Huayu: From charlatan to great entertainer

Chapter 405 Xiao Liu: Warming Your Extreme Loneliness

Liu Xiaolv, once separated from the washing machine, was like a fish out of water.

Her boyfriend was busy with important business, so after dinner she felt a bit bored and could only go to her room with her elderly mother to chat and pass the time.

Liu Xiaoli, wearing glasses, sat in front of her computer and logged into her Weibo account with great interest. She posted a cute photo of her daughter eating, captioned "Greedy little cat".

Xiao Liu has never been very proactive in her work. In the past, she was forced to work by Yang Siwei, and sometimes she would log into Yang Siwei's account to do so.

Now that the studio has been dissolved and merged into the Wenjie system, Yang Siwei is preparing for the establishment of a new entertainment marketing department.

As a bridge connecting Weibo, Wenjie Video, and Wenjie Film & Television, we are addressing the challenges of combining Huayi Brothers, Ali's film and television with Alispace, and exploring celebrity marketing in the new era.

The slightly chubby agent was so busy that he barely had time to breathe, which resulted in the "salted fish fairy" being completely freed, leaving her admirers with nowhere to turn.

Thank goodness for Aunt Liu!
The comments section of Liu Xiaoli's post was filled with sycophants, a veritable gathering of intellectuals.

The pinned comment is still eye-catching: "I want to be the cream on the corner of a fairy's mouth, to be favored by your delicate tongue!"

Then someone on the second floor made a joke: "Want to be a fairy whose snot is frozen by the northwest wind of Berlin, so that simps can come and slurp it up."

"Even at -18 degrees Celsius in Berlin, my wife's beauty remains undiminished! She looks like she's posing for a magazine while eating!"

"When will 'The Sky of History' premiere in China? I can sing along to the 'As You Wish' music video."

"Aunt Liu usually posts pictures of her kids, but I've stopped being a fan of Liu Yifei. How about she posts pictures of herself as a female dancer next time? You deserve it!"

"I spent the whole night browsing the internet, and every photo of the audience at the 'Sky of History' show had red eyes, which made me afraid to look."

Liu Xiaoli's greatest pleasure now is replying to comments, pinning them, and highlighting them.

The netizens' replies were varied and witty, often making her chuckle.

Liu Yifei lay in bed playing on her phone: "Mom, don't look at it for too long, it's bad for your eyes."

"Put your phone down first, don't try to lecture me." The elderly mother said without turning her head.

“I’m texting Tian Tian. She’s about to start filming and she’s very nervous.”

"Why not make a phone call? That way you won't have to stare at your phone."

Xiao Liu laughed and said, "I find her too talkative, so sending text messages is more convenient."

"I'll tell her I'm going to take a shower and have dinner, and then tomorrow I'll reply to her saying I fell asleep and forgot to reply."

"Anyway, Sweetie has a good temper, so it's quite fun to tease her."

Are you trying to turn Jing Tian into Jing Dui?

Liu Xiaoli glanced back at her eldest daughter helplessly. "You become like the company you keep!"
"Sisi, from now on, I won't accompany you abroad unless you come to compete for awards."

"I keep thinking about the flowers and plants at home, and that vegetable garden. I don't know if the aunties can take good care of them."

Liu Yifei was speechless: "They're professionals, okay? You're just a peasant dancer, yet you're worried about others. I bet your little cabbage patch is hoping you're not home."

"Go! I'll beat you up for a bit!" This is a common banter between mother and daughter.

Xiao Liu joked, "Why don't you just start your career right here? I'll get Lu Kuan to help you with your image, I think it'll be fine. Or maybe you can have a cameo role in a movie next time."

Liu Xiaoli sighed: "It's just that I'm getting old. Otherwise, now that you're all grown up, I would definitely pick up dancing again and do some exercise. It's good for your health."

Liu Yifei's resilience is inherited from her maternal genes.

She still remembers the scene after her parents divorced, when her elderly mother put her on the back of her bicycle and rushed to various performances.

One of the reasons for the discord in her marriage was that she was unwilling to give up her dance career, but in the end she compromised for the sake of her daughter.

"By the way, Yao Beina's mother called me the day before yesterday. Did Yao get selected for some program at the closing ceremony?"

"Yes, the closing ceremony featured a chorus performance of 'Beyond,' but it had nothing to do with Lu Kuan. Yao Beina was selected based on her own merit."

