The film "Camel Xiangzi" is a drama film directed by Ling Zifeng, starring Zhang Fengyi and SiChengaowa, and released in mainland China in 1982.
The film is adapted from Lao She's novel of the same name, a very good novel, people who have seen the original work know that the character of this novel is described in great detail, and the profound hardships of Lao She's text are even unacceptable for a while.
But the film was remade particularly well, not only winning the Golden Rooster Award for Best Feature Film, Best Art, but also winning several awards such as Best Props.
There are deletions in the movie story - this is for sure, after all, the movie is still a relatively rough thing, if you are interested, it is recommended to read the original book.
I watched "Camel Xiangzi" when I was still young, it was impossible to read Mr. Lao She's original, and after watching the movie, I couldn't understand any reason or feeling, which belonged to the kind that I didn't understand. After years of revisiting it, I tasted its goodness, and I only felt simple and real - this movie version starring Zhang Fengyi and Sichenkova belongs to my childhood memories and is very worth watching.
Zhang Fengyi and Sichengaova, these two actors in the current showbiz circle, are already actors with high reputation and weight. But in 1982 of the last century, he was still a newcomer to the film, and with this film alone, they became famous in one fell swoop, and Sichenkova won both the Golden Rooster Award and the Hundred Flowers Award for Best Actress the following year.
This is a movie pictorial that I was very familiar with at that time, and the cover used this plot picture!
I like that this movie has nothing to do with Shoko - he is the first protagonist, not false, but if the film is completed, it can be said that it is a person - Tiger Girl!
Why do I say this, just because Schenkova's performance is too spiritual! Simply superb!
Not only me, but many people also feel that the character of Tiger Girl is too full of aura, and many of the details of the original work to shape Shoko have been weakened - perhaps the length of the movie is limited, the things presented are still too few, anyway, the more you look at it, the more you feel that the image of Tiger Girl is prominent, and even have a taste of watching "The Legend of Tiger Girl"...
In the film, the image of the tiger girl does not quite fit the description of the original book, and it is not exactly the same as the description in the novel. This is a character who has been recreated—retaining the sporadic merits and personalities of the book, and having a lot more human touch.
In such a chaotic patriarchal society, Tiger Lady is a "strange woman", and I see many advantages in her: she is smooth in her work, knows how to gather wealth, is good at calculation, shrewd and capable, and has courage and strategy. Saying that it is the boss qianjin, in fact, it is also a step by step hard work, is a good hand, like a man, she has a kind of fierceness and calmness in the face of life, if replaced by now, Tiger Girl can be said to be a successful female entrepreneur.
Tiger Girl is not a cute character in the book. Lao She wrote her as a 37, 8-year-old girl, black tower-like, ugly, loud, lazy, hungry. It's not a pleasant read. But in the film, tiger girls can't be ugly at first, and although Schengova has been dressed up for a while, her skin is still tight - as long as she doesn't show her teeth, it's not ugly enough.
There is also this age - the age difference between Tiger Lady and Xiangzi in the book is as much as fifteen or sixteen years old, but in reality, Sichengova is only six years older than Zhang Fengyi, and only shows "slightly older", so it is not right to retain the "Big Black Tower" in the lines. Because the audience can see clearly: Schenkova is not tall at all, not black or even ugly! It also does not seem to be as old as 37 or 8, although Szczygova did not seem to be young thirty years ago, but she did not look like a middle-aged woman, but just a slender older young woman.
And her Beijing accent is good, and her Beijing flavor is very sufficient.
As for Zhang Fengyi, he looks very energetic and has the taste of a Showa boy... At the age of 26, he was really handsome at that time!
The first wonderful thing about Tiger Girl is that Xiangzi drinks, that old and spicy feeling - in the film, I first think of You Sanjie in "The Red Chamber", almost called "adulterous man". Such a woman can not be hated.
Why do you feel this way?
Because what impresses people in this scene is Tiger Girl's persistence and pungency in love - she makes every effort to pursue her love, gaze into the eyes of her lover, and those words are full of tenderness and honey.
Tiger Girl's desperate behavior in order to let Shoko marry her is also quite brave - although it is not proper to take advantage of Shoko's drunken relationship with him, but she may not be able to marry out for a lifetime without doing so - in that era, in order to get the person she loves! When it is hard, you can open up, and when you are soft, you can also lower your body! This is called the bold pursuit of happiness.
