Wen | stars in the deep sea
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"Under the Red Dress" is a transgender short film that tells the unknown self-world of textile worker Chen Shi in the early 1990s, the usual "he" is just an ordinary worker, but at night, "she" has become a girl who dances in the dance hall.
His soul is imprisoned in the wrong shell, originally carefully hiding his truth, but because of his love for his dance partner Li Guotao, his part as a woman is pushed to the extreme, "she" longs to be recognized, and also longs to be able to be himself, but the reality is often only cruel.
A work that portrays the state of mind that struggles and breaks through vividly also makes us understand that for such a type of sexual minority, it is not only the tolerance of society, but also the acceptance scope of each person.
In the comments of the short film I saw this passage:
The inherent concepts and irrational clichés of real society ban individuals and construct a so-called civilization at the expense of individual differentiation, but the essence of this civilization is ignorant.
Even in today's relatively enlightened era, those discrimination and harm are still hanging over them, but how we should accept such a group of "different" people is the thinking behind the whole short film.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" >. Narrative logic: a self-conscious cognition, repression and final release, but also a discussion of the soul breaking through the shackles in order to be reborn</h1>
The narrative of the whole story is based on self-recognition, repression and release as the logical process, the textile worker Chen Shi, often transferred to the scope of work of female workers, the sentence "how to always let him do women's work" is also a vague positioning that implies gender from the beginning.
But just like the "Overlord Farewell" has been singing the wrong sentence "I was originally a boy, not a female jiao'e", at this time, he may have realized the "abnormality" of a certain part of himself, but did not recognize the truth behind this awkwardness.
His awakening of female consciousness must need a node, just like in "Danish Girl", Lily, who was awakened because of wearing women's clothes once, the transformation of Chen Shi in the short film, a key opportunity is that the mirror image mapping of female worker Liu Yumei, her hair-plucking action, many pictures give close-up freeze frame, but also Chen Shi subconsciously began to imitate the opportunity.
Later, we saw him hiding in the dormitory, secretly wearing a wig, and through the mirror also began to have a hair pulling action, but at this time, although he had exploded his desire for femininity, he heard the sound in the corridor outside the door and hurriedly hid.
There is a detail here that is also very meaningful, Chen Shi first took away the mirror, and then took down the wig, what he saw in the mirror was his hidden self, and the wig represented what others would see in their eyes, and this order reversal also showed his desire for truth in the real world and the avoidance of the truth in the inner world.
At the same time, it can also be understood that compared with the "weirdness" seen by others, his inner struggle is whether he can accept this truth, so it is very easy to explain the series of indulgent behaviors behind his sneaking wearing of a red dress and going to the dance hall, and his repression is partly from the worldly vision, more or the vague awakening of his inner self-consciousness and how to release the contradiction.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" >2. Detail metaphor: In the background of the story, the contrast between the self-redemption and self-deception of a group of marginalized people is shown through various perspectives</h1>
One of the most rare places in the short film is that he portrays a picture of all beings, and the main perspective is Chen Shi, but many of the people who break into our sight also have their struggles.
The metaphor interspersed with it is actually to cut the truth of each person in front of us.
goldfish
The goldfish is a thread connecting the front and back of the short film, it lives in a transparent fish tank, can infinitely examine the world, but can never escape, suggesting the fate of Chen Shi, Li Guotao, Liu Yumei, and the long-haired man in the dormitory.
Combined with the clues of the complete short film to deliberate, they all have their own secrets, the sexual orientation of the long-haired man, the excessive attention of Liu Yumei's subconscious to Chen Shi, and Li Guotao's struggle, all of which completely express the core of the whole story in the connection before and after.
park
There were four appearances in the park, the first being a discussion between two other people in the dormitory, and it was said that the workshop director had been arrested in the park on charges of hooliganism, and at this time they also mentioned the long-haired man, implying that he had been harassed.
Later, the place where Chen Shi secretly changed clothes was also the park, which made us understand that the existence of the park also has a strong symbolic meaning, implying that a group of "different" people use this place as a place to meet and release their true selves.
Later, Chen Shi knew Li Guotao at the dance hall because of a hero to save the United States, but after seeing the back, we can understand that everything is Li Xia's trap, he has always been a person who wanders away from the sound and color field, and he has never been simple.
He had followed Chen Shi in the first half of the short film, and his identity had been confirmed outside the park, which was also the third time he appeared in the park, and he saw the police take away the two men who had met in the park, but later when Chen Shi came to him again, he had a second tailgating, and even tried to break the window paper, which was also the fourth time the park appeared, but in the end he fled into the wilderness, and the understanding of this part needed to be combined with their four meetings.
Four meetings
For the first time, on the surface, it seems to be the so-called love at first sight, but Chen Shi's attraction to Li Guotao is actually showing his self-consciousness that he is not aware of.
The agreement to meet again once it snowed, he waited for Chen Shi for one night, but there was no ideal reunion, his loss and Chen Shi's struggle contrasted, here mainly expressed chen Shi's pain, he longed to be liked, but also afraid of being exposed.
Later, the second meeting was Chen Shi's femininity, and he wanted to accept the taste of being liked, and then the third meeting, they were closer to each other, and they also began to embrace and dance in the dance hall. But this time it also allowed Li Guotao to discover the truth, and subconsciously chose to retreat.