Liu Yifei and Yao Beina are from the same hometown in Jiangcheng and childhood friends.

The latter enrolled at the Central Conservatory of Music in 2000, studying under Feng Jiahui, and is a true academic singer.

More than two years ago, she was invited to participate in "The Voice of China" and began to gain popularity, but she still couldn't bear to give up her work within the system and continued to work as a solo singer in the Naval Political Department Song and Dance Troupe.

In 2008, she won the gold medal in the popular singing category at the 13th CCTV Young Singers Competition. With such talent, she neither needs nor is it necessary to use connections.

Liu Yifei got up and poured a glass of warm water for her elderly mother. Since her trip to Italy, she now makes sure to have a kettle when she goes abroad.

When will Grandma and Grandpa arrive in Beiping?

Liu Xiaoli laughed and said, "They'll go over when you return to China. It's unacceptable for guests to arrive before the host."

"That's wonderful! I haven't seen Grandma for almost two years!" Liu Yifei exclaimed excitedly. "But after we get back to China, we still have to go to Nanjing for the premiere. I really want to go back to Beiping as soon as possible!"

Her elderly mother teased her, "I think you just want to enjoy some time alone with your partner, right? Your grandma is just an excuse."

Xiao Liu showed no embarrassment at having her thoughts exposed, and happily replied to Jing Tian with "Something came up," before getting up and leaving.

"I'm going to sit with Sister Chunru for a while and have a chat."

"I know, in Northeastern dialect you'd be a street hustler."

"Whee!"

Liu Yifei called Zhang Chunru, but she left the cinema after the premiere and has been out participating in social activities for the past two days.

For example, he was invited by anti-war groups such as the White Rose of Berlin and the German Anti-War Federation, as well as local patriotic organizations similar to the "Historical Society," to participate in seminars and give speeches.

We will continue to fight on the path of speaking out for history and calling for peace.

In her previous life in 2004, she shot herself in a car because she was suffering from endless torment, had no hope, and was exhausted both physically and mentally, so she decided to end her life.

But in this life, with the help of "The Sky of History," a work that could be more widely circulated, more influential, and with a larger audience than her previous works, this patriotic female writer rekindled her fighting spirit.

It seems that what she said after Liu Yifei suffered from aphasia is really true—

Having walked the same path she had walked, Liu Yifei shared her pain and bore it herself.

But this pain was soothed and dispelled by the sweetness of being with one's lover, and they eventually became a couple.

In some mysterious way, the couple together upheld a noble soul.

Iris Chang is now full of fighting spirit. She wants to see the magnificent Beijing Olympics, she wants to take her children to see the beautiful landscapes of the motherland, and she wants to take her parents back to their hometown of Huaiyin to reminisce about the past.

Then pick up the pen again, or become a bridge for cultural communication between China and the United States.

Regardless of the attitude and stance of the Western powers toward the rising Eastern dragon, she is committed to enabling more ordinary Western people to understand the true meaning of a five-thousand-year-old civilization.

Liu Yifei was really bored. She flipped through the premiere invitations sent by the organizing committee and found a wide variety of movies, most of which were political in nature.

I don't have a boyfriend with me, and I don't really want to go alone.

Salty Fish Liu ate a bit too much at noon and suddenly felt a little dizzy, so he went straight back to his room.

"Ring ring ring!"

She changed into her pajamas and got into bed when she received a long-distance call from Yang Siwei.

"Hey pretty girl, what are you doing?"

"Just finished eating, I'm so sleepy, bye!"

The slightly overweight agent complained, "Liu Yifei, you're truly heartless! Have you forgotten all the years we spent together?"

"Have you forgotten how you used to whine and whimper on my shoulder when Mr. Lu bullied you back then?"

As they talked, they started singing—

"The heavy rains we missed all those years...the love we missed all those years..."

"Stop! That's so cheesy!"

Liu Yifei lay on the bed with her eyes half-closed. Upon hearing this, she scolded, "Nonsense! When has this great heroine ever 'whined'?"

"Thinking, you're the general manager of that department now, haven't you ever heard of the Supervision Center in the world?"

"Would you like to test the sharpness of my sword?"

Yang Siwei naturally dared not reply with "My sword has never been unsuccessful," and immediately admitted defeat: "Maybe I remembered wrong. Back then, it was President Lu who was pursuing you relentlessly but failed. You cried because you were annoyed by the harassment and cried in anger."

