Everybody dies, the guy does not get the girl
After watching numerous Chinese movies, including the recent Lust Caution, I have come to the conclusion the title of this post accurately describes most Chinese movies.
About 5 years ago, Lily and I went to a series of movies during the Austin Chinese film festival. In each and every one these movies, the same thing happened…
- everyone you care about in the movie dies
- the guy never gets the girl
In fact, in one of these movies (something like Gong Gong Hurah), in the end the girl is riding away on a horse, while the guy is calling out Sumiyaaaaaa… You see, in this movie, the guy loved the girl, the girl loved the guy, but the girl slept with another guy while the main guy was off in the big city. When the guy comes back, he’s upset because the girl slept with another guy, so he leaves again. They eventually meet up again, and stare deeply into each other’s eyes, and then she rides away and he calls her name. Then the movie is over, done, finished.
But this latest movie Lust Caution really is the best example of this type of movie. Truly, everyone dies, and the guy never gets the girl.
Never a happy ending - rule #1 for a Chinese movie.
- lao gong
My Lao Po likes to tell me that in every American movie, the guy ALWAYS gets the girl, and the bad guys die.
哈哈！
俺太落后了，到处都看到筒子们在谈论这个“戒.色”， 可是俺竟然不知那是何物。有一次看到小红 又在谈论这个“戒.色”，俺终于鼓足了勇气问了小红，这才知道这东东的英文名叫” Lust Caution “， 立马网上查了查，知道DVD 二月十八九号出，即刻就从netflix定了。昨晚终于看了。看完了都快夜里一点了。没想到电影的结局再次让阿竹大发感慨，立马跑到我的博客上发表他这么多年总结出来的对中国电影的结论。呵呵，说实话，每次看中国电影他都会预言结局，结果每次都会应验他的预言。我就反唇相讥说，你们美国的电影也可以预言结局，不管主角处在多么危险的境地/处境，你都不要为他们紧张担心，因为他们最后总是会化险为夷，胜利成功地得到他们想要的。
也许我的某些个性特点也代表了典型的中国人的的典型特点，而阿竹的某些个性特点也代表了典型的美国人的典型个性特点。每次阿竹跟我谈他的idea 时，我总是会一连串提出一大堆的“如果不成如何如何”的疑问来，所谓的“有些打击士气不鼓舞人心”的话，而阿竹才不去想那些如果不成会有的结果呢，他只会一门心思想着那些如果成了就会有的让人激动发狂的结果。他说这样你才会有动力全力以赴地立马去按照你的想法行动，如果想得太多就会让你鼓不起劲迟迟动不了手。而你不试是永远没有任何结果的。
典型的悲观主义和乐观主义的结合哈！
February 22nd, 2008 at 1:00 am
沙发呀，哈哈。总结的挺对嘛
February 22nd, 2008 at 1:06 am
haha, never thought about that
February 22nd, 2008 at 1:54 am
呵呵,这样的故事结局太多了，只有这样的尾声才能让人回味无穷,
不过说到色戒,我觉得那个叫汤唯的新演员,演的真是不错了,她那时的压力一定很大…
February 22nd, 2008 at 3:35 am
总结精辟阿，我咋就想着看色了聂。
中国人喜欢伤春悲秋强赋愁吧。
February 22nd, 2008 at 4:12 am
Your conclusions are novel and funny. I love this film too, but I doubt the Holland guys around could understand Ma Jiang’s culture communication meanings when I watched it in the cinema.
February 22nd, 2008 at 8:23 am
What is that Gong Gong Hurah movie? It sounds not stupid, but very stupid, wasted two umbrellas’ time. I am glad you guys managed to watch Lust Caution. Toto’s dad likes it, too.
Also, it’s nice to see your words here when umbrella is not quite in the mood for writing. Maybe she’ll help you code in return.
February 22nd, 2008 at 10:09 am
颇有些道理，所以有些人做老板，有些人只能做老板娘呀。
February 22nd, 2008 at 3:32 pm
hehe, like the C妈’s comment: someone can be the boss, someone only can be the wife of the boss.
Perfect marriage!
Have a nice weekend!
February 22nd, 2008 at 4:53 pm
俺还没看捏,吼吼!
February 22nd, 2008 at 8:12 pm
其实中国很多电影都是大团圆得结局的
总归要皆大欢喜了
February 22nd, 2008 at 8:23 pm
大团圆的结局使观众的缺憾在完满美好的梦幻里得到补偿，悲剧则能使观者的痛苦在更深更烈的悲惨中稀释。你和你家阿竹一个沉稳周密，一个乐观开朗，绝配！
February 22nd, 2008 at 9:58 pm
我也觉得伞家是中西合壁呢.互补.
实际上中国电影有很多是大团结式的结局,皆大欢喜.只是,拿出国门参加奖项,几无例外是悲剧,
可能大导演觉得这样才能更打动评委吧.
February 22nd, 2008 at 11:02 pm
Actually I loved the Gong Gong Hurah movie. I just wish in the end, the girl stayed with the guy instead of riding off on the horse.
If anyone knows the correct name of the movie, let me know. In the movie, Gong Gong Hurah is the name of the horse the girl and boy played with when they were children.
