Rural-themed films are difficult to make. In fact, the reason is very simple, because there are 10,000 thoughts in the hearts of 10,000 people.
Everyone's perception is different. Whether it is "Into the Dust" or "Warm Spring", some people will think that it is what they imagined the countryside to be like, but there will also be people who think that this is completely blind. Taking random photos is completely different from the countryside they imagined or saw.
Therefore, many people such as: "While I was indulging in self-impression, I discovered a problem. The audience for domestic literary films about workers and peasants is intellectuals and the middle class. Workers and peasants do not watch this kind of thing. The image of workers and peasants on the screen We accept our gaze, but we only have fantasies about the workers and peasants and their lives, so there is a certain shame that makes me uneasy."
"I never want to watch a local movie again, when rural life was part of my childhood. Every time I watch a local movie, I just appreciate the director's condescension, contrivance and falsehood."
"That's it? I'm just bullying the majority of domestic audiences who haven't seen any really good rural movies. To be honest, these two movies are okay, but the scripts are extremely fake. In "Into the Dust", the male protagonist is out of touch with human nature, and the other The characters are pure tools and have no character arc. In "Warm Spring", the world is completely beautified, so I won't mention it."
"In the context of arranged marriage, the fate of women is not the theme. Even the existence of female characters is to highlight and shape a warm man who is closely dependent on the land. The only thing that felt touched was the man's sudden anger during a farm work, and the woman The trembling body standing next to the donkey. Demolition, urbanization, forced separation from the land under power relations, many narrated points have been shallowly hidden in the dust."
There are many similar comments.
Regarding this point, Zhou Qingquan also explained it in the column of "Film Weekly".
"The two films "Warm Spring" and "Into the Dust" were both produced by Li Yi, which is difficult for many people to imagine.
After all, as we all know, Li Yi's origins are not directly related to the countryside and farmers. However, as far as I know, when director Li Yi was directing "Cinema Paradiso", he was interviewed. He once lived in the countryside when he was a child. I lived there for a long time.
Of course, even if he does not have such experience, I still think that this does not prevent him from making local works.
Let’s talk about these two films. The theme of “Warm Spring” can actually be seen from the name of the film. This film mainly expresses the goodness of human nature. It can be said that there is no “bad” person in the film. Everyone Everyone has their own shining points, such as the fat aunt, Grandma Gen, Ergou, etc., etc.
This environment created this warm and refreshing film.
We might as well change the environment. If Xiaohua is in an environment like "Into the Dust", what will be the trajectory of her life?
Will Xiaohua become Cao Guiying?
In "Into the Dust", it is exactly the opposite of "Warm Spring". The indifference of human nature in it is appalling. It can be said that except for Ma Youtie and Cao Guiying, there seems to be no "good guy" in the true sense. We might as well try to imagine the same. For a moment, if Ma Youtie and Cao Guiying lived in a village like "Warm Spring", would their fate be completely different?
Unfortunately, there is no if.
I have seen many film reviews saying that this is a peasant film for the middle class to "watch". I also admit this, but if they only see the most superficial narrative of the film, it is not enough. Otherwise, they will be "emotional" for the film. It just flows out of a kind of self-feeling pity that cannot be translated into any practical action.
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Movement is slow, fertility is lost, and urinary incontinence develops. They have no right to decide their own destiny, so the two lowest marginalized people live together like this.
They are the people who have been insulted, harmed and bullied, and they are the bottom among the bottom in rural society. One is getting older and his working ability is deteriorating, while the other is physically disabled and has lost his fertility. It doesn't matter whether outsiders think favorably or unfavorably about their marriage. They are ignored and left to fend for themselves.
But they bloomed despite suffering. They were both kind people and soon gave up their hostility towards each other. Ma Youtie would not bully Cao Guiying because of her incontinence, but bought her a coat to cover her pants, not wanting her to be laughed at by the villagers; they accompanied each other and Caring about each other, Cao Guiying waited for Ma Youtie to return in the cold night, heating the kettle in his arms over and over again; they worked hard to build a life together, planting wheat, hatching eggs, protecting mud bricks in heavy rain, and building houses; they also had Romantic moments unique to them, such as the shining light shining on Cao Guiying's face from the chicken coop, the imprints of plum blossoms printed on their arms with wheat grains, and their sleeping on the roof in the summer night. Ma Youtie was tied with a trouser belt. With Cao Guiying...
If misfortune had not suddenly struck, then this would have been the northwest rural version of the love myth. The love that grew out of extreme poverty was extremely sincere and pure!
An accident happened unexpectedly. The sick Cao Guiying brought food to Ma Youtie, but he fainted and fell into a ditch. By the time Ma Youtie went to rescue him, it was already too late. After sending Cao Guiying away, the villagers comforted Ma Youtie, "Don't be too sad. You have a house and food now, and you can live a good life alone."
Before meeting Cao Guiying, Ma Youtie could live like an ox or a donkey. But when he met Cao Guiying, when he realized what it was like to love and be loved, this life of living like an animal became unbearable.
At the end of the movie, Ma Youtie lets the donkey go, sells the grain, and repays what he owes the villagers... He looks at Cao Guiying's portrait and commits suicide by taking pesticide. This is the ending hinted by the movie. Although the director did not explain the real ending of Ma Youtie, I believe everyone will understand that he has actually left with Cao Guiying. The two most marginalized low-level characters interpret the love myth of life and death.
But in fact, "Into the Dust" is more like a sad drama. In fact, at many moments in the movie, the more essential source of misfortune is pointed out: Cao Guiying was beaten to disability and lost her fertility, the miserable situation of rural women, especially the "old, weak, sick, disabled and crazy" women; Cao Guiying was "blood drawn" , whether it is concrete or metaphorical; the farmers who were "sent upstairs" lost their land, their roots, and their lifeblood... But these are not the main narrative of the film, they are supplemented by quite scattered scenes. Just like there are ten thousand Cao Guiying in the countryside, maybe only one has an iron horse. What the movie presents is this "one in a million" beautiful love. It gives good hope to two insulted people, and then destroys it, stimulating The tear ducts of the audience...
But I don’t want to blame director Li Yi at all. He has expressed it on the largest possible scale, just like the ending of Ma Youtie, which can be said to be open-ended.
Whether Ma Youtie dies or not actually does not affect the ending of this film.
..."
