作者：Jonathan Romney
Translator: Yi Ersan
Proofreading: Issac
Source: Film Review
Many of the journeys in Jia Zhangke's documentary "Legends of the Sea" take place on the water – mostly in Shanghai's port area and on the Suzhou Creek. This is a theme that Jia Zhangke has been reflecting in Chinese cinema since the late 90s – the never-ending flow of Chinese society and economy.
But the word "flow" is an almost downplay to the pressing issues of "Legend of the Sea," which looks back at Shanghai's history, offers a picture of a society that has often undergone drastic changes, and leaves a legacy of many uncertainties, which subtly fits the film's English-language title — in one scene, an old gentleman in well-dressed grooming sings the American ballad.
Legends of the Sea
Now, the 118-minute theatrical screening of "Legend of the Seas" – commissioned by the Shanghai 2010 World Expo (Film Critic's special screening at Lincoln Center in 2011) – has finally been released in the United States – 20 minutes less than the Un Certain Regard version at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival.
The film comes two years after Jia Zhangke's "Tale of Twenty-Four Cities," which mixes documentary and fiction. On the surface, it's a more traditional work: it shows street life in Shanghai from different eras, as well as film clips related to Shanghai's history. and Jia Zhangke's partner and muse, Zhao Tao, occasionally appearing in white clothes and white trousers, strolling between the different landscapes of the city, looking visibly anxious — towards the end of the expo site, the ghostly deserted avenue of the Expo site is under construction — as if to imply the mood of the title.
Legends of the Sea
Most importantly, the film revolves around 18 interviewees, most of whom are elderly, whose personal experiences reflect different aspects of Shanghai's history.
Viewers can learn a lot about Shanghai and the wider history of 20th-century China from Jia Zhangke's films, but a little background may be helpful beforehand. The opening paragraph describes the Treaty of Nanking in 1842 between China and Britain and the establishment of the Concession, which made Shanghai an economically prosperous international port, but also contributed to the prosperity of the underworld.
There are also repeated references to the political changes associated with the city of Shanghai on May 27, 1949 – a scene recreated in the 1959 film "Battle of Shanghai" in a triumphalist propaganda style, starring a number of extras. The moment sparked a large flock to Hong Kong and Taiwan, eventually returning to Shanghai or moving across Southeast Asia. This seismic shift – and the social shock of the decade that followed – is key to many of the film's different narratives.
Many interviewees recalled the turmoil and trauma of the past with an occasional amused calm, though it may have been superficial. Yang recalled that on Chiang Kai-shek's orders, his father was shot dead in his car and collapsed on top of him, then 14 years old. Mr. Zhang, the well-dressed and ballad-humming singer mentioned above, appeared in the dance hall for the elderly, recalling his father, an amateur opera singer — the first person in China to have an air-conditioner in the thirties — and his grandfather, an industrial tycoon. During the ten years of turmoil, the Red Guards came to find the Zhang family and took everything they had, leaving only a delicate bamboo bed.
Legends of the Sea
Wang Peimin recalled that her father, Wang Xiaohe, an underground party member, was tried for destroying a generator. She said she knew her father from a newspaper photo because he died shortly before she was born. The images are shocking, showing a handsome young man being held hostage with a contemptuous smile on his face — followed by images of him falling to the ground. Ms. Wang's mother was depressed — in 1949, when the army marched along Nanjing Road, she was convinced that her husband had returned.
Some of the stories reveal the customs of the old Shanghai society that have long been forgotten. Du Meiru recalled that her father Du Yuesheng started from scratch and later became an underworld boss, but in the end he was wrapped in a mat and hastily buried. She also talked about a woman who married into the underworld and became the wife of a deceased man, as well as a wealthy man with many wives and concubines, and a complicated blind date custom.
Huang Baomei tells a light-hearted story about her experience as an exemplary worker in a textile factory. At the opera house, she sat next to the leader and then played herself in a 1958 film. Other people's stories, however, reveal a dramatic and devastating reversal of fortunes. Wei Ran talked about his mother, who worked in a photo studio before becoming an actress, the famous Shangguan Yunzhu, who starred in Xie Jin's 1964 classic film "Stage Sisters," who went through three unhappy marriages, was caught up in a decade of turmoil, and committed suicide in 1968 after being labeled a counterrevolutionary.
