The daughter-in-law was very excited to hear that Shunji Iwai's new film was released, and it was still an all-Chinese class, so she was even more looking forward to it. We've been going to the theater together for a long time, and when you have two kids, you'll understand why.
Shunji Iwai is perhaps the most familiar Japanese director for domestic audiences, you may not have seen every one of his works, but when it comes to "Love Letters", "April Story", "Flowers and Alice", as long as he prides himself on watching movies, how can he also watch one or two, he is considered an entry-level textbook for literary and artistic youth.
The second brother looks very literary and artistic
Surprisingly, this director with a very "Japanese" aesthetic actually chose to make a Chinese film, and he said in an interview that he began to brew this story ten years ago, and also gave a super literary title "Hello, Zhihua".
In the previous "Swallowtail Butterfly", Iwai Shunji added some Chinese elements, such as the role of Xu Zhi'an, and Gu Liguo sang a song by Teresa Teng Lijun," but this was the first time to fully direct a Chinese film.
Speaking of Iwai Shunji also has some fate with China, his mother was born in Dalian, and many Japanese people were born in China at that time, such as Toshiro Mifune was born in Qingdao, so Iwai Shunji also set the film on location in Dalian this time.
My daughter-in-law is more curious about how the Japanese director communicates with Chinese actors, I think this is the reason for inviting Chen Kexin to be the supervising producer, after all, the Chinese and Japanese culture is still quite bad in some places, the script is not to say that it is translated word by word, the two are old friends for many years, let Chen Kexin check the pass, as a lubricant.
Such a literary lineup
Even if Shunji Iwai himself said that this is not another "Love Letter", it is difficult for the audience not to think about it, because the story is indeed like, it is through the letters, and even the English title is called "Last Letter".
At the beginning of the movie, it is simply a copy of "Love Letter", a family in Dalian is holding a funeral, remember the beginning of "Love Letter", it is the third anniversary of the death of male Fujii.
Yuan Zhihua's sister Yuan Zhinan died, just at this time received an invitation from the junior high school graduation thirty years of the alumni association, Zhihua pretended to be his sister, wanted to tell his classmates about his sister's death, it may be that after too many years, the classmates did not recognize that she was not Zhinan, but Zhihua.
From here, the plot begins to have problems, there are some rather awkward twists, and I will talk about this scene below.
Zhihua's impersonation has a motive, because she wants to meet the male classmate who had a crush many years ago, that is, Yin Chuan, played by Qin Hao, but I don't understand that the two sisters are obviously several years apart in age, and it is impossible to be in the same class or even the same class, so she is mixed in a group of strange brothers and sisters, and it is easy to reveal the stuffing after a casual chat.
Next, it is even more strange, Yin Chuan actually recognized that she is not the south he has always loved, but he did not debunk it, and also took the initiative to add WeChat, where he had no motivation at all.
Yin Chuan also sent a message after that said, "I have always liked you for so many years", since I know that it is not Zhinan, why do you want to send this sentence? The information was seen by Zhihua's husband, who was burned with jealousy and smashed the mobile phone in one breath, which turned to the point where the two had to communicate with "letters".
This narrative chain is more like a twisted twist, because handwritten communication is not a "necessary choice", not even a secondary choice, at least e-mail, and I understand that the director wants to express a "slow" style, but this also has to be based on a roughly reasonable basis.
Regarding identity recognition, I think Shunji Iwai may have considered the setting that the two are twins, but then it would be a reproduction of "Love Letters".
After that, it is constantly flashing back to the juvenile era, or the treatment method that Iwai Shunji has always used, and it is another "wrong love", Zhang Zifeng and Deng Enxi, who play zhihua and Nan's daughter, are also the two of them when they were young, and even the elements are similar, and they have "heavy colds".
The guy who plays the teenager Yin Chuan is good, the casting is very in line with the character, and the sense of youth is full.
The flashback part has advantages and disadvantages.
The disadvantage is that the sense of age is not enough, after all, Iwai Shunji is not familiar with northern China in the 70s and 80s, which is a little too exquisite.
When we watch "Love Letters", we look at the Japanese life scene from the perspective of a bystander, even if the people in the play speak Japanese with accents, they can't hear it, because there is no Japanese life experience as a support, and the details will naturally be accepted, and there is a charm of "strange words". But if it is in China, I will unconsciously determine whether it is real or not, and it will be more difficult to convince the audience.
Let me give you an example, when The Boy Zhihua handed the confession letter to Yin Chuan, he used a rather Japanese action, with his hands outstretched and respectfully handed it, and then his head was deeply lowered. I must have thrown the letter and ran!
The advantage is that the sense of cinema is very good, Iwai Shunji has always been a master in this regard, his use of shots, light, and scenery is very professional and meticulous, and the editing is also comfortable. As I watched it, I thought that if I were replaced by a clumsy director, this story would definitely be made horribly.
