Back to the age of seventeen: a familiar silhouette in the backlight

Bridgette 2021-11-11 08:01:14

Text / Su Fu

[Old Things] What

happened to student Mike may not be unfamiliar. He used to be famous on campus, but the choices made at important points in his life put life into a quandary, and there is no longer a well-known school , And there is no more enviable job. 25 years later, Mike is facing all the same crises as middle-aged men. Thinking back to the choices he made at the beginning, it is more of annoyance after losing his aura and helplessness in real life. No one knows what the future will be, so when the naked reality drives people crazy, they will have the fantasies of going back to the past. "Back to Seventeen" does not fall into the cliché of changing the past and rewriting the future. Only through adventures the protagonist returns When I was 17 years old, I was still living in the present. Although it seemed a bit unreasonable to kill a cleaner halfway to fish in troubled waters, it did make a lot of fabricated adventures barely come true.
In fact, Mike did not use today's knowledge to re-plan his teenage life as everyone expected. Returning to the age of 17 only made him confirm that the choice at that time was not rash, but deep and sensible. The adventure made him recognize himself again, learned to cherish, changed the lives of family members, and won their trust. Different from Mike's obsession, I think more because real life was frustrating at the beginning. Those dying souls are more heroic and short of breath. Looking into the picture of youth and talent like impressionism, it is exciting in retrospect.
Like movies of similar themes, the suspense of this film lies in the repetition of past events. On the basketball court that determines Mike's fate, how will he choose whether to continue the game to win the light, or to show his sincere love to the court. In fact, careful analysis shows that these two options are not contradictory, and there are even some suspicions due to small losses. Absurd goes to absurd. The reason why life is absurd is because of sensuality without thinking, and before being ready, I walked to the stall of time. Different worlds hung their curtains and looked so similar.

【Intersection】

The most experienced scene of the film is in court. Mike who rushed to claim that he had a letter from Scarlet's husband Michael O'Donnell. He begged to read this letter when he was about to be thrown out of the court for making trouble. With red eyes, he told the details of Scarlet when he first met Scarlet, her alma mater, her clothes, and he realized that if he tolerated himself as a passerby with her, it would feel like a death sentence until he heard her whisper. Love, until that ball, he felt unparalleled tranquility and relief in his heart, and he had the confidence and courage to fight the harshness of the world, because he was sure that they loved each other and possessed each other. It's a pity that he finally lost his way in the tedious life and became a loser. These desolate looks made him faceless and grumpy. He repented for those unwarranted anger and blame, and knew that all this was irreversible. , Even if he is totally unwilling to the choices she has made, perhaps letting her free is the fairest ending. Mike's eyes left the letter paper and looked affectionately at Scarlet, who was about to lose his wife in the name of law, even if she couldn't detect the truth in her young skin.
Scarlet has been staring at him in a daze, his eyes full of surprise, touch, and thought. At this moment, she seemed to travel through time and space, returning to the campus, back to the good old days, back to the love of romance, she once again looked at the familiar face in front of her, and also looked at herself in those passing days. The emotionless choices made in who is he? She forgot that she was in the courtroom and completely substituted the scenes described by Mike. She was thinking about it and recollecting it. She felt incredible, as if she was listening to the tragedy that happened in the unreachable future of that obsessed teenager. Her thoughts were switched in different time and space, and she had been captured by her own emotions. She could no longer judge who was right and who was wrong. I would like to be immersed in it to feel that the moment is already blank. So when the judge interrupted the moving silence, Scarlet couldn't help feeling a little at a loss.
She watched Mike leave with sorrow, and her heart was full of doubts. She asked the judge to postpone, and unexpectedly discovered that the so-called letter paper only listed some unrelated addresses. Only then did she realize that those sweet private memories were not recorded on paper. It comes from the heart of this young man, from his most real emotional world. She found the old photo album, found the hammock that had been repaired, and sat in the middle of the court where the scene was reappearing. Once again, she couldn't bear the emotional blowout and left the table in a panic.

The beauty of "Back to Seventeen" is that Mike did not deny himself, but by returning to the 17-year-old to experience campus life in different eras, he confirmed his choice and reaffirmed the power and value of his beliefs. The film abandons the so-called self-salvation and crisis-saving routines, but continuously superimposes and strengthens the same judgment. This kind of obsession erupts with amazing emotional power and is more real, which wins the recognition of the audience. To be sure, many things are still the same. Denying oneself does not simply mean enlightenment and repentance. It also confirms the hypocrisy and fickleness of human nature. In contrast to reality, the perishable time is the most memorable, but also more beautiful and precious because of its absurdity and flaws. The past is a scene that flashes when it is mediocre. It is a familiar melody in impermanence. The past is a feeling, rather than arguing or slandering with oneself.
Thinking of this, I was a little bit emotional.
This year I have been working, but I feel that I have been far away from some identities for a long time, and I suddenly feel at a loss and panic. Later, there were few items left. The closer the objects passed away, the more blurred the impression, which was the reason for the near blind spots. The sights so long as they have passed the teenage years are vividly remembered. At the end of the film, some photos of the main actors and staff when they were young are shown, which is quite a reflection of the film. In life, when we open photo albums, guestbooks, or any traceable items, there will always be a familiar taste, like streets, leaves, and paper. A young and frivolous song, a piece of clothing that seems familiar, a book pretending to be deep, a few lines of scribbled or beautiful handwriting, which article is intriguing, a figure passing by, one paragraph has gone through thousands of times. In the old alley, all the scenes that left an impression of that era have a peculiar taste, mixing together, turning into an impulse.
Walking on the road like this, I often imagine that the noise of the city has become a kind of silence.
Thinking of this, I was a little bit emotional.

2009.07.11 Su Fang, Beijing


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17 Again quotes

  • Principal Jane Masterson: You can plunder my dungeon anytime.

    Ned Freedman: I'll bring my longbow.

  • Ned Freedman: It's a classic transformation story. Are you now or have you ever been a Norse God, Vampire, or Time Traveling Cyborg?

    Mike O' Donnell: I have know you since what, first grade? I think that maybe I would have told you!

    Ned Freedman: Vampire wouldn't tell, Cyborg wouldn't know.