In April, the cultural field entered the month of awards and awards. In the field of literature and publishing, the veteran literary journals "Harvest" and "Contemporary" magazine each held a grand review of the 2023 literary award ceremony, and the younger "Blade Book Award" was also awarded this month. In the film section, the 42nd Hong Kong Film Awards, the 14th Beijing International Film Festival were held, and the 77th Cannes International Film Festival announced the selected film list.
On the afternoon of April 11, Beijing time, the list of the first batch of selected films at the Cannes Film Festival was announced, and some netizens said that this year can be described as the "big year of Chinese films" in Cannes. The movie "The Merry Generation" directed by Jia Zhangke made him shortlisted for the main competition unit again after eleven years. On the day the list was announced, another topic about the new film was also hotly discussed: Zhao Tao, the undoubted heroine in Jia's films in the past, is expected to win the Cannes actress this time?
"The Merry Generation" directed by Jia Zhangke and starring Zhao Tao was shortlisted for the main competition unit of the Cannes Film Festival. (Data map)
In addition, Guan Hu's "Dog Formation" was shortlisted for a kind of attention unit, Zheng Baorui's "The Siege of the Kowloon Walled City" was shortlisted for the midnight screening unit, and Chen Kexin's "Sauce Garden Lane" was shortlisted for the non-competition screening unit.
Also in April, perhaps the most important annual gathering of the Hong Kong film industry is held. On April 14, the Hong Kong Film Awards were awarded. A few years ago, the Hong Kong film market, which was considered to be in flux, now presents a scene of "old" and "green" competing on the same stage. "Diary of a Youth" and "Under the White Sun" and other works shot by the young generation of Hong Kong directors have won important awards including Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor and Actress while gaining high reputation, while films shot by veteran Hong Kong directors such as "Murder" and "Goldfinger" also occupy a place. At the awards ceremony, Tony Leung once again set a new record and won the sixth Golden Statue actor in his acting career with "Goldfinger". However, judging from social media information, many people feel sorry for Lin Baoyi missing the actor. In the movie "Under the White Sun", this familiar face in the series changed his previous image and contributed to the movie the image of a hateful and credible "demon dean" in a disabled home.
Four days later, more than 1,900 kilometers away in Beijing, the curtain of the 14th Beijing International Film Festival was slowly opened. This year's Beijing Film Festival held three master classes, which were popular among fans, focusing on filmmakers Emile Kusturica, Xu Anhua and Chen Chong respectively. In a conversation with Feng Xiaogang, Chen Chong revealed that Ang Lee's film masterpiece "The Wedding Banquet" will be remade, and he will play a housewife who fell in love in her later years. On the evening of the 26th, the Temple of Heaven Award was announced, and Fan Wei won the "Best Actor" again with his new film "Morning Clouds and Twilight Rain". This is also his second "Temple of Heaven Actor" since he won the award in 2017 with "A Problem That Is Not a Problem".
April can be said to be the month of film festivals, and it can also be called the month of young directors. Reflecting the excitement of film festivals of all sizes and regions, the "renaissance" of mainland cinema films in the past month. The audience is fortunate to see many word-of-mouth works in the theater, such as "Youth Diary", "Away by Boat", "Under the White Sun" and so on. What these works have in common is that they are the first or second feature films shot by directors born in the 80s and 90s.
"Youth Diary" uses an anonymous student's suicide note as an introduction, evoking the painful memories of a teacher Zheng Sir in his youth, because of the elite father's high expectations for his children, Zheng Sir's "not smart" brother chose to commit suicide when he was a teenager. The film uses a family as an incision to see through the diffuse repression common within East Asian families—competition, chicken babies, and involution, and the pressure of middle-class anxiety is passed on from generation to generation through education. Director Zhuo Yiqian revealed in an interview that he projected his own youthful memories in the film, because he was also a teenager trapped in mediocrity, and when he was in college, he received a suicide note from a friend.
The Hong Kong film "Diary of a Youth" exposes the hidden pain of East Asian families. (Data map)
Young directors take private memories as the starting point of their creations, and place them under more general life circumstances, which truly reaches the pulse of social emotions and resonates a lot.
The same goes for "Gone by Boat". It is based on the family history of Chen Xiaoyu, a young director born in 1994, and the film has a Jiangnan temperament, dealing with an uncomplicated story: after an old lady suffers from a brain tumor, her homeless children who work hard outside and go home to take care of their mother's last journey in life. In this realistic situation that almost all Chinese will face, the film peels back the heavy topic of death layer by layer, and at the same time radiates complex propositions such as urban and rural, intergenerational, and family affection. Chen Xiaoyu shoots the heavy story lightly, and the film has the image style of a poetry film, and many viewers expressed after watching the film, they think of their own family life.
"Under the White Sun" has an obvious public character, it is based on a series of abuse incidents in a residential care home for the disabled that occurred in Hong Kong, and depicts the evil of human nature in a disabled residential home called "Choi Bridge Home" - a girl with intellectual disabilities was sexually assaulted by a director, and a boy with autism was abused by a nurse...... A journalist uncovered all of this in an investigation, but failed to fully address the structural dilemma behind it. "Under the White Sun" is about the living conditions of this socially disadvantaged group, presenting the current situation of media surveillance and expressing the expectation of social justice. This kind of creation from the perspective of public issues has full seriousness. The creative expression of young directors may be simply boiled down to: seeing people and caring about people.
