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Friday, 28 February 2020

《阳光普照》: A sun, A son.

个人比较喜欢叙事性的电影或电视剧。喜欢娓娓道来的感觉,也喜欢细细品味电影隐晦的细节,可能这就是为什么《小丑》没有很合我的心意,因为不喜欢太用力或刻意地渲染情绪。

Poster of film "A sun" in 2019.jpg

《阳光普照》是部难得一见的好作品,在《第56届金马奖》横扫6个大奖,分别为最佳男主角、最佳男配角、最佳导演、最佳剪辑、最佳剧情、最佳剧情长片和观众票选最佳影片。这部电影片长155分钟(2小时35分钟),但不令观众觉得冗长或注水。有些在颁奖典礼夺取无数奖项的电影会有曲高和寡的诟病,但《阳光普照》不是。这部电影以一个少年犯事的案子开头,从中探讨复杂的家庭关系,其剧情反映许多东方家庭(其实是华人!)的真实情况,平淡却饶富含义。电影的剪辑和镜头运用制造出令人深感同受的氛围,让观众比较地轻易代入电影主角的情感并融入电影。

要数人世间最复杂的莫过于人心,人与人之间的感情更是令人琢磨不透,尤其是家人。家是社会结构中及其重要的组成元素,而东方社会相对于西方社会更注重“家”,且相信家是一辈子的关系。孝,是儒教传统提倡的美德,但随着时代变化、个人主义崛起,究竟孩子要怎样做才算是孝顺父母?电影中的大儿子阿豪(由帅气又阳光的许广汉饰演!)大概就是我们父母口中老是嘉许的“邻家孩子”,是典型的好儿子,好到没有考上第一志愿的医学系都要复读重考。他的爸爸阿文,只认自己有阿豪一个儿子,而对“不孝”爱惹事的小儿子阿豪漠不关心。

电影的转折点在于哥哥阿豪自杀,我喜欢电影对这段的处理方式,没有过度煽情好儿子的死亡、没有指责爸爸阿文的教育方式、也没有苛责哥哥阿豪的选择。就连哥哥阿豪的死因,也没有刻意解释。为什么要去自以为是地下定论,对于他人的忧郁和自杀做出各种判断,尤其是一些我们从未在现实生活中接触过的人?人是如此地复杂,复杂到我们有时自己也不清楚自己在想什么,那为何我们因对他人的片面理解而妄下断语?人若找到知己实为幸运,但若旁人不理解,何苦指责,最重要是愿意去理解和倾听。




”陈先生,不好意思这么晚了,楼下有个男生,很像你家大儿子,你要不要下来看一下?“

电影中对于哥哥阿豪的死交代的地方有几处,一是哥哥阿豪对司马光砸缸救人的故事另类的见解,二是他讯息好朋友自己参观动物园后的观感,三是哥哥阿豪对于“太阳是最公平”的理论。

“这个世界,最公平的是太阳,不论维度高低,白天与黑夜各占一半,妈妈、弟弟、动物园的动物,还有司马光,都有一些阴暗的角度可以躲,可是我没有。我没有水缸,没有暗处,只有阳光,24小时从不间断,明亮温暖,阳光普照。

这句台词就是这部电影的名字来源。哥哥阿豪被阳光晒伤,弟弟阿和堕于阴影,而爸爸阿文真的只有一个儿子了。

电影的后半段描述了阿豪自杀后家里每个人的细腻的变化。弟弟阿和洗心革面,表现良好,提前出狱,过后努力工作养活家人。爸爸阿文对于这个小儿子的态度很是别扭,像极了我们家那个不擅长表达情感的爸爸。我个人很钦佩片中的妈妈阿琴,她在弟弟阿文闯祸时努力地帮儿子说情,在他入狱后也没有放弃过关心儿子并一直探访在狱中的儿子。对于阿和搞大未成年少女小玉的肚子,她没有泼妇骂街或责问小玉是否是在骗他们,也没有指责阿和年少无知,只是告诉小玉的阿姨:

Image result for 阳光普照 电影
“我现在能做的,只是把小玉留在我的身边,一直到她把孩子生下来。”

她帮她的儿子所闯下的祸负起了责任,还对小玉很好,教她如何干活理发。在阿和出狱后,她也一直为阿和和小玉打点着想。也许哥哥阿豪的成熟和善良,是被妈妈的坚强和牺牲所影响的吧。但这位好妈妈也是搞不明白,为什么那么好的大儿子要自杀。

电影的高潮是片头和弟弟阿和一起砍人的“兄弟”菜头出狱后处处找阿和麻烦,真所谓一个粤语黑社会电影常出现的一句台词“出来行,预了要还”。菜头一直觉得当年自己是为了义气和帮兄弟出头才砍人,结果自己的好兄弟不讲义气把责任全部甩锅给他,甚至在自己的家人需要帮助去找阿文求助时阿文没有伸出援手,导致自己唯一的亲人被送入了安养院。而称兄道弟的阿文在出狱后完全没有看望过他。电影对于菜头这个“反派”的背景设定让角色更为饱满,不限于十恶不赦的“坏人”的框架。如果今天你是他,你能不恨阿和一家吗?