From the time she played the trick against Shoko, Tiger Girl's every step she took was very planned, taking the initiative and never sitting still. On the night of the showdown, Schengova's performance was simply too dramatic- the agility of the eyes, the kind of spirit that came alive, like an old cow eating tender grass, playing this ugly and backward old girl who chased a man so realistically, her perfect interpretation even made the first half of the movie full of joy.
And Shoko's personality, and Tiger Girl are simply polar.
Tiger Lady also encountered such a soft egg as Shoko, and let people rub it flat and knead the circle, in order to implement her forced marriage plan so smoothly.
The second good scene of Tiger Girl is the one who made a birthday for the fourth master. Because he couldn't see Liu Siye's difficulty, even if it was his own father, Tiger Lady no longer showed weakness. Direct needle tip to Mai Mang dried up:
This layer of window paper is broken today!
It was a tiger's energy.
These two grandfathers are not good stubble, just finished their birthday, just turned their faces in front of people, the subtle psychological descriptions in the original work, such as the quarrel between Tiger Lady and Liu Siye, the actors use body language and expressions to perform, very expressive.
"You can't find it yourself!"
Sichenkova raised her hand and threw her hands, which was very much in wang Xifeng's style.
Under the background of such a tiger girl, Shoko's image appears extremely short and flat, and he seems to be only "incompetent", not as strong as the original extreme, but more and more becomes the shadow behind the tiger girl.
——This man has no idea when something happens, and the tiger girl tells him to do whatever he wants. There are also some stubborn tempers, there is a penny to spend a penny, do not know how to be flexible, die to face and do not ask for people, only know to sell strength to make money, just like the tiger lady scolded, is a poor life! If I were the fourth master, I wouldn't marry my daughter to such a man.
"When a man gets married and a woman gets hired, you use this happy shed to do another happy event, and give the neighbors a decent face, right?"
Szczygova's acting skills are very eye-catching here, and the acting is really good! The most vivid feeling is that she changed the ugly laziness and arrogance of Tiger Girl in the novel, and transformed them all into blunt and bold, fiery language, actions and expressions, including the lines containing beijing vernacular, which sound so interesting and so flavorful!
When the thunderous father Liu Siye yelled at her:
I'm just going to burn this shed and I won't give it to you!"
The tiger girl was anxious, and also greeted it and shouted:
You just set this shed on fire, and your aunt and grandmother will also blow and play, sit in a flower palanquin, and get out of this door!
At this time, the tiger girl is really a tiger explosion and has come alive. If nothing else, this paragraph is also an insurmountable classic for actors who have played tiger girls in the past. It can be seen that Schenkova was a powerful character when she was young. That's why the tiger girl she plays will be so powerful and have the essence.
The old society said that her parents' fate was a concubine's words, she wanted to make her own decisions, and others laughed at her as a tigress, but if she was not such a hot personality, how could she take her fate into her own hands?
Shooting Lao She's works, if you don't put some effort into folklore, it is impossible to succeed. At this point, there is no doubt that Ling Zifeng has done a very good job.
He is the background of the Manchus in old Beijing, so the lines, props, scenes, soundtracks, etc. of the film have a very authentic taste of the old Beijing of the Republic of China.
Tiger girl married this section, the film's life atmosphere is very strong, the set, props, etc. are very elaborate, the soundtrack is also very interesting, grounded.
At that time, the movie props looked very similar to the old house I lived in when I was a child.
At the moment of worship, Tiger Girl's face was proud and shy, but Shoko's eyes were very empty! This seems to indicate that their union itself carries a certain absurdity, and in that era it was a story that was destined not to be happy.
The film's photography and composition have a simple and elegant style unique to the 1980s.
Tiger lady pulled Xiangzi shopping, eating explosive belly this paragraph, very close to the Republic of China life at that time, this piece of play is the old society of the city well small people, men and women's every move, plus Ling Zifeng in the movie on the old Beijing restoration is very real, so it looks too much like life! Compared with the current TV series, those characters are space white, one-sided, and blunt.
