March 19, 2022 | No. 2816
In 2022, are we still "talking about room discoloration"?
Before watching "Heart Residence", I was once worried about how this drama should land smoothly. After the broadcast, I was relieved that Teng Xiaolan's original work was sharp and profound, and the works after the film and television adaptation were vigorous and powerful, all of which were quite infectious. It is worthy of being the best director of Magnolia, and it is worthy of being personally adapted by the winner of the "Lu Xun Literature Award", and the shares are not lost.
"Heart Residence" is directed by Teng Huatao, written by Teng Xiaolan, starring Haiqing, Tong Yao, Zhang Songwen (in alphabetical order), and specially invited by Feng Shaofeng. It shows the tireless efforts of The Shanghai citizens, represented by Feng Xiaoqin (Haiqing) and Gu Qingyu (Tong Yao), the sister-in-law, in the mud of life.
Among the recent hit works, "Heart Residence" is a rather special one.
It is unveiled in the name of emotional drama, but you can taste different flavors by tasting samadhi.
It is a new way of writing family dramas, with the difficulty of buying a house, writing about the mutual help of family members, there are ups and downs and laughter. It is a softened version of the topic drama, sharp contradictions are not uncommon, but it provides examples of problem solving and opens up the way to the advancement of happiness. It is a work of true national orientation, focusing on the struggle of the times and concerning about the social fabric.
Spear-and-shield confrontation
The story of this drama mainly revolves around Feng Xiaoqin and Gu Qingyu, two post-80s women. Their ages are similar, although Feng is two years older than Gu, but they are also down-to-earth young women.
But they are similar only in age. Due to differences in identity, occupation, emotional relationship and fate, the life situation faced by two people is also very different. Just by looking at the way they were present, the two were very different.
Feng Xiaoqin appeared as a housewife.
"Dream of the Red Chamber" writes about Wang Xifeng, who has not seen him, and heard his voice first. "Heart Residence" writes Feng Xiaoqin, is not seen in the scene, first noisy. In one morning, from grocery shopping to cooking to calling the family to get up, everything is available.
To worry about her son's grades, to care about her husband's exams, to worry about her grandmother's dental disease, and to observe her father-in-law's body, she is like a top, non-stop, circling the whole family.
Caring for others is easy to be tired, and when tired, it is easy to nag. Feng Xiaoqin is a typical "Chinese mother", and the Gu family seems to be reluctant to open her mouth, but if this person is really missing, the whole family will be chaotic inside and out.
In Feng Xiaoqin's body, a kind of "outsider" and "endogenous" are shown. Generally speaking, such families always have to make some mother-in-law and daughter-in-law conflicts. The mother-in-law is fierce, the daughter-in-law is successful, and the son is caught in the middle of it. But in the Gu family, where Gu's mother died early, Xianhui and Nagging were equally divided on Feng Xiaoqin's body.
Gu Qingyu was completely on the opposite side of Feng Xiaoqin. Her first impression on the audience is elegance. I woke up in the morning and was doing yoga. Housework does not have to be done by yourself, and there is an hourly aunt who is responsible for cleaning. At work, there is no disadvantage. If others can't talk about it, she can talk about it. Others dare not get started, she dares to go up.
Even if she moved out of the house early, she was still the brightest star. Ming ming and his brother's birthday is only one day apart, but the father only bought cake for his daughter. The blessings of the whole family are all on her, and the younger brother is just running with her.
This is not a portrayal of women over men, but a manifestation of the true face of life. Whether north or south, rich or poor, relatives always revolve around capable people. Those who do not have the ability either hide in the corner in a daze or become a background board to set off "other people's children". In front of his sister, Gu Lei (Yao Yiqi) is destined to be the latter.
Feng Xiaoqin is the embodiment of "shrewd calculation". It is undeniable that she is a virtuous wife, a sensible daughter-in-law, a great mother. But after coming to Shanghai for many years, she desperately wanted a house of her own. No matter how good the Gu family's house is, it is also "someone else's home". She desperately wants to erase her "foreign" identity and gain recognition in the big city.