Image result for 阳光普照 电影

看到这里我就很好奇电影打算怎样处理菜头这个“大麻烦”,结果竟然是死。唯有菜头的死,才是让这家人对过去的阴影来个彻底的解脱。而杀死菜头的,竟然是“只是驾训班的教练”的爸爸阿文。电影以爸爸阿文的独白来交代菜头的死因,巧妙的地方在于这段独白是因为妈妈阿琴苛责爸爸没有帮过小儿子任何的忙而开始的。可悲的是,现有的法律或社会制度似乎无法保护这家人,所以杀死菜头才能有效地移除阻挡弟弟阿文开启新的人生的绊脚石。

Image result for 阳光普照 剧照
“你帮过他吗?你帮了他吗?”

总结来说,虽然我很认同电影中映射没有人能真正地懂另一个人,但我还是相信要多沟通,多花时间陪伴彼此,感情是一点一滴地建立起来的。我们笨拙的言语和行为也许会伤害爱我们的人,但哪段感情是没有泪水和伤害呢?我们都曾犯过错,也受过伤,才能成为彼此的阳光。多些包容和设身处地的体谅,世界,也许会好起来。

另外,我也看了K猫的讲解,差点就泪崩了,文案写得太好了!

Tuesday, 25 February 2020

Sodagreen is ..... back?

Couldn't believe time just slipped by so quickly! Three years ago, my favourite music band Sodagreen (蘇打綠)emerged as the biggest winner at Golden Melody Award with the album "Winter Endless" (冬未了). This album marks a perfect end of the band's Project Vivaldi, which aims to create four concept albums based on Vivaldi: The Four Seasons.

After clinching the most awards, they dropped a bomb with an unexpected announcement that they are going to take a three-year break! Shocked, yet I am supportive towards the idea of taking a break to pursue their personal career and interest. Some of the members are married and I believe it's important to spend time with their family. The break would be good for the band to review their past and contemplate their future path. I am more concerned with their busy schedule which would leave them less time to concentrate on their productions and compromise the quality of music.

Despite being supportive towards their decisions, many fans expressed their worry on the possibility of them regrouping after three years as promised. Speculations on their disbandment arose when the lead singer of the band went solo and gained more fame in the mainland. I wasn't very convinced by their promise to reunion because going solo would definitely generate more ROI, and different degree of improvement during the hiatus might make some members unable to keep up with the band's progress.

I don't wish to see my favourite band ended up like my another ultimate favourite girl group, Girls' Generation. I still believe that disbandment at a good timing would create a legacy forever, but department of Jessica and their 10th anniversary album were so upsetting. If Sodagreen decides to disband at the peak of their career, I won't be disappointed if their upcoming albums fail to meet my expectations.

After patiently waiting for three years, we didn't manage to get any announcement on a confirmed date about their comeback, but it was reported that the band was caught in copyright infringement scandal. Their former mentor and record label boss, whom they always called "the father of Sodagreen", sued the main singer. Similar copyright infringement case has happened to famous Chinese female singer, G.E.M.

As a layman, I couldn't judge which party is guilty. I just hope to watch my favourite singer performing the songs which are written and composed by them. Sad to see that the band's long and close relationship with their boss ended on bad terms. Although the band reassured that the case court won't affect their comeback plan, but I didn't expect it to happen so soon.

The band made a surprise appearance at the main singer's solo concert at Taipei! They performed their newly composed song "Tomorrow will be fine"! I couldn't manage to find a full video of their performance and talking session as the band has been very strict on banning video recording during concert.

Can y'all release an official video of the performance plssssssssssss

Things are getting more surreal after they released an official music video of their new song at YouTube! I love the method used by the director in the video to show the strong and authentic bond of the band, most importantly, their love towards music. Although the song isn't my cup of tea, but I'm so excited for their upcoming music releases!