"Right, that is it."

Director Liu lay sprawled on the bed, raising an eyebrow, quite pleased with his former agent's comprehension: "If a reporter asks you about these topics, just answer like this."

"Hmm...it's okay to exaggerate a bit."

"The washing machine stayed outside my room all night, offering to explain the script to me, and drove hundreds of kilometers to buy me my favorite food because I couldn't stand the food on set..."

Liu Xiaolv is addicted to raising sycophants. He just finished CPUing Da Tiantian, and now he's fantasizing about turning the washing machine into a sycophant.

Yang Siwei interrupted her helplessly: "Director Liu, what about that video of your birthday? Shouldn't you take it down and ban it from all the internet first?"

"Foolish!" Xiao Liu laughed out loud as he spoke. "Can't you say that the washing machine coerced and bribed me to satisfy its male chauvinism?"

History of time! History of time!
"Sisi, you've really changed." Yang Siwei exclaimed, "You used to be like Guo Xiang, Huang Rong, and Zhao Min, but now you seem to have evolved directly into Abbess Miejue."

"Hahaha!" Xiao Liu burst into laughter.

"Your department, what star what department?"

"Quest for the Starlink."

Liu Yifei then realized, "Right, Starlink, why such a strange name?"

Yang Siwei replied innocently, "I don't know, it was your boyfriend's idea."

"What he meant was that our department uses celebrities as the core of the industry chain and our flagship product, connecting upstream traffic portals such as Weibo, and then monetizing them to feed back to the downstream e-commerce department, just like using celebrities to string together an entire commercial chain."

"It's like Jing Tian now. We made her famous through 'Meteor Shower,' and then used Weibo and Wenjie Video to drive traffic and promote products through product placement of her clothes and cosmetics in the show."

"That's why it's called Starlink."

Liu Yifei's drowsiness lessened slightly, and she lay on her side in the fluffy down comforter, propping her elbow on the pillow, her fingertips unconsciously twirling her long, cascading hair.

The February snow in Berlin gently tapped against the windowpanes, creating a sense of tranquility.

After joking around for a while, Yang Siwei got down to business with her.

"Yesterday, the person in charge of the Wolong Nature Reserve in Sichuan Province contacted me and asked you to be their spokesperson, on a public welfare basis."

"I've turned down a lot of endorsements for you. I think you might be interested in this one. Take a look for yourself."

Yang Siwei is now the leader of the new department that is in the process of being prepared, but many things about Liu Yifei have not yet been fully handed over to Wenjie Brokerage.

This involves both Xiao Liu's dependence on her and her own unwillingness to let go.

Yang Siwei knows better than anyone that this is the capital that has truly allowed her to establish herself in the industry and rise to prominence. How could she possibly let go of it and let someone else take over its management?

"Oh! Really? Can I get up close and personal with giant pandas?" Liu Yifei, who loves cats and dogs, couldn't resist such adorable creatures.

Xiao Liu couldn't help but fantasize about close contact with the black and white dumpling.

If only my boyfriend were as cute as a panda, I could pet him all the time.

"It should be fine. They always need you to help them shoot promotional videos. How can they shoot without contact?"

While happy, Xiao Liu was also somewhat surprised: "How did this project find me?"

"You and Sister Mei previously served as goodwill ambassadors for Wenjie Hope Primary School, and you donated and built a school building in Sichuan Province, which left a very good impression on the local government."

Yang Siwei laughed and said, "You have a large number of fans, a young fan base, and a youthful image as an artist."

"There's another point that I made based on my own cynical thinking—"

"Only someone as naive as you, too lazy to even take endorsements, going abroad to study and spending a year preparing for a movie, people think you treat money like dirt! You're so easy to fool!"

Liu Yifei was overjoyed: "Fine, I'll lie then, as long as I can touch the giant panda!"

In fact, the State Forestry Administration launched the "Giant Panda Brand Plan" in 2006, and began commercial development in areas such as film and television cooperation, derivative product development, and giant panda parks.

This funding will be used to support giant panda conservation, reproductive science projects, and local giant panda-themed cultural tourism development.

The official work includes, but is not limited to, the “Super Cute Panda Band” collaboration with Universal Music, and panda-themed co-branded products launched with China Mobile, China Unicom, and China Merchants Bank.