Gu Qingyu was also not easy to mess with. She treats her family affectionately and indifferently. Being a sister and a mother since she was a child makes it difficult for her to easily trust others. Even if this person is the wife of his brother. She has her own set of rules of conduct, and the "wrong way" will be abandoned. Therefore, she can delay getting married and deliberately "fake marriage" in order to buy a house.
Feng Xiaoqin is a shield, and she can block all the pains of life and protect everyone around her. Gu Qingyu is a spear, and he is not afraid in the face of any obstacle, and dares to fight and dare to speak. And the sister-in-law relationship between the two has forced the contradiction to stand off for a long time. Based on this, the most dramatic and charming place of "Heart Residence" is displayed.
Home-to-person transformation
Since we are talking about buying a house, the theme must first be clear: who wants to buy a house? Where to buy a house? Why buy a house? Understanding these problems, the framework of "Heart Residence" is also clear. The first two questions are simple.
It was Feng Xiaoqin and Gu Qingyu who wanted to buy a house. What Feng Xiaoqin wants to buy is a standard affordable house of 60 square meters.
Family of three, 60 square meters, not spacious. According to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics in 2019, the per capita housing construction area of urban residents in 2018 was 39 square meters. Feng Xiaoqin had not yet caught up with the average. But the 2.5 million that bought the house, she couldn't get it out. Even a down payment had to be borrowed from the eldest sister Gu Qingyu and the father-in-law Gu Shihong (Jie Bing).
Gu Qingyu also wants to buy a house. Compared to her sister-in-law, she is much more generous. As soon as you sell it, you have to buy more than 20 million mansions. The reason is simple, that is where he and Qingmei Zhuma Shiyuan (Feng Shaofeng) met.
Feng Xiaoqin, who could not afford to pay the down payment, made up her mind to borrow money from Gu Qingyu. Gu Qingyu did not borrow. The superficial reason is that he wants to buy a mansion, but the deep reason is that his brother is cowardly, and once the two children move out of the Gu family, they don't know how their brother will be bullied. In her words, there are two kinds of truths under the heavens, one can be put on the table to say; the other, can not be put on the table to say, it is ugly to say.
As for the third question, Feng Xiaoqin's monologue at the beginning has already been answered. The house is a person's "face", the inner ring, the outer ring, the central ring, the commercial house, the affordable house, the demolition house, what kind of house to buy, is what kind of person. For ordinary people, the house is not only the face of the scenery, but also the knife to the flesh.
Not to mention, she is also famous. At present, my son's school is still a little poor. Is it hard to hold your grandchildren at the age of 40? Feng Xiaoqin was reluctant. But what she was even angrier at was her husband's indifference.
The eruption came too quickly. Feng Xiaoqin was very aggrieved, and she did not want to buy a bungalow or a villa. Neither for face nor for splurge. Everything has a valid reason, why can't it?
However, simply portraying the process of buying a house is shallow. "Heart Dwelling" not only writes about the difficulty of buying a house. More write about the "breakout" that encounters problems and opens up the way to the mountains. Writing only the former is to create anxiety, and writing only the latter is a suspension of things. When the two are combined, we can see the flesh and blood of reality.
The problems in the process of buying a house do not appear out of thin air, but are hidden crises under the calm lake. It's not a bad thing to have an early outbreak, hide it, and one day it will give you a fatal blow. Feng is not used to looking at it, and Gu does not like Feng, but in the same family, they always have to take care of each other. Knowing each other's difficulties, reconciliation is there.
In essence, "Heart Dwelling" answers three questions: what is a house, what is home, and what is love. Su Shi once wrote, "This place of peace of mind is my hometown." "Heart Dwelling" said that as long as there is a home, even a broken house has meaning.
Between Feng Xiaoqin and Gu Qingyu, there was no hatred between you and me, but once Gu Lei died, the living knot was difficult to understand. As the initial contradictions intensified, new solutions had to be introduced. The conflict is still fierce, but a new life has to start.
People only know how to cherish after they lose, Feng Xiaoqin is like this, and for the Gu family, it is also the same.
There is a difficult scripture in the family. Everyone has shortcomings, but people with shortcomings are closer to the people. Everyone has difficulties, but real life is full of thorns. When people are surrounded by pressure, they are prone to thorns, and it is not pleasing to see anyone. After the situation is improved, it is easy to be kind to people. "Heart Dwelling" demonstrates this truth.
