Text_@万福村村民

[Flying in the blue hour] is directed by Yuko Hakata, born in 1982. He graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts at Tokyo University of the Arts and was originally an advertising director of AOI Co., Ltd. Last year at the Shanghai International Film Festival, Yuko Hakata won the "Best Director Award" in the "Asian Newcomer Award" section

This film is her feature film debut and a semi-autobiographical work, which was shot for only 12 days.

▼

*The following involves spoilers

The most attractive part of this movie is of course the two heroines.

Xia Fan, the goddess of the Japanese Pure School, exquisitely out of the dust, in [Hai Jie Diary], the youngest son Kanda Chika, smiles like a peach with a sweet inside taste;

Shen Enjing, an aura of strength, won the Big Bell Award for Best Actress at the age of 17, and won the Art Award at the age of 20. In 2019, he went to Japan to develop and won the Film Academy Award.

The two goddesses of Japan and South Korea, partnered for the first time, played against each other throughout the whole process, and the seductive factor was full, and it was over after watching.

Sunada (Xia Fan), an advertising director who works hard in Tokyo. Busy every day, seemingly fulfilling, but in reality, my heart is empty and my life is barren.

Her colleague's evaluation of her is: You are too hard, I'm really afraid that one day you will die after you stop.

She is extremely pessimistic about life. The reason for working so hard is that she feels that this job will not last for many years; she does not want children, because even her own flesh and blood may not be able to talk, why bother to let herself go into the fire pit jump.

Although she was married, she kept her bedside relationship with her colleagues behind her husband.

The messy hair and the laces stuffed into the shoes at random, these two details all hint at the current situation of Sunada's life: it's a mess, but I don't know what to do, and continue to move forward after scribbling.

She sang her voice, got herself drunk at the table, and slumped unconscious on the street. It was her only resistance and vent to life.

On a certain day off, Sunada made an appointment with her good friend Qingpu (Shen Eunjing) for a small gathering.

Qingpu's personality is completely opposite to that of Sunada. She is carefree, extroverted, and wears a pair of flip-flops. Her hair is always wet. When she talks about the rise, she lights a cigarette for herself.

Qingpu bought a second-hand car, and the two decided to go to Ibaraki, Sanda's hometown together. Because Sada plans to go back to his hometown to visit his grandmother, but the time has not yet been set, Kiyoko feels that he should leave immediately.

Sunada is a child who grew up in the countryside of Ibaraki. He lives with his grandmother and walks between the grassland and the farmhouse every day. They passed the lion head observatory in Ishioka and the bronze kappa statue in Ushikunuma, two of the most representative landmarks in Ibaraki.

Originally thinking of escaping from the high pressure of the city and returning to the countryside, soothing body and mind, and regulating myself, I would never be at ease when I returned to my hometown. There were still a lot of bad things waiting for Sand Field.

When the two arrived home, there was a strong wind and rain, and Sunada's mother happened to be not at home. They were all wet.

After entering the house, Shatian found that his father was obsessed with antiques on a whim. There were various animal specimens and a samurai sword in the house. His mother felt that he was not doing his job properly, and the two quarreled over it. On the contrary, Qingpu is very interested in these things.

There is also an elder brother who behaves strangely. The eldest is still at home. The mother is watching TV dramas while eating instant noodles. She doesn't want to cook, and the family doesn't like eating her cooking. Sunada opened the refrigerator and found that it was all refrigerated fast food.

Only then did Shatian realize that his hometown was not an imaginary physical therapy center, but another Shura field. She really didn't want to stay to listen to her mother's complaints and complaints. Seeing that the situation was not good, she hinted that Qingpu should leave.

But Qingpu wanted to stay, saying that it was raining heavily outside and he couldn't leave.

At night, Qingpu suddenly wanted to drink beer, but there was no one at home, so the two had to brave the rain to go to the nearest pub.

The taverns in the country have everyone, greasy uncles with yellow mouths, and weird aunts with unruly demeanor. From home to the tavern, she felt uncomfortable no matter where she was. The longer she stayed, the more disgusted she would be. This is probably what Ibaraki looks like in the director's own memory.

Because of her mood, Sunada kept thinking about the sad past: seeing a truck running by and hitting a sparrow, she would remember that her mother once drove over a dog; she remembered that she raised a kitten when she was a child and was later caught by her father. Driven away.

Sunada has an intertwined love, hatred and helpless emotion for Ibaraki. Only Qingpu looks carefree and happy at all times, as if she should be the one born in Ibaraki.

The next day, Sunada went to the nursing home to visit her grandmother. Grandma recognized Sunada and said to her, "I'm trying very hard to live, but I don't know the meaning of trying to live."

Having said that, when Sunada said to her grandma, "I'll get some water and put the flowers in." Grandma showed an expression of expectation again, and even rubbed her hands. Such a moment is the meaning of trying to live.

When grandma sees Sha Tian taking out the DV, she will subconsciously compare a scissor hand to the camera. Sunada took the private money that grandma secretly gave her, and both of them smiled happily.

