Those years, such a beautiful time, are as rough and profound as the handwriting engraved on the desk, as long as a summer afternoon, as warm as every heavy rain, and like a girl who has chased it, it will last forever in memory. We are always happy to reminisce about that time because we love ourselves so much in that time. For such a precious and beautiful thing, we are reluctant to let it be buried in the depths of our memory, and we always have to take it out from time to time for aftertaste.
For some of them, a movie is their dream, and a movie dedicated to their youth is a dream within a dream. Using one beautiful dream to interpret another, the thing itself is as dreamy as youth in memory. And as said in the lines of "Those Years", the one who finally realizes his dream is not the one with the most talent, but the one who insists on doing it, which is Jiu Dao himself.
In fact, the nine knives for writing novels are obviously missing seven knives when filming. He made almost all the mistakes a new director can make, the rhythm is sporadic, the technique is rough, and the hero is a projected and glorified version of himself. The worst part is obvious: it's too personal.
To be fair, Nine Knives' mastery of cinematic technique in his feature-length debut is spotty, a testament to his brilliance in this area. Although there are rookie behaviors such as rough editing, cheesy soundtracks, and even flashbacks at the end, there are also settings that are full of beginners' ingenuity, such as money-counting animations, and Shen Jiayi's key dialogue silencing. But the nine knives show their ability to move people in some details, such as the setting of the two heavy rains, the blue ink behind the scenes, the apple as a clue and the shot scheduling of the wedding are all very cinematic. These detailed images are also the film's greatest charm to me.
Although the name is "In those years, the girl we chased together", in fact, people who have watched the film will feel that it is actually "the girl I chased with nine knives in those years". Although there are so many odd-shaped supporting boys, there is not a lot of pen and ink on them. But the only one who is really emotionally involved is the hero and heroine, and the brush and ink on the others appear cumbersome. The director seriously used the handsome version of himself and the goddess-like heroine, narcissistic and full of self-satisfaction, to perfectly recall and rebuild his youth. If youth needs souvenirs, nine knives gave him the best.
The problem is, this film is too nine knives. Not only in the style of nine knives, which is small, fresh and heavy in taste (this is my biggest feeling when reading his novels), but the story and the emotions the director pours into it are 100% dedicated to himself: dedicated to himself Shen Jiayi, her own youth. The audience, as a bystander, must endure his bad taste in the narrative that is divorced from our life experience (the mainland release version deleted the masturbation scene, and the sacrifice is probably only the continuity of the narrative and some vulgar jokes), and must endure his projections. The unrestrained beautification of his hero must endure his narcissistic summary of his youth.
Of course, if you want, you can also find a sense of substitution. The handsome male protagonist is equally beneficial to the director and the audience, and the goddess-like heroine is, in my opinion, the biggest foundation for the commercial success of the film. Although the shooting method of Nine Swords is too selfish, it does not affect the fit with the audience's memory in some details, which is why the film has moved so many people.
In my opinion, the first reason for the topicality and praise of this film is the originality of the style: the combination of small freshness and youthful comedy can be said to be the first, and it is also the true state of youth as I understand it, which is very valuable. Secondly, the factor of fortune cannot be ruled out. The gradual maturity of the Taiwanese film market and the pursuit of domestic and foreign films within and outside the industry have led to one or two films that are good but contain bubble factors every year. In fact, if "Blue Door" appeared in the past two years, I believe that the box office reputation will not lose "Those Years" too far.
The third and most valuable but most contradictory point is the director's feelings. This is of course understandable, because it is dedicated to our most precious youth, we can have no doubts about the sincerity of the nine knives - this is what Taiwan's pure love Xiaoqing lacked in the past. But such personal feelings will also make many people feel that they are too rude to themselves. The story of Nine Swords has such essential things as youthful blood and sadness, but as an audience, it seems that apart from the director incarnate actor, Like the rest of the boys, I can only sympathetically think this movie is about the youth of all of us.
Maybe I'm just jealous of Nine Swords, his youth has been engraved with a movie, like a model essay before everyone. While you appreciate it, you will also secretly reject following his routine.
After all, except for the same forms of light clouds, bright sunshine, girls in secret love, and lost beauty, everyone's youth is so unique. "Those Years" belongs to the nine knives, and the feelings are also nine knives, so let him keep it for himself.
In those years, we were all chasing girls, but not necessarily the same girl, she was our own Shen Jiayi. We have only our own memories, for us, that is the most precious.
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