Preface
Jia Zhangke, as the most representative figure of the sixth generation of Chinese directors, although not as famous as Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige, the fifth generation of directors, has not fallen behind in artistic achievements.
Although few films have been released in Chinese theaters, it can be said that he has won numerous awards internationally, from the Venice Golden Lion to the Cannes and Busan International Film Festivals, and he is also the only domestic director to win the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Cannes International Film Festival.
Although the realistic representation of the lives of the people at the bottom has always been a major feature of his works, the film "Children of the Rivers and Lakes" is the work in which he really applies this technique to perfection.
Whether it is visual, auditory or actor's performance, it really makes people feel that this is a story shot by a camera.
Nowadays, when people hear the word "rivers and lakes", their first reaction is chivalrous and courageous, happy and hateful.
The first image that comes to mind is always a dashing knight with a straw hat.
But the film presents something completely different.
Imperfect details cast perfect truth
The extremely realistic presentation and recording of life is always the most prominent point of Jia Zhangke's style, and his lens is not a gorgeous and beautiful modern city, nor is there an elegant and gorgeous handsome man and a beautiful woman.
Instead, there are backward and dilapidated border towns, and groups of dilapidated and tired young men and women.
For example, in terms of the most basic character dress, there is no special person to design clothes for the character like most movies, to take care of and present the character's personality.
Although it can better highlight the characteristics of the characters, it also makes the story under the lens detached from the lives of ordinary people.
And Jia Zhangke chose the most direct and simple civilian clothes, and even most of the time, many characters' clothes are cheap, like you buy them at street stalls.
Inappropriate color builds, poor pattern stitching, and broken corners all show the difficult but real situation of these characters, and no one looks truly "decent".
Even in one scene, a character wearing a white shirt and a patterned bow tie looks quite awkward and inappropriate because of the way she dresses.
This image is also a perfect fit for these characters, who, despite their flaws, still yearn for those perfect and romantic concepts.
Aside from the simple clothes, Jia Zhangke's grasp of the details in the selection and design of the scene is almost perfect.
The focus is not on the "beauty" of these scenes.
Instead, it's the dusty windowsills, rusty iron windows and cheap furniture.
These scenes present "traces of life", making you feel that there were stories left in this cramped house, and that there was time to flow here.
Mirroring the plot of the film, it can also make you feel the passage of time more intuitively.
After the third scene of the movie, time advances from the beginning of 2001 to the New Year of 2018.
The main character returns to the original mahjong shop, and everything has long since become similar but strange.
Despite the cracks on the walls, the bright modern lighting tells a completely different story.
In addition to the visual, the film is also auditory, making you gradually forget its "pseudo" side as a work of art and as a story.
The soundtrack plays in each scene transports you back to that era, and the "rustic" dialect in the characters' mouths immerses you in it.
I don't know when the dubbing of the mouth began to become the norm in the Chinese film industry, and the voice of each actor is always the voice of those dubbing teachers.
It's not that the quality of the dubbing is bad, it's that when the words in an actor's mouth come from a post-production studio, there is a clear difference between them and his own live recording, and this makes it difficult for many people to actually bring into the story.
Jia Zhangke's response to this is simple and straightforward, "let the actors speak".
It sounds very simple, but in the current domestic film industry, there are very few things that really do.
Driven by this, he also chose the most suitable actor for the role rather than the most famous.
He chose Liao Fan, not because of how many successful movies he has acted in, but because although he was born in Changsha, Hunan, he can indeed speak a real Shanxi dialect.
Xu Zheng, the only actor in the movie who can be regarded as a little famous, has not been used as a means of publicity.
Of the more than a dozen posters, he only showed his face on that one, still on the edge.
And when his character first appeared in the plot, he did take advantage of this to present a unique image.
Speaking the most authentic Mandarin of all, he talked about the philosophy of art and the truth of the universe.
It's like a charismatic hero in other stories, and it stands out in these crowds who speak with a little accent.
It makes people feel that maybe he is one of the few dreamers who escaped the confines of cruel reality.
Maybe he is the main character, the kind of "romance" he is looking for.
But eventually, as the truth is revealed, we also realize that he is just a liar who likes to talk big after all.
Just another living being in this busy world.
It is also at this moment that we and the protagonist Qiaoqiao realize the powerlessness of chasing the romantic concepts of "rivers and lakes" and "love".
