Source: [Huasheng Online] Nominated for Best Film in the Main Competition of the 72nd Berlin International Film Festival Golden Bear Award. It is the only Chinese-language film shortlisted for the main competition of the three major European international film festivals (Berlin,

Source: [Huasheng Online]

was nominated for the Golden Bear Award for the Best Film in the main competition unit at the 72nd Berlin International Film Festival.

is the only Chinese film in the past three years to be shortlisted for the main competition unit of , the three major European international film festivals (Berlin, Cannes, and Venice).

This honor does not give a blessing to " Into the Dust ", written and directed by Li Ruijun, , and starring Hai Qing and Wu Renlin.

Even though the film has a Douban score of 8.3, which is the highest-rated domestic film released this year, it only accounted for 1.3% of the film schedule within 7 days of its release, and the real-time total box office was less than 3.5 million yuan.

"Into the dust and smoke" You should not disappear into the dust.

How hard life is, they also grow like wheat

In the northwest countryside, a lonely man and woman, Ma Youtie and Cao Guiying, who were abandoned by their respective families, gradually became dependent on each other after a blind date and marriage. Under the puzzled eyes of others, they followed the four seasons. Moving around, working hard to run the family and cultivate the land. When the days are getting better and better, and happiness is within reach, the other half suddenly passes away, how can the family continue...

Rural areas, farmers, dialects, and dust are not elements that attract audiences. Like many people, Taro was a little hesitant when he first heard the slightly literary title "Into the Dust".

Watching the movie by chance was an unexpected experience.

The film is 133 minutes long, but it is not boring, not sensational, does not deliberately depict black and white faces, and does not create difficult-to-understand images.

Cao Guiying was rejected by her family since she was a child. She was unable to have children and suffered from urinary incontinence. She was completely desperate for her future destiny. "I never thought that I could have a family." Ma Youtie, a dull and loyal man, was in financial distress and had only a donkey cart for company, but he did not hesitate to use his "panda blood" to save and contract the land in the village. Zhang Yongfu was seriously ill.

The two people got together due to the prejudice of the villagers. They lived in someone else's vacant earthen house and started working day after day, feeling the hope and warmth in life with their heart.

The plot follows the flow of the four seasons and occurs naturally, like a cup of light tea after repeated brewing, slowly entering the throat, with a sweet taste on the tip of the tongue and a slightly bitter aftertaste.

A large number of details make this film full of the ordinary taste of three meals a day.

Ma Youtie asked the villagers to borrow 10 eggs, and the two of them hatched the chicks using light bulbs and cardboard boxes. "These chicks don't have a mother. Whoever they see after they are born is their mother. Come and take a look. Once you get familiar with them, they will be easy to raise." Ma Youtie said to Cao Guiying.

With the introduction of the demolition policy in the village, many villagers working outside demolished their old houses and took subsidies to leave their hometowns. But the couple were like snails, carrying their belongings and driving donkey carts to change residences time and time again. Finally, they simply made their own adobe bricks, built an adobe house, and had a home of their own.

moved twice, and they posted the word "hi" on the bedside twice; they found a bird's nest under the eaves, Ma Youtie looked at the bulldozers in the distance, and asked the homeowner blankly, "Can you wait until the swallows can fly?" Push the house again.”

During the farming season, a fish that accidentally appeared in the ditch became a delicious snack for the working couple; during the harvest season, the couple used a few wheat grains to "plant flowers" on each other's wrists.

The miserable life looks like an pastoral song.

The film also has conflicts and climaxes, but it is shown to be extremely restrained and calm. In the

footage, Cao Guiying was ill and had a fever, and Ma Youtie brought her the first egg laid by a chick to supplement her nutrition.

Then, Ma Youtie drove his donkey cart across the bridge. The villager told him, "Your wife was dizzy when she brought you food. She fell into the river."

Then, it was Ma Youtie who lifted Cao Guiying hard in the river. picture. Finally, the wedding photos of Ma Youtie and Cao Guiying appeared on the computer screen. The staff cut off Cao Guiying's head and adjusted it to black and white.

The picture is minimalist, with no soundtrack, no funeral, and no hoarse voices. The accident came like a shower, and Cao Guiying's death was like a gust of wind. However, the audience can feel Ma Youtie's inner turmoil in the seemingly "light" expression.

How can people who have experienced light endure darkness again?

Even if it disappears into the dust and smoke, it still has a deep love for the land.

"I never think that the movie is over when the subtitles are over. On the contrary, in the hearts of the audience, it has just begun." Director Li Ruijun said.

At the end of the film, Ma Youtie's choice is full of helplessness.

"The wheel of the times is constantly advancing, and we never know what will happen in the next second. For example, the process of urbanization is unbearable for the little characters in the movie. When these two people leave the land, it means The traditional, 1.0 agricultural era is over, and it has been completely hidden in the dust. Although it has become history, you can see it really happening on this land, as if it was both far and near. The helplessness of Li Ruijun, who grew up in the countryside.

"Into the Dust" tells the story of what happened in a rural land in a palatable way, and it is inseparable from simple but philosophical lines.

"Look, does it look like you have planted your footprints in the ground... When crops are planted in the ground, they can't go anywhere. They are exposed to the wind and sun, and those who live and die can only work in the ground." "Having said that, where can we go when we have legs? How can farmers live without the land?" In the one-and-a-half-minute shot, Ma Youtie and his wife chatted while working, but they didn't. It's boring.

Li Ruijun, who was born in Gaotai, Gansu, is also an experienced farmer. Farm work was a required course for him growing up, and he built the mud house in the movie with everyone on the set.

(Director Li Ruijun's on-set work photo)

The script of "Into the Dust" was conceived in his mind for six or seven years and took one year to write. Many words spoken by the protagonist have been his life experiences.

"My grandfather never went to school for a day, but sometimes he would say something out of the blue, which made people feel extremely philosophical. This is the experience in daily complicated labor and the perception of life."

at the screening meeting On the show, some viewers questioned whether the clothes of the male and female protagonists were dirty enough.

But Li Ruijun immediately retorted: "I don't think farmers are dirty all the time."

Li Ruijun revealed that the clothes of the male and female protagonists in the film were old clothes "scanned" from the homes of ordinary people in the village, and then buried in the soil. They were dirty, many of the shoes were picked up from the trash, and the sweat stains on the clothes were from wearing them for a long time. Actor Hai Qing puts on makeup for two hours every day, and is "armed" to remove stains on her teeth and mud between her fingernails.

(Actor Hai Qing on the set)

From the time he independently directed his first film "Summer Solstice" in 2007, to "Old Donkey Head ", "Tell Them, I went on a white crane" and " Home is in a place with abundant water and grass. ", " passing by the future ", and then "Into the Dust", Li Ruijun's land complex and concern for the little people have not changed in more than ten years, and his expression is restrained and restrained but very warm.

After "Into the Dust", Li Ruijun will still focus on Gansu, rural areas and the land of his hometown to create. "Although this kind of movie is not the type that our current mainstream audience likes, it is very meaningful to me."

Just like eating perilla, peach and ginger once and never forgetting Changsha, Li Ruijun will always be fascinated by the taste of a land. Sincerely.

END

Author and editor | Deng Zhengke

Picture source "Into the Dust" crew

This article comes from [Huasheng Online] and represents only the author's opinion. The National Party Media Information Public Platform provides information release and dissemination services.

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