The content of these three films is either private or public, showing the young filmmakers' high attention to and rich exploration of the external world and inner life. However, word-of-mouth belongs to word-of-mouth, and box office belongs to box office. As of press time, the box office of the three films was 13.72 million yuan, 1.36 million yuan, and 11.97 million yuan respectively.
Also in April, the Taiwanese drama "We Are Not Kind Enough" was launched, which uses a pair of "housewives-professional women" as a control group to show the different life choices of two middle-aged women, which may be the most watched drama of the month. "We Are Not Kind Enough" continues the keen capture of the subtle emotions of daily life in Taiwanese dramas over the years, focusing on whether women should manage their marriage or focus on the workplace, and the dilemma of life. Director Xu Yuting posted on social media after the series ended that both characters carry her reflections on her own lives. "We Are Not Kind Enough" can be regarded as an attempt by female creators to start from individual lives and reach the emotions of the group. At the same time, it also cuts to a more universal fable of life: in the forest of life, there are always two paths, no matter which one you choose, you will inevitably look back from time to time, sigh, and beautify the other one that has not been taken.
In the contemporary cultural scene where there are multiple viewpoints and group values often collide, social news has always been used as a narrative event to expose the lack and shortcomings of public institutions and public services, which is an effective expression based on reality. However, in recent years, private observation has become an increasingly important sensibility of the times. Judging from a series of film and television works in April, when creators are willing to honestly open up their private feelings, they may also be able to resonate, bridge differences, and reach consensus to a certain extent.
Movie of the Month: "Gone by Boat"
This is a film with delicate performances and a return to daily life, not only the pain of the younger generation working hard in the metropolis and pursuing their dreams, but also the tranquility of the older generation to maintain the peace of the countryside.
This is a movie about returning to "home", which is reflected in three levels: first, returning to the old house, due to the mother-in-law's illness, the children and grandchildren return to the mother-in-law's home, and realize the tenacity and hardship of the previous generation; second, the children who return to their hometown and look for their dreams in the big city return to the place where they grew up as a child and feel the changes and changes in their hometown; third, when they return to their native China, their mother-in-law sits in a "boat" and settles down with their grandfather in this place After experiencing the death of his eldest brother and other family pains, and the death of his mother-in-law in the old house, the younger son finally inherited his father's business again, picked up his grandfather's carpenter skills, and built a "boat" that could ferry people. This story of "home" presents the wandering and turbulence of "home", and everyone has to go through the process of being born in "home", leaving "home", and trying to build their own "home". "Home" is the anchor point of wandering life, and it is also a place that changes and is constantly reconstructed with the change of generation after generation.
At the same time, the "boats" in the movie, the flowing river, the shadowy courtyard, and the humid weather together form a scene of a water town in the south of the Yangtze River, which is the hometown of Jiangnan writers such as Lu Xun, Mao Dun, and Ye Shengtao, and it is also a new hometown where you can return to your hometown and find an idyllic life after industrialization. (Zhang Huiyu)
Stills from "Going by Boat". (Data map)
Episode of the Month: "We Are Not Good Enough"
Recommending "We Are Not Good Enough" does not mean that the series is of complete quality, but precisely because of the controversial discussions that exist in this drama, but instead constructs the complex discussion aspects of the social significance of the work.
The play tells the story of two women who almost constitute a control group, and reflect on their emotional choices and life choices through a long competition. How difficult it is to write about people's hearts and feelings, "We Are Not Kind Enough" faces many different voices. It is not so much that the people in the play perceive that they are "not kind enough", but that the confirmation of kindness has more complex social conditions; it is not so much that they are obsessed with "wrong love", but that they have more realistic considerations for the confirmation of love itself; and it is not so much that the two women look at each other, but that the confirmation of their own choices has been more thoroughly reconstructed. When the affirmation of kindness, love, and the feminine self ceased to be self-evident, there were these dense and long struggles, pains, and repetitions. Some viewers think that the careful thinking throughout the work is amazing, while others feel that the dilemma set in the work is commonplace, some viewers resonate with the nuanced depiction of the work, and some viewers criticize the work for being pure hypocrisy. Isn't it the instinctive reaction of us who have been or are trapped in our emotions and lives when projecting to ourselves?