Realize what reality is really like when it comes to its cruelty.
The icy reality pierces the romantic dream
Like Xu Zheng's character, this film constantly presents the beautiful and fragile fantasies of "rivers and lakes" and "love" that we see on TV and hear in songs.
"Where there are people, there are rivers and lakes," says Liao Fan's character, Brother Bin, while teaching Qiaoqiao how to use a gun in front of a silent extinct volcano.
If in a romantic story, they can wander the world and rely on each other.
It is like a pair of "mandarin ducks" soaring in the blue sky.
But the reality is that Brother Bin was beaten by several young people who stopped cars on the street, and there were no cool shots and gorgeous actions in the whole battle.
Instead, it was filled with the chaos and violence of street fighting, and what I thought was a counterattack to swear sovereignty was put on the front cover of the car.
Qiaoqiao decisively stepped forward and fired a gun to demonstrate!
There is no honor and respect for the so-called "rivers and lakes".
Instead, it was a cold bars and a brutal five-year sentence.
It was supposed to be a good time in life, but in the end, I could only waste time behind the railing.
At the beginning of the story, Qiaoqiao's characters are obsessed with this concept of "rivers and lakes" and believe in that pure and beautiful "love".
So she is willing to let go of the stable life brought by the serious business she wants, and chooses to mingle with Brother Bin in a society where there are no five streets in this small city
And it is precisely because of this that her desire has been disappointed again and again.
At the moment she came out of prison, she thought she could see the man she had saved outside the prison, but in the end, all she got was the death of her father.
And when she continued to travel thousands of miles to pursue the love she longed for, not only did she eat the closed door, but her ID card and all the cash were stolen from her on the ship.
As a result, you can only go to the wedding banquet and cheat people out of money.
But this movie is not just a pure presentation of the pain of life, when she can't find Brother Bin, she can only wander around Fengjie penniless.
I met a guy who sang on the street, although the other party handed over a plastic flower for the sake of the show.
But this simple act, to the ingenuity of nothing, means something completely different, and it is this random kindness that allows her to continue her pursuit.
Until he finally stood under the starry sky of Xinjiang and realized that "all I need is myself".
She gave up on the blind pursuit of those romantic concepts, but that doesn't mean she doesn't believe in those things anymore.
Years later, at the train station where she realized she felt as if she had been abandoned by the whole world, she took in the people who had ruthlessly abandoned her.
True feelings, real feelings, real worlds
In this movie, you can not only feel Jia Zhangke's understanding and thinking about the romantic concepts of "rivers and lakes".
In my pursuit of these concepts, I should also recognize the reality so as not to become a prisoner of my own thoughts.
There is also his deep love for his past and hometown.
Datong under his lens has a sense of realism at your fingertips.
The rugged and broken streets, the neighbors squatting on the side of the street at the door.
The "five lakes and four seas" where all the sake is mixed together when drinking are all real elements that paint a perfect picture that belongs to that era.
Chaotic and violent street fights and sudden gangster attacks.
There is no excessive camera technique, and the purest presentation of violence is made.
The presentation does not include any beautification and embellishment.
As if to make the audience forget when watching, when this movie was filmed, Datong was no longer like this.
But he recorded these things through his own skills, and used the magic of modern cinema to perfectly recreate the past in which he had lived.
And use this film, this story, to freeze and preserve the imperfect but unique charm of the past.
The concept of the name "Children of the Rivers and Lakes" is not only a presentation of the romantic concept of "rivers and lakes", but also a symbol of these children who have been raised by this land and the rivers, lakes and seas.
epilogue
Director Jia Zhangke spent these two hours and 16 minutes recording his views and understanding of life.
It was what he saw with his eyes, what he heard with his ears, and it was a part of his life.
But at the same time, like all good stories, it's a problem that everyone faces.
The kind of simple attachment that ordinary people have, and pure pain.
We are all imperfect human beings, living in a world full of flaws.
But all human beings have the right to chase those beautiful ideas, those "romantic loves", those "unwavering faith", those desires that allow us to transcend ourselves.
It's just that we can't lose ourselves in it, and blindly and excessively pursue these non-existent purities.
Otherwise, the gap brought by reality may defeat people
In the end, only numb persistence remains, and there is no sincere enthusiasm.