A true representation of the original ecological situation
German film theorist Krakauer believes: "The film must lead us into the world of material life, otherwise it is impossible for him to properly explain these inner activities." That is to say, in the process of film creation In , the subjective intention and emotional expression that the creator wants to express cannot be directly displayed, and it needs to be implied through the external material reality. Through keen observation of real life, the sixth-generation director of
restores and reproduces the material reality of life into the film, which inadvertently stimulates the audience's resonating emotions, and naturally opens the audience's heart. As Klarcao said in the book "The Nature of Cinema": "All material phenomena in the living world have infinitely rich meanings, and they can easily trigger their own different moods, emotions and inner thought activities."
The original shooting scene
's pursuit of aesthetics, "sixth generation" directors and "fifth generation" directors are completely different. The "fifth generation" directors pursue "humanized nature", which is the director's subjective image space: the loess or sorghum fields under the big panorama; while the "sixth generation" pursues the documentary space, which is an objective The real reproduction of the world: the city street in the close-up view. A large part of
's reason for the "sixth generation" directors' choice of movie scenes is that they were underfunded in the early stages of filming. For example, the filming scene of "Mom", the first movie regarded as the "sixth generation", was in director Zhang Yuan's own home, but in the real scene there are narrow roads, crowded streets, and broken walls. It just fits the theme and overall atmosphere of the movie.
Another example is Jia Zhangke chose the ruins when shooting " Xiaowu ", because of its roughness without pretense or beautification, the scene and the style of the movie are highly compatible. In addition, another main reason why the original scene selection has become the aesthetic preference of the "sixth generation" directors is their artistic concept: adhere to the aesthetics of reality, and strive to reflect and reproduce reality.
"Sixth Generation" directors favored two locations when choosing scenes: the street and the toilet. Kracauer notes: "The film's inexhaustible interest in the street is the most stark testament to its kinship with the contingent... What makes it interesting is that there are more unexpected events than doomed events." Kracauer Er believes that the film's emphasis on the streets is mainly manifested in the pursuit of realism, which is completely in line with the reality-based artistic concept of the "sixth generation" directors.
In the "sixth generation" movie, the director gave more meaning to the street. Public spaces such as dance halls, billiards halls, and stations are all extensions of the street. The director chose the movie scene here to maintain the quality of life. For example, in "Weekend Lover", a man swayed his body to the music, the sewer beside him was steaming hot; Zhang Chi was pulling with a girl, and behind them was unadorned household garbage; "" Bicycles and piles of garbage on the city streets in Seventeen-Year-Old Bike .
In addition, cramped alleys, dark basements, walls that are about to be demolished... This life scene that refuses to be beautified everywhere, the gray space with original ecology has become an important symbol of the sixth-generation director's video. In the "sixth generation" movies, the real atmosphere conveyed by the directors to the audience first comes from their creation of the real scenes of the movies.
In order to show the more complete daily life of the characters in the film, the directors are not shy about presenting the toilet as an integral part of people's daily life. First of all, the toilet is a physical space that people must have a relationship with in their daily life. Since the "sixth generation" wants to completely retain the quality of life, the toilet is a space that cannot be avoided.
Secondly, the director's choice of toilet scene is more determined by the relationship between the characters in the film. For example, in the movie "East Palace, West Palace", the toilet is no longer a normalized life scene, but more of a unique symbol of the gay community. Because the homosexual group is the main focus of the "sixth generation" director's lens, the director did not hesitate to put the heavily stained door, the rusty sink, the humid air, and the foul smell in the toilet in front of the camera. , giving people an unprecedented visual impact.
This not only explains the living environment of the gay community, but also conveys the breath of life within reach to the audience. The directors of the "sixth generation" seem to convey a point of view to the audience through the reproduction of many scenes in life: such ugly and dirty places not only exist in the movie, but also exist around us in reality. The use of
non-professional actors The
non-professional actors are another notable feature of the "sixth generation" director's work. Krakauer said: "Amateur actors are chosen because of what they actually look and act like. Their main advantage is that they can be an integral part of reality in a film that explores reality, but without making a living out of it. Be the center of attention." The "sixth generation" directors' extensive use of non-professional actors in their films may have been influenced by Italian neorealist cinema.
Italian director de Sica 's work " The Bicycle Stealer " is based on social news events, and the protagonist chooses real unemployed workers. Because of the artistic pursuit of documentary aesthetics by "sixth generation" directors, they are reluctant to use professional actors, because they have too many traces of dramatic and urbanized performances left by systematic training. The style of the film is inconsistent.
has done the most thorough job in enabling non-professional actors to be Jia Zhangke. Wang Hongwei is a non-professional actor who often appears in Jia Zhangke's films. He has played roles in films such as " Hill Going Home ", "Xiao Wu", " Platform ", " Ren Xiaoyao " and other films. Wang Hongwei, who was born in the literature department, does not have the slightest appearance advantage, which is far from the aesthetic standards of the protagonists in traditional movies, but Jia Zhangke's movies are full of simple charm.
