Green ripples, daydreams

Author: Su Kui
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-06-01
Features: Has your life ever been changed by a movie? Under the brilliant sunshine of Sicily, a woman of extraordinary charm walks alone, yet she can never escape the gaze of the lonely teenager; when life and love become luxuries, she can only continue to dance in the darkness; when a woman must rule the world, how should Elizabeth choose? Often, movies are a conspiracy, a carnival, a fling, a disguise, in the light and shadow, allowing those who watch them to find solace in smoothing the traces of time. The Green Ripple of a Daydream is a realistic portrayal of women's cinema. The films introduced in the book view women from different angles, understanding them from the perspectives of society, family, love, and sexuality, exploring their lives, their temperaments, their kindness, their weaknesses, their courage, and their downfall.
Movies are a conspiracy, movies are a carnival, movies are a fling, movies are a disguise, movies are a murder! Movies are a caress, movies are a love.
Words are already difficult to describe the rich and subtle feelings movies bring us, let alone recording movies with one's own words—it's like a dream of a madman. In midsummer of 2002, the sun shone through the glass. The cicadas chirped loudly and persistently. The high temperature lasted for many days. My daydreams swirled in the hot air, and in a daze, ripples of green spread out.
Taking on this book was a pleasant and enjoyable task—it gave me a reason to indulge in watching movies. However, once the work began, it became quite exhausting. Editor Wang Qian gave me only two months—a short time for a clever man like him, but for someone as dull as me, it felt quite urgent. In the end, I missed the deadline—with a rather solid excuse: the World Cup ruined it. I took on the task of writing this book in late April, and by late May, the 17th World Cup had begun. For almost the entire month of June, I almost put down writing the book. Fortunately, Wang Qian is also a super fan of football, and he knows what the quadrennial World Cup means to a fan. So, he forgave my delay.
Before writing this book, watching movies was just a hobby for me. Watching movies was fun, like watching football matches in the past—it was irresponsible. But once I had to write about what I saw, it began to carry responsibility and pressure, and everything became less carefree and fun. I've already gone through this once before. When I was just a football fan, watching matches was pure enjoyment—I could scream and jump when I was excited, or just turn off the TV and leave if it was boring. But after I went to France to cover the World Cup four years ago, I suddenly became a "football commentator"—though that title was thrust upon me. People then started asking me to write articles about football. At first, I naively agreed, but after a few columns, I realized that my original joy of watching football had vanished. Every match, no matter how good or bad, I had to watch it seriously—paying attention to every detail, thinking about how to write an article after the game. After writing about the Jia A league for two years, I was terrified—not of watching, but of watching with a task, afraid that I would grow to hate football—love loses its allure when it becomes a duty.
Fortunately, when I finished this book, I didn't feel repulsed. Although I watched a lot of movies during this time, especially the ones mentioned in the book, sometimes even multiple times, I was happy that I didn't develop a "burnout" feeling like I did with football.
To write this book, I bought many new DVDs, some of which I haven't had time to watch yet. After submitting the manuscript, I still want to watch those films properly—just to enjoy them freely, without purpose, completely indulging in those great movies. This movie journey is truly a self-guided trip—no guide, no organization, only an editor who gave me a map—women's cinema. As for where I want to go, the choice is entirely mine.
In selecting the films, there might be inaccuracies—but thankfully, there is no universal, consistent, or strict standard for what constitutes women's cinema. So, I allowed myself to have some personal biases in my choices. Through these films, I tried to view women from different angles—not to judge, but to care deeply, understanding their lives, their temperaments, their kindness, their weaknesses, their courage, and their downfall.
In writing, I also tried to step back from the films themselves, avoiding "telling" stories about them—I feared that would make me ridiculous. Those charming stories, those brilliant performances—once retold, they might lose their essence, even (decompose). After all, I'm not a professional filmmaker or critic, just an ordinary moviegoer—one among thousands who love movies. So, I just wanted to write down my feelings or reflections inspired by certain films, just to have a chance to communicate with other movie fans—that's all.
If you come across a piece in this book and really want to find the movie to watch it, that would be great. At the end of the day, my articles and the movies are two different things. They are not movie reviews, not critiques, just exchanges between two movie fans—I'm just expressing what I think.
In my opinion, the charm of cinematic art is irreplaceable. In our mediocre lives, movies provide us with a broader space for living. They let us experience lives we've never lived, do things we've never done. Movies can make us laugh, cry, and think. A life without movies is unimaginable. I can't help but love movies.
The completion of this book is also thanks to some friends: Yang Yue, Tang Yang, Fang Yong, Dai Xiaodong, Nie Shuang, Li Jie, and Hu Meng. They helped me find DVDs I couldn't locate and provided all the information and resources that aided in writing this book. They are all my movie-loving friends. Through this book, I hope to meet more movie fans. I hope those who read this book will come to love movies even more. You may not like my words, but please never dislike watching movies. Movies can let you live several lifetimes in one.
Friends, go see a movie. What are you waiting for?