"Chang'an 30,000 Miles" has a Douban score of 8.2. The film uses a narrative strategy that intersects fiction and reality, diverse and three-dimensional characters, and an aesthetic style full of Tang style to write the epic of the rise and fall of the Tang Dynasty. Describes the emotions of Chang'an thousands of miles away.
The sense of intersection of fiction and reality in "Thirty Thousand Miles from Chang'an" mainly comes from its unique narrative perspective of memories. The film adopts a dual-male narrative mode and uses the words of Gao Shi in his later years to trace back the lives of him and Li Bai, and uses their friendship as an opportunity to elaborate on the history of the Tang Dynasty from prosperity to decline.
The third-person narrative perspective gives the film an alienating effect. The audience watched the history and people of the Tang Dynasty from a bystander perspective, wrote legendary epics for the Tang Dynasty, and wrote legendary poems for Li Bai. As a narrator, Gao Shi is pragmatic and "down-to-earth". He does not talk about heavenly palaces, gods, and Taoism like Li Bai, but tries his best to describe things that are real and substantive. Therefore, the film highlights the importance of narrative space.
From a micro perspective, the film uses repetitive narrative techniques to present the same space in different situations multiple times, showing the historical process of the rise and fall of the Tang Dynasty and the ups and downs of the characters' emotions. From a macro perspective, the film creates a dual narrative space where memories and reality coexist, integrating narrative time and narrative space, thus outlining the flow curve of time and painting a colorful picture of history.
During this period, the tension between yin and yang in the prosperous age of Chang'an converged into a narrative thread, showing that the decline of the prosperous Tang Dynasty was closely related to the factionalism of the clans, the lack of power among the prime ministers, and the loss of talents. The film does not show cause and effect, but it is full of logic, which seems unexpected but actually makes sense.
The main characters of "Thirty Thousand Miles from Chang'an"
1. Gao Shi
From the perspective of Gao Shi in his later years, from the prosperous age of Kaiyuan to the few years after the outbreak of the Anshi Rebellion Gao Shi returned to Liangyuan three times, visited the Yellow Crane Tower three times, entered Chang'an three times, and visited Yangzhou twice. Each visit and departure witnessed the turning point of each person's life, and also highlighted the transition from prosperity to decline in the Tang Dynasty. history. Gao and Li met and separated several times, showing the two lives of a pair of friends.
2. Li Bai
As the most popular "face person" in the Tang Dynasty, Li Bai has been the spokesperson of romanticism and idealism from ancient times to the present. Li Bai also had earth-shaking changes in his image before and after the film. At first, the dashing young man spent money like water, but he became paunchy due to drinking, and finally became a white-haired prisoner, which is sad. However, even though the outside is constantly changing, Li Bai remains the same on the inside.
3. Du Fu
The young Du Fu and Gao Shi met for the first time in Prince Qi's Mansion. The young Du Fu had a lively and naughty personality. He said, "I like writing poems, but everyone can write poets." , in sharp contrast to the introverted Gao Shi. Many years later, the two met again in Chang'an. The young Du Fu greeted Gao Shi warmly, his face full of the unique vitality of young people. When Li Bai was reciting "Let's Enter the Wine" under the moonlight, holding a wine pot in his hand, Du Fu and Gao Shi sat on the floor. Du Fu listened intently and was called Li Bai's "number one fan".