【Still human，Still dream】
Finally can calm down and talk about "The Fallen Man", April 11, 2019 11:30AM Emperor Cinema (Central Entertainment Line) to watch. In fact, it is not easy to put this movie into a genre, and romance is not counted, nor is it typical of inspirational films. I prefer to classify this film as an urban romantic sketch, between commercial films and literary films, not police gangsters or comedies, but also different from heavy realistic films, which is a rare warmth in the cold stone shi shi forest.
The plot is very simple, as the name suggests, "the same is the fallen man at the end of the world". Two people of different genders, different ages and different races, for different reasons, are left behind by various social relations and live together, thus developing a relationship beyond master and servant, supporting each other and chasing dreams.
Changrong was originally a big man in the turf, but due to an industrial accident, he was paralyzed and could not take care of himself. He has a sister who speaks harshly and does not interact often, and a son who studies in a foreign country and lives with his stepfather's family, but his sense of inferiority makes him unable to close the distance with his family. The filipino maid Evelyn, who had just arrived in Hong Kong, although she struggled to avoid her husband and mother who regarded her as a tool, but had the dream of becoming a photographer.
[Realistic without losing romance, sensational but know how to restrain]
The whole play presents a very real texture of life, and Huang Qiusheng's interpretation and director Chen Xiaojuan's guidance are indispensable. Whether it is the filming, the interior furnishings, the script, and the performances, they are full of the atmosphere of "ground-attached" life, which makes people feel that Changrong is a local worker who can be seen everywhere in Hong Kong. This kind of life-like scene is not difficult to remind people of Xu Anhua's "Sister Peach" and "The Day and Night of Tin Shui Wai" that was talked to Miss Zhang after the end, but I think "Fallen Man" is more romantic. Although it is sensational, it is not excessive and unreasonable, and it is more restrained than "Can't Forget" or "Lucky Me".
There is no preaching, only a lot of natural touching and laughing positions. The director knows how to use the personality and cultural differences between the two characters to concoct some chemistry. For example, ChangRong's crappy Hong Kong-style English, such as ChangRong teaching Evelyn to speak Cantonese, such as some well-used foul mouth (it is impossible for a site worker not to speak rough mouth) will make the audience laugh, and the most clever thing is that these laughter positions are also buried touching bits. If you are not good at observing life and truly loving this culture, it is difficult to write so well, which is the charm of Hong Kong films and Cantonese, which cannot be translated. For example, "trouble" and "scared", as well as "thank you very much" and "love" prank translations, make people shoot the case.
The director inserts the joke of "multi-twisting thanks" in the touching moment, and then dilutes the sad atmosphere with the "black line" when he is sad, humorous but not vulgar, and the right pinch between laughter and tears is simply a textbook demonstration. There is also a simple and moving piano soundtrack is also appropriate, I hope there will be OST.
【Ink is like gold and full of care】
The script does not pay much attention to the side cast character, but it is very brilliant, revealing the director's concern for the role everywhere. Watch the interview director said that a total of 19 groups were filmed, not much, but it was cut out for nearly two hours, almost no nonsense. Probably because the director made his debut in a short film, the cut is also arranged by himself, very refined, and what can be expressed with one lens will never be so instigated with two shots. I watched the drama very afraid of those who flashed back and used a lot of memories to tell a lot of memories, and "Fallen Man" made me very comfortable watching in this regard. For example, in the scene where Ah Lian first arrived at Chang Rong's house, the moment she opened the door, the director used a scene where Chang Rong seemed to see his son in the room before. Just a shot, it has been explained that Chang Rong has a son, and at the same time, it is also expressed that Ah Lian lives in his son's room and fills the gap of "family".