So before the fourth meeting, the process of Chen Shi waiting for Li Guotao in turn is interspersed, contrasting with the perspective exchanged earlier, and adding a clip of Li Guotao and Liu Yumei dancing, two roles, one is Li Guotao's self-avoidance after discovering that the person he likes is a man, and the other is Liu Yumei's normalcy as a "woman" representing being liked.
And the role of Liu Yumei has always been very meaningfully interspersed, she is beautiful and capable, but the sense of loneliness she exudes makes her feel like she is outside the whole world, and it also refers to the inability of people in that era to release the truth.
The fourth meeting, is to push the whole story to the climax, at this time also spent a large close-up to record Chen Shi's dress-up process, but also the first time he completed this transformation in the dormitory, suggesting that he was the second rebirth of his soul, but also implied that he made up his mind to release his true self, no longer escape, and Li Guotao chose to kiss Chen Shi, but also his self-deception of the known truth, but when everything was torn apart, Chen Shi flinched and was afraid.
Finally, in that park, when they were discovered by the patrolling police, Li Guotao stood up very strongly and accused Chen Shi of being the pervert, but the more he wanted to draw a clear line, the more contrary to all his behavior in front of him, alluding to the majority of people in the society at that time who chose to hide their differences.
The struggle at the story level is intuitively displayed in front of us, And Li Guotao's escape is more like a microcosm of that era, because what he chooses to be his own Chen Shi is only endlessly cruel, he can't really release, but it is difficult to pretend.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" >3. Composition and the use of light and shadow: use technical delicacy to portray and improve the more three-dimensional image of the characters, and create a sense of picture for the audience. </h1>
The whole story is a community of contradictions and struggles, and outside the story, it is to use technical delicacy to portray and improve the more three-dimensional image of the characters, and also to create a stronger sense of picture for the audience.
The short film exists in a 4:3 composition, the format is close to the square, in the diagonal or other composition with line shapes more dominant than the widescreen, inherently has a sense of form, but also makes it more of a sense of age, retro style.
Filmed in Zhengzhou, the old buildings of the old city in the 1990s, the textile factory with very characteristics of the times, and the divergence of white soft highlights make the whole picture produce a strong hazy beauty, and also let the audience see more simple and beautiful illusions in it.
Of course, the whole short film also has too many traces of tribute to the classics, but obviously its imitation is a plus, but also gives the audience a more intuitive sense of substitution, which is also from outside the story, technical advantages.
Many times, we often say that photography is to participate in the narrative, and in the article "Photographic Notes under the Red Dress", the director explained the key to the use of light and shadow:
In the night play, under the identity of Chen Shi, the side light yin and yang face is used to show the antagonism of the character's personality, and under the identity of The Spring Grass, it is a high-ranking flat light, commonly known as the Hollywood beauty light, which is filmed as an actress. This is my main photographic lighting idea.
This treatment is to make the two different identities clearly distinguished, rather than simply portraying a struggle and contradiction to break through the shackles, obviously more than to touch the audience's heart.
Therefore, the excellence of the whole short film is the combination of script, actors, and photography that it has obtained the presentation of the last complete work.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" >4. Realistic thinking: There has never been an eternal "mainstream view correct", which is also a proof of the meaning of de-labeling life</h1>
After talking about the story and the technical level, the last thing to talk about is its significance, although the whole short film is only more than thirty minutes, but it has left too much deep thinking, for transgender people, it is a relatively unfamiliar word for many people, but their desire for their true selves is so strong that it appears in their every moment of suffering.
Gender is not a label, they are never monsters, in the aforementioned little freckle starring in the movie "Danish Girl", once told the history of the first person to undergo gender reassignment surgery, although he finally died of postoperative infection, but the desire for self, is that he has never regretted his choice, and this is the biggest desire of all similar people.
The end of the short film story is actually slightly hurried, Chen Shi was taken away by the police, in a trance flashed is his past look back and smile, only to leave the audience with too many imaginations that can be extended but do not know where to extend, but in fact, in reality, we have not been able to find a perfect answer, in the process of watching, some people in the comments hurt them, there are still people who discriminate against them, under the influence of a mainstream social value, many people are passively labeled.
The terrible thing is that we can never guarantee that everyone can have good intentions, the only thing that can be done is to let more people understand through the back of the work, and they who are slightly "different" have never done anything wrong.
For the group themselves, it's like the line in "Red Balloon":
"If obedience, and disguise, can't stop your enemies from hurting you, it's better to be the truest version of yourself, stronger and more beautiful to live until the world changes for us." 」
Therefore, when the soul is imprisoned in the wrong shell, rather than covering up and escaping the repression behind it, the better answer for them is to hope that more people can be brave enough to be themselves.
This is also the result we most want to see, never let them be hurt because of their true selves, even if he is a boy, he will not become a "pervert" because of wearing a skirt, which is the minimum respect we can give them, and it is also the key to the tolerance of the whole society so that they can be accepted.
Please embrace their souls, above their shells, and please give all people a blessing, don't "label" anyone's life anymore, and give them a right to be true to themselves.
End of the full article, thanks for reading!
Image from the short film "Under the Red Dress"