The ash solar calendar of time

Ashes of Time is a film directed by Wong Kar-wai in 1994. 15 years later, in 2009, it was re-edited and improved, renamed as "East Evil Du Ultimate Edition" and released again.

The three main characters in the film, Huang, Ouyang Feng and, come from Jin Yong's The Legend of the Condor Heroes, which is like the prequel to this novel. However, the characterization and narrative techniques of the whole film are infinitely close to Gu Long's style.

When I was a teenager, martial arts books were all the rage. At that time, there were many bookstores on the street. After applying to his father, he would get back a stack of books by Jin Yong or Gu Long. Every winter and summer vacation, the happiest time is to stay at home and read martial arts novels from morning till night.

According to my father's preference, he prefers me to read Jin Yong's books for two reasons: First, Jin Yong's novels basically have a historical background, so I can learn some history while reading novels; Second, the characters in Jin Yong's novels are clear about right and wrong, and they can know right and wrong.

Obviously, I am a little rebellious to my father's good intentions. Compared with Jin Yong, I always prefer Gu Long's books, as well as those characters who are not so open but circuitous and comfortable, full of joy and entanglement.

Just like Gu Long's novels, Time Has Changed is not a complete story. The film presents some repetitive scenes, short and meaningful dialogues, and more inner monologues.

The first time I saw this movie, I should be about twenty years old. To be honest, I don't understand. In retrospect, only fragmentary fragments and words emerged. About the desert, about peach blossoms, about specious emotional entanglements.

Comparatively speaking, this film seems to be less impressive than the one I saw at the same time. At least that movie broke my stomach. Strangely, even so, Ashes of Time has quietly become one of the classics in my heart with an indescribable charm.

Later, I watched the film again. From beginning to end, all love and hate become clear. I suddenly understood some meanings that I couldn't understand when I was young, about love, about humanity, and more importantly, about life.

Ouyang Feng: If you don't have it, you won't lose it.

The scorching sun, yellow sand all over the sky, dilapidated inn. Ouyang Feng, who lives in a corner of the desert, is in the business of introducing killers to people.

He is a master negotiator, and he is good at discovering the needs and weaknesses of others and using them for his own use. He is good at calculating, weighing the pros and cons of everything, and will never lose money in business because of temporary weakness.

A weak woman came to the door, and her brother was killed by Qiu's family. She wants revenge. Ouyang Feng asked her how much she could pay. The woman took a donkey and a basket of eggs, saying that this was all her possessions.

Ouyang Feng turned the door on this single business, and offended Qiu Fu for a basket of eggs and a donkey, which was not cost-effective. He said to the pleading woman, "Revenge comes at a price. If you are ugly, I advise you to die. Seeing that you are ok, I want to tell you that if you want to sell it, you are worth more than that donkey. "

The woman flatly rejected Ouyang Feng's suggestion and said, "I can wait. I believe that there will always be someone willing to help me. "

Ouyang Feng felt very naive and ignored it. From beginning to end, he really didn't want to avenge that woman, which is not what a shrewd businessman should do.

Outside the inn, the woman stood in the hot sun day after day, waiting hopelessly and stubbornly. Ouyang Feng watched it day after day, and then dreamed that the peach blossoms in his hometown had blossomed, suddenly thinking that he had not returned to white camel mountain for many years.

In white camel mountain, which is full of peach blossoms, there is a man who Ouyang Feng has been trying to escape for years. That's the woman he likes very much, although he never really shows it. On the night when the other party was about to become his eldest sister-in-law, Ouyang Feng finally let her go with him. The woman refused, and Ouyang Feng left white camel mountain and never came back.

What Ouyang Feng didn't know was that Sister-in-law asked her friends to bring him messages every year. She told the friend over and over again, "I just need him to say something, and he never says it." Why wait until you can't get it? I won't let him get what he wants. "

Solar terms cycle year after year. Ouyang Feng stayed in the desert, looking at the distant sky, doing cautious business. In faraway white camel mountain, that woman listened to the news about him every year and grew old in her memory.

From a certain year on, she finally stopped being angry and the light in her eyes began to dim. She said to her friend, "I thought I won, but something will change." I didn't know I lost until I looked in the mirror one day. At my best, the person I love is not with me. "

Ouyang Feng is an orphan, and insecure people are most obsessed with self-protection. If you don't want to be rejected, the best way is to reject others first. This is his way of thinking. No, and I won't lose it. Never show your sincerity, in the final analysis, you are still afraid of losing.

After learning the news of her sister-in-law's death, Ouyang Feng drank half an altar of wine left by Huang. He didn't want to drink this wine before, and running away doesn't mean he wants to forget it. Huang said that this kind of wine is called "Drunkenness leads a dream to death", and after drinking it, you won't remember anything about the past.

However, Ouyang Feng, who drank the wine of "let life slip past him", didn't forget anything. It's like a cruel joke. The more you want to forget, the clearer you remember.

Ouyang Feng said: "I watch the sky change every day, but I have never seen this desert clearly." Even if you know the world well and despise it, you can't escape the dilemma of the authorities.

Time is the most ruthless. Even if you have nothing, you have been losing it.

Huang: What you can't get is always the best.

Every year, after being frightened, Huang would go to the desert to see Ouyang Feng.

Only Huang knows the meaning of drunkenness. Leaving the desert, he will come to white camel mountain where peach blossoms are in full bloom. There is a woman here, waiting for him to send a message from Ouyang Feng. He listened to the woman quietly and watched her immersed in memories. Those memories have nothing to do with him. He knows that he is just an object to talk to, just as he knows the burning jealousy in his heart.

But Huang always looks calm. As the person who knows Ouyang Feng and Sister-in-law best, he will neither tell Ouyang Feng what this woman thinks, nor let this woman see his feelings.

