"The Thief of Time" actually depicts a nostalgic mood.
Such as "Happiness Three Chomes", "Fuso Flower Girl", "The Story of Time", "My Family's History" and so on.
Nostalgic, inspirational, and sad "Thief of Time" may be a little sensational, but this film is still quite worth watching.
"The years may have stolen a lot of things from us, such as love, affection, friendship, and our parents and fathers, but the years have also left us something, and they will always live in our memories." 」 Director and screenwriter Luo Qirui said so.
The difficult times of the past have become nostalgia that people cannot go back to.
In the alley, neighbors take care of each other; the night meal under the big tree is a social moment for the neighbors, helping to read bean sprout-like English letters or accidentally getting delicious food; the only telephone booth in the alley involves love, loss and death.
A faint yellow tone, detailing the story of the protagonist Luo family in the film.
The eldest son with top homework, superior sports, little brother who adores his brother and loves to steal, taciturn but caring shoemaker father, and a cheerful and greedy mother. The story of this family is very ordinary, but it is unexpectedly moving.
The whole film takes his younger brother Jinji as the first perspective, dictating his childhood story. It all started with a fish tank, with the fairy tale of a little boy. Through jin's childish eyes, Hong Kong audiences can relive the past era.
In 1969, Armstrong landed on the moon; in the same year, dreaming of being an astronaut in the second, wearing his stolen fish tank to see the world, looking out of the scenery, a little dreamy, a little blurry, a little distorted and deformed.
(The earlier title of the film was "1969: A Space Odyssey")
The scene of the fish tank looking out is exactly the state of mind of jin er.
As a young man, he seemed to understand the big things that happened around him, but he also didn't understand them.
Just as his parents are busy with life, he still naively only wants to eat a box of lotus egg yolk mooncakes;
Just like in the face of his brother's illness, he felt puzzled but also anxious. In the midst of ever-changing and continuously advancing time and space, Jin'er begins to "steal" things, naively believing that there is nothing in the world that cannot be collected.
It is just that tangible objects are stolen and hidden; intangible objects (life and time) cannot be stolen or touched.
From the moment each collected object is thrown into the fish tank by Jinji, it also announces that the little boy begins to see the world in which he lives with a more mature and rational eye. It also paved the way for the death of Jinichi later.
The bitter history of the struggle of the little people, in Hong Kong, a complex society in the early days, is always carried out by this kind of subject. The more they are overwhelmed by the environment, the more they try to climb up, looking forward to breaking through the status quo, hoping that tomorrow will be better.
But life, "one step is difficult, one step is good.".
"The Thief of Time" is actually a tragedy, but the characters in the play do not make people feel that they are sad enough to be difficult to repeat, but reveal an optimism about life and life. For example, Mrs. Luo, played by Wu Junru, always said in the face of her eldest son's illness, Mrs. Luo always said, "People, always believe." ”
It is the optimism of their family that no matter what difficulties or sorrows they encounter, they are optimistic to move forward.
Seemingly budding love can't stop the class difference. Even the tone of the film is deliberately divided, separating the rich and the poor. It seems that the future is bright, but it comes to an abrupt end. The grief that seems to be impossible to walk out may pass with time and slowly subside.
People often say, "Fish only have three seconds to remember, but some things can be remembered for a lifetime." ”
Maybe everyone is a fish, and the wrong road has gone and gone, but it is still as willing as a gluttony. Just as parents are constantly tolerant of their children's mistakes, just like children's trust in their parents and the pursuit of love.
What cannot be remembered is suffering, and what is remembered in the heart is eternal thought.
"In the illusion of life, years, is the biggest thief."
This is the opening of "The Thief of Time", which takes place in old Hong Kong in the 60s, an era of material lack but spiritual abundance.
The film must have touched many older audiences: Feng Baobao's cantonese films during the child star years, nostalgic child play, retro hairstyles and architecture, the punishment of the nose sticker blackboard, and the comedic Gu Dezhao played the teacher from Shanghai with his gentle tone, and the always rigorous Xu Anhua can also be seen playing a strict primary school teacher.
The images that summon you and my memories are repeating themselves.
It is said that the film also has the autobiographical color of director Luo Qirui, which makes people wonder which clips are fabricated and which are the directors' childhood memories.
I always feel that it is difficult for the movie to move a person thoroughly, even so, as early as many years ago in "Rogue Tycoon", the bow ruler of the boat and Li Qi's implicit but dare not reveal the true love, Li Qi's unintentional turn made the face of the bow ruler have an irrevocable feeling, and also expressed the mood of the small citizens living in his hometown.
But the reason why I really love Luo Qirui is that there are many small details delicately carved in the movie, which makes the delicacy of the plot rise to a higher level, and also makes me have a higher affirmation of Luo Qirui's choreography skills.
Luo Qirui is very good at laying out, even the most ordinary fragments, there are still touching moments. Just like the bitter sea allusion that Luo's grandmother said, I was still indisputably crying by the magic moment in the movie that mixed memories and seawater, and we all wanted to throw away everything, but we all knew that anything could not be redeemed.
