文| Sairen
Too many people used to read "Guling Street Teenage Murder" as "Guling Street Teenage Murder", and many moviegoers talked about the old age In the past, I would say: the year when we looked at "Guling Street", how the suffix was. They don't hesitate to give this film the crown of "greatness", and even call it the highest peak of Chinese-language films.
In 1991, Yang Dechang was 44 years old. Zhang Zhen, who debuted on the big screen, was less than 15 years old. Strictly speaking, in this film where the murder was not paid for after all, Yang Dechang is the narrator, Zhang Zhen listens with his body and eyes, and we accompany Zhang Zhen to witness how turbulent an era was deliberately ignored.
In 1976, the prototype of "Guling Street Teenage Murder Case", Mao Wu, a junior high school student from Jianguo Middle School in Taiwan, was released from prison. He was 25 years old. And before and after this, we also came to this melancholy and reckless world. What is Mao Wu doing now? Will he be the audience for this movie? And the real audience of "Guling Street Teenage Murder Incident" are ordinary people like us who murdered thieves unintentionally and were powerless to return to heaven.
In the 25th Golden Horse Awards, the most suspenseful thing is the best actress award, Maggie Chang. She has been captured at the Berlin Film Festival with "Ruan Lingyu". This is also the first Chinese actress to win an international A-level film. Awarded this honor at the festival. She was still a baby girl at the time, and she was the first to arrive on the red carpet. The Organizing Committee of the Golden Horse Awards has arranged for Huang Yingying to sing "Burying Heart", which was changed from the episode in "Wild Grass and Idle Flowers" after she accepted the award. The last person to arrive at the Golden Horse Awards was Maggie Cheung's former partner, Jackie Chan, who had been rumored with her.
Leslie Cheung has not been to Taiwan for three years, and he is a popular choice for this year's Golden Horse Award winner. But in the end, he was defeated by the veteran Lang Xiong's "Pushing Hand". But this beautiful young man is most concerned about another big drama "Farewell My Concubine". He met Zunlong in Taiwan, and the two staged a scene in front of the media to release their suspicions. The origin comes from Cheng Dieyi in "Farewell My Concubine". One corner originally belonged to Zunlong.
The reporters didn't care about Ang Lee at the time,Although the judges of the Taiwan Golden Horse Awards have already developed a strong interest in this middle-aged man who is a late bloomer and always smiles. His debut work "Pushing Hands" won many awards at the Golden Horse Awards. Industry insiders believe that this mild-mannered but meaningful film will bring a new atmosphere to Taiwanese cinema. The reporters were less sensitive, and they threw more spotlight on a tall director, Wong Kar-wai, who wasn't very fond of sunglasses at the time. He has repeatedly stated that he will definitely make a sequel to "The True Story of A Fei", and paid tribute to his investor, Taiwanese superstar Deng Guangrong. At this time, Deng Guangrong was suffering from septicemia due to the star-studded "The True Story of Ah Fei" who could not make ends meet.
The real god of Taiwanese movies is Yang Dechang, who belongs to the same Shanghai nationality as Wong Kar-wai, and is equally tall. He took people's attention, as well as sideways glances, unhurriedly. His epoch-making blockbuster "Guling Street Teenage Murder Case" was the most nominated film at the 25th Golden Horse Awards, with a total of ten. This does not include that Zhang Guozhu and Zhang Zhen almost staged the scene of father and son killing each other in the competition for the best actor. Best Supporting Actress, Jin Yanling and Jiang Xiuqiong in "Guling Street Teenage Murder" are on the list.
When it comes to the many awards that make people hold their breath, "Guling Street Teenage Murder" only won the Best Original Screenplay Award. And when the best director was awarded to Wong Kar-wai, Yang Dechang, who was sitting in the audience, showed a mysterious smile.
The Best Picture of the 25th Golden Horse Awards was awarded to "Guling Street Teenage Murder Incident". Prior to this, the greatest work in this Chinese-language film had won the Grand Jury Prize at the 4th Tokyo International Film Festival.
