In Hong Kong in the early 1960s, Su Lizhen rented Mrs. Sun's house, and on the same day, Zhou Muyun rented the house of Mrs. Sun's neighbor Mr. Gu, and the two families just happened to move on the same day and became neighbors.
Not long after, Zhou Muyun's wife and Su Lizhen's husband got on well, Zhou Muyun and Su Lizhen had the same illness and pity, and they actually had feelings in their daily relationship, but they were not willing to cheat like betraying their spouses, the more depressed and intense, the neighbors and company colleagues also discovered their secrets, Zhou Muyun, who could not stand the discussion, left Hong Kong, but can the feelings between him and Su Lizhen really be separated?
"Fancy Years" was released in 2000 at the turn of the century, and this film, which is regarded as the pinnacle of Wong Kar-wai, is also classified as a literary film, and the dozens of cheongsam in the movie were hotly discussed in the streets and alleys, almost overshadowing the limelight of the film itself.
The English title of the film is "In the mood of love", which seems to reflect the meaning that Wong Kar-wai wants to express, that is: the emotion of love, the state of mind of love.
Chinese has always been implicit and introverted in terms of feelings, compared to the Europeans and Americans who stand one night when they meet, our mainstream culture actually still respects the Chinese concept of "affection, stop etiquette" and loyalty to marriage, those who are irresponsible for feelings, cheating in marriage, and who are chaotic and abandoned, to this day, will still be scolded as scumbags and scumbags.
The story of this film takes place in Hong Kong from 1962 to 1966, when the social atmosphere was still very conservative, relatively speaking, men can have three wives and four concubines, while women must end from one end, if a married woman is out of the wall, it will be pointed out by thousands of husbands and spurned by the whole society.
In the context of such an era, Su Lizhen's restraint is also logical. Although her husband cheated and betrayed first, as long as she did not divorce, she was still Mrs. Chen's identity, and this identity was the shackles that trapped her; in the same way, Zhou Muyun's wife betrayed him, but as long as he did not divorce for a day, he would be a husband of Mr. Zhou for a day, and he could not do anything special.
Knowing this background, we understand what Wong Kar-wai wants to express.
China is the most peculiar country, no country in the world can be like China, the history of thousands of years, has never stopped, even after experiencing war and chaos, experiencing foreign aggression, China has never been extinct, China has always been a big country in the East.
Therefore, we Chinese attach the most importance to our own identity and face, because of our long history and culture, so that we are a human race with a considerable degree of civilization, the ancient genes give us a strong and decent in the bones, "the name is not right, the words are not smooth", so whether it is good to be a person or to do things, the most important thing is to "be justified".
Mrs. Zhou and Mr. Chen had an adulterous affair, and their behavior was not recognized by the mainstream society at that time, so in the movie, there was no frontal shot of these two people from beginning to end, only their silhouette or simply only the sound appeared, and the director used this technique to show their shame and identity, so their faces did not deserve to appear on the screen.
As neighbors, Zhou Muyun and Su Lizhen did not have more friendship, and after each discovered that the lover's cheating object was actually the other's spouse, they began to contact frequently as victims in order to find out why the lover was cheating.
Zhou Su and the two of them ate together, and ordered each other the food that their partners often eat——
JC: What does your husband eat? What do I order...
Sue: Your wife loves spicy food, and I try it too...
They walked together to discuss who took the initiative first, Zhou Muyun played Mr. Chen to take the initiative to stir up trouble, Su Lizhen played Mrs. Zhou to take the initiative to seduce, each other to push the responsibility to each other's spouses, however, what is the use? After the play, it is endless desolation, two innocent people, tormented by the pain of betrayal, who can they tell to except each other?
Zhou Muyun and Su Lizhen, who often stay alone in the empty house, discovered their common hobby - martial arts novels, Su Lizhen encouraged Zhou Muyun to regain his hobby and continue to write, Zhou Muyun wrote it and showed it to Su Lizhen, Su Lizhen would give her opinions, and Zhou Muyun would revise it. The martial arts novels they collaborated on were published in newspapers, and Zhou Muyun received more contracts.
Once, the two were discussing the manuscript at Zhou Muyun's home, the landlord Mr. Gu and Mrs. Sun returned early, the two were caught off guard, afraid of being discovered by the landlord, so they had to sneak away and did not dare to come out. Originally, it was a bright thing, but in that environment, there was a mouth that could not be said clearly, Su Lizhen had no choice but to be trapped in Zhou Muyun's home for a day before taking time to escape.
Seeing such a plot, today's audience will definitely be dumbfounded. The film uses such details to reflect the social environment at that time, that is, only a few decades ago, the social atmosphere was still so closed and conservative, and the people of that era lived too depressed.
Zhou Muyun and Su Lizhen's every move was watched by their landlord, as husbands and wives with wives, they could not have transgressed the rules, they must be careful to maintain their respective identities.
People's behavior can be restrained, but people's feelings are difficult to control. Even if they follow the rule of "affection, stop courtesy", in more and more contacts, Zhou Muyun and Su Lizhen still have feelings. They are all aware of it, but what can they do with fearful words?