In a way, "The Thief of Years" is a very popular work. In other words, anyone who looks at it will feel it.
The talented poor boy Jinyi must be a caring, motivated and kind child, but unfortunately, he is in love with a rich family, the door is not right, and the love ends without a disease. Even though I tried to cheer up, I found myself terminally ill. Parents who are distressed about their children, in order to save their sons' lives, run around, lose their homes, and because of their poor economic conditions, they are met with many blank eyes from medical staff... Such a plot is indeed very tear-inducing.
At the farewell ceremony of the deceased son, the classmates sat in rows, the father could not understand the prayer of the foreign priest, and after mentioning the point, he realized that it was his turn to speak, which was a bit like the reproduction of "Lu Binghua" and "Love Jasmine".
This kind of sensational arrangement that earns people tears and is slightly too hot has unexpectedly brought positive energy to the audience.
One of the reasons for this comes from director Luo Qirui's laying out of the emotions of the characters, which has its own unique features.
Whether it is the fun of 5 adults taking 8 children to watch a movie, the thrill of parents trying to protect the roof, Luo Dad helped Luo Mom make a pair of shoes, but dug two holes in the shoes to make the chicken eyes on his mother's feet breathe; or Luo Dad struggled to pull up trees and help the children's tombstone shade, he said: "The most important thing to be a person is to have a top." ”
Even if the child dies, do not forget to shelter him from the wind and rain, this is the father's love. Even the English words that are memorized backwards are powerful sighs.
Words can be memorized backwards, but life cannot be repeated.
Luo Qirui uses rich humanistic details to greatly enrich the audience's emotional pouring into the characters in the play.
A father who is usually silent and does not say much, for the sake of his son's illness, he is instantly old.
A mother who usually laughs often, is busy day and night for her son's illness.
Therefore, when I saw that Luo's father sold his wedding ring to pay for medical expenses in order to save the child's life, Mrs. Luo saw the ring print on her husband's finger, did not say a word, but just held his hand tightly, and filled the gap in her husband's fingerprint with the temperature of her palm. Every time I see this paragraph, I really can't stop the tears from flowing down.
"I've stolen everything for you, what the hell do you want?" Luo Jin'er said to his brother.
This was the only thing Luo Jin'er could do, he wanted his brother to be happy, but he didn't know that what his brother wanted was something he couldn't steal in his life.
I always remember the scenes in which my brother died in jinyi - my brother was still standing in front of the blackboard of The Rooftop Elementary School, the neighbor came running, looking solemn and saying two words to the teacher, and the younger brother ran back to the "Luo Ji leather shoes" in a conditional reaction. Luo Pa Luo Ma and Luo Returned to the hospital with the first porridge, the atmosphere suddenly froze, and everyone in the corridor gave a strange look, or sadness or avoidance or speechlessness.
The white cloth next to the bed was raised, and the young life ended. The younger brother looked at the "Luo Ji leather shoes" that had closed the door, and cried and ran forward.
The scene of my brother crying and running wildly, I still remember it vividly.
Although disasters kept happening, they did not break the faith of the four members of the Luo family, and although they were materially poor, they showed the spirit of never giving up.
The harmony of the family, the mutual assistance of the neighbors, there is no boundary between people, only the warmth of the intimate and touching; in addition, there are stories of life and death, as a result of being still irreparable after some efforts, although there is a slight sense of sensationalism, it can create a plot content that makes people laugh and cry.
Honestly, it's really a taste of Hong Kong films I haven't seen in a long time.
In addition to telling the oral art of neighborhood slang, "The Thief of Time" also has the humanistic popularity and life mode of that era, which is almost a precious culture that is about to disappear in today's society. Just like Luo Pa and Luo Ma said that "the shoe word is half difficult", but there is also the meaning of "the shoe word is half good", these are the art of life that is overlooked, saying that although the life is not good, it can make up for a large piece of pain with a little happiness.
In the whole play, in fact, there is no strong main axis, and the structure is not complete, but it can reach your inner resonance point. When I watch it, I don't feel like I'm watching a movie, I feel as if it's going to happen all the time around you. Each of the characters in it seems to be ready to substitute for the people around them.
This is my biggest feeling after watching "The Thief of Years".
Similarly, the film is also telling the past style of half a century ago, but let people see the value of life, modern life is progressive and prosperous, but people are more wandering and overwhelmed, we have lost the intimate feelings between people in the development of science and technology, as if they are very close but very far away, that is a real sense of emotional alienation.
"The Thief of Time" reminds us that we should return to the essence of life and examine the most important things in our own lives, because years do not stop with people, they will take away what does not belong to you according to their own footsteps.
Recalling the unsatisfactory ending of "Rogue Tycoon", I recall the passages at the end of "Thief of Time" where nothing can be remembered, and the most important things must be remembered. Like the seemingly vanishing rainbow, it was thought to be a lie, but it was all real.
In the changing life, the years, the original is the biggest thief. I'm wet, and you're going to tell your own story.