I think from the appearance of the scene, he is the son of a prostitute, the identity of the embarrassing, looked down upon, is the origin of the abnormal he has more than others a little finger, is the body of the abnormal, and then his mother directly cut off his extra fingers, this "broken", began in the body, spread to the sex of the cognition, and ended in the soul of the madness. The "brokenness" begins in the body, spreads to gender recognition, and ends in the madness of the soul.
"Farewell My Concubine," the best Chinese movie in my heart, is not one of them.
The first time I saw it, I believe that no one can resist the magic of Cheng Dieyi, who is "not crazy, not alive", as well as my brother, Leslie Cheung, who is stunning.
But after two or three viewings, you'll realize that this is not the only reason it's a classic, and not even the most important one.
What's the most important thing?
It's its "broken beauty."
This brokenness is not just the lives of Cheng Dieyi and Duan Xiaolou, which were shattered by the times, but moreover, it's the sigh of relief that you feel when you think of it, even after you've seen it for a long, long time.
01Cheng Dieyi is the soul of the whole movie, and the most dazzling glass that shatters.
From the moment he appeared on the scene, he was not "normal".
He is the son of a prostitute, an embarrassment, a despised, an anomaly of origin.
He was physically abnormal because he had one more pinky than everyone else.
Then his mother cut off his extra finger, and his "brokenness" began.
This "brokenness" begins in the body, spreads to gender perception, and ends in the madness of the soul.
When it comes to the transformation of gender perception, we can't leave out the scene of "Sifan".
When reading "Sifan", he insisted on reading "I am a woman, not a man" as "I am a man, not a woman".
No matter how much the master asked him to repeat it or how much he beat him, he always mispronounced it.
Is it because he can't remember? Of course not.
He rejected the idea of being a "woman of honor" from the bottom of his heart.
Then, he stabbed him in the mouth with a pipe, smoothing out his tongue and helping him to get rid of it at the same time.
After that, he began to recognize himself as a "female e".
And what really turned his perception of gender upside down was Eunuch Zhang's aggression.
After that, he was no longer a man.
Later, with the companionship of his senior brother, the king, he slowly entered the realm of Yu Ji, human drama is not different, male and female together.
Cheng Dieyi put all her feelings on Duan Xiaolou, wanting to be with him for the rest of her life.
Only regrettably, Yuji became the real Yu Ji, but Ba Wang was the fake Ba Wang.
After getting off the stage and removing his makeup, Duan Xiaolou is a normal man who wants to drink flowery wine, marry his daughter-in-law, and have children.
It is also destined that Cheng Dieyi's self-constructed world will slowly collapse.
02Because of Juxian's intervention, Cheng Dieyi lost Duan Xiaolou step by step, and their relationship deteriorated step by step.
On the night of Xiaolou's betrothal to Juxian, Cheng Dieyi became "confidantes" with Master Yuan in exchange for Eunuch Zhang's sword.
Duan Xiaolou was envious when he saw the sword for the first time at Eunuch Zhang's house.
At that time, Cheng Dieyi, who was still a little bean, promised that she would definitely give this sword to her senior brother in the future.
Since then, giving away the sword has been a matter of great concern to him.
But when he did get the sword, Duan Xiaolou had long forgotten all about it.
Looking at his senior brother, who was soon to be newly married and cavorting, Cheng Dieyi's inner desolation could be imagined.
Disappointed, he said to Duan Xiaolou: "From now on, you sing your song, I sing mine."
But just as he was indistinguishable from other people's theater, it was equally difficult for him to pull away from his feelings for Duan Xiaolou.
So when the Japanese arrested Duan Xiaolou, he went to sing for the Japanese in order to save his life, thus falling into the stigma of a "traitor".
But his painstaking efforts were not accepted by Xiaolou, who spat in his face when Cheng Dieyi was happy for his safety.
After that, Duan Xiaolou listens to Ju Xian's advice and stops singing opera.
Cheng Dieyi, on the other hand, contracted a big smoking habit and sank alone.
Whether it's Farewell My Concubine or Farewell My Concubine, they can't be complete without either one.
After the victory of the war, Cheng Dieyi was arrested for having sung for the Japanese.
When Yuan Siwei takes care of everything for him, as long as Cheng Dieyi admits in court that the Japanese beat him up and that he was forced to do it, everything can pass peacefully.
But he refused to lie, not only affirming that the Japanese had not beaten him, but also saying, "If Aoki had lived, the Beijing Opera would have spread to the country of Japan long ago." At this point, he had already entered the life of the theater, and long ago ceased to be a man theater can not be explained.
He took the fate of the Beijing Opera and linked it to himself.
