客途秋恨

看着觉得我跟我娘的结都在里面。

《客途秋恨》的色调特别妥帖，许导的色彩一贯美得不张扬，都很舒服，跟她潺潺的叙述节奏配合得刚好，日本香港澳门广州。澳门老骑楼上穿旗袍的年轻母亲，婆婆的蒲扇，晓恩的草帽，似乎永远不会凉下来的天，曲折的回廊摇曳的荷花，暖绿是澳门回忆里的主色调。日本的场景要稍微深一点，深浅不一的山与田地，老林里黝绿的颀长乔木，炊烟斜在风里，因为母亲仓皇的眼泪暗下来的天。香港永远燠热，大红的色彩卷起的头发，高楼里的灯光，家里藏在阴影里一半永远剑拔弩张的母女。最后到了广州，颜色变成素白和旧蓝，筒子楼里逼仄的目光，外面阴暗的天，爷爷和婆婆苍老的躯干似乎暖不回绿色，粤剧的唱腔里秋天到了。

会结尾真是个特别有本事的活计，话说完了就不符合审美，含在嘴里的分寸最重要，邹静之的《我爱桃花》戏中戏翻转用得纯熟，偏偏要怕人看不懂一讲再讲三讲，看不见桃花就够了，说出来就踩着桃花了。《客途秋恨》的结尾，一江水，穿过大陆和香港，脉脉地，要说不要说的都在里面。

怎么镶嵌家国也是个难题，《绣春刀》的结尾，丁修和沈炼跑去截杀赵公公，若没有酷似《十三太保》的三骑并驱，在我心里要算烂尾了。《客途秋恨》整个片子最后那句台词，想看多少家国大义都在里面了，能拿家长里短容纳这些又不让戳出来硌着才见功力。异乡者主题千百年来讲多少遍，怕只怕故乡也非是昨日的故乡，回溯也只能去梦里找寻，算是真的《客途秋恨》。

片尾曲梅艳芳演唱的《秋天复秋天》，是个激烈的调子，歌词说“到最后才明人生客路永没平，情既是恨，恨也是情”，便可知道其实有一肚子浪涛翻涌，最后却选择潺潺而流。这个故事里母女俩的对峙到和解，真是每看一眼，都心生多少滋味，听说是许导半自传的作品，原来有这样的情结在。

最后，90年的张曼玉真美，还没穿上旗袍的美，所以结尾由她来哭，真是到位。

秋日上海观影之《客旅秋恨》

   
     04814917 藤井树 发表于：01-09-30 13:13
  


 
 
