介绍:
When I heard about rock star Cui Jian's first feature film "The Blue Bone", my first reaction was to dismiss it as just another piece of amateur nonsense by someone trying to cash in on China's fast expanding film market. Heaven knows we've had enough of those recently. But before I even finished the film, I had begun to regret my narrow-minded assumption, "The Blue Bone" is one of the best directorial debuts in years, or at least it is better than the products of some who label themselves professional directors.
The story is mostly about how two generations of Chinese musical talents struggle to fit in their times. Ni Hongjie plays a young woman in the 1980s who was expelled from an art troupe for writing a song of certain bold content. She was married to a man of secret service, but the temporary union eventually broke down. Decades later when their son became a young adult, he picked up his mother's tabooed song and at an underground concert spoke of his own life and dream as a misfit in the modern context. Meanwhile, the family's story is completed by a storyline about the father, who spent his entire life guarding the secret of a handgun and its damages on himself.
China is going through rapid changes, changes that have moved Cui Jian and his songs to the category of nostalgia. Personally I've never listened attentively to his songs, it is only for the purpose of writing this review that I took quite some time reading his resume and warming up to his rich melodies and lyrics. His rise to stardom in the 1980s may have been the result of the country's opening-up and his diligent study of western styles, but he has also most assuredly proven his personal taste by the original ideas and sensitivity in his literary lyrics.
That taste is also present in his cinematic creation. With the help of cinemagraphor Christopher Doyle, Cui Jian offers eloquent images imbued with rich symbolism and powerful sentiment. Throughout the film, the characters perform Cui Jian's songs twice: "Lost in Season" and "The Blue Bone", both are loaded with explosive passion.
The non-linear narrative is a significant part of the film in the sense that it highlights the characters' difficulty with the world around them. It also breaks up the storytelling and makes it seem disorderly for impatient viewers who know little and care less about the history of contemporary China.
"The Blue Bone" is not easily accessible due to Cui Jian's unique style and the setback in the narrative, it may not be the most profitable movie in the box office, some critics may even frown upon it to look smart. But it is not wise to discourage conscientious first timers, not when good taste is hard to find in the age of gold rush in China's movie industry.
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