Step on the ruined stone slabs of the city wall, and follow the ruins of a mossy wall in a corner. Green vines surround the red tiles, and green shade shelters the stone steps. Push the door, enter the old house...
Fei Mu's film "Spring in a Small Town" seems to show everyone such a beautiful picture. The woman dressed in a cheongsam and strolling along the city wall; the young master who is sick and weak and can't help the wind; the scholar who is a bookish and is in the midst of Fanghua, in the mottled city wall and the dilapidated courtyard alley, paint a picture of "righteousness is higher than love" entanglement.
"Spring in a Small Town" is a 1948 work by director Fei Mu, and decades later, Tian Zhuangzhuang's version of "Spring in a Small Town" as a tribute to Fei Mu also appeared on the screen in 2002. The two films can be said to be "the same work", the two have similarities such as lines, main characters, and long shots, but under the deeper art appreciation, their meanings are obviously different.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > the art of a film monologue</h1>
The period from 1948 to 2002 was a significant time span, during which Time Chinese cinema also showed a progressive development. The span of time has led to obvious differences in sound, color, and editing between the two "Spring in a Small Town".
Monologue is a very common way of filmmaking. In the presentation of the work, it is not necessary, but when a work requires great inner emotional appeal, the monologue art follows. It directly expresses the subconscious activity of the protagonist through the self-statement of the protagonist, expounds the inner world, and thus further penetrates the reader's heart.
The biggest difference between Tian Zhuangzhuang's "Spring in a Small Town" and Fei Mu's "Spring in a Small Town" is the change in narrative style. The old version of "Spring in a Small Town" uses Yuwen's inner monologue as a series, and depicts the vicissitudes of the Dai family, the emotional relationship between the characters and the entanglement of inner emotions between love and etiquette through the dictation and perspective of Yuwen. Since the beginning of the chapter, the story has been told through the idyllic whispers of jade patterns, which is more desperate and sad than the new version.
At the beginning of the movie, holding a vegetable basket, strolling through the jade pattern of the old city wall, whispering: "Every morning after buying vegetables, I always like to walk on the city wall." Man walks on the walls of the city as if he has left this world, seeing nothing in his eyes and thinking of nothing in his heart. This monologue line, coupled with the sad atmosphere caused by the external environment, instantly laid the emotional foundation for the sadness and sadness of the entire film. Let the audience quickly put the emotions into place and look at this film with the right perspective and mentality.
In the new version of "Spring in a Small Town", director Tian Zhuangzhuang canceled the inner monologue of the heroine Yuwen, and showed it more through the lens picture, and the perspective was more objective. For example, Zhang Zhichen's picture at the railway station replaces the monologue "He came from the railway station"; through zhang Zhichen's dialogue with Dai Liyan, the reality of the Dai family's family situation is expounded, rather than through the inner monologue of the jade pattern...
In the author's opinion, this idea of director Tian Zhuangzhuang is very bold. The reason why the old version of "Spring in a Small Town" can have such a large image power is inseparable from its accurate, delicate and charming expression of the inner emotions of the protagonist Yuwen, and the most important driving force to achieve this is the use of inner monologues. The new version of "Spring in a Small Town" without the monologue obviously lacks a hint of melancholy charm, but has more vivid picture expression, rich character lines, and more detailed and complete plot shaping.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > the characters of the film</h1>
In the old version of "Spring in a Small Town", from indifference to the resurgence of feelings, the wife Yuwen, from the disease-ridden and deeply guilty to the Dai family inheritor Dai Liyan who understood letting go, from the emotional fluctuations to the mature understanding of Zhang Zhichen, the little sister with a lively personality and optimistic life, the loyal and sincere housekeeper who did not abandon... Although the character setting of the old version of "Spring in a Small Town" is extremely simple, with only five characters, the expression of the story is complete. The relationship between husband and wife who can't say a few words every day, the emotional ignition of the sudden reunion of the old knowledge, the wrong point of Zhang Zhichen and the little sister of the Dai family...
In the old version of "Spring in a Small Town", only from the relationship and drama between Jade And Zhang Zhichen, compared with the new version of "Spring in a Small Town", the emotional expression of the two in the old version is more fiery, and the performance of Jade Is more active. In the old version, jade pattern hindered Dai Liyan's face and did not appear so active to Zhang Zhichen.
There are many overlaps between the old version and the new version, such as Yuwen's late-night visit to Zhang Zhichen, the group's boat cruise together to sing, strolling the city wall, eating at night... One of the things that impressed me was the family's fist-punching and drinking at dinner. It is also because of the details of Yuwen and Zhang Zhichen's fist and drinking that Dai Liyan understands in his heart that Yuwen and Zhang Zhichen's love and I are willing.
