted reeds and cried bitterly.
Back at home, she met her daughter-in-law HuanHuan, and seeing that it was a ring full of scales, she finally said the following words to Huan Huan:
"Ring Ring, you and the pier are gone!" Find another suitable one..."
Huan Huan was puzzled and shouted, "Mother? ”
Xiang Erjie only said one sentence: "People's lives are too long..."
Then the whole movie ended.
In fact, after watching the whole movie, it is not difficult for us to find that the main theme of this movie is only one, that is:
A feminist lament.
The character of Xiang Erjie is herself a victim of the patriarchal society, but with the change of years, she has become an accomplice of the patriarchal society.
Fortunately, in the face of her own life, in the face of the tragic situation of the ring, finally the second sister-in-law of Xiang woke up in time and pulled the ring a hand.
It's just that the movie is beautiful, but the reality is cruel, under the lens of director Xie Fei, Xiang Erjie woke up in time to complete a redemption of the ring, but the female tragedy in the real world, the female sad song, has never been broken.
Some of them were just victims of the patriarchal society at first, and some of them later became accomplices of the patriarchal society, and this is the most thought-provoking and shocking part of this movie.
So in 1993, I think it was very appropriate for this "Fragrant Soul Girl" to be on the big stage of the Berlin Film Festival along with Ang Lee's "Wedding Feast".
As for why this movie has been slowly forgotten over the years, maybe we just pretend not to see it!