And there have been rumors about Girls' Generation's comeback too? How likely it is to have my two favorite bands/groups to come back in the same year?

Something to look forward but afraid to be disappointed.

P.S.
I'm absolutely pessimistic about tomorrow will be better, but deep inside I'm hoping for it. 

Monday, 24 February 2020

Time to study or watch drama?

I grew up watching Hong Kong TV dramas produced by TVB (Television Broadcasts Limited). Watching TVB drama is my favorite past-time and also my platform to learn Cantonese. However, alongside with the decline in the quality of TVB productions with times, my love towards Hong Kong dramas slowly fades away. After the older generation of actors leaving TVB to work in Mainland or get married, I find the acting skills of the new leading actors extremely horrible! Besides, I get bored with the lack of creativity in the story plot of their drama.

"Our Unwinding Ethos"(十二传说)was recommended by my sister. She told me that the theme and story plot of the drama are very unique! I am always deeply sceptical about her choices of drama (and also songs, artists, fashion sense.... because we are so different! I still remember she played her favorite song repeatedly few years ago, which turned out to be my nightmare as that song was horrible!), so I wasn't persuaded by her to watch the drama.

Until few days ago, I decided to take a short break after my AAA mid term and watch a TVB drama! (Like there is no ATX mid term next week lol) The first few episodes of "The Forensic Heroes IV" (法证先锋IV)were highly anticipated but yet so disappointing! This disappointment is expected as TVB never fail to ruin any new sequel to a classical TVB series. However, there are big TVB fans like me who still hope that TVB could've proved us wrong.

This is when "Our Unwinding Ethos" appeared in my recommendation watch list. Recalling my sister's strong recommendation (and I am lazy to look for other drama), I decided to give it try, then it turned out that I get hooked on it immediately! I couldn't stop myself from watching the drama as the cliffhangers drive me crazy! 

My sister is correct about the uniqueness of the story plot of the drama. The theme of "Our Unwinding Ethos" is mystery, taking the audience to explore the 12 popular legends from Hong Kong. This resonates with its Chinese title, which could be directly translated into "The 12 Urban Legends". All the criminal cases that the leading characters encountered are very similar to the urban legends, which makes the cases more frightening to superstitious people. The people tend to believe the strange occurrences are related to ghosts. This is where the leading characters come in and explain the logic behind the odd happenings. In fact, these are the attempts by the culprits to conceal their crime and portray as paranormal events!

I am attracted by the key messages of the drama -- "urban legends connect the past and future" and "the hidden parts are more important than the revealed". It is believed that all the unexplained fantasies are concealing secrets that conflict with the value of past society, thus people use legends to beautify the unspoken. I love how the drama provides us a more logical and scientific perspective into the fantastical legends. Unlike the other TVB drams that always use the "TVB formula", the plot is totally unpredictable yet explainable. Each case takes around three to four episodes, and it moves quickly to another case, which makes whole drama more thrilling to watch. I am glad that the ending is good because TVB is notorious in ruining the ending of drama...

Another reason that makes "Our Unwinding Ethos" is the chemistry among the leading characters. Not a big fan of Rosina Lam (林夏薇), but I fall with love the character Professor Pan Duo Lai played by her. The name of the professor refers to the Pandora's box, which echos with the mystery of her identity perfectly! Kudos to the stylist, her dress up portrays the intellectuality and beauty of Professor Pan. Aside from being a smart professor, she acts like a little girl in front of her admirer, which makes the character more realistic and lovable. Her interaction with the other actors, namely Edwin Siu (萧正楠)and Jonathan Cheong (张颖康)are very natural and entertaining. I prefer them over the cast in "The Forensic Heroes IV". 

Now, time to face reality after a good drama. I am supposed to prepare for ATX mid term, which falls on upcoming Thursday. Let's don't talk about how many ATX classes have I skipped these few weeks. 

Hopefully it's going to be my last mid term in my degree, if I didn't fail.

Saturday, 15 February 2020

You can't have your cake and eat it too

I believe everyone has the freedom to choose the way they live and deal with people.

However, they should be the one bearing the consequences.

Every decision has its own downside. We could choose to take measures to mitigate the negative impacts if applicable.

But one shouldn't expect to gain anything without sacrificing something.

Life is somehow fair to everyone, isn't it?

Thursday, 6 February 2020

鼠年行大運 huat啊!