Touching details
I also want to talk about the people and things that impressed me.
Feng Xiaoqin gave Gu Qingyu a scarf that imitated a big name, and Gu Qingyu gave it to his aunt who was an hourly worker.
Although the episode does not overemphasize, through the only shots, the audience can also know that the scarf is woven by Feng Xiaoqin with one stitch and one thread. Gu Qingyu did not know this, her life had long been replaced by self-control with purchase.
Gu Father's glasses were broken, and Feng Xiaoqin repaired them with universal glue. Gu Qingyu directly bought a new one for him. Although she has not lived at home for a long time, she has not ignored her family's demands. It can be seen that its heart is not bad. Feng Xiaoqin also understood this truth. But when she caught a glimpse of the scarf around her aunt's neck at the mall, she was still angry.
She was angry with Gu Qingyu and even angrier at herself. Angry at their own incompetence, angry at their original choice, angry at the end of their lives to stay in Shanghai but unable to integrate. What efforts do you have to make to stop being a "nother"?
For the workers, watching this drama will probably feel a lot. There are too many people who can see themselves in the play. For young people, renting in big cities is the norm, and dealing with landlords and intermediaries is a daily routine. But middle-aged people with children, once they have made up their minds to stay, buying a house has become a subject that has to be discussed.
Feng Xiaoqin and Gu Lei are also facing difficulties in the management of marriage. What kind of way should wives and husbands get along? There is a problem with blind concessions and blind persecution. The strings are too tight and break easily. The strings are too loose and easy to mess with. A good marriage should have progress and retreat, reasonable and disciplined, but it is a pity that Gu Lei has no time to grow.
Gu Qingyu's birthday party is the most interesting scene in the first few episodes. The director lifts heavy weights and makes heavy issues playful and vivid. Gu Lei said, Sister, I want to borrow money from you. Gu Qingyu asked, what is the purpose of borrowing money?
"Buy a house". As soon as these words came out, the atmosphere at the dinner table suddenly became turbulent. Feng Xiaoqin did not say a word, only caring about drinking soup; Gu Father and Gu Qingyu quickly looked at each other, and their hearts understood. Gu Lei froze on the spot, both nervous and relieved. Cowardice that demands from others cannot be hidden. Gu Lei held it in his heart, and the audience looked in his eyes. Wonderful.
Feng Xiaoqin sued her neighbors, demanding an apology and a dollar in compensation. She wasn't fighting for compensation, just reason. Gu Qingyu did not understand her, believing that she was deliberately blackmailing. But Feng Xiaoqin knew in her heart that all she wanted was peace of mind. If this breath could not be relieved, and she was guilty of killing her husband, she would sooner or later blame herself until she collapsed.
As far as the current plot is concerned, Feng Xiaoqin estimates that he will open a home for the elderly in the future. This again involves two issues, qualifications and pensions. The issue of qualification is a big deal, and it is estimated that it will take a lot of trouble. Zhan Xiang (Zhang Songwen) may be able to help a little, and eventually Feng Xiaoqin will need to fight for herself. Old-age care is the core issue of the whole society.
Director Teng Huatao has always pursued, making the characters friends and urban dramas into cross-sections of social reality. Although I don't know if he has a relationship with Feng and Gu this time, at least he has touched on many serious social issues.
Screenwriter Teng Xiaolan is an authentic Shanghainese who writes authentic Haipai stories. Adapting her own works by her is even more familiar.
Feng Xiaoqin and Gu Qingyu, like a Mars and a Venus, are typical characters. Haiqing and Tong Yao brought them to life. Zhang Songwen played an upstart, but he was quite comedic, and he was the funny person in charge of the whole play. Feng Shaofeng does not play much for the time being, but the failed bamboo horse meets the successful Qingmei, and the story in the future should also be quite torn.
"Heart Residence" is another national oriented work launched by Tencent Pictures and Yuwen Film and Television after "The World" this year. The drama was broadcast on Oriental Satellite TV and Zhejiang Satellite TV on March 17, and iQiyi was broadcast on the whole network at the same time, and the good drama is still to come.
【Text/Ma II】