Wong Kar-wai's "Flowers" recently came to an end. The hit of this drama takes us back to the neon eyes in the 90s, and the sea of flowers is like a sea of Shanghai. The classic elements represented by the Swiss watch brand Omega vividly show the tone of Shanghai Beach. Under Wong Kar-wai's aesthetics, fate, times, regions, and human feelings are intertwined like a dream. Some people also jokingly said that this drama can also be called "A-share Fengyun" and "The King of Sunglasses Teaches You to Speculate on A-shares".
In 1992, the spring breeze of reform blew in, and stocks and foreign trade were the two axes of economic development. Throughout the whole story, on the surface, it is the business war, love and hatred and desire shuttle between men and women who eat and drink on the Yellow River Road, but it is fundamentally the opportunity and bubble under the tide of the times.
"Everyone is equal in the face of opportunities, and if you seize the opportunity, you have the potential to change your life. Some people ride the wind, and some people go to zero in half a day. 」
People who swim in the sea may be caught by the waves in the last second, and they may be slapped by the waves in the next second. But whether it is up or down, the most important thing is to grasp the tone.
What the King of Sunglasses wants to explain is just a tone.
Tone is Wong Kar-wai's methodology and his worldview. The tone in "Flowers" is layered, the tone is not just dressing up, but the tone is decent, the dignity of "not making a sound", friendship, and attitude. The tone of the characters, the tone of Shanghai and the tone of the times flow under the golden brilliance, constructing the golden age of Wong Kar-wai's dream.
#01: Mr. Bao's tone
At the end of the play, when the stock war was heating up, Stamp Li said: "As soon as Mr. Bao walks like this, there may not be a second person on the Yellow River Road who has such a good accent." 」
As the most eloquent Mr. Bao on the Yellow River Road, his tone has two layers.
The first layer is the header. When you go out to meet guests, you must be well-dressed, and your hairstyle, suit, leather shoes, watches, cigarette cases, lighters, and wallets must be exquisite.
Under the guidance of his uncle, Bao completed the original accumulation of capital by relying on electric vacuum stocks, and from "the same as all Bao in Shanghai", he became the general manager of Bao who lives in the British suite of the Peace Hotel. The first lesson that my uncle taught him was Xingtou.
Of course, the suit should be customized, and pay attention to the way people dress, not the clothes that wear people. As soon as Uncle made a move, he found a Ningbo Red Gang tailor who specializes in British suits. It can be said that every legend of Shanghai Tang is inseparable from them. First of all, the material, in the visible and invisible places, must be spun wool, "cotton does not enter the door". Next is the fit of the cut. The tailors of the Red Gang have a 16-character motto, "Flat, Dress, Shun, Straight, Round, Climb, Firm, Full, Thin, Loose, Even, Soft, Live, Light, Nest, Nest", "Flat", "Flat, Smooth", "Flat, Smooth, Straight, Round", "Flat, Smooth, Straight, Round, Flat, Straight, T Although it has now become an intangible cultural heritage handicraft, the old man remembers a few points to go back to learn, and you can immediately improve the delicacy of your suit by more than one grade. Finally, there is the matching of suits. When Ah Bao changed into a full line, he transformed from Ah Bao to Bao Zong.
The second tone of Mr. Bao is "not loud".
Jin Yucheng, the author of the original work, said that not making a noise is the philosophy of life of Shanghainese people - they know it in their hearts, but they don't say anything, and watch the fire from the other side. It doesn't mean silence, it's more of a blank space.
In the fifth episode, Po said to Miss Wang, "What should not be said, what is not clear, what is not well thought out, what is not planned, what is difficult for oneself and others, is not loud, and there must be room for doing things." 」
Emotionally, he "doesn't make a sound".
In addition to business success, what makes all the old men envious is undoubtedly Mr. Bao's "chic". He is undoubtedly the male protagonist surrounded by "flowers".
Reiko, the proprietress of Tokyo at night on Jinxian Road, Miss Wang at No. 27 on the Bund, and Li Li, the proprietress of Zhizhenyuan on Huanghe Road. Mr. Bao was around them, but he didn't really develop a love line. He can send charcoal to the women in the snow, and stick a knife in both sides, but he can't be happy with them and grow old.
In business, he is also not loud.
After he was recruited by the Kirin Club, a major local stock holder in Shanghai, and told him the operation trend of 414 stocks, he did not sound, did not move, and did not follow the trend. Even if Commander Cai caused trouble and Ah Bao was expelled from the stock circle, he still didn't make a sound. When operating the listing of Sanyang brand, he was faced with the critical juncture of his customers being poached, and he did not move and made his own arrangements.
Until the final stock war, his position was about to be broken down, and he did not sound when facing the zero moment brought by forced liquidation. Waiting for the Kirin to come and take the initiative to negotiate with him.
It is neither humble nor arrogant, and it is silent dignity, which has achieved the "tone" of Mr. Bao.
#02: Grandpa's tone
Since the launch of "Flowers", Miss Ming has swiped this picture in the circle of friends more than once. It can be seen that uncle, as the soul of the play, is very popular. In the play, the uncle is a typical representative of Shanghai's "Old Koehler", the "Old Master". He is the ceiling of the elite of the old days.
Born in a wealthy landlord family, he entered the Shanghai Stock Exchange at the age of 16 and had his own brokerage license at the age of 18, and was proficient in stocks, futures, and foreign trade. Mr. Bao's Peace Hotel British Suite used to be his long private room.
Back then, he was the dominant figure on the Yellow River.
When Ah Bao transformed into "Mr. Bao", Wong Kar-wai gave his uncle a long shot, and he looked at Ah Bao deeply with tears in his eyes. It was as if I had traveled through time and seen myself from him.