每次當要溫習功課準備考試時就很容易分心
會很想找人聊天 看insta 玩手機
剛剛看了K貓最新更新的影片
講述得了阿茲海默症後女主角的生活
我忽然也覺得好怕 怕有天自己的身體和腦袋不受控制
對於宿命,歲月和疾病往往有種無力感
所以就告訴自己有時間(明明就是懶惰讀書)就多更新!

今年鼠年算是很平靜 因為爸爸沒有亂發脾氣
雖然因為長胖了 年初一穿得不是很好看
加上來月經 睡遲了 大概梳洗打扮就出門了
去了寺廟簡單地禮拜 隨便吃了點齋菜
過年我要吃的是肉乾和餅乾 最不喜歡齋菜
拜訪了姨婆 他們真的老了
他們家還多了只貓 據說患了憂鬱症

可能那隻貓也被我爸嚇壞了吧

別再做情人 做隻貓 做隻狗 不做情人

幫我弟弟拍裝逼照

我胖了 嗚嗚

初二早早起床幫媽媽準備開年 
哇靠大概六點就煮好了 我媽越來越有效率了
今年真的特別有效率 去姨婆家拜年時
她的女兒們都還沒從娘家回來呢
姨婆也老了 搞不清我們在和她說什麼呢
只能說我媽應酬交際不行啊 二表姐又不在
還真的是尷尬到極點哈哈哈
三表姐很早就去了男友家 大舅過世了 家裡很冷清

和媽媽去喝茶 她很不愛拍照

一家人撈生
我記得第一次和他們撈生好像是和四舅舅一起的

初三是我家老弟生日 晚上我們一家人出去吃
弟弟喜歡Chatto 叫了三杯一下子就喝完了
爸爸去買Tealive 哇靠珍珠奶茶沒有珍珠
我去買 Domino's Pizza 用不到Grab discount有點生氣 還被我爸罵了 oops 剛好又肚子不舒服
話說我今年被允許上麻將桌啦
真的不喜歡我爸一直指指點點我

初四回來KL 還是很懶惰 什麼都不想做
初五晚上和中學同學聚會 被一個同學噁心到了
和他們打麻將 賭錢到很晚 大概四點半才到家 要死咯
初六本來很想讀書但是真的很沒有動力啊
半夜十二點才開始做ICS 因為第二天要去玩

初七去 Vincent家拜年 謝謝soon weng一早來載我
我們七點就到了Alex家 八點就到Seremban哈哈哈
還不錯開心 如果可以玩牌玩久點就好啦!
晚上回來走了很暗的路 幸好安全抵達 謝謝男友來載我

不錯吃
我們很giapsiap 九個人吃一桶哈哈

這個角度很醜啊
Aunt你的拍照技術有待加強哈哈哈
Aunt人很好 大家也玩得很開心

初八 如願以償喝到了我很懷念的紅酒湯 很幸福
也很喜歡男友媽媽給我的紅包 很美
我覺得我自己變了 我忽然希望以後給家人的紅包是美美的 讓他們感受到我的祝福

謝謝阿姨
希望你們家也是平平安安 健健康康
也希望你兒子多疼我
把賺的錢全部給我花

第一次去拜天宮 小孩子們都驚訝 我不會玩煙花哈哈
看著別人家孩子很多很熱鬧 忽然覺得蠻幸福的
不過拜天宮很不環保啦 很多煙!

佑佑真的很幸福
你是團寵啊孩子

你的家我的夢想

這張其實拍得很不錯
質感再好點就完美了哈哈哈

初九去了Uncle Lau家 最無聊的拜年
因為沒得賭錢 本來我們幾個是很期待的哈哈
有時我覺得我父母應該明白自己多幸福
孩子都那麼大了 哪有幾個孩子還願意陪父母去拜年
我和弟弟還特地從朋友家回去叻
身在福中不知福

接下來就開學啦 很努力地趕進度
真的真的很怕Audit 希望可以考得不錯
Tax比想像中高分!Huat啊!
希望這個sem能妥妥4.0
雖然有些頹廢 但我不會讓辛苦了三年的努力功虧一簣

別人問我到底是怎樣堅持到現在
真的很謝謝男友做我最強的後盾 
祝你事業大發 財源滾滾 把錢給完我花





Wednesday, 5 February 2020

转自面子书

据说这是个网民无意间翻开妹妹的日记本看到的

太多人和事
不值得掉眼泪

有时我也是文中的笑脸人

有得有失

珍惜所有
虽然人来人往
但很感激他们曾经留下的痕迹

早些对人生看得透彻是好事
没有无谓的幻想和期待
但永远要相信
这世上还是有很多很多美好的事物与人