The audiovisual language of "The Depths of a Hundred Flowers"
"Excessive" analysis, for informational purposes only
In 2002, in order to showcase the highest artistic standards of contemporary world cinema, the Cannes International Film Festival invited 15 world-class directors to focus on the theme of "the passage of time", personally made a 10-minute micro-film, and jointly strung together into a 150-minute film as the opening film. During this period, the British "10 Minutes, Old Age" Co., Ltd. spent hundreds of millions of yuan for directors to shoot freely. As the only Chinese director invited by the producer, Chen Kaige's performance in his micro-film "The Depths of a Hundred Flowers" is really eye-catching and surprising.
The film tells the story of an old Beijing Mr. Feng who asked a mover to help "move". Throughout the film, the core plot of the film is not complicated, but it is very intriguing, because the "home" that Mr. Feng wants to move to— the two-entry courtyard in the alley of the Hundred Flowers Deep - does not exist in real life. One is the crazy insistence on moving, and the other is the "as long as you give money to do anything" to cooperate with the drama, two phases are needed, and an absurd comedy simulating moving is staged.
The film positions the time in the new China at the turn of the century, the rapid economic development, and the successful bid for the Olympic Games in 2001 made Beijing stretch with infinite excitement and jubilation. Today's Beijing is the new Beijing of the 21st century, high-rise buildings are lined up one after another, and the lens exaggerates the area of high-rise buildings through the angle of upward shooting, so that the modern metropolis, magnificent and spectacular, but also makes people feel small, and invisible depression also follows.
In the opening scene, in the lively and noisy sound of firecrackers, a family moves to a new home, and the combination of medium and close-up shots and the shooting method of the camera gives the audience a natural sense of participation. Unlike the older generation, who lived in natural, unpretentious bungalows, the new life of the 21st century has received from childhood science and technology and information education, and children have said "Daddy, what about my computer?" "It marks that the popularity of the Internet has penetrated into every household, and at such a fast-paced pace, everyone is in a hurry." The establishment of new urban areas, the demolition of old towns, and the change of living methods have made people consciously and spontaneously live in the cement forest, and compared to the hutongs in the depths of Hundred Flowers, everywhere they go are broken walls and ruins, and the word "demolition" on the wall seems to indicate that the hutongs in the depths of Hundred Flowers are silently submerged and forgotten in such a change of the times.
Immediately after, the protagonist Mr. Feng appeared: a yellow hat, a red sweatshirt with a set of sweatpants, a gray (khaki) jacket, and a standard middle-aged and elderly dress. "Yellow" and "red" as the representative colors of the Chinese tradition, in this film, is alluding to the traditional Chinese culture, symbolizing Mr. Feng's thought is a deep-rooted traditional thought, with the overall yellow tone of the film, deeply investigated its meaning, Mr. Feng is full of enthusiasm in his heart, and the coat represents the real situation, a cavity of blood is tightly wrapped in reality, he is only a "Feng madman" who lives in the past in the eyes of outsiders after all.
Mr. Feng and the movers first communicate, the director uses the frame composition of the front and back shots, back and forth seven times, on the one hand, the natural position, reflecting the defense and estrangement of the two sides when they first met, on the other hand, the car door is like an invisible wall, separating the old and new generations, seemingly inconspicuous window, but in the torrent of the times, it is actually like a world apart.
On the line, the mover played by Geng Le: "Okay, the work for money is done", which directly shows the personality image of the small people at the bottom of the society who are mercenary in the modern consumerist environment, and also reveals the director's irony of this group.
After that, the subjective and objective lenses of the far-reaching panorama are alternately used to explain the appearance of modern Beijing city to the audience. The close-up of the interior of the car, with the Chinese knot as the dividing line, divided into two, obviously living under the same sky, the movers are accustomed to this, while Mr. Feng looks at this high-rise building, but he is dazed, strange and panicked.
