Text: Overnight flowers
Some movies, after watching it many times, will still like it, and I have seen "Under the Bridge" more than once in the studio, and now I watch it again, I will still feel warm.
In the Chinese film industry in the early 1980s, there were many films that reflected the self-employed in the new era, and Zhuying Studio's "Yamaha Fish File" was one of them. Shanghai Film Studio's "Under the Bridge", featuring self-employed and unemployed youth (starring Gong Xue and Zhang Tielin), presents the living conditions of self-employed individuals from another perspective.
At that time, many unemployed young people and self-employed people often felt confused. Director Bai Shen's original intention of creating this film was to help, encourage and re-energize them. The inspiration for the film also comes from the director's life experience at the Sanguantang Bridge near the residence (see Expressing the Beautiful Soul of This Generation of Young People - Director Bai Shen's article on "Under the Bridge").
"Under the Bridge", as the name suggests, the story takes place under the bridge, telling the story of ordinary laborers living at the grass-roots level of society. The film portrays self-employed young people represented by Qin Nan (Gong Xue) and Gao Zhihua (Zhang Tielin), who use their labor to create value to win the respect of society, and Qin Nan uses his bravery to walk out of the trauma.
01
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the fourth generation of directors in the golden period of creation began to focus on the exploration of the film itself (the fourth generation of directors representative Zhang Nunxin and his husband Li Tuo wrote "On the Modernization of Film Language"), and at this time, the Chinese film industry, "documentary aesthetics" prevailed. At the same time, some old directors have also shown a high degree of creative enthusiasm, their works are also very popular, director Xie Jin is naturally one of the representatives, Bai Shen is also one that cannot be ignored.
In the new era, director Bai Shen directed films such as "Ten Days", "Under the Bridge", and "Spring in Autumn". "Under the Bridge", as the representative of the annual urban theme film of the Shanghai Film Studio, is naturally attracting much attention (won the first prize of the Ministry of Culture's Excellent Feature Film).
As mentioned above, the subject matter of "Under the Bridge" was of great practical significance at that time. Just like the two protagonists in this film, Qin Nan and Gao Zhihua, the "sewing stall", are not valued as self-employed people, and they are often blinded by others when they wander between the narrow alleys of the alley. (The film uses quite detailed details for this, such as the car passing through the alley and the disgusting tone on the car.)
Realistic films do not completely copy reality, and looking back at the most popular realistic films of each period, they usually present the stories that are closest to the audience's life in a way that is easily acceptable to the audience.
Therefore, the characters in this film and their encounters are typical to a certain extent, and some of the characters are even idealized. This is the result of the creator's refinement and processing of some of the more representative character characteristics and beautiful qualities in real life.
In "Under the Bridge", the director also understands the psychology of the audience, showing skillful narrative skills, and using the method of "peeling off the cocoon layers" to tell this story. For example, at the beginning of the film, the director reveals the unpleasant encounter of the heroine Qin Nan in the past through the dialogue between Qin Nan's father and daughter, and constantly increases the suspense and strengthens the audience's curiosity through the attitude of other characters (what happened to Qin Nan's past?). ）。 In the last ten minutes of the film, when the male and female protagonists exchange their hearts, they show the tragic past of the heroine through interpolation.
The director's narrative means not only gradually deepen the audience's feelings for the film story, but also make the heroine Qin Nan in the film more layered.
02
The film has a detailed and strategic portrayal of characters, including three-dimensional and complex characters such as the heroine Qin Nan, as well as simple but distinct characters such as Xiao Yun and Gao Yinghua.
Qin Nan's three-dimensionality is reflected in her multi-level psychological portrayal. She had hatred in her heart for the person who abandoned her in the past, but gradually focused her energy on being a good mother; for her self-employed identity, which was repeatedly discriminated against, she did not say much, and won the welcome and praise of customers with her meticulous manual work; she silently cared for her friends and showed her lover in her own way.
She was a traumatized intellectual youth and a single mother who had been slandered by rumors. No matter which dimension of the role is displayed, Qin Nan's gentle, heavy and delicate personality runs through the whole process. Gao Zhihua did not have much space to show.
