At the Venice Film Festival.
Many Chinese tourists who come here may not be from Hong Kong Island, but they have some things in common.
One step is good and one step is difficult. This is true for everyone.
Because everyone's life can't be that smooth sailing.
For this reason, Chinese audiences can resonate to some extent from this movie.
Liu Fei, although he was born into a wealthy family, time is fair to everyone.
It always steals some of your most precious things.
Liu Fei and his wife Chen Jingning returned to the hotel and each wrote his own film review.
"What theme do you want to write about?" Chen Jingning asked curiously.
"Of course it's the past in Hong Kong." Liu Fei said with a smile.
"What about you?" Liu Fei also asked his wife curiously.
"I want to write about love!" Chen Jingning said.
"Love?" Liu Fei couldn't help but frown slightly. Although the love between Luo Jinyi and Fang Fei in "Thieves of Time" does occupy a lot of space, it is only part of the movie from beginning to end.
"What? Is there any problem?" Chen Jingning looked at Liu Fei calmly and asked.
"No, it's just a bit unexpected. After all, the love in this movie may even become a point of attack for many people. After all, the love between the frog and the princess is always too cliched and bloody!" Liu Fei shrugged.
Chen Jingning nodded, shook her head and said, "That's why I want to write about love. Nowadays, many people watch movies and find the plot clichéd, but they don't know that the love in this movie is... It happened in the past, and was personally experienced by director Meng Qiguang's brother. Life is inherently more bloody than the movie. But I like the love in the movie."
"Okay, let's start separately." Liu Fei nodded.
The two of them each held their laptops and began to write their own reflections without interfering with each other.
"This time, Li Yi used "Thieves of Time" to prove that Hong Kong people also have feelings!
Even though Hong Kong Island has been returned to China for more than ten years, and even though cross-strait exchanges seem to be very frequent, we still rarely touch on the past of Hong Kong Island. First, there is no opportunity, and second, there is no material.
For many mainland viewers, our understanding of Hong Kong Island comes almost exclusively through film and television works.
In the glorious era of Hong Kong movies, many of us are no longer unfamiliar with Hong Kong. We know that Hong Kong has the Independent Commission Against Corruption, that Hong Kong has been dark, that Hong Kong has Young and Dangerous, etc., etc., but we are very confused. Few people know what life is like for people at the bottom of society like the Luo family in Hong Kong Island, let alone Hong Kong Island in the 1960s.
Because past movies are rarely mentioned. So "Thieves of Time" has become a window for us to understand the old Hong Kong Island. Although it may be biased, in those turbulent years, after all, not much can be left.
This is a family that migrated to Hong Kong Island from the South China Sea. The two brothers occupy two ends of an empty street. The elder brother opens a barber shop on the street, and the younger brother sets up a shop at the end of the street to make shoes. The story begins from the perspective of the younger brother's second son.
Luo Jiner is a naughty boy who likes to steal small things. He has poor academic performance and does not feel sad at all when he is punished by the teacher. Instead, he enjoys it. On the contrary, his brother Luo Jinyi has been an outstanding student in the school since he was a child. Not only does he have good grades, but he is also proficient in sports, literature and art, and is the best representative of all-round development of morality, politics and sports.
The admiration Luo Jiner felt for his brother in his heart was almost a feeling of worship. In his young mind, his brother was the authority in the world, a man who knew everything, and a great role model who could do anything. And Luo Jinyi did live up to his younger brother's expectations.
I believe that everyone has a person like this in their childhood. He or she is older than you, but is willing to play with you, tell you a lot of things you don’t know, and tell you how colorful the world is. When you look at him or her, he or she is like him. There is always a halo around them, and even though they may have changed later, that image will always remain in their memory.
Hong Kong people have always had a strong spirit of advancement. Otherwise, Hong Kong would not have transformed from a small fishing village into the world-famous metropolis it is today. Some early film and television works or music on Hong Kong Island praised this spirit. I believe everyone will not think so. strangeness.
Hong Kong Island still retains many traditional customs. For example, some start-up ceremonies are held before the shooting of most movies, and wrapping celebrations are held after the completion. Ribbon cutting is required at the beginning of the event, dragon and lion dances are performed during the New Year and festivals, ancestors are worshipped, and even The street gangster and the big brother of the underworld also have to worship and support the second brother Guan at home. These are not so much the superstitions of Hong Kong Islanders, but rather their stubborn, cute and valuable beliefs.
At the beginning of the film, through the perspective of Luo Jinyi wearing a fish tank, a bustling old Hong Kong is displayed before his eyes. The life in the city is vivid and lively. The old neighbors are talking and laughing among themselves, living a peaceful life.
However, Director Li Yi is undoubtedly a liar who knows how to tell stories. The previous mediocre but hopeful and beautiful performance turned out to be an illusion. No matter how beautiful life is, life can also be cruel. Originally, there was a stand-up stall on Hong Kong Island where land was at a premium. The couple was loving, the neighbors were harmonious, relatives and friends were around, and there were two handsome sons. Life seemed so satisfying. What if business is always good? What if the son "qualifies as the number one scholar"? What if Luo Jinyi doesn’t get sick? Will life get better and better, get better and better...
But life is like a shed in the wind and rain. If the wind is strong, it will fall apart easily...
The real wind can only blow a house into pieces, but as long as you "keep the roof", you can still pick up the shoes, put the glass in place, and repair the house again. But when the "storm" of life blows in, people are fragile and helpless. When Luo Jinyi walked into Fangfei's luxurious villa, the sky of life was clouded for a while. But when he fell ill and fell ill, the "storm" came, not only crushing his beautiful life into dust, but also bringing the family's life into the cold winter.
Father Luo is no longer so radiant, his hair is gray, his beard is unkempt, and his hands are stained with oil. Life always forces him to immerse himself in hard work, but no matter how difficult it is, he never complains and always endures it. Especially when I hurriedly ran into a pawn shop to pawn the ring, the deep ring mark on my finger made me cry. But even with fresh blood transfusion, I couldn't fight against my fate. The moment my son fell, and when my son's original song played, my life was in ruins... Fortunately, I tried my best to pull up the flowers and trees, but life still needs to start again. In the end, One day there will be a rainbow in the sky and flowers blooming on the branches... Life is a difficult step and a good step.
The film includes a panoramic shot of Hong Kong Island on the way back to Sham Shui Po from Fong Fei's house. Looking down at these glimpses among the crowds and the silhouettes in the busy traffic, perhaps in our eyes today, they have turned into group portraits of the times. This group portrait is a metaphor for the cultural alienation of the seemingly integrated Hong Kong Island and the lack of authority when faced with cultural conflicts.
The Hong Kong story represented by the Luo family, Fang Fei, and especially Luo Jinyi is actually a melancholy epitome of Hong Kong culture in the 1960s that was filled with hope, disappointment, joy, and pain.
Just like we often feel pity for a person's fate, because similar experiences can easily remind us of our own past. The cultural metaphor of Luo Jinyi is even more profound, as he carries the memories of a group. When the carrier of memories suddenly becomes a group of people, the meaning is difficult to explain. The tears and laughter of a generation choked in the throat along with the neon lights of Hong Kong Island. "
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