　　上海观影之《客旅秋恨》
　 9月29日，国庆长假前的最后第二天。很多人都在上班。下午，上海南塘浜路有一个原先是婚姻介绍所的地方放映香港独立影展。
　 这个放映活动是继101上海艺术放映后的第二个在上海办的民间观影活动，选择的片子往往比101的通俗些。101比较侧重大师级的经典名作，只是有时候这样的大师电影看上去很美却常常让人耐不住寂寞无法坚持。我承认自己是一个潦草的人，并且越来越潦草。
　
  相比之下，这个在许多人根本没有听说过的南塘浜路放的电影在可看性和艺术性方面比较容易接受，至少我的感觉是这样。
　 9月29日是我第二次去这个地方看片。上一次去看的是《鬼子来了》。
　 这次整个下午一连放了三部香港艺术电影，其实晚上还有。晚上是放香港独立制片人的试验短片。可惜我晚上有事，走出去的时候心里满是不舍。
　 下午放了许鞍华的《客旅秋恨》，一部讲述香港法制疏漏的《等候董建华发落》还有陈果早已著名的《榴莲飘飘》。
　 而我最喜欢的是第一部：许鞍华的《客旅秋恨》。
　 吴念真的编剧。说母女关系，说隔阂，说分离，说寻找，说回归还有理解和宽容。
　 充满了人文关怀和淡淡的感伤，吴念真最擅长的叙事风格，许鞍华特有的情绪把握。看的时候不时想起杨德昌令我感慨万千的《一一》，有的人说文艺腔十足，假了。可是我说电影就是这样，来源于生活而高于生活，让人感到了疼痛或者忧伤，就是好电影。或者无奈或者喜悦，都是值得珍惜的情绪。
　 《一一》里故事背景很单纯，人物关系也很简单，所以显得平实朴素些。相比之下，《客旅秋恨》的故事被安排在战乱年代，人物牵涉到中日两国，探讨家庭关系的同时还有国家民族的情绪瓜葛。整部影片给人感觉内容充实丰满，张曼玉的风韵气质已露端倪，而扮演她母亲的那个女演员更是演的情真意切。
　 开始的开始是母女间的疏离与隔阂，日本人的母亲独自在丈夫家里生活。丈夫却不在身边，只有女儿是自己的骨肉亲人。可是女儿却跟爷爷奶奶亲。这个女人严肃拘谨，寂寞度日。好不容易等到了丈夫回来是无论如何不能再放他走了，要走也是跟着男人一起走。只是女儿已经跟父母渐行渐远，她没有跟他们走。留下来还是跟着爷爷奶奶生活。
　 多年后，女儿大了，来到了父母身边。这时候她有了一个妹妹，而妈妈已经不再是印象中独自流泪的女人，变得跟周围的世俗女子毫无分别。整日打牌聊天，不做家务不关心任何人。但是父亲对她说爸爸从前欠妈妈太多，所以现在要补回来。年少气盛的女儿在15岁的时候再次离开了家，离开了父母。从此一个人念书一个人悲喜。
　又是很多年过去。
  妹妹出嫁了，跟着丈夫去了加拿大，而父亲早已去世。这个世界上在母亲身边的却是当初离的最远的大女儿。所谓宿命。
  还是争吵还是易怒，性格刚烈的母亲想到了回家。回她年轻时为了爱人而离开的故乡，日本。
　她带上了大女儿回她原来的家。
  家里来接她的是大哥，当初同意把妹妹嫁给那个中国翻译官的就是大哥。
　 对于女儿来说，这是一块完全陌生的土地。说自己听不懂的话，吃自己没有吃过的菜。但是对母亲来说，这里是自己出生成长的故乡。有小学老师，有初恋情人，还有一起长大的小姐妹。
　 母女间的对话从这里展开，女儿终于开始明白母亲的寂寞偏执是因为什么。家意味着什么，亲人意味着什么，故乡是什么，爱与不舍是什么。
　 最后的最后，当初最远的变得最近，当初疏离的重新靠近。这个世界太多冰冷，所以我们要紧紧依靠。血缘的牵连是一辈子无法放下的结，我们谁也无法割舍。
  很多感触积在心里，一时难以言表。只是在昏黄平缓的镜头下，可以清晰的感受到暗涌的激情和起伏。走到哪里，家与亲人都是一辈子的心事和想念。
  感谢吴念真，感谢许鞍华，感谢张曼玉，在这个初秋让我觉得很温暖。
谢谢你看完了我的字。
藤井树
01/9/30　午后

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Song of the Exile reveals its veil with an extreme close-up of a bicycle wheel, accompanied by Hueyin’s sentimental narrations. Hueyin, the narrator and one of the protagonists, isa Sino-Japanese (ethnically) studying in London. Aiko, Hueyin’s mother, is a Japanese who has been living in Macau and Hong Kong since the end of the Second World War.Hueyin’s grandparents, in reliance of their illusionary imagination on Mainland China, choose to settle down in Guangzhou in the shadow of Cultural Revolution. Seemingly all the main characters in Song of the Exile are in displacement from motherlands and resettlement in host lands (Yue). This essay will analyze the displacement and its reconstruction of identity in the context of Song of the Exile.

As to Hueyin, a subtle implication on her contradicted ethnicity and nationality arises when she is typing another resume after she receives the rejection letter from BBC. The heading of her resume indicates that she was born in Hong Kong (“Place of Birth: Hong Kong”) but she is a British (“Nationality: British”). The scene not only epitomizes the colonial history of Hong Kong, but also portrays the discrimination Hueyin encounters as an ethnical Chinese. She should have been treated equally as her local friends on application to BBC in terms of nationality. Yet more often she is isolated in the pub and unintentionally alienated when her friend mentioned about using chopsticks, which symbolizes a classical imagination of orientalism. All these subtle fragments pile up, Hueyin gradually realizes that although she lives in London and speaks fluent English, she still belongs elsewhere. She is indeed “an exile in a foreign land” (Erens).

