Plain and sentimental tone, documentary style, focus on the intersection of national culture and modern consciousness.
"Birds of a Feather" is like a clear wind, blowing gently on the viewer without haste. It uses authentic live-action filming, rapid editing and camera work, and facetious characterizations to express concerns about the oboe's legacy, confusion about where traditional culture should go under the onslaught of foreign cultures, and the director's heartfelt sense of helplessness about a time that's rolling forward. The helplessness comes from the despondency of being gradually abandoned by the times.
The realistically photographed scenes are a perfect setting for the film. In terms of graphics, the movie is shot on location, with most of the outdoor scenes using natural light. This truly presents a landscape idyll-like environment, with golden wheat fields, turquoise lakes covered in reeds, fireflies dancing in the fields, and high-speed filming of swinging swings, the village is real and beautiful under the director's lens, pulling the audience back to that picturesque era.
When the young man Tian Ming practiced sucking water at the lake, the blue water of the lake lifted up a small young man, which is the "harmony between heaven and man" in the basic spirit of Chinese culture. While using the beauty of the setting sun in the transition, it is also a metaphor for the future of Master Jiao San and the suona.
The director's picturesque shots contain a profound philosophy. In fact, in the live-action footage, the audience not only felt the beauty of the village, but also the pure heart of the director outside the camera. Because the director became a filmmaker under the traditional movie education, his works are neat and calm. But nowadays, big, flashy and exaggerated commercial movies are flooding the screen. The director is not only worried about the legacy of the suona, but also about the future of the movie. The director uses a lot of real-life shooting to record the beauty of the countryside, but also to record his pure heart of making movies, which is plain and true but more touching. The story is told in such a realistic way, with real emotions coming out of the camera.