Gao Zhihua's sister Gao Yinghua is straightforward, avant-garde, and has a "tomboy" personality, and Xiao Yun, the sister of Gao Zhihua's friend Xiao Jian, is optimistic and upbeat despite her physical defects (she told Qin Nan that "a person is not afraid of wrestling, as long as he has the courage to stand up, he will live better"), and has been secretly taking care of her Aunt Zhou. They have distinct personalities, and they all inspire Qin Nan with their own spiritual strength.
It is worth mentioning that the film also does not shy away from showing the kind of small citizen-style characters represented by Aunt You, who have a low level of thought and love to discuss right and wrong. I think this kind of treatment is quite lifelike, life itself is full of all kinds of characters, and their examination of Qin Nan with colored glasses is the embodiment of stale morality. Qin Nan needs to face not only the discrimination of being discriminated against by the traditional vision as a self-employed person, but also the trial of the decaying eyes of the neighbors as a single mother.
It can be said that these secondary roles have a certain color for each of them, and their portrayal of the heroine Qin Nan is also indispensable, and with their help or stimulation, Qin Nan continues to grow and mature.
The national style of the film is vividly reflected in the overall plain style of the film, especially in the portrayal of the process of the male and female protagonists meeting each other and falling in love, which depicts the essence of Oriental love.
Although Qin Nan's restraint in her initial acquaintance with Gao Zhihua was not unrelated to her past encounters. But what is obvious is that Qin Nan's personality itself has the subtlety of a Chinese woman. This is more evident in subsequent episodes, when they begin to signal to each other when they have a crush on each other, and the way they take is more subtly embodied Chinese internalized implicit expression of emotion.
Qin Nan helps Xiao Yun, the sister of Gao Zhihua's brother Xiao Jian, and Gao Zhihua gradually gives fatherly care to Qin Nan's son Dong Dong. After Qin Nan gave his letter and exchanged his thoughts with him, there was only a layer of paper between them. The film is particularly cleverly handled here, still not broken.
"Strange, how did I tell you everything today?" Qin Nan. "I understand, and so do you." Gao Zhihua.
The male and female protagonists tacitly agree with each other, and the audience understands them all. After Qin Nan showed a smile, he looked down with a hint of shyness and touched his hand, Gao Zhihua carefully looked at Qin Nan, this scene made people feel warm. These lines and action details are precisely the director's familiarity with national psychology and how to use the audience's most accustomed way to make the audience understand. In addition to the love of the male and female protagonists, the elderly care of Aunt Zhou, and the human beauty embodied in the mutual encouragement and mutual help between young people are all heart-warming.
03
The exquisite design of the film space scene is a highlight of "Under the Bridge".
At the beginning of the film, the camera is aimed at the crowded "under the bridge", where tragic comedies of various characters are staged every day, and this scene appears many times and becomes the iconic scene of the movie.
In addition to the picture of city life "under the bridge" shown at the beginning, there are many more carefully carved spatial scenes in the film.
For example, as mentioned above, after Qin Nan first set up the sewing stall, the back and forth of vehicles shuttled through the narrow intersection, which symbolized the great pressure that Qin Nan faced as an ordinary laborer.
The furnishings in the house where Qin Nan's father and daughter live are quite simple, and the "Ten Years of Trees and a Hundred Years of Trees" is posted in the house, which is consistent with his father's identity as a teacher. The downstairs of Gao Zhihua's home is relatively spacious, which is basically in line with their family situation.
In Xiao Yun's small bedroom and studio, the decoration of the stamps and oil paintings is also a high degree of condensation of her life (the lines state that her mother is engaged in related work, and the film is logically self-consistent).
In terms of character styling, the film is quite exquisite, for example, Qin Nan uses plain colors, and Gao Yinghua's cheerful and lively personality uses energy-filled colors such as red. This is complementary to the refinement of the scene design.
The film's depiction of Shanghai's urban landscape and the countryside of Suzhou (Qin Nan's uncle's family) and the countryside of northern Anhui also implicitly reflects the dualistic culture of urban and rural areas at that time from another side (this is also one of the important motifs in the films of the 80s, which is not the focus of this film, and will be explored in future rural films).
Conclusion: There is also a small detail in the movie that is less mentioned, that is, Dong Dong repeatedly asked his mother whether the villain book was a "good person" or a "bad person", and Qin Nan's answer was "good person". Perhaps, the director also expressed his simple desire through this small detail, and this simple and beautiful imagination was also reflected in many films in the same period.
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