February 23rd, 2008 at 12:17 am
finaly, you saw it, anyway a good movie liked almost by everyone.
my husband thinks almost the same thing, all chinese love stories are so tragidy & dramatical.
from this, you are finding out that you two together is a so good match, the best news, non? thanks to lust.caution…
February 23rd, 2008 at 12:51 am
我没有看，才看了五分钟，不知道为啥，看不进去。
看到C妈的总结：颇有些道理，所以有些人做老板，有些人只能做老板娘呀。
———————
这个很有道理，如果没有你这个老板娘这么泼冷水，估计老板不是这么成功的。中西合璧很不错啊！
再说小宝抓拍很不错，怎么不看到大宝的哈！有点偏心了噢！
February 23rd, 2008 at 2:49 am
Because most Chinese people don’t believe in God, but most American do. God is good!
这是典型的不信上帝的中国人的心理观——绝望，但美国人知道上帝的拯救和公义！
February 23rd, 2008 at 10:47 am
It’s really creative comments to China movie and American movie! haha…Chinese like tragedy and American like comedy?
February 23rd, 2008 at 2:39 pm
这部电影我是在网上下来看的,看完就完了,从没想过这么多的问题,你们还总结出乐观与悲观来,真是佩服!
February 23rd, 2008 at 7:41 pm
看来是中国的大环境影响的，汉文化影响下的人们总是居安思危，而西方文化不是提倡enjoy every day吗，所以咯。不过阿竹说的非常有道理，如果老想不成，还怎么打起精神来奋斗啊。照这么看，美国的经济进步快，应该也和他们勇于突破的精神有关咯，学习学习！
February 23rd, 2008 at 8:11 pm
看了之后,还是觉得满喜欢的.呵呵.
February 24th, 2008 at 12:45 am
伞,妞爱吃东西好像是天生的.
也可能是小婴儿的时候在吃奶和辅食之间过度的好?
反正,她现在爱吃饭,而且蔬菜水果肉鱼呀,都不挑.
因为这个,我一直觉得她是个省心的宝宝.
February 24th, 2008 at 6:31 pm
我也在纳闷，阿竹口中的Gong Gong Hurah到底是哪部电影
February 24th, 2008 at 9:56 pm
阿竹可真有才啊!经他这么一说,细想来咱中国电影相对于好莱坞式的英雄主义,happing ending还真是有点规律可寻的哈!
同问Gong Gong Hurah到底是哪部电影?
February 25th, 2008 at 7:25 am
回筒子们：关于Gong Gong Hurah 是哪部电影，我是真记不起名字了，阿竹说是名字听起来象Gong Gong Hurah， 可是我还是想不起来名字。反正不是那种大片。
February 25th, 2008 at 8:18 am
It is funny. You remind me once a time i had an argue with my hubby, he said Chinese pop music is not Real Pop, all songs sound so cheesy…but i said the European music sounds too naughty…
伞,你说的美国人和中国人对于事情不同的态度,在我家倒是反过来了,对于事情倒是对失败总是估计不足,总想着一定会怎样,船到桥头自然直,现在想那么多干嘛..
March 25th, 2008 at 4:22 am
wat a happy family ! how nice ur babyes r !
may u hv this good life forever!
mixed- blood kids r always beautiful !
haha , it seems i’d better get a foreign chick !
i do agree with ur husband on his comments about chinese movies!
it seems u 2 hv no cultural shocks !
Ann lee filmed sth that sm chinese ,esp girls donot like ! why shouldn’t he pay just a little attention to our feeling of the anti-japs war ? i forgive him cuz he is from taiwan ,where people r not so against japs as we do in mainland!
In his “lust caution” , the girl Jiazhi-Wong should b a heroine. She had to devote all herself to her motherland . But in the end , she betrayed China for her so-called love ,which can only b called as her sexual passion!! cuz i cannot feel love from wat i saw in this Oscar loser movie.(ofcos it has to lose , the judges may not wanna give this holy award to a film for promating two rebels naked sexual passion . why i say 2 rebels ? Mr Yee ,Chaowei Liang’s role , is a F traitor!!!)
True love , indeed needs magnificent sex. But sex is not the only way of displaying love ! I hv seen Shron Stone’s instincts(1st n 2nd ), in which i saw much sex ,but stiil hv good plots n r not as bald as the lust caution !!! wat hv i got from Ann Lee? —- only cheat, lies , violence n endless SM(sadomasochism) rapes !!! All above plots , are set in old shanghai , with a gloomy atmosphere n a sort of decadent music !
When Jiazhi-wong was F-ed abnormally by Mr Yee , did she think of the victims whom were butchered by japs in Nanjing ,1937 ? Mr Yee , a god -cursed jackal , who only knew cheating , raped n killed this idiot femal spy ,who should hv been an assassin n who was sent to punish him, just like japs raped n buthcered our femails in Nanjing !!!
wat does this film wanna say ? sexual passion can defeat our loyalty to our motherland n people ? Our poor compatriots died as fools? cuz , their revenger sold her heart and butt to japs’ dog just for that excited “paper clip” love-making position! ( we can see that animal position when Mr.Yee SMed the girl !!!)
I am sorry to say sth unhappy in ur blog ,but i cannot help doing that when i saw “lust caution” this word !!!
ps: i am a party member ! haha
July 11th, 2010 at 10:34 pm
那是因为你们看得少，知道的少才会有这样的想法。