? Where is the peace of mind in rural areas - also said about the movie "Mortise and Tenon"
Xuan Chuang
Under the organization of the unit, I finally watched it for a long time. movie. There are two reasons for looking forward to it: the director Gan Xiaoer is a graduate of our school; I have seen several of his films, and the themes are always from the grassroots. The shots are calm and the techniques are sincere, which makes me feel friendly as a rural person.
I read a few short reviews on Douban before. One of them compared the two old people in "Mortise and Tenon" with "A Hundred Birds Pay Attention to the Phoenix". The perspective is plain and unique. I like it. Most of the rest use the film's promotional language, such as "The film uses the essence of traditional ancient architectural culture - mortise and tenon joints to compare the relationship between tradition and modernity, East and West, people and people, people and families, and people and society." It is solemn and comprehensive, but it is far less dedicated and in-depth than another sentence: "The fitting of tenons and tenons repairs not only the physical building, but also the spiritual home." It is also more able to restore the "fragments" mentioned by the former (just like the damaged Fragments of ancient buildings) were thrown into one place.
I have to say that this is a movie where you can see the sincerity and feel the emotions. From my unprofessional point of view, it may be a bit academic, and some lines may be a bit stiff, but it has an awareness of the issues of the times, a realistic concern for different classes, and a typical meaning for change.
? Where is Xiangguan?
? Yunji Mountain in Shaoguan, Guangdong is known as the "Shangri-La" of Guangzhou. It is located in the subtropical zone, but has distinct four-season scenery. You can also see Rare snow. Whether it is coniferous pines, tall broad-leaved catalpa trees, or even red maples unique to the north, they can all grow vigorously and vigorously here. Chen Wenyuan, an ancient building restoration designer, originally undertook the ancient village project here and worked as the chief engineer for the boss Mr. Luo. Unexpectedly, he met his old father who was escorting the ancestral hall to be relocated. So he originally wanted to resign and return to his hometown, but decided to stay and rebuild the ancestral temple. The story begins and questions follow one after another. ?
Chen Wenyuan asked his father: "What does it mean if the ancestral hall is not in the hometown?" So where is the hometown? Is Chen Wenyuan's so-called hometown, Quanzhou, Fujian, the original location of the ancestral hall? His father, Chen Shouzhuo, was proud of his ancestors who moved from Yingchuan, Xuchang. According to logical reasoning, Xuchang Yingchuan may not be the original location of the ancestral hall. Going back further, there may be another location in the more ancient Xiangguan.
Chen Wenyuan’s memory of home is most concentratedly reflected in his mother Han Mei. A recurring scene in the film is: his mother holding his hand and walking on the mountain road; her mother carrying him on her back and teaching him over and over again the four words "Yingchuan Shize" on the plaque of the family ancestral hall. And there is almost no trace of the streets and lanes of his hometown - so, where is the foundation of the hometown that Chen Wenyuan wants to return to after resigning? The aerial scenery at the beginning and end of the film is so beautiful, with lush trees and quaint villages, but how can it be connected with the home Chen wants to go to? Is it just because of the care for the plaque, just because of the memory of being naughty and tied to the pillar of the ancestral hall when I was a child, just because of my father's admonition that "to be filial is to do one's best, to be loyal to one's life"?
If the ancestral hall is not bought and relocated, it will not be saved and will be bulldozed. Chen Shouzhuo has no choice but to escort him thousands of miles away and personally participate in the reconstruction in another place. With his persistence (which is really touching), the ancestral temple was established in accordance with ancient laws. So, can a ancestral temple that has been separated from its original geographical location, far away from the breath of the hometown and clan, without the "face" of the plaque, with a complete main body but unknown wood carvings, still a symbol of a complete home?
Therefore, the sentence "I am back home, where is my home" in Chen Shouzhuo's letter is not just a casual recitation, but is actually a dilemma faced by his father, his son and the villagers in general!
As for his grandson Chen Jize, his home is no longer Quanzhou, let alone Shaoguan, but Guangzhou.
You see, the home of three generations has cared about history and reality, but it has been ruthlessly cut off by time and space, impacted by the times, and cannot maintain its inherent dignity and integrity.
?
He Da, a native calligrapher
If it were not for the camera, few of us would have imagined that Chen Shouzhuo, with his stooped body, vicissitudes of face and dull expression, could calligraphy so freely and his writing style was so elegant. In the whole film, I think this is the most energetic place. "Hanging paper for a long time", "Paper is short but love is long", "Ten years of life and death are boundless", "Come back and come back", these kinds of written language are matched with beautiful regular script, coupled with the sincerity and kindness of the writer, they are consistent with the solemn elegance of ancient buildings. The continuous drizzle on the patio of Zuozhi makes people's eyes wet and moved by it. However, as mentioned above, when you know that your life is over and your home is ruined (or even unsafe), who can you write a hometown letter to?