A Brighter Summer Day
The English name "A Brighter Summer Day" is taken from a lyric of the American rock pioneer Elvis Presley's classic song "Are You Lonesome Tonight". This song was sung by Wang Qizan, who played Elvis in the film, at their campus concert. When the song played again, the protagonist, Xiao Si, was already in jail. At this time, the film, which has almost no off-screen sound source, sounded the only monologue in the whole film: "Si'er, do you remember this song I recorded? Guess who I sent it to? I sent it to the cat King.He wrote back to me, he wrote that his songs were so popular on this little-known island. He was very moved, he even gave me a gift, but unfortunately you can't see it. I now wear the ring he gave me every day, it's very condescending! Just, I don't know that day I can let you take it.
Three years later, an actor who was called by many people to inherit the mantle of Shi Hui, Lan Ma and other performers, began his performance and was directed by the excellent. This person later known as Director Jiang, in his In his 30th year, he released his youthful dream, "Sunny Days", which made countless people's eyes shine. The title of the film coincides with the English title of "Guling Street Teenage Murder Incident". The masterpiece that won the Best Picture award was not influenced by Yang Dechang's masterpiece. But there is one point, the two directors on both sides of the Taiwan Strait chose a common shooting method. That is to close all the teenagers and accept Long-term performance training, training is second, the key is to let those children soak in the era when they can't see their hands, but still have their brightness. Jiang Wen calls this method pickling. Yang Dechang does it a bit more extreme, He also set up an acting school for this purpose. After the completion of "Guling Street Teenage Murder Incident", this school is still reserved. The one who taught these children by words and deeds is Yang Shunqing, one of the screenwriters of the film. The leader of the military dependents' village in Shandong. The children who came out of "Guling Street", except for Zhang Zhen, are mostly unknown. Ke Yulun, who plays the plane, whose father is the famous Taiwanese director Ke Yizheng, followed Yang Dechang and also filmed "Mahjong" " and "One One". His most impressive role recently is Liang Runsheng, the first person to sleep with Wang Jiazhi in "Lust and Caution". The sunshine boy of the year has become wretched and unbearable. And the aforementioned Elvis Wang Qizan, after taking off his childishness in "Mahjong", is also disgusting. He claims that his hormones have been stuck in his throat. It is worth mentioning that Chen Hongyu, who played the slick, died in a car accident. To commemorate this early death Boy, in "Mahjong" filmed by Yang Dechang a few years later, the naughty boy in the film was named "Red Fish" (Hongyu).
In order to make the actor better enter the role, Yang Dechang often used the actor's real name directly. In the role. Zhang Zhen is called Xiao Si at home, his elder brother Zhang Han is his elder brother, and their father naturally wants to invite veteran Taiwanese actor Zhang Guozhu to appear. This can be regarded as their family getting together in another way. Jiang Xiuqiong, who plays Zhang Zhen's second sister Zhang Qiong,Later became a director. "Traveling with Light and Shadow" directed by her is one of the best documentaries in Taiwan in recent years. It is Lai Fanyun, daughter of the famous Taiwanese director Lai Shengchuan, who plays Zhang Zhen's younger sister, Zhang Yun, who is also one of the producers of this film. And Yang Dechang's ex-wife, the famous singer Cai Qin, also got a glimpse in the film. She played Wang Gou's wife without a line, only her figure wrapped in a cheongsam.
Yang Jingyi, who plays the heroine Xiao Ming, has not been seen since "Guling Street". Her naive and simple performance in the film actually made her compete with Maggie Cheung and Carina Lau at the Golden Horse Awards that year. It also shows how much the judges of the Golden Horse Awards love Wu and Wu for "Guling Street Teenage Murder Case". To put it bluntly, this single-length film with the largest length in Chinese film history (237 minutes in total) tells a story about a scornful disaster, that is, the Pan Jinlian-style Xiaoming, who will definitely be killed by the young Wu Song Xiaosi. In "Sunny Days", Milan is only the reverse direction of a generation of girls. And Xiao Ming, who is wandering on Guling Street, is the most vivid son of the era, a true product of reality, whoever has money will go to his house, and it is also the last channel for a generation of independent youths to reconcile with reality. Yang Dechang told us very calmly that there is no way out.