As Jia Zhangke commented: "He can maintain his characteristics as a person in front of the camera in a relatively natural state... His body language is particularly vivid, which is difficult for professional actors to achieve. Yes." The protagonist Han Sanming in " Three Gorges Good Man " also starred in his true colors. The biggest advantage of this type of self-acting film is that it is convincing.
In the film, the demeanor, movements and emotions of the protagonist are exactly what they are in real life, and there is no trace of performance at all, giving the audience a documentary feeling. The painters Dong Hechun in " Winter and Spring Days " are played by Wang Xiaoshuai 's classmates Liu Xiaodong and Yu Hong and his wife, who have the same occupation as the winter and spring in the film. Both of them are young painters who emerged in the early 1990s, so they can empathize with Dongchun's ideal disillusionment and practical difficulties in life.
Zhang Yuan's film "Son" tells the story of Zhang Yuan's neighbor Li Ji's family experience; Zhang Yang's "Yesterday" is played by young singer Jia Hongsheng and his family, and also tells about their family's growth experience ...The use of non-professional actors by "sixth generation" directors is on the one hand to better highlight the realism of the film, and on the other hand, it also demonstrates their unique aesthetic preference - rough aesthetics.
They project the roughness of real life into their own creations, presenting the most authentic state of life to the audience without modification. Like bazin in What's a Movie? " in the evaluation of non-professional actors: "The concept of the actor disappears in a transparency as perfect and natural as life itself."
Bazin commented on the non-professional actors in "The Volatility of the Earth": "Because those silent Nameless fishermen often stay in the film for a few minutes, talking, walking, acting freely and naturally... This is the best achievement of an actor's profession." It can be seen that the use of non-professional actors is deepening the realism style film. is very necessary.
A lot of details are exquisite
In the movie, the details mainly include two meanings: one is the details of the facts, and the other is the details of the image. The depiction of details can enrich emotions, shape images and create atmosphere. Details play a vital role in bringing out the authenticity of the film. In the early days, due to lack of funds, the works of "sixth generation" directorsIt presents a rough texture as a whole, but if you watch the film carefully, you will find that the director has handled the various props and details in the film just right.
In Zhang Yang's movie "Yesterday", in order to create a paranoid and rebellious image of Jia Hongsheng's son, the director set up a lot of details that seem unimportant but are of great benefit to enriching the character's image: the father accompanies his son for a walk, but the son asks The father changed into his own jeans, but the helpless father had to change into tight jeans according to his son's request.
Here, jeans are a symbol of youth culture, a symbol of the dissolution of traditional paternal authority. Such details are also vividly reflected in Jia Zhangke's film "Ren Xiaoyao": Zhao Qiaoqiao in the film is a female model. In order to treat her father's illness, Zhao Qiaoqiao has no choice but to go everywhere and endure the entanglement of local hooligans.
In the film, Zhao Qiaoqiao held a silk shawl three times to cross the road: the first time was at the sales meeting of the Mongolian King Winery, Zhao Qiaoqiao asked the director for money but had no gain and had to leave; the second time It was Zhao Qiaoqiao who made trouble for his father in the hospital; the third time was because of his interactions with Binbin and Xiaoji, and was insulted by Qiao San.
The details of Zhao Qiaoqiao holding a shawl to shield the sun, on the one hand, deepened the character of a helpless but tenacious character as a marginal individual in society, and on the other hand, it appropriately revealed the helpless and struggling life state of the bottom individuals. The image details with rich connotation and life-like texture have always been the lack of Chinese film . When it came to the "sixth generation" directors, they made up for this lack of detail based on their life experience.
The "sixth generation" directors are very particular about the details presented in the film, from the various shop billboards on the streets of "Xiaowu" to a large number of popular songs in "Platform" to the "Mango" in "The Good Man of Three Gorges" The use of a large number of life details of brand cigarettes makes the movie a fact of life that the audience believes. Kracauer believes: "The flow of life is a magic wand in the hands of the masters of art."
And the details of life are the key to bring the audience into a specific era background, such as the high pitch in the movie " cyan and red " The speakers played " sixth set of radio gymnastics ", " the combination of socialist spiritual civilization construction and material civilization construction", to the audience, these familiar slogans are more like a memoir, in the record of the times At the same time of the changes, it also better outlines the Beijing where the film takes place, which invisibly deepens the documentary characteristics of the film.
These rich life details in the works of the "sixth generation" directors not only play a vital role in shaping the characters and creating the environment space, but also make the film have a rich vitality. With the gradual expansion, their ability to communicate with reality has become stronger and stronger, and their films have become an important carrier to reflect reality.