Of course it is written to my son. Of course, I am just giving my final teachings, expectations and blessings. Chen Shouzhuo may not have known that although his son could be obedient and build a family temple, he may not always be able to adhere to the ancient laws, nor may he be able to do his best. When Chen Wenyuan was building his family temple, he was allowed to use simple methods to pour cement. How could he adhere to the ancient method in future projects? Even if he abides by the ancient method, I am afraid that the funds and the construction period will not allow him to continue to work hard. Moreover, when he has been dealing with Mr. Luo for a long time, he is in confusion and trying to resign and return to his hometown to find his spiritual home. How can he guarantee that? No confusion and frustration in the days to come? Can he find his spiritual home in his family letters? After burying his father, he hesitated, but still jumped into the car home and sat next to his son. Does this imply that he had retracted the idea of ??resigning and returned to his hometown, and returned to reality and the order of his small family? If so, how can he stick to tradition?
Write to that Mr. Chen? "The reputation of a family of rituals and music is high, and the world of poetry and books is shining." Even brothers with the same surname who recited the same family tree and claimed to be a family chose to ask for wages instead of sticking to it in the face of huge pressure to survive.
A few years later, how will Wenyuan communicate in writing with the grown-up Jize, whether in Chinese or English? Can the rapidly circulating emails, WeChat or more advanced quantum communications still count? Hometown book?
"The long sky and vast sky are full of hometown feelings." Thousands of years ago, Zhang Jiuling, a great scholar from Shaoguan, had no place to put his homesickness, so he could only "sit and watch Watson in sorrow". This full of thoughts, with the help of poems, is passed down to future generations. If it can be called an alternative family letter, the content conveyed in the film is also a kind of hometown letter.
? This heart can be at peace
Su Shi once said: This place where my heart is at peace is my hometown. It was also after he had exhausted the depression and complaints of being repeatedly relegated that he gradually became more romantic, carefree and open-minded, thus "feeling at ease in his hometown". After all, spiritual home is not only about family bloodline, but also about self-finding and acceptance.
In the film, Chen Shouzhuo was extremely uneasy for a time. He was worried about the fate of his ancestral hall and the quality of the reconstruction. He even got angry when his son asked about the plaque. But he knew that his end was not far away, and when he returned home quietly, he seemed to have calmed down. In his suicide note, he said that he wanted Jize to write his own story, which should have completed the forgiveness of himself and the times.
Chen Wenyuan was a bit nervous when he appeared on the stage. He is in the squeeze between his ideal (the ideal is also at a loss, he just feels something is wrong at the moment) and reality. He agreed to stay for the second phase of the project, which in a sense went against what he had thought at the time. However, he finally returned home with his wife and children, which seemed to imply that he had reconciled with his former self and his heart gradually became more stable.
Master Yang was offered as a master, and he felt at ease at first. When he saw Chen Shouzhuo's perseverance and perseverance, as well as the hardships and perseverance in the reconstruction process of the Chen family ancestral temple, he changed from arrogance to humility, and finally resigned from his position as a woodcarver, and bravely faced his shortcomings, which can be regarded as a kind of peace of mind. . Although Mr. Luo and Mr. Lin were concerned about cost, construction period and return, and had the snobbery typical of businessmen, they always made certain compromises at the insistence of Chen and his son, thereby avoiding greater conflicts. Although they were solving the dilemma, It can also be said that they seek peace of mind within their own scope.
Finally, let’s talk about Sula. This foreign name follows the footsteps of the West and modernization. She does not understand her husband’s choices, complains that they always do things without consulting her, and insists that her children go to bilingual schools. Almost everything from her lifestyle to her educational philosophy is incompatible with her husband, but when she asked her husband "how much" with a straight face, when she accompanied her husband and son to bury her father-in-law, and when she stopped urging her husband to leave the construction site, we can see that Some softness in her heart, some changes in her mood.
In the final analysis, a person's spiritual home is not only a physical yard, not only a group to which he belongs, but also the search, recognition and perfection of himself. It requires people to bravely realize their own self-worth while easing the tense relationship with the times and others. In this sense, hometown connection is the heart, and peace of mind is homecoming.
Just like the prototypes of the movie - Chen and his son, just like the movie director Gan Xiaoer, the former founded Dongshan Society and is dedicated to the restoration and reconstruction of ancient buildings, while the latter focuses on his own film practice and they met by chance. Working together, we photographed the large houses rising from the ground in Fujian, and at the same time, we each found our own position and determined our direction. Those who have the ability to control the direction of their lives and take care of reality in the process are lucky and blessed regardless of the objective results.
Pay tribute to Gan Xiaoer, pay tribute to Dongshan Society, and pay tribute to all those who respect the excellent traditional culture and stick to their original aspirations. ?
? July 6, 2019