The "public interest protection ambassador" before Xiao Liu was chosen was Wang Leijing, who had an extraordinary background.

She was a beautiful CCTV host who graduated from Tsinghua University, and later served as an interviewer for many heads of state and leaders of international organizations during the Olympic Games.

For the Wolong base and the Ministry of Forestry, Xiao Liu was an excellent choice.

Liu Yifei's fan base includes teenagers, families, and young white-collar workers, which aligns perfectly with the goal of popularizing science about giant panda conservation.

Her ethereal image contrasts beautifully with the characteristics of a panda, enhancing the fun and reach of public service announcements.

In addition, the lively and kind-hearted characters she has portrayed in film and television works naturally give the public a "guardian" filter, making it easier to evoke emotional resonance.

In addition, a crucial point—

She was easily fooled by the donkey, and she was willing to accept a symbolic endorsement fee for the charity project.

Yang Siwei's time in the country is rather unpredictable, so the two chatted for a few more minutes before hanging up.

After drawing the curtains, Liu Yifei curled up on the soft bed in the hotel. The Berlin sky at four o'clock in the afternoon was damp, cold, and gloomy.

She wrapped herself in the blankets like a sleepy cat, then groggily reached for her phone; the cold light from the screen was particularly glaring in the darkness.

Still no notification from the washing machine, so I simply went to sleep.

She has been on the roadshow and promotion since January, and in the last two days she has been doing two or three interviews in a row. The whole crew, including her, is very tired.

Liu Yifei lay on her side on a fluffy down pillow, her long, black hair cascading down like silk, with a few strands playfully circling her neck.

Her sleeping face was so pure it was almost transparent, and her long eyelashes cast butterfly-wing-like shadows under her eyes, trembling gently with her breath.

Her lips pursed slightly without her noticing, tinged with a faint rose color, as if she were sulking because her boyfriend had stood her up.

I don't know how long I slept, but the phone on the bedside table rang.

She groggily reached for the bedside table, her fingertips flinching slightly as they touched the cold telephone receiver: "Hello?"

"Madam, your program review magazine for today has arrived. Would you like it delivered to your room?"

"Just put it at the doorway."

Xiao Liu stretched, and her refreshed spirit made her radiate a gentle glow.

She walked to the window and gently parted the curtains. The twilight in Berlin was like a gradient oil painting, the horizon was gently outlined by the last touch of dark blue, and the city lights began to twinkle.

He glanced at his phone and saw missed calls and text messages from the washing machine. Lu Kuan had already turned back.

So the corners of his mouth unconsciously turned up, and a sweet feeling shone in his eyes, as if he had been soaked in honey.

She walked barefoot on the soft carpet, her toes slightly curled, feeling the velvety texture, and like a light cat, she walked to the door to get the program booklet.

She turned back to the sofa in front of the French windows, where she could see her boyfriend's figure as soon as he returned.

A cup of warm black tea sits on the table, its steam rising and condensing into a fine mist in the cool air.

Xiao Liu was overjoyed and prepared to read through each of the event programs, looking at all the reviews from the media outlets that had given the scores.

She felt that based on the response and reputation of "The Sky of History," including its current top ranking in the program's ratings, the reviews should be more positive than negative.

With the closing ceremony and awards ceremony still a few days away, reading the program reviews right now is a satisfying experience for her.

It seems like a Qidian novel author finishes a self-indulgent chapter, then immediately abandons the pen to frantically refresh the comments. Upon seeing praise that resonates with their tastes, they are instantly overjoyed, experiencing a mental orgasm.
When confronted with hesitant or sarcastic remarks, he would become furious and hang his head.

Liu Yifei curled her legs naturally at her sides, like a lazy yet elegant Persian cat, and spread out the bilingual (English and German) Berlin program on the sofa.

The Hollywood Reporter, emphasizing the balance between commercial success and artistic merit, and focusing on market potential and the director's independence, gave it a high score of 3.8. The review stated:
With precise audiovisual language, Lu Kuan weaves the process of Iris Chang's writing with the atrocities in Nanjing into a bloody epic.

In the multi-narrative structure, the long overhead shot of Rabe's safe zone and the close-up of Iris Chang's trembling handheld camera create a brutal contrast, reminiscent of the redemption in Schindler's List and the shock of the archives in Hurricane.