In front of other women, Huang is bohemian and can confuse people.

Passing through Gusu City, Huang and Murong Yan, who claimed to be the son of Yan State, drank. When he was drunk, Huang Shi caressed Murong Yan's face and said, "If you have a sister, I must marry her."

Murong Yan's look is somewhat shy. Although she is disguised as a man, she believes that Huang has seen her daughter. The implication of this sentence is also the same. She responded: "It's a deal, don't go back on your word. If you go back on your word, I will kill you. "

Later, when Murong Yan appeared at the appointed time in a skirt and long hair, Huang didn't arrive as scheduled.

The following story is the part I didn't understand at all when I was a child.

Murong Yan went to Ouyang Feng and asked him to pay to kill Huang, saying that Huang had abandoned his sister. Murong Yan also found Ouyang Feng to kill Murong Yan, saying that Murong Yan wouldn't let her be with Huang and had to die.

Actually Murong Yan and Murong Yan are the same person. She loves Huang, but Huang Ai loves another woman. She felt disappointed. On the one hand, she wants to kill Huang, and she can't let others get what she can't get. At the same time, on the other hand, he was tortured by the remaining love, and he was determined to protect Huang.

The violent conflict between love and hate turned into two identities, and even committed suicide by another identity to save the loved one. Under the toughness of punishing others and oneself, it is a soul divided by great pain.

Another man wanted to kill Huang, his best friend, a blind swordsman. Huang seduced his wife when this friend got married. The reason seems simple. Her name is Peach Blossom, which has something to do with white camel mountain, whose peach blossoms are in full bloom, and the woman who makes Huang feel dejected.

Although this explanation is far-fetched, feelings themselves are probably unreasonable. Just like when he promised Murong Yan easily, he just drank under the peach tree, which was insincere. Maybe he couldn't explain it himself.

Huang is not dead after all. The woman he liked died with regret. Huang took the jar of wine she left and went to see Ouyang Feng for the last time.

"Not long ago, I met a man and gave me an altar of wine. She said that this kind of wine is called "Drunkenness leads a dream to death", and after drinking it, you can forget anything before. She said that the biggest problem of people is their good memory. " Huang said to Ouyang Feng. Until the end, he didn't tell Ouyang Feng who the man was. He likes that woman, but he doesn't want her to know. He was jealous of the people in her heart, so he provoked pity everywhere, just to know what it was like to be liked, which hurt many people.

Huang said: "What you can't get is always the best." He loves people he can't get, but he makes himself a person who others can't get. In the end, I got nothing.

Unlike Ouyang Feng, Huang really doesn't remember anything after drinking the wine that put her to sleep. Accurately speaking, he only vaguely remembers that his favorite thing is peach blossom. Perhaps only a selfish person like Huang will this wine be effective.

Anyway, since then, there has been Peach Blossom Island, which is famous in rivers and lakes.

Hong Qi: The simpler, the freer.

Hong Qi comes from the countryside, dressed in rags and often barefoot. He is ugly, and he is an extremely fast swordsman. Ouyang Feng took a fancy to Hong Qi's martial arts and advised him to stay as a killer.

"Don't you want to plow? You are not ashamed of robbery, and you don't want to appear in the street. How do you live? If you are good at martial arts, you must eat. There is a career that suits you very well. It can not only earn some money, but also help others. Think about it, but hurry. You know, you will be hungry soon. "

Ouyang Feng's remarks are comprehensive. For this poor child with a skill, survival is the most urgent problem.

After receiving the money, Qi Hong will count it carefully. Ouyang Feng said that people who usually take money without looking at it will soon run out of money, while people like Hong Qi know that he won't stay with him for long.

A person with a goal will not want to be trapped in the problem of survival forever. In any era, it is a long-term solution for a person to despise money strategically and attach importance to money tactically.

The woman whose younger brother was killed by Taiwei Mansion stubbornly waited for revenge with a basket of eggs and a donkey, and finally got her wish. Hong Qi lost a finger in the battle with Qiu Fu swordsmen.

Ouyang Feng asked: Is it worth losing a finger for an egg?

Hong Qi replied: Not worth it! But I feel happy, this is myself.

Hong Qi agreed to this woman's request, which is a kind of resistance. His knife is not as fast as before. Before, he was very direct and did what he thought was right, so he acted quickly. The first time the woman asked him for help, he refused, because he knew Ouyang Feng wouldn't agree.

As a result, he found himself assimilated by Ouyang Feng and lost himself. Ouyang Feng would never risk his life for an egg, but Hong Qi can. This is the difference between him and Ouyang Feng.

Hong Qi, who was recovering from his illness, decided to leave the desert and take his wife from the countryside. Ouyang Feng disagreed, saying that everyone wanted to know what was beyond the mountain. When you get there, you will find nothing special. In retrospect, you may find it better here.

After all, Ouyang Feng admitted that he was jealous when he looked at the distant back of Mr. and Mrs. Hong Qi. Maybe he thought of someone in white camel mountain at this moment. If he is as simple as Hong Qi, maybe the result will be different.

Things that appear repeatedly in movies, such as desert, birdcage and peach blossom, now seem to be metaphors.

Ouyang Feng's escape, Huang's indulgence, sister-in-law's strength, Murong Yan's obsession, everyone has a cage to trap themselves. Inner longing, such as peach blossom. Look out of the cage and cross the desert that can never be crossed. The more desires, the more desperate people are, which is probably a tragedy doomed by human nature.

I don't know why, but I don't remember the role of Hong Qi. When revisiting, Hong Qi became the most vivid character in the film, which complemented the peach blossom in the long memory.

The heart is born free, just like a carefree age. You will be very happy if you read the martial arts books with no distractions. The simpler, the freer.