Breaking through the shackles of patriarchy, mastering her own destiny, and achieving a certain degree of "freedom and independence", the tiger girl is unwilling to pull a car by Xiangzi and suggests staying at home to do some business. First of all, she has this business talent, Shoko, honest and responsible can work, the two of them are actually doing business is still very well matched.
Why would tiger girls cause reverse oppression to Shoko? The reason is that there is money! Master the economic foundation, talk and do things toughly, and are not afraid of the tongue of your side. The styling of the film also bears witness to this.
But Tiger Girl's plan was fiercely opposed by Shoko, and Shoko, who was full of axle strength, insisted on the only decision in life - buy a car and continue to pull the car!
This was the only time he did it himself, and he insisted on pulling a car — he had to buy a car. It was this axis of his strength that buried everything.
When you first watch a movie, if you substitute for Shoko's perspective, you will generally feel sorry for him, hardworking, hardworking, simple, soft-hearted, and short-sighted at the same time. But the more I looked back, the more shoko felt like a fool who just wanted to pull a car, rather than a good person who wanted to live a smooth life.
During the time when Tiger Girl and Shoko were married and lived, Shoko's life seemed to have undergone earth-shaking changes, neat bed sheets and duvet covers, fresh vegetables and meat bought back, hot rice at home, washed clean bowls... Too much, too much, every little detail here is a viewing clip that the director wants to show everyone.
To be honest, at first, Shoko didn't have much affection for Tiger Girl, but with Tiger Girl's delicate and intimate goodness, Shoko almost fell in love with Tiger Girl.
When Tiger Girl sneered and sweetly told Shoko that she really had it. It makes people feel that this tiger girl really has to let Teacher Sichenkova act, she put aside her acting skills, and only the extravagant personality is more infectious. Tiger Lady is clearly the soul figure.
The warmest scene in the whole film is that Shoko has the joy of becoming a father, but this joy is too short...... These subtle, timeless symbolic settings set off Shoko's tragic fate more vividly.
Although the fate did not continue, the days when Tiger Lady and Shoko lived together were indeed happy and happy!
All this is thanks to Szczygova's incredibly strong character-building ability. Compared with her, Zhang Fengyi, who has just played his debut, is still slightly jerky in his acting skills!
Was the tragic death of Tiger Lady because she ate too much and did not exercise, resulting in too large a fetus to come out, or because the first child of the thirty-seventh and eighth was an elderly mother, and the medical technology of the society at that time was not good?
Putting aside these without analysis, just talk about this Xiangzi, we all know that he is the most obsessed with pulling cars, which knows that pulling cars every day is tired and does not make money, it is a loss-making business, before and after every month is negative profits, not only did not earn, but also spent all the wife's private money. When it happens that the wife is difficult to give birth, she can't even get the money for a 30 ocean doctor?!
The scene of the tiger girl dying in childbirth is too heart-wrenching - it is equivalent to being tortured to death, and I believe that many people who do not like the tiger girl will also feel sad.
Some people say that the courageous character of Yi Hu must die, and the stubborn character of Shoko must always be bitter and not die.
It is also possible that due to the limitations of the film genre, the ending has taken a sharp turn, and the death of tiger girl has become a must, and everything has become understandable.
The new car is given to you, the feelings are given to you, the family is also given to you, but you are still you. Sooner or later you still can't keep it.
After changing the seller's property for money, the movie scans the changes in Shoko's room - things have been taken away, and even the happy posts on the door no longer exist, which is simply a world away from when Tiger Girl was alive! Shoko's life is back to its original beginning!
Poor people must have something to hate, Shoko is. So are we.
In just two hours, the film has completed the lives of all kinds of low-level people. In an irresistible environment, individual hard work may be a useless struggle.
Compared with the novel, the capacity of the film is indeed a little weaker, but the tragic fate of a person is basically displayed. For example, replacing Xiangzi who pulled a rickshaw to the present, letting him go to the city to work, letting his land be forcibly expropriated, the house being forcibly demolished, leaving him with no money to buy a house, no money to marry his wife, and afraid to see if he was sick, what was the difference with that time?!
Every one of us who comes to town is Shoko.
This is a very classic old film, simple and not pompous - the Chinese films of that era all have a sense of non-nonsense, serious storytelling. It is the power of life, a force that strives to grow in the spring breeze after the autumn and winter depressions and the dead leaves and flowers.