Stories on Guling Street
There are probably two Guling Streets that are most famous in China. One is located in Lushan Scenic Area, and Meilu, Song Meiling's former villa, is near Guling Street. The other Guling Street is in Taipei. During the Japanese occupation period, it was the dormitory area of the Taiwan Governor's Office. This Guling Street can be said to be the most far-reaching place where the wreckage of Fusang culture is spread, so the Xiaosijia and Xiaoma's houses we see in the film are all Japanese-style residences. Shuttle doors and tatami mats are available. Even the murder weapon used to kill Xiao Ming was a Japanese knife, which is said to be used by Japanese women to commit suicide. And the largest and bloodiest fight in the whole film. The two gangs wielded Japanese swords in the dark night. Kuling Street has a deeper memory for Taipei people, referring to the many old books, calligraphy and paintings and antiques that can be found there. Guling Street is the most important cultural symbol of Taipei. Going to buy books on Guling Street has also become a fashion for a time. The "breeches" in the film are fans of "small books" in the second-hand book market on Guling Street. The current Guling Street is no longer beautiful.From the seventy or eighty bookstores in the heyday, there are now more than 20 bookstores. Taipei people call the current Guling Street "a broken bead chain" with some regret.
And on June 15, 1961, Guling Street gave birth to this later masterpiece. That year, Yang Dechang was fourteen years old, a junior high school student in the night club of Jianguo Middle School. His alumni Mao Wu asked his girlfriend to "negotiate" late that night. The negotiation broke down, and the relationship also broke down. Mao Wu stabbed his girlfriend seven times. This incident became a piece of explosive news in Taiwan at the time. Thirty years later, Yang Dechang turned this incident into a film that he could never surpass in his life. To put it mildly, even if Director Yang is still alive, he may not be able to make another film of the same level as "Guling Street Teenage Murder". God made. As one of the flag-bearers of Taiwan's new film movement, after completing his modern urban trilogy "A Day at the Beach", "Childhood Friends" and "The Terrorist", Yang Dechang has been dormant in the Taiwanese film industry for five years. It shocked the Chinese film industry at that time, and also made the history of Chinese film more than 100 years more fleshy and strong.
In fact, not only these five years, Yang Dechang was often disturbed by the Mao Wu incident before he became interested in movies. Some people even said that Yang Dechang's motive for studying movies was to hope that one day, this pool of young blood would be recorded. Yang Dechang, who had just passed the age of confusion, almost lost his enthusiasm for making movies. He and his colleagues talked about this story on Guling Street again. What they talk about the most is the word youth. Yang Dechang defines youth as "a life that has not yet encountered tragedy". He reiterated that "youth is a character". The Chinese are too happy to be young and mature, and their strong interest in pretending to be mature makes it easier for ugly Chinese people to grow old before they get old. In Yang Dechang's teenage memory, his companions were not happy, and if they were not happy at this time, they would never be happy. Yang Dechang's creative impulse was activated again, and he used images to pay tribute to his youthful years.
Yang Dechang came to Jianguo Middle School, his alma mater, but the building was empty. So Yang Dechang chose another middle school in Taipei, Tamkang Middle School, as the main filming location for the film. There, he will spread out a diary that explores when old age began, and a volume of memoirs recalling the day when youth died.
"Guling Street Teenage Murder Case" has 92 scenes that need to be revised and reconstructed.There were 90 actors who set makeup in the film, and the budget was expanded from NT$13 million to NT$27 million, which took 110 working days. In addition to the children, many of the staff, all from that era, did not want the filming to end prematurely.
The Cruel Story of Youth
Yang Dechang chose Father's Day to hold the opening ceremony for this film that he devoted himself to and even his life. He said, "This film is dedicated to my father and their generation, who suffered a lot and saved us from suffering". It sounds like a polite word. The teenagers in the film are not only suffering, but also die one by one. The first is Hani in the uniform of the "Republic of China Navy", and the second is Shandong, who killed him. Before he died, he called his girlfriend's flower name "Nerve". The last one was Xiao Ming, who threatened that he, like the world, could not be changed. The little four who survived was 15 years in prison.