In order to facilitate the discussion of the plot of the novel with Su Lizhen, Zhou Muyun opened a room in the hotel (room number 2046, which is the name of Wong Kar-wai's next movie), Su Lizhen often passed, the two discussed martial arts novels together, ate together, and had a pleasant life.
The good times did not last long, the landlady Mrs. Sun soon found that Su Lizhen was wrong, she seriously talked to Su Lizhen, advising her to abide by the rules; at the same time, Su Lizhen's boss also guessed through frequent calls that Su Lizhen and this Mr. Zhou had an affair. Su Lizhen had to alienate Zhou Muyun, and she did not have the courage to break through the shackles.
Although Zhou And Su had already secretly had feelings for each other, Su Lizhen always said to Zhou Muyun, "We will not be the same as them." ”
Su Lizhen's subtext: they are bad people, and we are good people, we can't break the rules.
Zhou Muyun could not bear this kind of suffering, he bought a ferry ticket to go to Singapore, before leaving, he asked Su Lizhen: "If you have one more ferry ticket, will you go with me?" ”
Zhou Muyun left, and Su Lizhen, who stayed behind, sat in 2046, her heart was like a knife, and tears were like rain.
Su Lizhen called Zhou Muyun who was far away in Singapore, the phone rang, and hearing Zhou Muyun's voice, Su Lizhen did not answer, but silently shed tears.
Later, Su Lizhen went to Singapore to find Zhou Muyun, she went to Zhou's rented room, lay on Zhou's bed for a while, sat on the recliner for a while, took away her embroidered shoes, and left a cigarette mouth full of lipstick.
Later, Zhou Muyun returned to Hong Kong to visit the former residence that left the deepest memories, but the old landlords had moved away, and the things were not human, he heard that Su Lizhen originally lived in a house with a wife with children, did not knock on the door, and left. However, behind the door, it was Su Lizhen, who he was thinking about, and her son Yongsheng.
Whether this child is the crystallization of the love between the two of them, there is no explanation in the movie, I prefer to believe that Yongsheng is their child, and it is also considered that this repressed relationship has finally gained.
The film "Fancy Years" has won numerous awards and is a very fine product that has stood the test of time. The film is beautiful, each shot is an oil painting, and the film music is even more moving, matching the emotional ups and downs of the characters. The most beautiful, of course, is the emotions and feelings expressed in the movie, which make people sink into it and be unforgettable for a long time.
In terms of expressing the emotions of Chinese, this film can be described as the pinnacle: the reservedness and cowardice of the male protagonist, the patience and restraint of the female protagonist, the huge pressure of the old-style etiquette in traditional Chinese culture, all of which permeate every scene, the story is simple, but the story is told smoothly and naturally, and the process of the two people from strangeness to love makes the audience feel painful.
Obviously is a love film, from the beginning to the end, the male protagonist and the heroine are closest only twice, one is when the two rehearsed to break up, the female protagonist hugged the male protagonist and cried, and the other time the female protagonist heard the male protagonist play her husband, admitting that there were women outside, the female protagonist sadly hugged the male protagonist and cried.
At other times, the two either pass by or stand side by side, and it is the warmest moment when discussing the novel together. And to avoid suspicion, but also can not help but remember, make an appointment to ring the phone three times, it means to report peace. Zhou Muyun booked a hotel in order to facilitate the writing of novels, he asked Su Lizhen to go, when Su Lizhen went for the first time, she ran up and down the stairs and corridors several times, and her thoughts struggled for a long time before she dared to knock on the door of 2046.
Watching "Fancy Years", it is to watch a lonely, both of them have a burning fire in their hearts, but their appearance is silent, desperately suppressed, pretending to be indifferent, and cannot let others around them see the clues. Both are decent people and cannot lose their measure, so when one can't help but leave, the other, despite being reluctant to do so, still has to endure not to follow, and Sheng Sheng put away a relationship and hid it in the deepest part of his heart.
At the end of the film, Zhou Muyun goes to Angkor Wat in Cambodia and tells his secret to a small hole in the wall, while a small shami is watching him high behind him.
In the context of that era, the feelings between Zhou Muyun and Su Lizhen must not be accepted, although they are victims, but they have to endure heartache to maintain superficial decency, unless they tear their faces and divorce their spouses, otherwise, in order not to be reduced to the laughing stock of others, they can only knock out their teeth and swallow blood.
Under the monitoring of countless eyes around them, the love between the two must only end abruptly, although there are infinite thoughts, they can only be hidden in the depths of their hearts, and they become tears in the corners of their eyes when they are inadvertent.
What exactly is love? What exactly is marriage? Movies don't give us answers, and there are no standard answers to life. That era has passed forever, and if Zhou Muyun and Su Lizhen lived in the present era, they would definitely be able to live happily together.
But their behavior was noble, and they did—"we will not be like them." Indulgence is easy, restraint is difficult, and it is worth respecting to be able to restrain feelings in order to keep the marriage. It's not about sticking to marriage, but end your existing marriage before you find a new relationship.
If "Fancy Years" has any inspiration for us, I think it is the above passage.
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