Duan Xiaolou once said to Cheng Dieyi:
"Dieyi, you're really crazy, you can't live!
But if you're crazy about living, how can we live in this world, in this world of mortals?"
But Dieyi didn't understand such words, so he continued to go crazy on this earth.
In the movement after the founding of new China, when Duan Xiaolou had already realized the time to accept the study and reform, Dieyi did not feel the change of the outside world at all.
Or even if he felt it, he refused to accept it and compromise.
In the process of being pressurized again and again, he burned his costume and even fell into a state of madness to expose Duan Xiaolou and Juxian, thus indirectly leading to Juxian's death.
But, Cheng Dieyi's exposé of Duan Xiaolou cannot be equated with Duan Xiaolou's exposé of Cheng Dieyi.
Duan Xiaolou's revelation was conscious even if it was forced, while Cheng Dieyi's revelation was more like a revenge, a revenge on Ju Xian for stealing Duan Xiaolou.
Under the stimulation of Duan Xiaolou, he poured out his resentment towards Ju Xian, completely unaware of what his words would result in.
As a result, Ju Xian died.
When the storm passed, the earth had changed its wind and moon, and the era belonging to the overlord and Yu Ji had ended.
The new world is not Cheng Dieyi's world.
If he cannot **** with the times, his fate can only be destruction.
Like a piece of glass, it is either whole or broken, there is no middle ground.
So, in the end, he chose to commit suicide, dying on stage and in the theater.
It was his destined fate.
03Cheng Dieyi's brokenness was because he was too deep into the play, while Duan Xiaolou's brokenness was because he was not in the play nor complete.
Compared to Cheng Dieyi, Duan Xiaolou is much more flexible and sensible.
He cared for Cheng Dieyi and was the greatest warmth she received when she was ostracized.
But this concern is the friendship between master and brother, and nothing more.
It is precisely for this reason that the sadness of Cheng Dieyi is even more evident.
He drinks flowery wine, marries a wife, and lives the normal life of a man.
He has his own bottom line.
When the Japanese came in, he refused to sing for the Japanese.
When Cheng Dieyi was embarrassed by Nationalist soldiers, he stood up for himself.
At the same time, he has his own compromises.
For the sake of a peaceful life, he once gave up singing opera and led a life of cricket fighting and watermelon selling.
He could also lie in court to save Cheng Dieyi.
In political campaigns, he was even more submissive to the majority.
These are all choices that Cheng Dieyi would never make.
But would you blame him?
If you look closely, you'll see that there was a certain persistence on his part when he was initially put on trial.
But in the day-to-day torture, his defenses all crumbled, and eventually evolved into the near-mad revelations about Cheng Dieyi and Ju Xian in the trial court.
At this point, he is completely wrapped up in the times and can't help himself.
When he first exposed Cheng Dieyi, he was clearly in a difficult position.
But after the first words were uttered, under fear and group pressure, the words of his accusation came out like a dike-breaking flood, unable to hit the pause button.
04Reviewing the growth of Cheng Dieyi and Duan Xiaolou, if Cheng Dieyi is the embodiment of idealism, then Duan Xiaolou is the embodiment of realism.
Cheng Dieyi sticks to herself and stays true to herself.
Duan Xiaolou, on the other hand, bears the imprint of each era.
As for Juxian, and Xiao Si, who was adopted by Cheng Dieyi and then bitten back by him, they are also minor characters held hostage in their times.
They are another facet of the Duan Xiaolou-type characters.
Whether they are wrong or right, it is not up to them.
When a person lives as Duan Xiaolou, he himself is already broken because he cannot be his complete self.
This brokenness is not only the subjective will of the individual, but also the birth of the times
Just like Xiao Si, who joined the "revolutionary tide", but at the same time, he also showed his greed for the clothes that Master Yuan gave to Cheng Dieyi.
His choice is not pure.
Duan Xiaolou and Cheng Dieyi are different choices in life: either they would rather be broken or change with the times.
In reality, I don't know a lot of people want to be a piece of jade, but unfortunately, not many people can withstand the reality of a thousand hammers, fire burning body.
This is also why when talking about Cheng Dieyi, we in addition to marveling at his disguise, marveling at his madness, but can not be more than a sigh.
Because we all know that some people are destined for the world and destined for destruction.
Even if his life is admired and marveled at, we dare not emulate it.
So the era and "love" are not the core of "Farewell My Concubine," and Cheng Dieyi, who is "not crazy, not alive," is just a shell for its expression.
It is not just about the history of a certain era, an unspeakable comradeship, but also about life.
We can get our own interpretations from it, and see the world as it is.
That's its enduring appeal.