◎Ren Fan
The " Diary of a Young Man ", which was completed last year by Hong Kong young director Zhuo Yiqian, officially launched in mainland theaters last weekend. Prior to this, the film had been nominated for multiple awards at the Hong Kong Film Awards and the Shanghai International Film Festival, and won the Best New Director at the 60th Golden Horse Film Festival. As a continuation of the wave of four-character movies in Hong Kong in recent years (last year, Hong Kong released a batch of literary films with four-character titles, which were called "Hong Kong four-character movies" by movie fans), this film also inherits this trend. The consistent temperament of literary and artistic films: wrapped in the flow of life, they either delve into the pain at the bottom, or address social issues. After its official debut in mainland theaters, the film's Douban score has been rising, reaching a rare high score of 8.6. But if you look closely at the comment area, you will find a problem. High-scoring viewers usually leave comments such as "I cried for half the movie," "There were constant sobs in the theater," "The seat next to me kept crying." This makes people wonder, has the ease of crying become a key indicator of a movie's rating?
has to admit that this film is indeed "cry-inducing". The huge psychological pressure that Zheng Youjie had to face in his family during his childhood was breathtaking. Combined with the natural, smooth, pure and lovely performance of the young actor Huang Zile, the film created a strong sense of trauma as a beautiful thing was destroyed, and this is exactly what happened. The power that a tragedy should have.
However, "crying" is only one of the many emotional feedbacks given by the audience after receiving the film's information, and should not be used as a basis for evaluating the artistic level of a film. What's more, some people directly shouted "It's so good that I cry, Hong Kong movies will never die!" Such rhetoric is really unnecessary.
So what is the quality of this film, and is it worth such a high score? The answer I give is that the overall production of the movie is above the standard, but the 8.6 rating is overly praised. The film adopts a two-line narrative structure. One line tells the story of Mr. Zheng, a middle school teacher, who accidentally discovered an unowned suicide note on campus and immediately launched an investigation in an attempt to avoid a tragedy. The other line follows a boy's diary, gradually digging out a past that Mr. Zheng buried deep in his heart and didn't want to touch.
Zheng Youjie's childhood was from a wealthy family, but his younger brother, who was both good at character and academics, took away all the love and expectations of his parents. Youjie had no intention of being jealous, but his irascible father insisted on "pulling one over and stepping on the other", making his younger brother "someone else's child". Faced with a father who was always punching and kicking, and a mother who was unwilling and afraid to give him any comfort, Youjie had to struggle alone in his long childhood. He could only confide his immature anxieties in his diary but had nowhere to put them. The two narrative lines in the
film are distinct, each has its own focus, and the progress is considered smooth. The past line reveals the current common psychological problems of teenagers and the situation of those involved; the reality line focuses on the efforts of Mr. Zheng, who has become a teacher, to solve the problems. The past line plays a larger role and is the tear-jerker of the film. It truly restores the whole process of how a pair of elite parents who do not understand education but are strict and arrogant destroy their children. The younger brother's excellence not only failed to offset his father's harshness towards Youjie, but instead made his status in the family even more embarrassing.
In fact, facing up to the mediocrity of children should be a psychological quality that parents must have, but the paradox of reality is that no matter whether parents themselves are excellent or not, they refuse to accept the mediocrity of their children. The traditional ethics of East Asia that have lasted for thousands of years naturally give parents the legitimate status of rulers. They either intentionally or unintentionally ignore the independent personality of their children and then roughly treat them as part of themselves. This film makes a fierce criticism of this misunderstanding. It is a valuable introspection. It is also the most severe accusation given by the new generation of young people who have experienced growth and faced with the rigid intergenerational relationship. They seemed to be shouting in unison through the movie: "We are the last generation!" The young audiences who gave high scores to
have probably experienced experiences similar to Youjie's, and were subsequently aroused to deep empathy. However, from the perspective of commenting on the film, we must also see the series of stereotypes that the film outputs when completing the above expressions.For many years, Hong Kong films have been deeply constrained by typified expressions, and the pursuit of speed and efficiency often leads to a high degree of facial expression in character creation. For example, the father figure in the film is played by Zheng Zhong, who is basically good at exaggerated comedies. His emotions and sorrows are all written on his face, and he beats and beats him viciously at every turn. In this way, it seems that all the responsibility for Youjie's tragedy lies with his father, but this is far from the truth. The mother's indifference, the younger brother's sense of superiority, and the neglect of teachers and schools are all the driving forces that lead Youjie to despair. The film's looming expression on this level regrettably weakens the depth of the overall thinking. The reality line in the
film is relatively small, but it also has similar problems. Mr. Zheng tried his best to find out the whereabouts of the owner of the suicide note, against all opinions in the school, but his actions were rather dull. While communicating with a male classmate who refused to apologize, he accidentally discovered the problem of bullying, which seemed to bring up a new theme and distract from the focus of the narrative. When trying to open up the heart of a depressed female classmate, she resorted to the cliché trick of "running to the top of the mountain and shouting loudly", which seemed like she was at a loss for words. Fortunately, at the end of the film, the routine that was superficial throughout the film was finally redeemed. The owner of the suicide note was not found in the end. On the one hand, it reveals the high universality of psychological problems among minors, that is, it is possible for everyone. On the other hand, it also symbolizes the longevity and complexity of solving this problem, adding a lingering charm to the film. and reverberations.
The most commendable thing about this film is of course the refreshing narrative trick used in the film. The sharp change of perspective in the middle section not only did not damage the audience's desire to be involved, but further strengthened the confusion of the children in the chicken family in the confusion. No one is immune, no matter the mediocre one or the excellent one. This magical touch greatly enhances the quality and depth of thinking of the film, which is far more advanced than whether it is easy to cry.
It can be said that the high reputation of "Diary of a Youth" continues to promote the transformation of Hong Kong movies, from typing and industrialization to gradually turning to author-oriented in-depth exploration. Whether it's easy to cry or not is just the surface of a movie. Going deep into the social fabric and having the courage to challenge current issues is the real direction of young filmmakers' efforts and the real value of movies. From this point of view, Hong Kong movies, as a regional definition, may have truly completed their nirvana and rebirth.
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