A number of filmmakers were interviewed, including singer and actress Pan Dihua, who starred in Shanghai-born Wong Kar-wai's The True Story of A Fei, and excerpts from the film and several other productions — "Stage Sisters," Fei Mu's 1948 "Spring in a Small Town" and Hou Hsiao-hsien's 1998 "Flowers of the Sea" (1998) — all appeared in "Legend of the Sea."
Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-hsien made a brief appearance to share his thoughts about the "green houses" or brothels in Shanghai that appear in the film, but he also admitted that he knew little about the city before making the film — something that may be a little comforting to viewers who feel like they are being swallowed up by the film's history.
Legends of the Sea
But perhaps the most revealing story comes from the Italian director Antonioni's 1972 documentary "China." Zhu Qiansheng still remembers that he was sent to work with the Italian director, but he didn't know why he wanted to shoot the "backward" picture. He was puzzled to realize that Antonioni looked at China differently, and that Antonioni was amused by the image that Zhu Qiansheng showed that he did not contribute to the country: "He thought everything was fine – our standards were very different."
Zhu Qiansheng appropriately complained, and history proved that his concerns were correct; Two years later, he was arrested for his involvement in the filming of a film that was deemed "incorrect". "Until now," Zhu Qiansheng said, "I don't know what Antonioni filmed...... I've never seen this movie." Of course, Jia himself is not averse to the not-so-glamorous images: slow-motion shots of construction workers pale in the dust, carrying cement bags, as if they were carrying the city's symbolic historical weight.
Legends of the Sea
Switching between different times and places in Sea Legends can be confusing. We leap from the barren stretches of Suzhou Creek in 1999 and Shanghai's crumbling industrial waterfront to the more gorgeous landscape of the developed city in 2009 – and yet, at the beginning of the film, we see the same desolate waterfront in that year.
Of course, despite the support of the Expo Committee, Jia Zhangke seems to have only paid lip service to the officially-held perception of the attractiveness of the city, and the tourism itself did not make an attractive impression: he switched from the magnificent images of the 19th-century Yu Garden to the scene of today, which is packed with hordes of tourists. We've also seen Taiwanese ferry passengers, and a puzzling 2010 shot of jumping from Hong Kong's Victoria Harbour to Shanghai — every now and then, Zhao Tao appears somewhere, looking dazed.
Legends of the Sea
But the style of this jigsaw puzzle is somewhat in line with the complexity of the story, which includes countless chaotic departures from Shanghai to Taiwan, Hong Kong and even Paris. Fei Mu's daughter, Fei Mingyi, remembers her father's departure for Beijing in 1949 while the rest of the family left for Hong Kong – "everything happened in a lawless and chaotic way" – and she and her siblings returned to Shanghai "like a pile of carrots tied together."
At the same time, Jia Zhangke captures a part of everyday life in Shanghai, though — except for images of people standing on bridges and traveling in the water — everything here seems unique to the city. An old woman happily interacts with the camera in a mahjong parlor, and there is a nice, almost frivolous juxtaposition: a man born in the early '50s recalls a stubborn child from his childhood, and Jia Zhangke cuts the camera to a contemporary skinny boy who flexes his muscles and shouts, "Who wants to fight?" , showing his masculinity like trying on his father's big shoes. As if to illustrate that Shanghai's fate has always been dominated by money, the film opens with a cunning financial scene — the sound of a lion's roar sounds, and a man wipes a bronze lion outside the Bank of Communications in Shanghai.
Sure enough, when the interview turns to modern Shanghai at the end of the film, finance growls the loudest — Yang recalls that he was once penniless until he tried to speculate in the securities sector and ended up running around in a suitcase with the money he earned.
The youngest interviewee, Han Han, is a novelist, media star, and race car driver, and recalls the success of his first book that landed him the car of his dreams. Not long ago, we had a panoramic view of Shanghai from the 100th floor of the Shanghai World Financial Center. But the film ends with images of some people who might work in these places: sleepy subway commuters, whether they're half-awake in the morning or exhausted after a long day's work. It's not so much a bustling, economically prosperous city as it is a tired, dull place that can never rest.
In Jia Zhangke's controversial sequence, the figures of these sleepers are the end of an inconspicuous but fascinating film, and a prelude to his other worrisome Chinese dreams ("Heaven is Destined," "Mountains and Rivers," and "Children of the Rivers and Lakes").