Uncle's tone is his business experience, and it is also his insight and indifference to human nature after going through great ups and downs.
As Mr. Bao's styling director, we can get a glimpse of the old Koehler's Shanghainese style from his attention to dressing.
"Wear shoes with a shoehorn, rather wear clothes that are crappy, and leather shoes should be particular in any case. Shirts should be freshly ironed to be crisp enough. The uncle in the play often shows people in a rigorous Mao suit, with a meticulous shirt neckline and a pen pinned to his pocket.
When he goes out to run errands, he will add a coat and a scarf, and the overall line is still neat. There is no such thing as the suave of the thirties that we imagined, but it shows its shrewdness and ability after the storm.
As one of the first people to receive the influence of Shanghainese culture, my uncle is also very eloquent in eating. If you love to eat western snacks, you should buy Kai Ling's food, and side dishes, you should eat Guangming Estate. In terms of Cantonese cuisine, my uncle has definitely seen the world.
As a senior staff member of Mr. Bao, his uncle has frequent golden sentences in the play, and his business experience is worth learning from everyone.
"When Shanghainese do business, they pay attention to style, gimmicks, and sprouts. "The three bowls of noodles in life are the most unpalatable, the human face, the scene, and the emotion. 」
Uncle seems to have entered the WTO, but he was actually born. can chase and intercept Miss Wang with a very spicy thunderbolt method, and also leave a foreign trade list of Walmart jeans for Mr. Bao to lay an "escape route" for him, and also let Mr. Bao take a step back when he decides to fight against the stock listing of clothing companies with his full wealth.
This character connects Shanghai in the old era and Shanghai in the new era, and also represents the warmth and bearing of the city.
#03: Shanghai's Tone
Finally, Miss Ming came to talk about the Shanghai accent in the play.
Mr. Bao and the figures of the people in the play shuttle through the Peace Hotel, the Foreign Trade Building at No. 27 on the Bund, 101 Xikang Road, Huanghe Road, Nanjing Road, and Jinxian Road.
Xikang Road 101 is the place where Mr. Bao earned his first pot of gold.
The big iron gate of the exchange turned the trading floor into a besieged city, which was always bustling and crowded with people, and the shareholders were separated from the inside and outside.
The Yellow River Road is lined with neon signs, and the lights are red and green and charming. This is Vanity Fair, a drunken gold fan, and the short 755-meter road affects the "breath" of everyone in the play.
There is always a bowl of hot rice in Tokyo at night on Jinxian Road, and the fleet friends of Xiaole Huili on Changle Road are full of market and warmth.
The dense streets and alleys of this city have made it wonderful and legendary. In the play, Shanghai's time and space rotate like a clock movement.
And the clock is also an important image in "Flowers". Just like the time and space of Shanghai, it keeps moving forward, affecting the fate of every character.
With the advent of reform and opening up, the watch industry ushered in a boom in China.
As one of the cities with the fastest economic growth at that time, the first batch of Shanghainese who took advantage of the reform and opening up policy to become rich first had the financial resources to buy imported goods. Foreign watch brands have also come to the mainland market through some channels such as foreign companies and counters in mainland offices.
In the original work of "Flowers", Xiao Mao was arranged to work in a watch factory, which was a matter that made the whole family of "Xia Jiao" feel face-saving.
In the TV series, this identity was assigned to Bao, who met his Bai Yueguang Xuezhi when he was a technician in a watch factory, and thus became the president of Bao who lived in the Peace Hotel.
The big clock of the Peace Hotel is none other than Omega, a professional watchmaking brand from Switzerland.
In fact, Western mechanical clocks came to China with the opening of shipping in the Ming Dynasty and reached their peak during the Qing Dynasty. Omega is one of the first Swiss watch brands to enter China.
As early as 1895, the Shanghai Railway Bureau equipped its employees with accurate OMEGA pocket watches to ensure that trains run on time, which made Omega widely recognized in the Chinese market.
In the 30s, Omega had already had agents in China, responsible for the brand's sales in China, and in 1930 launched an advertisement for the brand's watches for the Chinese market.
In the golden age of Art Deco and watch design, Omega decided to make watches for women as jewelry, so that women could truly own their watches.
The advertisement in the poster is a women's watch, the model is wearing a cheongsam, and the style is full of style, admiring this exquisite watch, which also allows us to get a glimpse of the prosperity of Shanghai at that time.
In the play, Mr. Bao used Fei Xiang to promote the Sanyang brand and create a famous brand in Shanghai.
As early as the late 30s, Omega began to promote its brand through movie stars and celebrities, and became famous in Shanghai, with distribution offices in Tianjin and Hong Kong.
In 1980, OMEGA established its first service center in Shanghai to provide sales and repair services to consumers.
When many Shanghai audiences of "Flowers" recall that era, they will think of Omega's store on Huaihai Middle Road, for them back then, this is the tone.
What the tone is, after all, it is unclear, and it is all up to you to understand.
As Jin Yucheng wrote at the beginning of "Flowers":
"Go to the attic alone, preferably at night. At the end of "The True Story of A Fei", Tony Leung rode a horse to look for a horse, the hero was dark, counted the banknotes under the lamp, counted a stack, put them in the inner pocket of the suit, counted them again, took out a deck of playing cards, twisted them to take a closer look, and then found a pair. Next, comb your hair, divide your hair into three or seven parts, comb it in the mirror, your whole body is straight, your bones are slow, and finally, turn off the lights. No, this half a minute is the taste of Shanghai. 」
If you are interested, you are welcome to visit OMEGA stores at the Peace Hotel and Huaihai Middle Road to try on the brand's iconic watches and reminisce about the unique Shanghai Tang atmosphere. (Source: DUSHAOFEI)