Tuina: What do you think of the blind spot of human nature in the visual world?

As the leader of the sixth generation of directors, Lou Ye always upholds his unique artistic style, portrays the inner emotional entanglements of urbanites through subtle narrative strategies, and understands the living conditions and destiny of marginalized groups.

Paying attention to and thinking about real life has always been the theme of his films.

The movie Massage is adapted from Bi Feiyu's novel of the same name.

in the adaptation of the novel script and the re-creation of audio-visual expression, Lou Ye didn't get entangled in the loose narrative structure, and restored the novel's unique design without the protagonist with a large number of group plays satisfying the concept of "equality", and supported a complete story about the living conditions of marginalized people with the coming and going of ponies as the main line.

In this film with documentary visual effect, the virtual and real changes of audio and video are fully used to express the "humidity" of the novel-a profound portrayal of the living conditions and mental state of the blind.

In the context of economic transformation, people are moving forward in a lost way to adapt to the tide of urbanization.

As a more special group, the blind people live silently in the mainstream society where healthy people occupy a strong position.

The story in the movie takes place in a massage center for the blind called Sha Zongqi in Nanjing. The technicians here are blind except the receptionist and the logistics aunt, and their daily life has long been inertia, until the appearance of Wang Dafu and Kong Xiao completely disrupted Sha Zongqi's calm.

They live in darkness, unable to receive the most direct and superficial information about the world and everything through their eyes, but seek answers for themselves by exploring other senses.

The film Tuina is as cold as words in expressing this kind of coldness through simple and symbolic lens language. Director Lou Ye created a kind of synesthesia film language through the transformation of picture and sound, and expressed his understanding of love and blindness objectively and delicately.

the reality and imagination of the image: the return of reality and phantom

At the beginning of the film, a phantom of virtual focus was created-suddenly dim light enveloped the running mechanical alarm clock tightly held by the pony, and the shaking picture made the vague light and shadow more chaotic. Although the camera is quietly approaching the pony's eyes and ears step by step, the picture provides us with a sensory experience with extremely low definition, and the visual language with great style is intended to express subjective sadness and pain.

The film depicts the "coldness" of despair in the depths of human nature with unconventional light, shadow and pictures.

Pony picked up the porcelain piece, stabbed it in the neck and cut it off. Blood spattered like shrapnel.

The picture returned to the normal cold light in the hospital, and the lens shook strongly. The film switches back and forth in the picture of Pony's father coming to save the child and Pony holding porcelain with wide eyes. When the subject and object meet, the reality is reversed. Finally, in the picture of blood donation getting wet and the virtual focus shaking, the memories of childhood nightmares are over, and the introduction of the past history of the characters is over.

Lou Ye is sensitive and firm. Regarding the conflict in drama, he did not express his inner darkness and his resistance to the world in a "lively" or "compassionate" way. On the contrary, the vague and trembling low-definition picture provides a safe space for the desperate pony, which makes the audience staring at the tragedy in Qian Qian stop their endless sympathy for the disadvantaged people.

The lens clearly and directly records the real life of the blind.

there is not a day in the world of the blind. With the touch of the fingertips and fresh heart, Sha Fuming has become the elite of the blind group and is actively marching into the mainstream society of "people with eyes" with banter and perseverance.

In the film narrative, the director keeps the picture "true" and "true", so that the audience can clearly see Sha Fuming's obsession with "beauty", which is an irony for a blind person who has no sense of light and has never seen the world.

The director didn't evade the question. In the camera, he rudely touched the "beauty" growing on Du Hong, lost his seat, and forced himself to try to talk to "beauty" in all other emotional ways. He tried to sniff out the hand of "beauty" and tried to "taste" the answer with the tip of his tongue. Finally, he looked at "beauty" from anger and took a bite from his fingertips.

For the visual pursuit of "beauty", the blind can only seek the answer through other sensory means-smell, touch and taste.

The lens recorded these pictures objectively and calmly, describing the coldness of objective life with "reality" and the wetness of subjective emotion with "emptiness", revealing the warmth and cruelty of the fate of marginal people in reality.

The truth and emptiness of sound: the alternation of warmth and cruelty

When the pictures in the movie alternate between reality and reality and wander inside and outside the blind, the sound in the movie will play a greater role.

Pony said little, but the movie gave him a lot of sniffing sounds.

In the evening, my sister-in-law came to the men's dormitory, and everyone built a space with the same sense of smell and touch.

Pony sniffed it, and when his nose inhaled his sister-in-law's body fragrance, the smell "filled" the whole picture.

this is a way for pony to communicate and exchange information with the outside world. In this prominent and long voice, the accumulated lust of the ponies was exposed.

There is a string of wind chimes in the massage center lounge, which always breaks the silence of the blind.

Du Hong will take off his headphones, the pony will look for traces, Taihe will listen with his ears, and Sha Fuming will stop for this.

Lou Ye is exquisite and has designed so many excellent sound systems for movies.

The female voice in the electronic watch tells the sound of time, and the sound of fish swimming in the fish tank in the lounge is carefully preserved and amplified by Lou Ye.

when our eyes can't provide any images, we rely on our ears to perceive them.

Through the particularity of blind people's perception, Lou Ye also makes the audience feel how ordinary and tiny voices subtly express the warmth and simplicity of life.

In many plots, the director added mixed voices.

The slow piano sound and melodious flute sound spread with the smooth narration. Although people always focus on the lines and the actors' performances, the low-key mixing quietly creates a dull and suitable atmosphere for the story.

In these scenes, such as Pony's suicide, Zhang Yiguang coal mine explosion, Wang Dafu's self-mutilation pain and Pony's fight with customers, the director added more illusory music. The rumbling explosion, sharp mechanical sound, dull thunder and pounding heartbeat are intertwined, suggesting danger and pain.

