There is a question that I have always wanted to share with you. But how to express it has always puzzled me.
More than once I've been asked, some movies, what exactly is it about?
At first, I always tried to talk until he understood.
But I know that my point of view does not represent the feelings that the movie brings to everyone, and then I will say, it doesn't matter, you don't have to care if you really understand what the movie is about, what you see is what it is.
This is what I vaguely want to share with you: there is no fixed meaning that must be understood, not everything must have a clear purpose, and you can be more concerned with your inner feelings.
The motivation for sharing was the film: "April's Long Dream."
Chu Hai, 27 years old, three years ago in April, her boyfriend died, and since then her world has turned a misty gray.
As a result, Chu Hai, who had lost hope in life, quit his stable teaching job.
In order to make ends meet, he began to work in a small restaurant near his home.
Every day is to get up, eat, work with a false smile, have no connection with the outside world, and live an unchanging life every day.
Nothing matters, and no one stays in the heart.
Until one day, I suddenly received an email from my boyfriend's family, which contained a letter written to Hatsukai before her boyfriend died, and invited Hatsukai to play by the way.
The first time Chu Hai lost his mind and was late for work, this day was also doomed to be not calm.
On this day, Fujitaro, a regular visitor who always secretly observes Hatsumi, invites Hatsumi to see a solo exhibition of his hand towel works.
On this day, when I left work at night, the boss said: The shop will be closed next month, and I can help you introduce it to the shopping street, but it is really overkill to go to that kind of place.
Get the holidays of the first sea as usual to live in nothingness. It is like a transparent person who exists in this world, no emotions, no material desires, no hope, as if it will disappear at any time.
Hatsukai actually sensed Fujitaro's intentions but could not respond, and could only choose to retreat. So I went to the hand towel exhibition but did not have the courage to go straight in, and instead went to see the old movie "Casablanca".
After the show, I accidentally met a class of students I had only taught: a cool student who insisted on doing jazz, a student who was beaten by her boyfriend with a blue nose and a swollen face, but still cheerful.
Because there was no place to go, Hatsukai could only take in her cheeky face.
Thanks to this interloper, he began to bring normal mood swings to Hatsukai's daily life.
At the end of the vacation, it is time for the summer fireworks festival, and people in the neighborhood gather together.
Fujitaro was also there, and this time Fujitaro finally plucked up the courage to speak to Hatsumi and invited Hatsumi to visit his hand towel workshop.
And Chu Hai, unconsciously, had opened up some of his heart before.
Against the backdrop of a plain hand towel, the nervous and shy face of a young man with a dream blushed slightly, just as beautiful as the fireworks before.
Hatsukai's hidden heart seemed to start beating again.
There is a touching detail, when separated, Fujitaro said: "You are so good-looking, not suitable for fake smiles"
On the way back, Hatsuhae was praised unconsciously and excitedly listening to music, like a little girl in first love.
Suddenly, Chu Hai stopped his excited steps and looked bitter, as if he was repenting of his happiness.
The letter from her boyfriend's house, which had been shelved, was picked up again, and now I can't pretend that nothing matters as before, and some emotions have begun to sprout.
So Chu Hai embarked on a journey to the boyfriend's house that he did not dare to mention.
Everything in the boyfriend's house is the same as the boyfriend once described, except that the boyfriend's bragging is verified to be fake.
Every member of the boyfriend's family is smiling and working hard to live, so that the moody Hatsukai has truly calmed down.
Hatsuhae revealed the secret of his heart, but in fact they broke up three years ago in April. And then the boyfriend chose to leave this world.
The boyfriend's mother's answer turned out to be: You don't have to blame yourself, you can't blame it.
My boyfriend's mother said: "You are still young, and you may still feel that life is a process of continuous acquisition, and I have always thought so before a certain period." But slowly, I feel that life is actually a process of continuous loss, and in the process of continuous loss, every time I can do it, I may only be able to discover my true self."
Also: "I really appreciate you for being able to accompany Kentaro through that time." ”
In this way, Chu Hai unloaded all the burdens in his heart after his heart beat and left his boyfriend's house.
From the room to the field, from the field to the woods, from April to summer, out of that dream that could not be lucid.
These three years, for Hatsukai, are a dream without a trace, a world that stops, and only time is moving forward.
On the way back, Hatsukai heard the song that Fujitaro had ordered for himself on the radio, and life began so unobtrusively.
This "Long Dream of April" is really an unpopular small film, as of now, the number of Douban markers is only 140, and brother monkeys are even more rare when they see it.
Douban scored 7.2 and won the Jury Award of the Moscow International Film Festival and the Special Award of the Russian Film Jury.
Director Ryutaro Nakagawa is a newcomer director, self-written and self-directed, and has been active as a poet, so the overall look and feel of this film is particularly like a sad and calm little poem.
It doesn't say much, it's the story of a young woman who lives in nothingness and begins to find her life.
It is relatively soothing, there is no tight movie rhythm and conflict reversal plot, but it is strange that people feel calm after watching it, and the aftertaste is long.
Even after watching it for many days, looking back, Brother Monkey still remembers the quiet feeling of that afternoon, which is why he finally decided to share such a bland movie with you.
At the same time, as mentioned at the beginning, many modern people pay too much attention to purpose and meaning, and gradually lose the ability to discover themselves that life really gives everyone.
There are always times when some seemingly meaningless things in life bring people a lot of joy, such as sitting in a daze, such as walking aimlessly, such as watching a simple and light movie.
Director Bi Gan's "Roadside Picnic" has received great attention, and everyone who has seen it knows that it is a literary and artistic film that makes people extremely quiet and contemplative, but it has received a lot of praise.
I think this shows that in the noisy real life, there are still many people who need some poetry, and life still needs some sense of ritual to please themselves.
This sense of ceremony I felt in "The Long Dream of April".
Oscar-winning Best Picture Birdman director Iñárritu once said at a roundtable meeting: "I never understood Kubrick's < 2001 Space Odyssey >, what does the stone monument represent?" I didn't care, I felt the inspiration it gave me. ”
If you ask me what this movie is about, I might say: I saw cherry blossom roads in the middle of summer, endless streams of vehicles, and a heart full of excitement.
And, as I feel, the trajectory of life, even if it is affected externally, ultimately depends on your own heart, and no matter how frustrated you are, life will continue.
We must always maintain the enthusiasm of life, so that we can see more beautiful cherry blossom forests.