The director said that this segment is the export of the whole film, and some loose and natural movements can carry the most intimate and delicate emotions and replace the voice of the character.

The audience heard the love and care that Sunada did not say from beginning to end. She looks like a child only in front of her grandma.

When Shatian and Qingpu were about to leave, the camera once again focused on Shatian's shoes. Mother asked her to wipe the mud from her shoes before leaving, but she said that she didn’t need it...

▼

Suntian and Qingpu drove on the road during the blue hour, and they seemed to be a bit happier than when they first arrived.

Through the rear window of the car, Sunada not only saw the clear blue sky, the scenery of the countryside, but also saw herself as a child again.

Spinning and jumping, a little girl danced lightly on the ridge, waving goodbye to herself when she couldn't tell whether it was the blue hour of the morning or the evening.

Now and in childhood, the montage of Sunada and the girl has repeatedly appeared in the movie, and the sound effects of naughty variety shows have been added, which not only expresses the innocence of Sunada’s childhood, but also shows that there is still a childishness in the heart of Sunada. soul. It's just that the urban life of being driven back and returning makes her have to wear a mask every day to hide herself under a bizarre mask.

At this time the most exciting part of the movie begins. In the last three minutes, the turning point occurred.

The "BlueHour" (BlueHour), which appears repeatedly in the movie, appears twice in a day. It refers to the short period of time before sunrise and after sunset. The sky will show the highest density of blue, which is often indistinguishable. Whether Qing is early in the morning or in the evening, it is also a moment when only the silhouette of the person facing each other can be recognized but the expression cannot be seen.

The blue hour is exactly the psychological state of Sha Tian's confusion and contradiction, just like the stage in her life when she can't find her own position. Busy every day, I don't know where I am, and I am at a loss and helpless.

With the help of this image throughout the film, the last ten seconds of the film is a reversal similar to the [fight club] style: Sanda turned to look at Qingpu in the driver's seat, and found that the person was himself.

Then, the movie flashed back many clips of the two people together before, allowing the audience to quickly recall and understand that Qingpu is just a friend imagined by Sada, a friend who is completely opposite to his own personality, but actually another oppressed self.

In the last shot of the movie, we can see that there is only Sanda in the car.

Brainburning is not the purpose of this reversal, but reconciliation is.

The director has projected the most innocent and innocent side of Sunada on Qingpu. She is outspoken and cheerful, with a smile on her face all the time, and she is curious about Sanda's hometown Ibaraki. By her side, the uncomfortable nature of Sanda was even more highlighted.

Sandfield and Qingpu are like indistinguishable early morning and evening. Qingpu, who embraces everything enthusiastically, is the early morning, and the gloomy and resentful sandfield is the evening. But it's all blue hours, all on the same day, all the same person.

This sudden turning point has been foreshadowed in some previous scenes. The most obvious one is: in the picture book of Shatian when she was a child, the appearance of Qingpu was drawn. That is what she wanted to be but could not be.

Reconciliation and salvation cannot be completely dependent on external gifts. The scenery and emotions of the hometown sometimes do not necessarily work. On the contrary, mediation with self is the most effective. Let the present self and the forgotten self embark on a journey together, and run in the most sincere self between alienation and closeness.

Sometimes we are so weak that we can't accept ourselves, which is worth trying.

For the role of Sunada, Xia Fan, who is about the same age as her, understands this way: "When you were about 30 years old, UU reading www.uukanshu.com was a time when it was easy to shake? It was a time when you were troubled by various things. I think it’s mature enough, but in fact it’s the stage of ignorance, and that is the'blue hour' of life."

The combination of Sunada and Qingpu is the director himself. She said: "What I want to express is not pure happiness, but a feeling of shaking in my hometown and family, between adults and children. I like the tragedies and comedies hidden in daily life."

Those trivial, cute, dark, beautiful, and inseparable, all stayed in the summer countryside of Ibaraki that year, waiting to be discovered in the blue hour.

▼

Some people will call [Flying in the blue hour] the "live-action version" [the fairy tale of the years]. Although they are all reminiscent of childhood, far away from city life, and praising the scenery of the countryside, the themes of the two films are actually quite different.

Urban life has lost a lot of the protagonists Sada and Taeko, and their youthful dedication and innocence are also consumed. Taeko in [The Fairy Tale of the Years], recalling the past life, figured out the current problems, and found a balance between survival and ideals; while the sand field in [Flying in the Blue Time], the past life did not help To her, but to show her that life in the past was actually bad, even worse than it is now, so as to make her feel contented.

People hope to heal the present self in the past, but they forget that the past also had a more fragile and younger self, waiting to be redeemed by the present.

Although they are healing, only in different ways. Waiting for the scab to fall off naturally is a kind of healing; to remove the scab bravely is also a kind of healing.

The article was first published on WeChat public account to watch movies and magazines

Please contact us by private letter for reprinting. Unauthorized reprinting will be regarded as infringement by us