“Evening Sunflower”:
A poetic exploration of life and destiny
Author: Ding Yaping (Expert and Distinguished Professor of PT Program of Shanghai Theater Academy)
The movie “Evening Sunflower” directed by Li Xu and starring Na Renhua has premiered recently. The film tells the story of an urban woman named Xu Manfang who returned to the countryside in her memory after being seriously ill, met the shadow puppet artist Li Youcai, and began to think about the meaning of life. In the storytelling, the creator guides the audience to discuss the issues of life and destiny, and stimulates thinking on issues such as the inheritance and protection of traditional culture, and the harmonious coexistence between man and nature, reflecting new attempts and breakthroughs in art film creation.
“Evening Sunflower” focuses on the creation of artistic conception, using “evening” and “sunflower” as images to construct a unique art space. The work does not set up too many characters, but focuses on Xu Manfang as an individual. From her perspective, it tells about three encounters, namely, the encounter with the past, the encounter with the present, and the encounter with the future. The Encounter with the Past mainly describes the protagonist’s spiritual world and tells the memories between her and her deceased husband. To meet the present is to meet the social reality. By describing the real life conditions of the protagonist and the people around him, it leads to the problems of old-age care for residents in the process of changing times and urbanization, the problem of left-behind children in rural areas, and the inheritance of intangible culture. Encountering the future is an encounter with the meaning of life. The film uses the voice-over of the protagonist to conduct an inspiring discussion on the outlook on life. This triple encounter realizes the dialogue between past and present, self and others, tradition and modernity, constructs a relatively complete world view, and has a clear understanding of “who am I”, “where do I come from”, “where am I going”, “how do people live and work?” “” “How do people exert their value when facing difficulties” and “How to enrich one’s spiritual world” and other issues give their own opinions, expressing “No matter where you are, no matter what difficulties you encounter, as long as you There is light in your heart, and everything in the world is beautiful”. The issues involved in the film are profound and serious. It not only digs into hot social topics, but also goes deep into the philosophical level, thinking about deep propositions such as life and human nature, showing the keen artistic sense and profound cultural foundation of the creators of the film.
This is an experimental art film. The film does not focus on describing the real situation of people, but expresses Xu Manfang’s rich and complex spiritual world through elaborate drama design and exquisite performances by actors. During the narration of the story, the audience discovered that the formation of Xu Manfang’s spiritual world is not only related to his unique personal growth experience, but also has a rich and wonderful connection with history and culture, thus giving the work a unique spiritual connotation in terms of the spirit of the times and social value.
In short, in the process of moving from a big film country to a film powerhouse, Chinese films not only need rich and diverse commercial films, but also need high-quality art films that explore the essence of art and the essence of life. With its in-depth exploration of life issues, vivid characterization, and innovative breakthroughs in plot design and audio-visual presentation, “Evening Sunflower” opened up new ideas for art film creation, and also provided a vivid case for the multiple explorations of Chinese film creation.
“Guangming Daily” (version 15, June 14, 2023)
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责编：董大正 ]