Mr. Feng tentatively leaned out to take a good look at this "strange" city where he had lived since he was a child, and the sense of space of the long-range and big vision made the audience resonate with Mr. Feng as "unable to fit in". But this move of his obviously violated the traffic law, "Don't stick your head out, let the police see, isn't this looking for me?" Mr. Feng had to shrink into this small closed workshop again, he was still dazed, still strange. Along the way, the background noise from the shouting sound to the "Northeast people are living Thunder Feng", and then to the broadcast of the broadcaster, it seems that every time you open an intersection, there are new and different scenes, the modern rhythm is developing so fast, how to find the right "window" for traditional culture, integrate into the metropolis in the right posture, and burst out new life and new vitality in the modern environment, which requires us to think deeply and explore together.
"Now that I am in old Beijing, I am lost in Beijing!" The moving workers directly broke the embarrassment of the period of social and economic transformation, and the modern people represented by them did not have special strong feelings for traditional architecture, they were more suitable for the development of modern new things, and the older generation represented by Mr. Feng was not adapted to the original appearance of the original appearance of the development of society.
The frame composition reappears, a tree stump on the left occupies a third of the entire frame, and the car slowly disappears from right to left. As an authentic old Beijinger, Chen Kaige has his own unique understanding and feelings about demolition. In the eyes of old Beijingers, hutongs are the epitome of Beijing's city, hutongs are the figurative symbols of old Beijing culture, and the "shabby" here is the strong sense of belonging of old Beijingers. New things strongly break into the "depths of a hundred flowers", the director deliberately creates the so-called "sense of peeping" and "sense of distance" in such a way, in the face of the change of facts, it seems powerless, just like the title of the film generally has a faint sadness and sentiment.
The truck drove into the alley deep of Hundred Flowers, the same close-up, Mr. Feng and the moving worker's expressions once again formed a sharp contrast, this time dazed to become a mover, looking at such a ruin, he felt surprised and strange. And Mr. Feng looked happy, holding up his hat and sorting out the bow tie, which was the ritual sense of the older generation returning home. The reappearance of the Chinese knot emphasizes the value of traditional culture and makes people even more lamentable.
The use of panoramic scenery shows a series of exciting actions after Mr. Feng arrives at the "home", and the angle of the overhead shot shows that the protagonist is standing alone in the desert after the destruction of traditional civilization. If high-rise buildings and overpasses are symbols of new forces, then the lonely locust trees and old alleys of ruined buildings are synonymous with the decline of traditional culture. "This is the back of our house, this is the yard of our house." Mr. Feng enthusiastically introduced himself to the air, in exchange for the movers, "Who do you brush?" Such a big age! "Inexplicably. The angle of the upward shot is often used to portray the image of the tall and mighty people, but here, ironically shows the contempt and disdain of traditional civilization by modern civilization in a strong position.
The movers look at Mr. Feng in the rearview mirror and once again place Mr. Feng in a natural frame, and the smallness in the picture makes Mr. Feng and the big locust tree representing the hutong culture lonely.
"Don't forget, let him settle the account", "We can't run in vain this trip, you have to give money when you get out of the car", "As long as you give money, you let us move, we will move" and a series of lines further highlight the character image of the mover who is only interested in profit. The angle of the camera began to change, the mover became a overhead shot, Mr. Feng became a back shot, although there is a normal subjective line of sight angle of the actor's position, but in connection with the following, the plot of the story begins to develop new at this moment. The absurd comedy is about to start!
In the process of moving the "home", the director recorded the "home" scene and the workers' movement in detail and completely through a long lens, and the plot was more complete and true. Mr. Feng's attitude towards "rosewood wardrobe" and "goldfish tank" is "this is all love things, be careful, slow down", while the movers laugh and scoff, only as a joke pretend. The line here is interesting: "How can a vase be here?" Where should the vase be? It should be in the hall house, it should be in the hall house. For the older generation, the layout of the room is orderly, it is everywhere to pay attention to the rules, so the deep-rooted ideas are deeply engraved in Mr. Feng's brain, "lamp holder", "vase" and other old objects are actually the roots of the traditional culture pursued by Mr. Feng.
Secondly, the non-existent objects combined with the actual sound effects bring the absurdity and interest of the film to the look.