In fact, the suffering of the next generation and the distress of the previous generation are caused by each other. The subtitles at the beginning of the film point out that it was in 1949 that millions of mainlanders moved to Taiwan, forming a rare population migration in Chinese history. In the eyes of this group of Taiwanese, the out-of-province people live in the unknown and fear of the future. Their heirs strengthen their young and weak will to live by organizing gangs. It is under such a powerful narrative motif that the film has a truly epic character and has become an encyclopedia covering pedagogy, criminology, psychology, sociology, culture, anthropology and religion. The film is naturally a tragedy, a cautionary prophecy about accomplices, but it is not the gospel of the merciful, but a document about the history of growth. Those teenagers in the film who are obsessed with violence and love are the future of Taiwan. With great heartbreak, they are clothed in the skins of time. In a few decades, it will eventually become the mainstay of Taiwanese society. Extend the doomsday complex of ritual collapse into a fantasy of Taiwan's economic take-off.
Too many people like "Guling Street Teenage Murder", not entirely because of the pan-political symptoms that the film is involved in. What many people sensed for nearly four hours was themselves. In this yearbook born of youth and dying of youth, it seems as if wolves are running wild on Guling Street, and your own shadow is dragged in the flickering light.You block people, and people block you. You watch someone kiss, and you've been kissed. Maybe you haven't done any of these things, but some of them will be lived through in your heart. What you feel depressed about is that you will eventually use up all those hours that you obviously don't use. In this world that will not be changed, aging slowly at an unseen speed.
When I first saw this movie, puberty was long past. But after reading it, the person was soft and seemed to have no strength. Then I re-read it several times. The initial shock was replaced by a sense of sympathy. The shared life experience was shaken out by a middle-aged man named Yang Dechang at the other end of the strait. Xiao Si's mother's watch, the little girl's button, the voice of Elvis, Xiao Si's clean smile, the second child's billiards, Shandong's candle, the long hair of nerves, the little tiger's basketball, Hani's navy suit, the pony's Gun, Xiao Ming's white shirt. There is also Xiaosi practicing kissing with an unknown girl in the dark night, but the loudest swear words echoed in his ears the most. It was these swearing teenagers who kept silent during the national anthem. What impressed me the most was that Xiao Si saw his father begging the teacher for him without dignity. The strong sense of humiliation made Xiao Si smash the light bulb on the roof with a baseball bat. Then the camera quietly watched the broken light bulb stubbornly tossing to and fro.
As if to show Yang Dechang's passion for movies, he also set up a studio next to Jianguo Middle School. The biggest idle pen in the film is the war of words between a director and a starlet. It does not form a direct relationship with the main narrative, but only makes the handsome Xiao Ming almost set foot on the road to stardom. Is it to say that youth is a show, but who is it going to be played for?
Although this is a cruel movie, as soon as I saw Xiao Si came home, he was the second sister who worked hard, the eldest sister who was cute, the younger sister who was coquettish, and the second brother who was silent. It all warms my heart. I also like that Xiao Si's mother misses her first love. On the one hand, she laughs at her father's soil. On the other hand, she whispers that many girls like him, but he doesn't know it. I also think he is special. When Xiao Si's mother was talking, Xiao Si's eldest sister listened enviously. In the whole film, my favorite character is probably the eldest sister. When Elvis saw her, he couldn't help but smile. Before leaving, he will blow a kiss in the past. The fourth is in jail, and the second sister burst into tears,Emotions are completely out of control. The eldest sister accompanied her mother and walked on the steps of the stairs with a blank face.
"Perfect" Guling Street
This film is mixed with dialects from Shanghai, Guangdong, Hubei, Sichuan, Shandong, and Taiwan. Every line not only makes the plot twisted, but also has the effect of speaking for the heart. It is also these southern accents that allow us to truly see faces filled with the word "China". Thanks to the other three screenwriters Lai Mingtang, Yan Hongya and Yang Shunqing who wrote together with Yang Dechang.