That’s probably why Hueyin erases her resume and instead types a farewell letter to her friends in London. The opening scenes depicting the landscapes and culture heritages of London, especially appealing to most people in Hong Kong at 1990s after the demonstrations on Tiananmen Square. The image of London is somehow embellished in the diffusing suspicion of returning to socialistic China. In terms of Hong Kong, the model of One Country Two Systems “includes Hong Kong as a part of China but excludes it from legal structure” (Yue) and economic coordination. All those British culture and heritages left in Hong Kong cannot be simply replaced like the replacement in nationality derived from the handover, not to mention the reconstruction of recognition of Chinese identity. It seems that Hong Kong itself, like Hueyin, also lives here but belongs elsewhere.

The same displacement occurred to Aiko,Hueyin’smother, who has been living in Macau and Hong Kong for most of her life. She tells her older brother how difficult her life is in a “foreign country” upon reaching her hometown in Japan. As a Japanese living in Macau and Hong Kong after the Sino-Japanese War, Aiko was prejudiced and even despised by Hueyin’s grandparents and neighbors. She speaks Japanese. She is more in favor of Japanese cuisine. She always reminds herself and Hueyin of the reputation and wealth of her family in Japan, which constitutes an explicit contrast to her floundering life in Hong Kong and Macau, trying to adapt to local lifestyle. When returning to Japan, she picks up her mother tongue, her Japanese name and all other Japanese ritual habits, thus reaffirming her identity as Japanese. She seems to be no longer the “otherness” but one of “the same” with similar social practices and collective acknowledgement of identity.

However, the authenticity of favorite food, the familiarity of language and the comfort of coming back home do not last for long. When Aiko deliberately shows off her well-educated daughter studying in London to her relatives in an attempt to create a “glorious return”, her relatives respond in indifference and ethno-centrality. The Japanese food she used to favor feels cold and tasteless. She even complains about the traditional hot baths for their impracticality and inconvenience. Those yeas living in Macau and Hong Kong unselfconsciously alter he cultural identity. “The years of acculturation in Hong Kong have changed her attitude towards the homeland” (Yue). For Aiko, the journey to Japan is supposed to be a resume of her original identity, but it turned out to be a reminder of her new cultural intimacy towards Hong Kong created by her life of displacement.

At the end of Song of the Exile, Hueyin’s grandfather, who is severely beaten by the Red Guards in Cultural Revolution claiming to topplebourgeoisie, mentions about sending the book of Song Poetry to Hueyin in case she forgets the profound traditional Chinese culture. His reference to this particular period of divine Song Dynasty infers “the national sentiments of modernity, exile and reunification” (Yue) in the horrific shadow of Cultural Revolution. The poverty, brutality, and disorder in Guangzhou smash Hueyin’s grandparents’ fantastic illusion on homeland when they are in Macau. The distance from home procures an ideal to restore the original identity. Yet Hueyin’s grandparents have already become the “otherness” when they return. Only marginalization and hostility towards the Kuomintang’s nationalism embrace them.

In Song of the Exile, the elements and implications of displacement and resettlement constantly affirm and reshape the characters’ recognition of their own ethnic and cultural identities. As for Hong Kong, 15 years has passed by since the handover, seemingly it still belongs elsewhere. In a time of globalization, borders and boundaries may be easily blurred out and they are no longer obstacles for commerce and communications. However, frequent communication does not directly lead to mutual understanding between Mainland and Hong Kong. Conflicts may also arise. The recognition and reconstruction of Chines identity are far more difficult than the reconciliation between mother and daughter in Song of the Exile. As for Hong Kong cinema,local contents (food, language, cultural heritage) in Song of the exile seem to be “a nationalistic response to globalization” (Teo). Nonetheless, maintaining and distilling local features in the pressure of globalization“would not have been and still is not easy” (Yue) in 21st century.