The story has roughly two main thrusts.
One is Zhihua's nostalgia, the reason why she wants to see Yin Chuan is that she can't forget that unrequited love, as well as missing her sister, the first half of the scene is mainly pressed on Zhou Xun.
Xun Ge does not need to worry, she was born for the big screen, the look back at the classmate meeting, the tearful moment brought people into the play, nominated for this year's Golden Horse heroine, is just a routine play.
The second half is a visit after Yin Chuan's return, Qin Hao is the main hit, at this time the problem becomes relatively big, the setting of several characters I do not know what the director means, let's discuss it.
First spit on Yin Chuan's hairstyle design, it must be so covered and closed to reflect the writer's temperament, I guess it should be a hood, it seems a little unnatural. According to Qin Hao himself, Yin Chuan's prototype is Shunji Iwai himself, well, when I didn't say it.
Although Shunji Iwai's style is small and fresh, it always has some suspenseful colors, and this one is no exception, the biggest mystery is: "Who is Nanami?" She is the president of the student council, a good and self-motivated girl, and she is not slow to have feelings for men and women.
But the most crucial point the director did not explain clearly: why did she break up with Yin Chuan, who loved herself very much, and marry a super scumbag, what did she really think?
This is not explained by the phrase "missed", I thought at first that the last suicide note would have an answer, but still not.
Playing the scumbag is Hu Ge, I thought I could find the answer in him, and the conversation with Yin Chuan was a good time to reveal the secret. He has mentioned alcoholism and domestic violence before, but if he doesn't say why (if it's just his character problem, then this character is too flat), it is difficult for me to imagine that a school flower like Zhinan would leave Yin Chuan, fall in love with such a little fool who works in the canteen, and give birth to two babies.
If you say that just because Hu Ge is handsome, it is even more ridiculous, before rendering so many beautiful characters of the south, it turned out to be just a appearance association? This kind of dog-blood love drama setting must not be the original intention of Shunji Iwai.
There is also Zhinan's son, who ran away from home and came too suddenly in an emotional trance, just because when he massaged his grandmother, his grandmother suddenly had a protruding disc around his waist, and he began to ask the philosophical question of "why do people die"? The long shot that walks in the night executes well, but it is outside the main narrative, and the power cannot burst out.
There is a "Chekhov's gun" principle on the theatrical stage, which says that if a gun appears in the story, it must be fired at some point, otherwise it should not appear. Several "guns" appear in "Hello, Zhihua", but they do not sound at the end.
The actors in the film are more standard, and Zhou Xun and Zhang Zifeng have both been nominated for the Golden Horse Performance Award. In particular, it is Tan Zhuo, who has been on the scene for three minutes, but a few small actions are very expressive, and she can show her strength by raising her hands and throwing her hands and feet. And she is the only one in the film, who speaks with a Northeastern accent, in fact, she is not too offended with Shunji Iwai's style.
The slogan of the movie is called "May you live to the best of you", but I feel as if it is not implemented in this sentence, this film I understand is about "the shortcomings of life", defects are regrets, it is a necessary part of life, and it is not related to good or bad.
The title of the film is very subtle, according to the plot should be called "Hello, South", I understand that this "Zhihua" does not only refer to the role played by Zhou Xun, but has the meaning of "to the years", everyone's years are just so imperfect and inadvertently flowing forward.
"Hello, Zhihua" is a qualified work with skill, Shunji Iwai is a very serious director, not to be linked to the "circle money" in China, although I pointed out a lot of narrative flaws, but it is not annoying when watching, probably because I am too familiar with him, there is no barrier to understanding, especially the BGM of the piano, I did not find out whether it was written by himself, too Iwai Shunji!
But the narrative is not smooth, it is not so friendly to passers-by and audiences, I guess many audiences will have a lot of question marks when they go out of the theater, and they are not sure what the director wants to say and stop trying to convey.
I personally give 7 points, and Iwai Shunji's fans must see it (I am), but if you are not familiar with him, please be cautious about buying tickets.
The movie reminds me of one of Mr. Su Wenmao's stand-up comedies, "Throwing Boots."
It is said that a young man rents a house, downstairs lives a often insomnia uncle, the young man came home every night, habitually took off two boots, smashed on the floor twice, always woke up the uncle, so the uncle went up to protest.
One day, the young man returned late, or subconsciously threw it, but when he threw the second one, he remembered the protest of the uncle a few days ago, so he gently put down his boots.
This was a pain for the uncle downstairs, who had been waiting for the second boot to land, and as a result, he had not slept all night.
After watching "Hello, Zhihua", I feel that I am the uncle who waited for the second boot to land, and the director you laid out so many characters and clues, but threw it down!