As the anticipation of the 2008 global financial crisis intensified, the film's critique of capital's disregard for history (such as Japanese companies pressuring for publication) became even more acute—it is a moral declaration that tears open the wounds of collective memory.

Variety primarily focuses on technical analysis, favoring innovative narratives and cross-cultural issues, giving it a modest 3.5 rating. The review was personally written by editor-in-chief Starr.
Lu Kuan used the alternating black-and-white and color film textures to transform the yellowed text of the two diaries into glaring bloodstains on the screen.

The out-of-focus shot of Iris Chang researching in the library is a metaphor for the ambiguity of historical truth.
The wide-angle distortion of the Japanese atrocities continues the war-induced madness aesthetics of Apocalypse Now.

In 2008, amidst ongoing controversies surrounding the Iraq War, the film's exposure of atrocities was comparable to the immediate indictment in "Hotel Rwanda."

Xiao Liu was delighted. She didn't quite understand some of the composition and camera language, but she could generally tell whether it was praise or criticism.

The next page was the German magazine Der Spiegel. This unpredictable old critic from Tokyo University was surprisingly well-behaved this time, probably because the Berlin Film Festival officials or Koslick had given him some instructions.

After all, Mr. Lu was personally invited to participate in the film festival by the festival chairman. As the host, he shouldn't go too far. If he wants to criticize May, he should do so in Cannes. Go ahead.

Der Spiegel gave it a high score of 3.6, and the reviews were relatively neutral:

The cinematography in "The Diary of John Rabe" is as somber as German Expressionism, while the rapid editing of the Japanese massacre is like the violent montage in "Battleship Potemkin".

Lu Kuan portrayed Iris Chang as "the Anne Frank of the East," but encountered difficulties from right-wing journalists when the film was screened in Berlin.

This is similar to the boycott of Oppenheimer by German students in 1968.

In the context of Chancellor Merkel's emphasis on historical responsibility, the film became a touchstone for testing Europe's understanding of war crimes in Asia.

As Xiao Liu sipped his hot tea, he turned the page and his eyes lit up. It was "Sight & Sound" and "Cahiers du Cinéma," two of the world's most authoritative film publications.

Since 2002's "Whiplash," he has come into the view of international film critics and professional magazines, with these two magazines giving him mixed reviews.

The language style of "Sight & Sound" is precise, the critical stance is diverse and tolerant, and it rejects extreme value judgments. It usually offers multiple interpretations of film as a cultural phenomenon, including its historical, social, and aesthetic aspects.

For example, the film review of "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" is like a historical scroll analysis, even providing a detailed introduction and supplement to director Lu Kuan's avoidance of certain key points, such as Li Ming's development in China after 66.

If I had to give "Sight & Sound" a rating, this magazine would be a calm observer and a systematic interpreter.

But another British film magazine, Cahiers du Cinéma, is different. Domestic film critics like Zhu Dake are loyal sycophants of this magazine.

When Western film trends were just being introduced to China and were not yet well-known to audiences, artists such as Zhu Dake and Li Jie, with their unique advantages, grasped the advanced concepts of the New Wave cinema and began to evaluate mainland films with a great sense of superiority.

Judging from the intensity and angle of their criticism of Xie Jin, this "Cahiers du Cinéma" is naturally a representative of extreme film criticism.

Its style is "black and white," and it is auteur-driven, meaning that film directors must have their own ideas.

If one were to give Cahiers du Cinéma a rating, this magazine would be called a passionate participant and a radical subversive.

Both professional and extreme.

Therefore, of the five films that Mr. Lu has made since his debut, only "Shoplifters" and "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" have received high praise.

As for the other films with a strong commercial feel, such as "The Other World" and "Tangshan," he didn't even bother to comment on them; they were simply too unappealing.

This film, including "The Sky of History," once again drew criticism from "Cahiers du Cinéma," with very harsh words.

The harsh comments greatly displeased Liu Yifei.

Lu Kuan's "The Sky of History" is a film hijacked by "justice." It indulges in the tragic narrative of history but sacrifices the purity of film as an art form.

The film, told from Iris Chang's perspective, explores the Nanjing Massacre. It could have been a powerful auteur film, but she opted for a more sentimental, multi-narrative approach, crudely piecing together historical archives, survivor testimonies, and the struggles of international friends to create a moralistic montage.