Xu Yuting, the director of this play, has successfully outlined the subtle psychology between people's understanding of themselves and their emotions and life construction in the previous screenwriter's work "I May Not Love You", which is impressive. "We Are Not Good Enough" seems to be an upgraded version of "I May Not Love You" for an increasingly impure world, and it has an equally brilliant portrayal of the true happiness and the true loss in life, which is also the reason why the work can quickly become the focus as soon as it is broadcast;
Furthermore, the upgrading of the creation of realistic themes in Taiwanese dramas in recent years does convey the increasingly prominent sociality and delicate insight into the rich context of "people" themselves. Whether such an expression is a universal reaction or simply an exaggeration of a certain heterogeneity, it at least represents a direction of exploration and has the value of observation and interpretation. (He Tianping)
Stills from "We Are Not Good Enough". (Data map)
Book of the Month: The Poet's Poor Path
Except for those who specialize in the history of Chinese literature, I am afraid that few people know Gao Qi. But in the West, he is probably the most well-known poet of the Ming Dynasty, thanks to Mou Fuli's book Gao Qi: The Poet's Poor Path. The way of writing history with poetry is not special, but Gao Qi belongs to a character who has poetry but no history, and in the official history, the record about him is only a few lines, but the poetry collection has been handed down. Through the poems, the author not only outlines the poet's early experience that has not been seen in history, but more importantly, in combination with the situation of the times, Mu Fuli tries to describe the poet's spiritual picture.
However, reading it today, what makes people feel is not only the author's academic skills, but also the ups and downs of the fate of the master. Gao Qi was in Suzhou at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, and he was famous in his early years, when Zhang Shicheng occupied Suzhou, the Han people suffered from the Yuan Dynasty for a long time, and many of his friends joined Zhang's regime, thinking that this was the return of the Han people's destiny, and later Zhu Yuanzhang won, and most of these people died and were defeated. Gao Qi luckily escaped Zhang Shicheng and was qualified to serve in the new dynasty, and also participated in the compilation of the "History of the Yuan", which was already a successful landing. But his congratulatory poems for the prefect of Suzhou Wei Guan inexplicably became a life-threatening talisman, after years of war, Suzhou City was dilapidated, Wei Guan wanted to rebuild the mansion, and the selected base site was Zhang Shicheng's old residence, which was said to be the evidence of his intention to rebel, Zhu Yuanzhang hated Zhang Shicheng and was extremely suspicious, and immediately sentenced a series of people to death, and Gao Qi, who had written a congratulatory poem for the new mansion, was beheaded. The funny thing is that Wei Guan was quickly rehabilitated, which is one of Zhu Yuanzhang's rare public confessions, but Gao Qi was not mentioned, nor was he officially rehabilitated, which is the reason why he only wrote a few strokes in the official history, but he was not banned, which allowed his poetry collection to be handed down.
Reading Gao's poems again, reading his high spirits, and reading his meticulous carving, we can't help but sigh that the good luck that history lends you will be confiscated back at any time. (Shen Dayuan)
Gao Qi: The Poet's Poor Path, published in April 2024. (Data map)
Monthly Variety Show "Splendid Garden"
After the broadcast of "Hurricane", not only Gao Qiqiang's screen image was deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, but Zhang Songwen's own bumpy experience was also widely spread, and the topic of "how a good actor is made" became the focus of heated discussions. In the long season of "sitting on a cold bench", Zhang Songwen has been renting a rustic courtyard on the outskirts of Beijing, getting close to nature every day, cleaning the room, planting flowers and grass, and tempering his acting skills with a slow life. This makes him always recognized in the eyes of the audience as being impetuous away from acting Vanity Fair. "Late bloomer" has become a point of social empathy, and "down-to-earth" is the real traffic password. "Life is splendid, and naturally there are answers. This not only represents the temperament of looking for answers to life from nature, but also an open-minded mentality of "doing things positively, not asking about the future". Nowadays, the owners of the houses are being renovated, and people can "wander the world", but the plants need a home, and the "bear garden" has sprouted.
The reality show "Splendid Garden". (Data map)
Approach nature, advance to art, and find answers in the fields. "Splendid Garden" is a show that gets nutrients from the dirt. In the show, Zhang Songwen started from scratch, rebuilt a rustic garden, planted grass and trees, and conscientiously completed the small things in life. This show looks a bit "wild", in the fields on the outskirts of Beijing, the actors are immersed in the fields of life. No notice, no makeup and hair, good friends come when they say, chase fireworks, pick up sheep dung, go wild and go. They enjoy the wild taste of the countryside, savor the wildness of plants, and grow together with their wild growth posture.
Root downward, bloom upward, and grow savagely in nature. Zhang Songwen said that the most important thing in the life of plants and trees is the roots, and the same is true for people. Plants need soil for their roots, and for the actors, real life is the source of nutrients. "You can see the foliage, but it's the root system that supports it. Zhang Songwen's outlook on life from plant growth also influences and inherits future generations. Actor Ma Jiaqi said after the first day of garden life: "These things we have done and the people we have seen have become our roots. ”
Explore outward, perceive inward, and create experiences in all beings. "Every day I want to create some experience, because experience determines the thickness of acting. Zhang Songwen said. People often talk about walking and go, and go deep into the daily life of the local villagers. The actors draw not only the healing power of nature in the fields, but also the real stories and precious interpersonal emotions of ordinary people. So even if there is no scheduled itinerary, the actors are constantly exploring new things in and out of the garden, improvising with nature and people. Going deep into daily life, actively seeking, being observant, and being curious is not only the process of collecting materials for literary and artistic workers, but also the only way to perceive the inner world and improve oneself. (Zhou Kui)
Southern Weekly reporter Pan Xuan
Editor-in-charge: Li Muyan