Ah Hui, played by Li Xuanchen, is an important supporting role, but he did not deliberately pave it. Ah Hui passed by the territory where he had worked, recalling the care that Chang Rong took care of him when he first arrived in Hong Kong, and it was also a shot and a sentence of dialogue, which was clearly explained. More is to portray emotions from details, such as chicken foot soup, such as "Four Boys Marathon". I really like this role. Unlike Ah Lian ChangRong's feelings that want to get along because of the employment relationship, Ah Hui is a kind of love that comes from knowing gratitude, like a father and a brother, plain and touching. Another supporting role is the younger sister Jingying, played by Ye Tong, and this little ink brother-sister relationship is also very plump. The director is very good at capturing the introverted emotions of this kind of Asian family, loving each other but not being good at expressing them. Chang Rong and his son's father-son relationship is also very touching, and his son Joon Hyun is the only reason why Chang Rong feels that he is still human, and it is also Ah Lian's dream to find for Chang Rong.
【Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter of Kapok Tree】
The main scene of "The Fallen Man" is in Ho Man Tin's Aimin Estate, where the director grew up and she knows every corner. So the streets, tic-tac-toe public houses, street markets, and trees seen in the play were all very beautifully photographed. One of the things that surprised me the most was the use of the image of kapok as a clue throughout the film. Kapok is a common tree in the south, which blooms in March and April every year, and when the fruit is ripe in May, it will burst open and fall into the cotton wool, and the leaves will fall in autumn and winter. The director cleverly divides the film into four chapters, spring, summer, autumn and winter, depicting the changes in the relationship between the two through the different growth states of the kapok tree. When Ah Lian first arrived, she met at the bus stop, and the next diagonal road was the kapok tree in Aimin Estate, which was the early summer when the kapok fell, and in the next year's kapok flying season, it was time to leave. Kapok trees can also be seen everywhere in Guangdong, and children in Guangdong have picked up kapok to play with, and it is very kind to see kapok on the big screen. There is a scene where Chang Rong says, "You have a good look at the flowers, the dried flowers can be used as medicinal herbs, too many times will form cotton, and blow to the new place, start over" to encourage Ah Lian to leave him and pursue his dreams. There is also the meaning of "falling red is not a merciless thing".
Kapok also reminds me of another Hong Kong movie that also used this imagery, which is Guo Zijian's "Fighting the Ring". In the play, Teddy Robin said: "Mayday is more than two, rain is more, kapok is more, if it rains, the kapok is beautiful" is also a very beautiful scene, I don't know if director Xiaojuan is inspired by this inspirational film.
【Inseparable from the inside and outside of the play】
This is a movie of great significance to Huang Qiusheng, who was exiled by the mainstream entertainment industry for five years and was so devastated that he even said in an interview that he was like a half-wasted person, and it was not difficult to play a cripple. Therefore, when acting in this play, whether it is his intention to interpret or the audience's own interpretation, it seems to have a sound. After the show, Miss Zhang and I both said in unison that it was really "too poking", and several tear-jerkers felt that Qiu Sheng was talking about himself.
For example, he said, "It's so hard to be a person, you may be able to do yourself like you are happy," or "I thought I was already worth looking forward to in my life, and it turned out that I had a life to look forward to"... Both and Akira's realistic situation are surprisingly matched.
There is also a play where Evelyn told ChangRong that we were shortlisted and that we were going to collect the award on April 15, which also made people smile. Although the play is about a photo contest, everyone who understands it knows that in reality, April 14 is the Academy Awards ceremony. This detail also shows the director's small intentions and interests.
In the play, Chang Rong and Evelyn fulfill each other's dreams, and outside the play, qiu sheng and Xiao Juan directors also achieve each other. The English title comes from Chang Rong's photographic portfolio for Evelyn, and the title page is printed with the phrase "still human still dream" on it. The so-called fallen people, the real fall is not the end of the road, but the abandonment of dreams.
Fortunately, there is a happy ending inside and outside the play. Thank you for the touch brought to me by "Fallen Man", and I am also very grateful to my friends who spent this 110 minutes of laughter and tears with me, as well as the precious memories of eating, drinking and having fun in Hong Kong and sharing hardships in Shenzhen. Every year after that, when kapok blooms, I will revisit "Fallen Man" and reminisce about that day.
Thank you more, I'll screw you.
Make up a few photos taken at Aimin Estate in July, if it is in April and May when the kapok is blooming, it should be more beautiful.