Close-up shots tend to have a strong visual feel and are used to emphasize the special meaning of things. The director divides the bell into two parts, leaving the stalls on the surface. "When it's windy and rainy at night, it's good to listen" This is only the leisure and leisure that existed in the old slow culture, and the bell has become the epitome of the traditional atmosphere of free and carefree life. In the fast-paced commodity society, people are tired of running for money and life, and the movers cannot deeply appreciate such beauty, nor do they have the heart to stay, so they respond perfunctorily.
A small episode about passers-by reflects the absurdity of this farce of moving "home".
Mr. Feng repeatedly instructed the movers to carefully move the "lamp holder", a lens of the conversion, the mover lost his hand to answer the phone, but in Mr. Feng's eyes it became the "vase" of the smashing, the inconsistencies of the objects show that Mr. Feng is indeed "crazy", but also contains in the previous demolition process, perhaps the violent handling of others left an indelible psychological shadow on the protagonist. Pushing the camera, from the long-range to the close-up, the audience's emotions also continue to progress with Mr. Feng's surprise, shock, disbelief, confirmation of the facts, collapse and crying.
Breaking the beloved vase, Mr. Feng still chose to keep his promise and pay the workers, which contrasted with the personality of the workers in the previous article, "you have to give money when you get out of the car" and "you can't work in vain". At this time, the mover refused to ask for money, privately thinking that he was more inclined to feel guilty and comforted to Mr. Feng from the perspective of human nature, and he was afraid that Mr. Feng would "go crazy and crazy", and he finally understood Mr. Feng's behavior at the end, and the movers were not completely indifferent.
Mr. Feng reminds that there is a ditch ahead, the movers do not believe it, and the close-up footage when the car really sinks in, the truth of the matter is gradually revealed.
Another part of the bell was found and buried under the soil, and the loss and search of traditional culture was not easy, and the repeated use of the bell also showed that Beijing's traditional culture was wavering in the wind and had nowhere to put it.
Accompanied by the "jingle bell" sound of bells, the pigeon whistle of old Beijing, and the shouting and shouting of Beijing flavor, the courtyard of "Hundred Flowers Deep" was restored in the form of ink animation, and this time the moving workers saw mr. Feng's "home".
The same "red" shirt, movers base for white suit shirts, Coca-Cola short T and other modern cultural shirts, if according to the previous analysis of the "red and yellow" symbolizes traditional culture, then when the movers truly understand Mr. Feng, can we hope for the reasonable integration of future tradition and modernity, such a generation, they are not only keeping up with the pace of the times, but also inheriting the simplicity and kindness of the older generation, they will become a bridge to undertake new and old changes.
(Of course, if you jump to the current perspective, this trend is indeed moving forward and improving.) ）
The film leaves an open-ended ending, Mr. Feng shakes the bell and runs into the distance, the depth provided by the long-range lens makes this originally thin old man look tall, respect is born, and we do not know where his future is going.
Vermilion walls, glazed tiles, the depths of a hundred flowers, when the Iraqis will return. As a representative figure of the fifth generation of Chinese directors, Chen Kaige's works often have a strong subjectivity, symbolism and allegory after experiencing various growths. In the era of reform, returning to school and receiving professional and systematic film knowledge training, the fifth generation of directors is particularly keen on new ideas and new artistic techniques, they try to find new angles in each film, and are eager to explore the history of national culture and the structure of national psychology through film. "100 FLOWERS HIDDEN DEEP" can be described as Chen Kaige's most classic micro-film, through a very personal expression of thinking, he shows the intersection of virtual and real, the inheritance of history and reality, and the delicate and complicated nostalgia for the past in just ten minutes, telling the audience a nostalgic story of a crazy person who is not crazy.
Social development depends on rapid economic progress, but the main body of the creation of the economy is people, sometimes in the process of constantly running forward, please look back at the road when you came, keep the essence, do not forget the original intention, in order to forge ahead.
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Resources:
1. Baidu Encyclopedia: Ten minutes of aging
2. Douban part of the short review