He once showcased a poetic exploration of time and memory with "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," but in this film, he has become a "repeater" of history.

The film's visual language is unoriginal, and Iris Chang's "quest for the truth" is reduced to an emotional performance.

The road gives us this feeling:
He seemed afraid that the audience would not "understand" the cruelty of history, so he used a lot of close-ups, slow motion, and sentimental soundtracks to force empathy. This technique is no different from the cheapest "spectacle of suffering" in Hollywood.

Of course, we should also recognize one of the highlights of the film: Crystal's performance as a young actress deserves recognition, but the character itself lacks genuine psychological depth.

Her silent gaze during interviews with survivors, and the body language of her tearing up manuscripts in her study, revealed an immersive quality that was almost reminiscent of the Methodist school.

If Lu could have been as restrained as she was, instead of indulging in moral catharsis, this film might have become a true masterpiece.

Perhaps we can describe "Sky" this way: it's not a bad movie, but it's a "lazy" movie.

The above is this magazine's film review, along with the author's profound thoughts and reflections:

This genius, who was highly regarded and praised by Martin Scorsese, Yoji Yamada, Zhang Yimou, Spielberg, and even recognized by Bergman, seems to have succumbed to vulgar commercial and political narratives.

This is sad.

When will we see the next master of cinema?
"Nonsense! Everything about me except the parts that praise me is nonsense!"

That's what Director Liu said.

She was getting a little tired of watching, so she leaned back in the velvet armchair in the Kempinski Hotel suite.

Turning the page again, I suddenly discovered that "Sight and Sound" had a high score of 3.8, which was a huge contrast to the almost failing score of 2.9 in "Cahiers du Cinéma"!
So she started reading with great interest, carefully reading every word and phrase. She would read every article praising the washing machine from beginning to end, feeling very pleased with herself.

However, the film review written by Nick James, editor-in-chief of Sight & Sound, made Liu Yifei frown and ponder deeply, even with just the title.

A loner?
Xiao Liu glanced at James, who was listed as the editor-in-chief, and decided it wouldn't be right to just casually call him an incompetent fool.

But what's the meaning behind this shocking headline?
This editor-in-chief, James, is certainly not a fool; on the contrary, he is a leader in the film criticism field.

He graduated from Oxford University and served as the editor-in-chief of Sight & Sound for ten years.

During this decade, his decennial "100 Greatest Films of All Time" list became one of the most authoritative lists in the film industry, and "Sight & Sound" became the bible of the film world.

Liu Yifei put down her teacup, feeling that Editor-in-Chief James had a rather unique perspective.

From the age of 15, the closer Xiao Liu got to him, the more she could sense his inexplicable aloofness.

alienation from the whole world.

It wasn't until she heard his "other people's stories" that she, already deeply in love, vaguely realized the source of this estrangement.

The film review that is now before her clearly coincides with some of her sixth senses.

The girl, who had always longed to truly enter his heart and thoroughly understand his soul, began to calm down and carefully savor the words that had inspired her.
-
"The Epic of the Lonely" - Existential dilemmas and redemption in Lu Kuan's films.

Lu, this director from the East, has been widely regarded as the Asian most likely to become the next "master of film" since his emergence seven years ago.

I've been watching his movies since 2002, from "The Drummer" to "Sky," and it was only last night, while writing a film review, that I suddenly realized!
I saw an extremely lonely soul hiding behind the film.

A profound sense of loneliness permeates the cinematic universe of Road.

This loneliness is both the individual fate of the character and an unavoidable metaphor for survival in the torrent of the times.

From the young drummer in "Whiplash" who fights against worldly mediocrity through near-self-destructive practice, to the distorted warmth built by marginalized people through theft in "Shoplifters," his lens has always gazed upon those souls abandoned by mainstream narratives.

In his internationally acclaimed works, *The Other Side of the Earth* and *The Curious Case of Benjamin Button*, loneliness is elevated to a philosophical proposition:
Liu Yifei's character breaks through mechanical monsters and time paradoxes alone, much like the human predicament under Kubrick's gaze.

In "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," the misplaced love between Li Ming, who ages in reverse, and Lucy, through overexposed images and the imagery of a reversed clock, solidifies loneliness into a sense of the era's poignant sadness.

He was lonely, and he was also good at interpreting his loneliness.

