Author: Zhao Ying
The movie "Wasteland" arrived as scheduled, under the slogan of "watching a person's movie", which attracted the attention of many movie fans, but did not achieve the expected effect. The film with a weak plot and a single narrative is not the "darling" of the theater film market for the public, and although the bold attempt of the main creator cannot be called a success, this alternative work in the tide of commercial cinema films is like a ray of light, illuminating the corner that no one wants to touch in Chinese films.
Everyone has to go through this "wasteland"
Walking into the wasteland began with the jungle's search for his father, and it took ten years to find it. Only through a thousand hardships in this wasteland can she soothe her heart. This "wasteland" is more like a "no man's land" in a person's heart, and no one can "walk through", even themselves.
Everyone has to pass through such a wasteland, which is a necessary place for a person to grow and mature, and it is also a place for the survival of the "self", just like the lonely, desolate, empty wilderness in the movie, no one can understand, let alone accompany him. Some people say that the plot of "Wasteland" is thin, and there are many "escape from death" in the middle, there is not much thrill, I don't know how to get out of danger, the most typical is "stone crevice escape". This may be exactly what the director wants to express, the "thrills" of "no man's land" one by one, not the "danger" in the real world, but more like the "heart knots" in life, to get through these "heart knots", you need experience and wisdom, you need to be brave, "let go"... As Cong Lai said to the jungle: "When you feel that there is no road ahead, remember to go forward, the road is under your feet." "Just bring the map (target) and watch (direction) and go ahead." The heart knot "must be passed step by step, persistent, passed, in order to untie and understand." From this point of view, "Wasteland" cannot be called an "adventure film", and there is no real "danger" in the film. Isn't that how life is? How many "dangers" can ordinary people have at the moment of life and death in their lives? However, the "heart knot" is full of every stage of life, and if it cannot be unsolved, it is "robbery", and if it is untied, it is a new life.
You can only go it alone
The wasteland is like life, and you can only walk alone. "Wasteland" is Ren Suxi's "one-man show", and the so-called "thinness" is also reflected here. Isn't life a "one-man show"? After experiencing it, you will find that in the end, there is only yourself and you can only rely on yourself. Supply depots, helicopters flying through the wilderness have given hope to the jungle, but they all end in disappointment, real and cruel. But that's exactly what life is. Many times, people put too much energy into finding shortcuts and finding dependence, but in the end, we find that sooner or later the road of less will be made up, and the so-called "dependence" is the most unreliable one. Seven days, a person's wasteland road, seems to be the confrontation between man and nature, but in fact it is a handshake between man and life, and the medium is "strong".
To express reality authentically, it may be more effective to use a "surrealist" approach. Magnification and exaggeration are more awakening. The endless uninhabited wilderness, fallen dead trees in the desert, magnified "sheep bones" and animals, just like the "reality" under the magnifying glass, these moving "surreal" paintings allow the "lonely brave" in life to experience loneliness, dilemma and death more intuitively. The edge between dream and reality, unconsciousness and illusion, life and death, in the interplay of virtual and real, spiritual sublimation can only be comprehended by oneself.
Let go of the past and move forward with courage
"Wasteland" begins with a woman's obsession, this "obsession" is the search for her missing father, and finally catches up with another person she loves the most. Jungle and Cong came into the "wasteland" to find their father, and they have not given up for ten years. Rather than being the "missing father," the obsession in Jungle's heart comes from the best time in memory that has passed, with his father and brother in his side. The jungle covets the love and pampering of his father and brother, constantly reliving it in dreams, hallucinations and songs, desperately trying to get it back. Dependence on her brother, unable to extricate herself from the memory of her father, unwilling to face it after hearing that her brother is going to get married - she also wants to be the "princess" that her father and brother loved in her childhood. My brother knows her best, and Cong Lai fully supports the jungle to open the photo studio, precisely in the hope that she can support herself, start a new life, and help her sister get out of her "obsession" and achieve growth and transformation.
Passing, and stopping and forgetting and following the wind. "Family affection" lasts forever and can become a responsibility and motivation; And the "past" is gone, and entanglement and addiction may become a burden and bond. "Things come to conform, the past is not in love", rather than desperately trying to find it back, it is better to pay attention to it for a long time. The obsession in the movie is the "past", and the "obsession" in reality may be desire, emotion, or a person. "Wasteland" uses a "one-man show" in the wasteland to show a person's growth and maturity. It cannot be measured by the elements of a feature film, and it is not for the "good-looking", "interesting", "thrilling" and "exciting" of the story, but can only be felt and perceived with the heart. Mice, lizards, ants, sheep bones, stone towers, scarves, walkie-talkies, are meaningful settings and images of life; Wilderness, desert, residual sun, moonlight, wind and sand, are desolate scenes, more like the situation of life; Dreams, songs, and lakes are the bonds of memories and the lights that illuminate the future. Just like "stream of consciousness" and "impressionism", they are not intended to be "stories", and certainly should not pursue completeness. Was my brother saved in the end? Who are the bones that fell in the desert? How do I restore the story in a photo? None of this matters, the jungle survives on its own and walks to Tafeng Lake is the best ending. Like extremely lonely and strong, we have been under the traction of "obsession", without turning back, bravely moving forward, in the "wasteland" of life, going down is victory.
There are still many things to be left in the movie, such as some unnecessary lines and unreasonable details of some shots; Ren Suxi performs very hard, but lacks some inner richness; lack of innovation in plot arrangement and camera expression; insufficient emotion, emotion, and psychological rendering; Some plots lack tension to the point that they are not expressed in place, etc. However, such a bold attempt is not easy, in the tide of theatrical films that pay more attention to "commercial elements", we need such films to trigger people to think, explore the relationship between man and nature, man and self, and let the film bring people more inspiration.
(The author, Zhao Ying, is an associate professor at the School of Humanities, Communication University of China, and a researcher at the base of China Literature and Art Review, Communication University of China)
Source: Guangming Network - Literary Review Channel