People who have watched "The First Incense" in the past two days have not hesitated to spit out the fragrance, and the "bad film" is undoubtedly a blasphemy against the original work. But we also know that the moment the writer puts down his pen, the text does not belong to the author. Therefore, we can say that this is "The First Burning Incense" co-produced by Wang Anyi, Xu Anhua and Zhang Ailing, compared with the original work, the film version simplifies Ge Weilong's personality and highlights her sacrificial side for love. Secondly, the film is set in the life of Hong Kong's high society in the 3rd and 40s of the last century, which may be difficult for us to understand. And this is the most crucial key to understanding the characters in the film.
The shock of high society is imprisoned in the "golden wire cage"
Ge Weilong, the heroine played by Ma Sichun, has been greatly impacted by this life from the beginning. As a poor student with no money, her first day on her flight to her aunt (Mrs. Liang, played by Yu Feihong), she was fiercely ridiculed by the maids who served the mansion in the middle of the mountain. Among them, Jing Jian (Zhang Jianning) said: It is like recruiting a person in the three halls (brothel).
As a not-so-well-received visitor, the rooms she lived in, the food she enjoyed, and the custom-made clothes were all far more luxurious than anything in her Shanghai home. The rich material enjoyment also made this girl who had been wronged at the beginning, while tossing and turning in bed to endure the noise from the downstairs dance, while yearning for this kind of life. This is actually a series of traps that her aunt has laid for her.
But in addition to extravagant material enjoyment, the other side of this life was soon known to Ge Weilong. She first witnesses her servant, Who has mocked her before, and is publicly humiliated by her aunt for seducing the prominent Sir Qiao Cheng (Qin Pei) and expelled from the house. Then he watched as his aunt almost teased college student Lu Zhaolin (Yin Fang) from his side to bring his bed. At this point, she gradually understood why the graceful aunt and the series of men who came and went around her, including Situ (Fan Wei), Qiao Cheng, and Qiao Cheng's promiscuous son Qiao Qi (Peng Yuyan), always maintained an extremely delicate ambiguous relationship.
What finally breaks her down is that she finds herself caught up in a crazy fascination with the handsome Georgie. Although this infatuation was warned early on, and even categorically rejected by Georgie herself – "I can't give you marriage and happiness because I don't dare to cheat on you, but I promise to bring you happiness". The "happiness" in Georgie's mouth is a sexual impulse based on the primitive instincts of animals. And the moment when Ge Weilong's past world collapsed, it was when she and Georgie had enjoyed "happiness" like crazy, and in the blink of an eye, she saw Georgie touch the room of the maid Xiao'er (Zhang Junning). She had never imagined that this innocent animal really did not hide its own flow and wandering in the slightest.
A boundless black hole that devours all light
If this circle of high society is a black hole, then Mrs. Liang and Georgie are the center, and anyone who wants to escape from it will be absorbed. And the countrymen like Ge Weilong will naturally be among them.
Yu Feihong and Peng Yuyan both contributed wonderful performances in the film. This is first of all that they all have too outstanding appearances, giving them natural charm and sexual attraction, so that Mrs. Liang and Qiao Qi, the two focus-like characters, have full credibility.
If you want to choose which character in the movie is the most compatible with the original work, there is no doubt that it is Yu Feihong. Every look and movement she made was announcing a powerful aura, keeping everyone and things around her firmly under her control.
As the owner of this "golden silk cage", her niece and young servants were her tools to maintain the upper class. With shrewd means, she was able to make a fool of herself from Situ, grasp Qiao Cheng's hand, and hold Lu Zhaolin's hand. This makes us feel that this is the real "Queen of the Sea". Ironically, the wealth and power she enjoys are dependent on men.
In Mrs. Liang, played by Yu Feihong, we can clearly feel the contradictions of human nature. Every time she faced the maid's insults and questioning, she could see her strength behind her back. She has a affection for her niece, but when she reveals her heart to Ge Weilong, she is full of meanness and ridicule. In short, she was already a heartless onion, a vain woman who could only manipulate everything in a cage.
Qiao Qi, played by Peng Yuyan, is the opposite of Mrs. Liang. If Mrs. Liang is a high degree of hypocrisy, then Georgie is a high degree of honesty. From the beginning, he confessed that he could not earn money to support himself independently, and that he was suitable as a donkey. He confessed his cowardice and incompetence, willingly stayed under the wing of his father, who did not want to see him, and was reprimanded and sheltered at the same time.
But the average person is probably hard to imagine, he can even confess to Ge Weilong, who has just married himself, that he will unconsciously move on the bed of one woman after another, and in his concept, there is no concept of "loyalty". Most of the time, he unleashes his excess hormones and sexual impulses like an animal, but in small cases, he also jealously hopes that Ge Weilong will not send himself into situ's arms—not because of love, but because he wants to possess. Under different appearances, his heart was actually as empty and indifferent as Mrs. Liang's. So much so that after many years of marriage with him, Ge Weilong's most desired gift was actually a lie, because Georgie didn't even bother to tell a lie.
As for Ge Weilong, who was sandwiched between the two of them, it became a mirror reflecting them. Ge Weilong obviously did not have the means and city government of her aunt, but she was also not as innocent and honest as Georgie. She can neither cut off the thought of love early like her aunt, nor can she equate love with sex as calmly as Georgie. Although she had said early on, "My aunt is my aunt, I am me", after falling into this circle a little bit, she still found herself finally becoming an aunt. In the passage where Ge Weilong accompanies Situ on a business trip to Shanghai, Xu Anhua even bluntly lets Ge Weilong see the appearance of his former aunt.
The shackles that are difficult to break free of, women fall victim to patriarchal society
The female characters in "The First Burning Incense", whether they are more superior aunts, or more shabby Ge Weilong, or more humble eyes and eyes, are actually the epitome of generations of traditional Chinese women. They live humbly in patriarchal societies, accessing resources through their flesh and men. If Ge Weilong's sinking is a regrettable tragedy, the encounter between Yan'er and Wei'er is even more lamentable. One of them was used as bait, the other was regarded as a plaything, and their humble status even made them powerless to resist, and they could only be manipulated like marionettes.
Xu Anhua, Wang Anyi, and Zhang Ailing, like Zhang Ailing, all saw the landscape of women sinking in the patriarchal society. But there is a solution, perhaps only from the introspection of male morality, so that Ge Weilong's hysterical cry: I love you, you have no conscience!