Against the background of chaos and virtual images, these illusory music has built an increasingly cruel dark world.

Lou Ye tells the story of cruelty and warmth in blind world with the help of sound and pictures.

the truth and emptiness of the theme: the expression of love and humanity

The movie Massage mainly tells about the love between blind people.

Lou Ye chooses the most tense clue in the novel, and love is the fuse of the whole story in the plot.

Wang Dafu hoped that Kong Xiao would become the proprietress as soon as possible, so he took her back to Nanjing and settled in Sha Zongqi temporarily.

It was also the appearance of my sister-in-law that broke the pony's silence. Zhang Yiguang took him to the bathroom to meet Xiaoman. In order to suppress the dangerous smell on the pony, they fell in love.

inspired by love, Jin Yan strives to pursue Taihe, Du Hong silently guards the stubborn pony, and Sha Bo tries to keep Du Hong in his own way.

Normal people's love is based on material, external and emotional. Animals with eyes can clearly see the most direct beauty in each other, so it is easier to indulge in love.

in some ways, this is not pure.

Lou Ye wants to use the words of the blind to express his understanding of love.

It takes courage to elope, and Kong Xiao did it regardless.

Jin Yan put down her reserve and showed her love to the ordinary Taihe.

Sha Fuming felt sorry for Du Hong, and Du Hong refused the confession of a blind elite.

The three women in the camera strongly express their courage and persistence in love.

We don't care about each other's wealth, we can't see each other's appearance, and we can only comfort each other by touching, which makes us fall into deep thinking-what is the essence of love?

The film gives a subtle cut: Du Hong said that no woman can't see love, especially blind girls; Taihe says you are as beautiful as braised pork.

These philosophical and poetic words reveal the deep thinking of the blind about love.

Compared with women in movies, the images of male characters are more abundant.

Sha Fuming is extroverted, open-minded and likes poetry and dance. As the owner of the massage center, compared with ordinary blind technicians, he is a successful person among the blind people, so he is more eager to have a poetic and dignified life.

At the beginning of the film, in a close-up dynamic composition, Sha Fuming introduced himself to the blind date: "Recovery, recovery, bright light." From this, he deeply felt his desire for light and dignity, and also expressed his external metaphor and representation of the groups eager to enter the mainstream society.

If Sha Fuming's desperate vomiting blood shows his despair of love, which is an external sign that his vision of stepping into the mainstream society has died, then his peace of mind about the disease and his continued investment in the old ballroom mean that he has been freed, restored his inner peace and completed his self-redemption.

Sha Fuming is an idealist who intends to enter the mainstream society. So, Wang Dafu is a rational pursuer of love.

Wang Dafu is mature and rational, and has a strong sense of responsibility for love and family.

He has a strong instinctive need for his career and is eager to realize his self-worth. He dreams of working hard to earn money and opening his own massage shop. Through his career success and even his own blood donation, he can defend his male dignity as a family member and maintain his hard-won love with Kong Xiao.

At the end of the film, he and Kong Xiao accompany him back to Shenzhen, and his life is restored to its former calm. He continues to appreciate the meaning of survival and life in his persistent pursuit.

Pony is the hope of "walking in the dark".

he is the key figure in the whole movie. He lost confidence in life and committed suicide by cutting his neck. Love gave him a life full of hope.

The feminine smell revealed in the cave awakened his male consciousness; Du Hong is the watcher in his life; The acquaintance and love with Xiaoman made him find a bright existence in the dark world and the true meaning of life happiness.

The hot air enveloped Xiaoman, who was washing his hair, and Xiaoman smiled knowingly at his beloved Xiaoman, which became the gentlest part of the film.

The cruel realistic environment has not made these marginal figures compromise the society. On the contrary, they strive to grow up, ignite the spark of happiness, persistently pursue the beauty of life they long for and appreciate the meaning of life.

Behind the theme of love lies a bigger and more macroscopic topic-humanity.

As for human nature, Lou Ye never intended to cover up the veil of sympathy, because he wrote about a special group of marginalized people. He was objective and didn't highlight the kindness of the blind.

what he wants to say is the blindness of all mankind.

On the first day when Wang Dafu came to Sha Zongqi with a small hole, he secretly slipped the money into Gao Wei's hand, which Gao Wei received from the front desk.

People who please the front desk are all red, and they will feed Gao Wei cookies several times after work. Sha Fuming has a flexible mind. When he meets a strange number, he will ask the other leader. Zhang Yiguang's feeling of being in contact with women is often mixed in the bathroom; In the face of his brother's debt collectors, Wang Dafu will also play hooligans.

Sha Zongqi's calm was completely broken by the "tricycle incident" and "mutton incident", both because of the contradiction between three healthy people with bad feelings, and because his eyes were too clear.

After Wang Dafu maliciously responded to the impatience of the taxi driver, the driver respectfully called him Big Brother instead. A healthy brother can't afford to gamble, but he doesn't care to involve the whole family in this dangerous dispute.

In many bridges to reveal human nature, Lou Ye moderately used his plays without deliberately highlighting them, all of which were accompanied by the development of the plot and the actions of the characters.

What this movie wants to tell you is that although there are blind people in this world, there is no real blind world. The eyes of blind people who have no "visual world" are also full of healthy people's eyes to see the world. There are always blind spots in their eyes, and there are also blind spots in human nature.

The narrative lines of massage are clear, and the audio-visual language is realistic.

In this era of consumerism, Lou Ye pays attention to the film art noumenon with the attitude of "individual traveler", and objectively and directly records the life of this special and ordinary person with his honest lens.

Sharp realism, shocking shots, prominent voices and wet images turn between reality and reality. Lou Ye expressed his lasting philosophy about love and blindness with his synaesthesia film language.