At the wine table, the new version of the old version of the treatment expression is basically the same, the difference is the reaction of Dai Liyan after dinner. In the old version, Dai Liyan, who had a heart in his heart, went to the distance to sit quietly alone, and the heart of a person behind the noise was vividly expounded by the emotional expression of silence at this time. The old version, when dealing with the plot of Dai Liyan after dinner, chose a person to cry bitterly. The seemingly normal expression of emotion here actually lacks a certain degree of artistry, and too direct crying does not conform to the basic settings of the characters, but also destroys the solemn atmosphere of the film.
Overall, Fei Mu's version of Dai Liyan appears weak and weak in the film as a whole. The Tian Zhuangzhuang version of Dai Liyan is too "vibrant" in performance and expression, and under the setting of the original story, it seems out of place, with a hint of stiffness and unnaturalness.
The new version produces more delicate character relationships, such as the opening of the old version of the prototype. If the old version is a simplified expression of the "triangular relationship", then the new version will enlarge and refine the relationship between people. Such a setting eases the emotional heat after the reunion of Yuwen and Zhang Zhichen, and the respect between Yuwen and Dai Liyan, so that the audience can view this triangular relationship more objectively.
In the new version, there are also richer characters. In the entire film of the old version, only a few main characters appear. In the new version, director Tian Zhuangzhuang positioned xiaomei in the dance classroom of Xiaomei's school when adapting the bridge section of the old version of the movie where Xiaomei and Zhang Zhichen danced together on the city wall. At the same time, when they danced, there were onlookers from their classmates, and a wealth of other characters were produced. This expression, a change from the "one sadness to the end" in the old version, through a more detailed in-depth understanding of the life of the little sister, adds a little fun and active atmosphere to the whole film.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > the fusion of traditional cultures</h1>
In his essay "A Brief Discussion of 'Air'", Faim said: "It is necessary to assimilate the ideas with the environment of the people in the play, and if this purpose is achieved, I think that the air in creation is necessary." Here, Fei Mu talks about "air", which concisely refers to the atmosphere and realm of the film.
In the film, orchids appear frequently.
Orchids, should be one of the most inconspicuous images in the film. Many people ignore it, thinking that he is just a daily decoration in the courtyard and the room.
But in traditional Chinese culture, orchids are an extremely important traditional image. Orchids are loved by their clear color and clear external forms, and at the same time, in the long river of ancient Chinese historical development, the imagery of orchids has also been continuously transformed into an inner spiritual temperament through external beauty.
Here, the orchid can represent the chaste husband and wife love between Jade And Dai Liyan, and also means the gentlemanly friendship between Dai Liyan and Zhang Zhichen, and can also give the expression of "righteousness" higher than "love" between Zhang Zhichen and Jade.
In the two versions of the film, the imagery of the city wall, the courtyard, and the small city also has a great traditional meaning.
In the old version, the imagery of the city walls, courtyards, and small towns is significantly stronger than that of the new version. The opening chapter of the old version of the jade pattern strolling on the city wall whispers a sense of oppression, such a city wall becomes a barrier to the life and feelings of the jade pattern, trapping her people and hearts in the ruined town.
In the treatment of the city wall, director Fei Mu and director Tian Zhuangzhuang are also different. In Tian Zhuangzhuang's version of "Spring in a Small Town", the beginning of the big vision to shoot the city wall and the jade pattern walking on the city wall, the tall city wall forms a huge barrier, and then the angle of the upward shooting makes the scene become depressed, making people feel breathless, thus expressing the heroine's bitter mood of the jade pattern, and laying a sad and sad emotional tone for the whole film.
In the old version of "Spring in a Small Town" directed by Fei Mu, the beginning is to shoot the jade pattern of carrying a vegetable basket and walking on the city wall through the panoramic middle scene. Here, the city wall is low, at this time, the audience's eyes will involuntarily skim over the low city wall and put it on the heroine's jade body. At this time, coupled with the inner monologue of the jade pattern, the distance between the audience and the protagonist jade pattern will be narrowed, so that the audience can better integrate into the emotional expression of the film.
In general, Fei Mu's version of "Spring in a Small Town" has a poetic beauty. When I watch the whole film, it's like reading poetry. The story of the slow, unhurried and unhurried town is being told. Tian Zhuangzhuang's version of "Spring in a Small Town" is more like watching a film that records family ethics, more objectively, more dialectically, and more comprehensively expressing the bittersweet and bitter experienced by a family in that era.
Whether it is a new version or an old version of "Spring in a Small Town", they all have the same emotional tone and theme expression under different forms of expression. Emotionally, they are undoubtedly heavy, and it is in this heavy emotional and triangular relationship that we see the old women's bondage and helplessness in emotional issues. It represents the author's reflection on the traditional culture and traditional concepts of his time, and shows the helplessness of life through the expression of the life of the female image of jade.
Fei Mu's version of "Spring in a Small Town" is a classic, and Tian Zhuangzhuang's version of "Spring in a Small Town" is abundant.