The road's visual representation of loneliness is textbook-worthy.

In the film "A Home Away From Home," the wide-angle shot of Liu Yifei confronting the Reaper robot places her insignificance in the shadow of the steel behemoth.

The symmetrical composition of the nursing home scene in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" tears the absurdity of life apart from aging and childlike innocence in the same frame.

Of particular note is the scene in "Aftershock" where Zhou Xun's character is digging through the ruins with her bare hands. The film uses a 90-second handheld tracking shot to visualize her loneliness and resilience through the shaky camera.

This technological precision makes loneliness no longer an abstract emotion, but a tangible, visual entity.

As I write this, I can't help but ask, why is his loneliness so profound and sharp?
This kind of loneliness is not simply about living in isolation, but rather a state of being that is almost physiological.

It's like having an extra layer of nerve endings under the skin, making every touch of the world feel like an overload of pain.
-
James couldn't help but ask a question as he wrote this, and Liu Yifei also fell into deep thought.

His loneliness must stem from that story, right? (Chapter 361)
But whose story is this, really?
When did this story take place?
Could it be that his identity as a Taoist priest was a lie, and that he had another mysterious and unpredictable life story from childhood?

But this isn't the melodramatic plot of a fallen "former dynasty prince" from novels and TV dramas. If it were truly his own life experience, why would he be so secretive about it?

For the past six months, Liu Yifei has been so engrossed in love that she has never seriously considered the deeper meaning behind it.

Suddenly, her fingertips, which were turning the page, froze in mid-air!

A tiny ripple spread across the black tea in the porcelain cup in her left hand. Liu Yifei's pupils suddenly contracted, as if a bullet of memory had struck her right between the eyebrows, and even her breath seemed to freeze.

She thought of the dream she had on the plane, the dream about Zeng Wenxiu! The dream about the tombstone at Yehu!
That day, the North American crew of "Sky" flew to Berlin ahead of schedule. She asked Lu Kuan about the meeting time and learned that he was in Nanjing discussing the premiere arrangements with government officials.

The astute Liu Yifei considered a possibility—

He lied; perhaps he went to that cemetery.

After much deliberation, based on his understanding of his lover and the information he already possessed, Xiao Liu could only conclude that his relationship with Zeng Wenxiu was extremely important.

As for whether they were actually the mother and son in the story, and when the story took place, she was completely baffled.

Liu Yifei scratched her short, dark hair, her thirst for knowledge seemingly right before her eyes, yet she couldn't quite grasp it.

She glanced up at the Berlin twilight outside the floor-to-ceiling window, but still hadn't seen her boyfriend return.

So I continued reading.
-
Before watching "Sky," I didn't see Lu's work as a form of catharsis, but rather as a distillation of loneliness into a high-purity artistic sample for the audience to collectively experience in a dark screening room.

Thus, we see one lonely figure after another in his films, as if they were himself.

Yet, strangely enough, in "The Sky of History," one can also see the dissipation of this loneliness—

Or perhaps it's the author's rebirth.

Despite Iris Chang's solitary struggle against historical nihilism, the film maintains the director's signature tragic tone. For example, when she is researching in the Yale Library, the cool lighting compresses her figure into a lone boat amidst piles of archives.

However, the televised debate scene at the end of the film unexpectedly unleashed the power of collective resistance.

Rabe's tearful response to the letters from the citizens of Nanjing, Minnie Vautrin's silent prayer for "eternal life in Nanjing" before her suicide, and even the audience's reaction at the debate all suggest a dilution of loneliness.

This transformation may stem from a change in Lu Kuan's personal life, but we cannot know for sure.

I never imagined that after more than a decade as a film critic, I would be writing something like this today. This issue of "Sight & Sound" lacks any calm observation or deconstruction of the film.

Our focus is on the director himself, because the characters, plot, and shots of a film are the externalization and manifestation of his own thoughts.

As a result, the audience was surprised to see that Lu's creative trajectory in "The Sky of History" seemed to be a long reconciliation with loneliness.

In her early works, the characters were always fighting against a fateful isolation, such as the blood-stained drumhead in "Whiplash" and the paradox of reverse aging in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button". In "The Sky of History", Iris Chang finally resonated with the witnesses of history.

This is a metaphor for the director's own artistic life.

When individual loneliness is carried by a grander collective memory, this genius director has finally found the key to penetrate the screen and reach the audience.

