Text | An Qing
Editor | 9527 Miao Gujun
The TV series "Flowers" is the most surprising work in 2024. Also a story from the 1990s, "Flowers" no longer tells the story of farmers whose fate is tied to the land, and no longer interprets the Loess Plateau, which lives in harmony with the natural Gobi.
In the land of Shanghai, flowers are blooming and fates are intertwined. The moment you open "Flowers", people can't help but sigh, this is Shanghai where every inch of land is precious, and this is the Paris of the East where every inch of land is precious.
The whole drama revolves around Mr. Bao, telling the story of Bao getting to know noble people through stocks and foreign trade, seizing the opportunity of the times, and gaining a foothold in Shanghai, which is full of opportunities and dangers.
In the process of Mr. Bao’s growth, separation, reunion, farewell and goodbye are the main theme. In the latest plot, the emotional changes between Abao and Reiko are very interesting.
When Mr. Bao was still Abao, Lingzi became Mr. Bao’s first wallet. My uncle once said that a man should have three wallets, one is the money he actually controls, one is the money that can be mobilized by credit, and the other is what others think he is worth.
From the first episode to the present, Ye Tokyo, under the control of Reiko, has been losing money every year, and Mr. Bao has been subsidizing it at every turn. His uncle even called Reiko a "debt collector", but when Mr. Bao had a car accident, those who came to visit him All the people were solved by Reiko with her money.
When nothing happens, Reiko kills Mr. Bao as his scapegoat, but when something goes wrong, Reiko and Ye Tokyo are Mr. Bao’s last life-saving straw.
In other words, Reiko and Abao are two people who complement each other. As Abao himself said, "Without Reiko, he would not be where he is today."
But even so, Reiko and Abao's parting ways is inevitable. Others made irresponsible remarks, saying that Reiko was not worthy of Mr. Bao, that Reiko was too old, and that she was guarding Ye Tokyo and Mr. Bao.
Even Reiko herself doesn’t know that she is like the old Shanghai of the past, with the label of an old alley. Everyone and everything around her has the color of old Shanghai. The roof that Reiko can never repair, It's her character attribute.
But A Bao is a person who grasps both the past and the future. He watched Shanghai develop rapidly in the era of reform and opening up, and got acquainted with Miss Wang, who represents the new era. If he wants to move forward, he is destined to say goodbye to the past. .
This is like how Shanghai locals feel about old Shanghai. It has shortcomings, but it also has emotions. It can't be let go, but it must be let go.
If you put the relationship between the two people in the microcosm of the times, you will find that the scene where Reiko and Abao part ways makes people have mixed feelings.
How should the irreparable breakup scene between Reiko and Abao be filmed? Heartbreaking arguments? Slanderous words? One party's pretentious and disgusting efforts to persuade you to stay? Or on the other hand, he decided to leave? Neither
nor
.
The breakup scene under Wong Kar-wai's lens should be as indifferent as boiled water and as despairing as the Dead Sea.
Reiko's heart died. When people around her were pointing behind her back, she knew that her waiting and staying behind were meaningless. A Bao was the one she couldn't keep.
Therefore, Reiko in the camera suggested to Mr. Bao with a calm expression that she should withdraw her shares, and she wanted to put aside the relationship between Ye Tokyo and Mr. Bao. From now on, if anything happens to Mr. Bao, she will no longer tell the truth. Those proprietresses on Huanghe Road will have nothing to do with her, whether they tear up Mr. Bao or eat him.
Abao, who was sitting opposite Lingzi, bowed his head in silence, feeling guilty but unable to refute it. Looking at the plot, Abao seemed to have stopped at the choice between Lingzi and Miss Wang, but in fact, Abao stood at a fork in the road of time. Mouth, what he wants to choose is the past and the future.
There is only one answer to this multiple-choice question, which represents the future Ms. Wang.
Finally, Abao stood up and left. Lingzi asked Abao for the last thing, the fortune she lent to Abao three years ago.Looking at this scene, it actually looks like the childish behavior of a young couple asking for a token of return when they break up, but is this really the case? Maybe it's not that simple.
Old Shanghai has a variety of charms that people will never forget. However, the fate of old Shanghai is running out in the era of reform and opening up. Everything is moving forward rapidly. If you just stand still, you will be eliminated by society.
At the juncture when old Shanghai was forced to reform with the development of the times, Abao, a "speculator" who seized the opportunities of the times, appeared. He took away the destiny of old Shanghai and became Mr. Bao.
And a new era has arrived. In this era, Miss Wang is the noble person who makes him rise. Since he wants to seize the new era, his original destiny will naturally be returned.
What the audience saw was Po returning to his destiny, and Po and Lingzi parting ways, but what Wong Kar-wai filmed was the changes of the times, a microcosm of the times, and the rolling wheel of history. Go forward without looking back.
"Flowers" is a work that puts human emotions into the story. Po's emotional choices are a major highlight of the plot. The separation between Abao and Reiko is much smoother than the audience imagined.
In this parting scene, Ma Yili and Hu Ge were emotionally stable throughout the whole process, and the characters did not get angry or blame each other.
You must know that Lingzi, played by Ma Yili, was always explosive in the previous plots. Even if she did something wrong, she would cry, make trouble, and hang herself, which made A Bao surrender.
Unfortunately, Wong Kar-wai chose to film this most serious conflict and the most formal farewell in a clear and light way.
What is it like for the audience watching the drama through the screen? It's reluctance and helplessness, but there's nothing left to express. This is what a relationship should look like when it's irreversible.
Let’s take a look at how the director of domestic entertainment filmed the plot?
In the TV series "Sea of Stars", the female protagonist refused the male protagonist's attempt to stay, so the male protagonist inexplicably picked up the water pipe in the garden, and a hearty artificial rain came. The female protagonist was wearing a white shirt and was soaked. Turning into a drowned rat, the male protagonist was suddenly hugged from behind like a kidnapping, and the scene once made people frown.
's exaggerated and overbearing style of retention, put together with Wong Kar-wai's "Flowers", is simply the difference in texture between bloody idol dramas and period movies.
In short, Wong Kar-wai's "Flowers" allows netizens to see the care in every detail. The lines in the breakup scene have meanings and meanings. They seem like sparse daily conversations, but in fact every sentence is closely related to the theme of fate and the times.
Of course, in addition to the gap in ability between directors, there are also great differences between scripts. While most directors are tearing their hearts out in youth dramas, "Flowers" seems to be about feelings, but in fact it is about career. It seems to be performing a legendary career, but in fact it reflects the characteristics of the times.
The script is solid enough and the director has an aesthetic. This is why "Flowers" became a hot search just because of a breakup scene.
And I believe that the excitement of "Flowers" has just begun, and the subsequent plot is worth waiting for.