片子看了二分之一的时候，我脑海中出现的一直是：祖国啊祖国，多么令人魂牵梦萦，但是看完这部电影，我想那个说不出道不明的感觉，更应该是“故乡”是一种乡愁。众所周知，1990年，澳门和香港还没有回归祖国，但是隔过20多年的岁月再去看，我更愿意将他定义为一种乡愁。
电影的一开始，是年轻的张曼玉在英国的青春飞扬，一张火红的喜帖将下一个镜头切回香港。晓恩走进家中那讪讪的神情和母亲不愠不火的迎接，就已经看出这对母女之间存在着问题。许鞍华仅用几个镜头就说明了一切，一个镜头是婚礼前母女三人去做头发，母亲说，谁谁谁家女儿出嫁，母女烫了一样的头发，一看就是一家人。然后，她又黯然的接到，就算烫了一样的发型，你也不当我是一家人。另一个是晓惠出嫁的前晚，母亲拿出珍藏的项链送给她，并且答应等大女儿结婚的时候再买一条。晓恩很漠然的回答道，也许回了英国就不再回来了呢。晓惠嫁人离开香港，当晚妈妈和晓恩发生了激烈的冲突，她说她要回日本。这个时候，我们才知道，这位香港气十足的母亲竟然是日本人。
电影的节奏一直很缓慢，没有明显的高潮，但是从晓恩和母亲回到日本之后，很多悬而未决的误会都慢慢有了缓和的松动。晓恩看着母亲和舅舅交流母亲和从前的朋友聊天玩乐却一句话也听不懂。在妈妈离开的清晨，晓恩和舅母因为语言不通，互相不理解弄出了很多不愉快。晓恩骑着单车出去遛弯，结果迷路了。她回来陪着舅舅和妈妈去赴和小舅舅的约会，结果妈妈不见了。晓恩在街头寻找妈妈，站在日本的街头，张曼玉的眼中都是惶恐和不安。想象一下，在一个你一个人也不认识一句话也听不懂的地方，站在傍晚的街头，看着热闹却完全不知所为的陌生节庆形式，你是一种什么心情。晓恩慢慢的理解了二十多年前的母亲。
看过一本书，写的是日本战败前那些去“满洲”的日本人，在战败后，回到日本或者没有回到日本的一些人的生活。于是在电影中很仔细的注意了葵子大哥的表现。他毫无疑问，是当年去“满洲”讨生活的普通日本人中的一位，但是电影没有过多的表现他们的寻根心理，唯一有点牵连的是，这位舅舅藏了一辈子当年葵子的丈夫送给他的酒，在做出卖掉祖屋的晚上，和晓恩喝了这瓶一直珍藏想要和自己的小舅子喝的酒。电影的背景是宏大而且复杂的，从40年代一直到70年代，有多少人丢掉了故乡，又有多少人找到故乡却圆满不了自己的乡愁呢？
葵子是回来了，回到了她魂牵梦萦的故乡。然而，到了故乡的她，却也终于失去了故乡。从前，她总归还是有个可以思念可以追忆的地方，然而，祖屋被卖掉了，她不在习惯那些生冷的食物，甚至，她说起中文来更为流畅，最终，他乡为故乡，故乡，只变成了一种可望不可及的乡愁。同样的，是晓恩的祖父母。不管怎么样的阻碍，他们最终还是回到了广州的老家，就因这一份乡愁，他们也抛下了最最疼爱的外孙女。即便是生活再怎么困顿和艰难，却还是要和赶来看望他们的晓恩说，不要对中国失望。
祖国情怀，有的时候可以简单的归结为乡愁，但是，历史风云变幻，不过二十年，我们就在不可以将乡愁和祖国情怀混为一谈了。所以，这怅惘的情怀也只能说是一种乡愁。独在异乡为异客，多年后，他乡为故乡，故乡成为一种乌托邦的寄托。在那个纷乱的年代里，多少人找不到故乡，多少人认他乡做故乡。在时代的车轮里，那微小的个人情怀又算得了什么呢？电影的结束，张曼玉为自己的爷爷拍打着扇子，阻止不了眼泪的泛滥。秋天是一个伤感的季节，乡愁是最适合在秋天感怀的。她只是惆怅岁月的老去，可是谁说，她不是在忧伤那说不出口永远也缠绵不绝的乡愁呢？