I think this kind of evolution is something to look forward to.

When the road no longer needs loneliness as fuel for filmmaking, how will his lens redefine the spectrum of humanity?

—Sight & Sound, Berlin Film Festival Special Issue, February 2008

Liu Yifei felt as if she were watching a long movie, carefully considering the words about Dugu between the lines and comparing them with the Lu Kuan in her memory.

Xiao Liu would occasionally recall the image of him standing alone on the film set, on the balcony, or in his car, smoking. Amidst the swirling smoke, his gaze would always be fixed on the distance, as if piercing through time and space, landing on a dimension she could not reach.

At that moment, he was as silent as a lonely island, while she could only stand on the shore and watch from afar.

She always saw Lu Kuan as someone who was shrewd and ambitious, until today, when this insightful film review awakened her to the true face beneath his many personas.

Then I thought of the story of that little boy from twenty years ago...

The black tea on the table had gone cold, but her heart was burning hotter than ever before.

She felt sorry for this loneliness.

The sound of a card swipe rang out, and Xiao Liu turned his head sharply, his fingertips still hovering over the title of the film review, "The Epic of the Lonely."

The person in the title is standing in front of the door, brushing the snow off their shoulders, with unmelted ice crystals still clinging to their eyelashes.

When did you arrive?

"Huh?" Boss Lu looked innocent, not understanding her thought process: "Now."

"I've been watching from the window the whole time, how did you sneak in right under my nose?"

"no!"

Xiao Liu's voice suddenly became sickeningly sweet: "I've been watching from the window the whole time, how did you sneak in right under my nose?"

The washing machine said sternly, "Still watching me through the window? Are you hiding someone in this house?"

He looked around in a pretentious manner and said, "I'll look for it later."

"Go to hell!" The gentle and graceful Liu Yifei broke down in an instant, though her voice was softer than usual when she was cursing.

Lu Kuan sensed something was wrong: "Are you alright?"

"It's alright."

The washing machine chuckled, "What are you trying to do, all sweet and coquettish?" and prepared to take off her coat and change her shoes, "Are you hungry? The director of the German film bureau just told me about a nice meal..."

Ok?
As Boss Lu bent down to change his shoes, Liu Yifei suddenly wrapped her arms around his waist from behind.

She pressed her face against the cold coat, her breath filled with the scent of wind and snow.

The hug seemed tighter than usual, as if trying to dispel the chill from his very bones.

"What's wrong?" Lu Kuan was taken aback by her sudden intimacy, but then he heard a muffled voice behind him:
"It's nothing, I just wanted to hug you."

With Boss Lu's keen senses, he must have already noticed something amiss, but what could possibly happen in just one afternoon?
He chuckled softly, "Why are you being so clingy today?" as he ran his palm over the cool skin on the back of her neck.

Xiao Liu tilted her head back lovingly, her eyelashes edged with gold in the warm light of the wall lamp, and her pupils reflected the scattered lights of Berlin outside the window, like candle wicks flickering in a snowy night.

She gripped Lu Kuan's collar, stood on tiptoe, and chose to express her emotions in the most primal way.

The moment their lips met, a laser beam from the distant Berlin TV Tower swept across them.

Snowflakes drifted softly down outside the glass window, casting the silhouettes of the two figures onto the beige curtains, overlapping with the gradually brightening neon lights of the city to create a flowing halo.

Lu Kuan found it even funnier: "What's going on? You mean you're not eating this meal, but eating you first?"

Xiao Liu glanced at him with a charming smile, and surprisingly didn't scold him: "If you want, you can come anytime."

"Hey!" The washing machine took a step back warily, looking around: "You're not really hiding someone in this house, are you?"

Despite his playful banter, his large hand had already pinched the soft, tender buttocks.

Xiao Liu didn't slap his hand away, but instead nestled lovingly into his arms, tightly hugging her boyfriend's waist: "I just read a movie review that said it showed loneliness in your film."

Just as Boss Lu was about to jokingly berate which idle film critic he had asked, he heard his girlfriend in his arms ask a question in a gentle tone.

"The road is wide."

"Ok?"

"Is there... anything else you haven't told me?"

Liu Yifei suddenly looked up, her eyes reflecting the snowlight outside the window, her nose slightly red, like a persistent yet tender little deer:

"I would like to know."

(End of this chapter)