In Yang Dechang's film aesthetics, the most acclaimed, the handling of the relationship between inside and outside the painting, has been perfected in "Guling Street Teenage Murder Incident", Xiao Si said to Xiao Ming: I want to act as the protector of this girl. At this time, the wind music of the Youth Orchestra was always playing, which made Xiao Si's confession become a little hoarse. At the end of the performance, Xiao Si still maintained his high profile. This undoubtedly implies that in this deaf and indifferent world, Xiao Si's voice will eventually be swallowed up. And Taiwan's best ear, Taiwan's film chief sound engineer Du Duzhi controls every sound field with great ingenuity. The sound of the pedals, the bang of the basketball, and even the sound of the wind blowing through the leaves. They all tap the door of our memory with the footsteps of the times.
This seems to be a movie that needs to be analyzed and cannot be described. In fact, as long as you talk about youth and politics, you will not go astray. What I want to say is that "Guling Street Teenage Murder Case" is not an ambiguous film, it is very clear, and to put it a little bit more, the whole film is about a confrontation between personal ideals and the world that has never changed. The purpose of this statement is to point out that Yang Dechang's films are extremely moral. Yang Dechang originally wanted to make Xiao Si a moral model, but later, he still followed the natural growth of the characters. From being a good student to participating in large-scale gang vendettas, Xiao Si has shown that Xiao Si has developed a strong interest in violence in the baptism of blood and rain. And Pony's guns, including the bullet that Xiao Ming almost killed Xiao Si, are full of more complicated metaphors. Of course, this young man who was suspected of being morally obsessed, faced with his elder brother who had suffered on his behalf, he only felt disappointed, but did not stand up for the righteous act. That is to say, at that moment, Xiao Si already had an adult-like cowardice, and according to its development,He is not far from hypocrisy.
"Guling Street Teenage Murder Incident" has created a series of stereotyped and indifferent images of teachers. The amazing thing is that Yang Dechang himself has a strong interest in being a good teacher, and each of his films is constantly admonishing and reminding him. How lifeless the way people are used to. This is also possible in "Guling Street Teenage Murder Case", but Yang Dechang is especially able to reflect on himself. The real moral teacher in the film is the fourth classmate. He taught Xiaocui and Xiaoming, who were both unruly, in a dazed and dazed manner. He used his own so-called life standards to ask others to behave in the world, and he attracted unappreciative and unceremonious rejection. Especially in Xiao Cui, you think that people are in dire straits, but they have a state of mind of being content with themselves. In fact, the whole murder case is a natural killing of human nature by moral force. The most heart-wrenching scene in the film is not the deaths of those teenagers. It was Xiao Ming's mother, who had been displaced all her life and suffered from asthma because she was not accustomed to the soil and water. After hearing the news of her daughter's death, she also committed suicide. In my opinion, this is the tragedy of the collapsing sense of moral superiority to the surrounding people. The whole film, what we need to deeply reflect on is the complete failure of China's old values in modern society.
There is another character in the film that deserves further investigation, that is the little doctor who returned from his studies and served his alma mater. Xiao Ming, who is self-proclaimed to be prosperous, even thinks that this little doctor has an "idea" about himself. This little doctor once persuaded Xiao Ming and Xiao Si respectively that children can't play with things like feelings. But neither of them listened, and tragedy struck. The little doctor may marry the wicked nurse, God knows if he will be happy, but he is at least happier than Xiao Si and Xiao Ming.
"Guling Street Teenage Murder Case" is sometimes turbulent, sometimes gentle, sometimes overwhelmed, and sometimes rushed forward. However, he does not allow the slightest retreat to meet the inevitability of life.
Whether a good movie should be a guide to life, or simply a roll of the Analects of video, is a matter of opinion. In my objective world, "Guling Street Teenage Murder" is infinitely close to perfection. And in my subjective realm, it is perfect.
About the author:
Sairen,Former Deputy Editor-in-Chief of "Film World", Senior Planner of "China Film Report"
Copyright statement:
WeChat public account: Human Movie Guide (rjdy2014)
.
