We know that many novelists incorporate personal experiences into their work, but for film directors, why not?
Lo is not a well-known Hong Kong director, but he is a Hong Kong director who is very good at storytelling and laying out emotions. Born in 1952, as a native of Hong Kong, he has personally experienced the transformation of the city, and he has embodied his feelings for Hong Kong in his own lens.
The Thief of Time is a semi-autobiographical film by Luo Qirui. Originally titled 1969: A Space Odyssey, the film sounds quite similar to Kubrick's classic science fiction films. But in fact, it has nothing to do with science fiction.
I don't know if it sounds quite inconsistent with the emotions that the movie wants to express, so the movie was changed to "Thief of Time" when it was released, but I think that such a modification is indeed precipitated. However, in the original name of the movie, we also read some taste of the times.
In 1969, Apollo landed on the moon, a landmark moment that shook the world. This year is also an important turning point in Hong Kong's economic development.
In the film, the younger brother Luo Jin'er, with a stolen glass fish tank on his head, looks at the world around him from the perspective of a nine-year-old child, and under the somewhat distorted black and white lens of the fish tank, Hong Kong is experiencing its own era changes.
Luo Jin'er is undoubtedly Luo Qirui's projection in the film, in reality, he is also the second eldest in the family, the family is also opening a shoe store, perhaps it is this kind of growth experience, he can better grasp the hardships of such a family in the 1960s, as well as delicate character emotions.
The film uses Luo Jin'er's fairy tale oral narration as the first perspective, and also feels the joy and sorrow of this family of four with the child's growing eyes and feelings.
Hong Kong, Sham Shui Po, the moon in the middle of the day, under the dim light, reflects the joy and harmony of the neighbors in the city's alleys. The word "shoe" hanging on the circular light sign is particularly conspicuous in the alley footage, and it also highlights the sign of "Luo Ji Leather Shoes".
Luo's father is a taciturn shoemaker, Luo's mother is a housewife with a hot personality, the older brother Luo Jinyi is both excellent in learning and excellent, and the younger brother Luo Jin'er is a complete scum. This is just an ordinary small citizen, struggling to live at the bottom of society, but being overwhelmed by the cruel environment.
Mother Luo has always said: "To be a man, you always have to believe!" It is this belief in life that makes this family always move forward step by step, no matter what kind of difficulties it encounters.
In fact, "The Thief of Time" is a completely tragic story, but we do not feel that the tragedy of the characters in the movie is difficult to accept, it may be the optimism of life revealed by the family in the foam, but let us feel that we can finally see the rainbow.
Luo's father is a strong father, he may not be as optimistic as his wife, but he uses his stubbornness to protect the family and shield his wife and children from the wind and rain.
Papa Luo said: "The most important thing to be a person is to keep the top!" So when the storm was raging, his feet were hanging in the air to protect the roof of the house; so he went to the river to dig trees at all costs, just so that his son's tombstone could have a roof for shade.
His younger brother Luo Jin'er likes to steal all kinds of things and collect them in his own chest. It was his beloved, stealing, just a way for him to get his favorite. However, what can be stolen is tangible, and what is stolen is an intangible thing.
Luo Jin'er said to his seriously ill brother, "I've stolen everything for you, what do you really want?" When he threw all his stolen things into the sea, he begged to fill the sea of suffering in exchange for his brother's return.
However, he did not know: the sea of suffering, the original boundless! The life that his brother wanted to exchange was something he could not steal with all his might.
Life and time, these invisible things, were quietly taken away in the experience of my brother's growth. Thus, in the first act of the film, it is said: "In the illusory life, the years, it turns out to be the biggest thief." ”
The encounter of his brother Luo Jinyi made us sigh. A prosperous young man, the feelings of first love are cut by class differences, facing the rich area all the way up, Luo Jinyi knows that this relationship may only be able to look up for a long time.
He studied hard and tried desperately to catch up. But the sudden terminal illness did not give him enough time to change to prove it.
At the climax of the film, sad emotions come with wave after wave of encounters, making people overwhelmed and tears overwhelmed.
Using the slowest motion to interpret the greatest mourning is the director's intention. When the husband and wife carried the yuan and the first porridge through the hospital aisles or the people who were either evasive or speechless, when the younger brother ran all the way home from the classroom without saying a word but suddenly cried, all the air suddenly froze.
Death, nothing more than a white cloth that rises, falls gently, covering the cold body. Life and death, even if you use all your strength, you can't get it back.
The shoe word is half difficult, the shoe word is also half the best, the Luo family is such a step difficult step by step, step by step, it is difficult to stagger forward, and it is foaming at each other.
Released in 2010, Luo Qirui uses the interpretation of Hong Kong's humanistic customs more than half a century ago to guide modern Hong Kong people to think about the value of life, to evoke the intimacy between people, to examine the bits and pieces of life.
Loved the end of the film. Time, after all, cannot be turned around like a backward alphabet. The passing away has passed away, whether it is Luo Jinyi or Luo Jinyi's father; life is still life, luo Jin'er, who accompanies his mother, will eventually encounter two rare rainbows.
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