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Radio Urbanon
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Wednesday, 30 May 2007 |
“Suzhou River”
——do you believe in fairy tale?
“A delight to the eye, ear, and mind.”——Peter Brunette, FILM.COM
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“One day if I left, will you come to find me like Mardar do?”
“Yes, I will.”
“Will you keep searching?”
“Yes.”
“Keep searching me until you die?”
“Yes.”
“You’re lying.”
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This is the conversation which shows up through the beginning and the end
of the film——a compelling story of love and obsession, “Suzhou River”,
made by one of the sixth generation of directors in China, Ye Lou. In the 80
’s, the Suzhou River which flows through Shanghai used to be a symbol of
filth, chaos and poverty. It also means secrets and memories to those who
lived alongside the bank, especially to Ye Lou, who spent his youth there.
So he created an unreal story close to the place that he was familiar with.
Mardar is a twenties deliver courier with his motorcycle drive around the
city all day to make a living, the reason why he is trustful to deliver all
kinds of packages to different clients is course he never ask questions or
say a word to anyone who is involved in his work. One day he received a
task by shady alcohol smuggler, to deliver his sixteen years old daughter
named Moudan regularly to her aunt’s place. During the process of the
delivering every day, they gradually grow fond of each other. But the
happiness they spent on the way alongside Suzhou River didn’t last long
when Moudan found Mardar actually kidnapped her for a ransom. She was so
disappointed that she committed suicide——jumped into the Suzhou River.
After several years, when Mardar came out of prison (because of suspected
of murder), he met a dancer in a night club named Meimei who looks
extremely like Moudan…
During the beginning, the film aside (“me”) said, “Every boatman
believes that there’s a mermaid in the Suzhou River.” It sounds absurd
and ridiculous since the river is seriously polluted in the late 80’s of
Shanghai. But after I’ve seen the movie twice, I finally understand why
people believe so.
The mermaid saying comes from a fairy tale which is a little tragic, a
mermaid fall in love with a prince who married another girl that she
eventually turned into foam above the sea. I believe Moudan turns into a
mermaid after her suicide because of love. Her love story is also a fairy
tale, as she said before her suicide, “I will become a mermaid and come to
find you, Mardar.” By looking at her innocent face at the first sight, she
is just as pure as a princess in this huge and miserable modern city who
could be seriously hurt by anything especially love.
Back to the beginning conversation between “me” and Meimei, Meimei
thought Moudan is a girl come from Mardar’s fantasy that isn’t exist ever
in real life. She enjoyed the feeling that she is the one Mardar keep
finding when they slept together. The point is, although they look similar,
Meimei is so different from Moudan, whether in her coquet looking or her
realistic life attitude.
Eventually, the story didn’t tell us a clear ending. Mardar kept finding
Moudan alongside the bank of the Suzhou River after she dead, believing
that she is still there, at somewhere around the city. Course she belongs
here. Whether Meimei is with him or never show up, it doesn’t matter.
In my opinion, “Suzhou River” can easily remind the audience of the two
faces each woman has, angel and devil (according to Moudan and Meimei). But
this amazing film testifies another truth——each man also has two faces
deep inside, a gentleman following the moral rules and an infatuate who is
loyal to the one he loved forever.
“Two strangers sit together, then…? Then it becomes love.” Love usually
happens naturally and simply, it only needs an excuse letting two people
keep close to each other. And that’s the way Mardar and Moudan’s love
story happened. Wouldn’t we all? Only original love happened that simple
and purposeless.
That is the real Suzhou River in Shanghai. Alongside this river, you can
see rubbish and dirt, loneliness, friendship, a born baby, a love story
secretly flow cross the gray water with the hazy air above it, and…a
mermaid in everyone’s deep heart.
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