A Century of Film Classics (Exquisite Edition)

Author: Yin Hong et al.
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2001-10-01
Features: The 20th century has passed in a flash. In people's memories of a century of history, film is certainly not forgotten. Since the Lumière brothers' public screening of films, cinema has become a magic that moves people's joys and sorrows, their unions and separations. This world of light and shadow not only records the tumultuous history of humanity, but also accumulates people's experiences with reality and ideal, with truth and illusion. The 20th century has passed in a flash. In people's memories of this century of history, film is certainly not forgotten. Since the Lumière brothers' public screening of films, cinema has become a magic that moves people's joys and sorrows, their unions and separations. This world of light and shadow not only records the tumultuous history of humanity, but also accumulates people's life experiences with reality and ideal, with truth and illusion. Undoubtedly, one of the blessings of humanity in the 20th century is having film. As I once said, film creates a high degree of integration between the "sense of presence" and "imagination" with its colorful spatial forms, intricate narrative time, and vivid audio-visual fusion, overcoming the aesthetic contradictions that have long plagued human art—separation between space and time, vision and hearing, expression and representation. For us, film is like a window, gathering the myriad of people and the vast world; it is also like a mirror, reflecting the good and evil, nobility, mediocrity, and vileness of human nature; it is also like a nightlight, providing a faint light and a touch of comfort for those wandering alone in the vast sea of humanity; sometimes, film is also like a dream that is both real and illusory, conveying our fears, traumas, and helplessness, while also embodying our hopes, expectations, and passion. Window, mirror, light, dream—these have made film the object of longing, desire, aspiration, and empathy for people in the 20th century. Through film, people's love and hatred, joys and sorrows are expressed and conveyed. Window, mirror, light, dream—these have made film, with its vividness and emotional depth, provide infinite imagination for people's limited lives, injecting compassionate care into the indifferent world. As a loyal spiritual companion to human life in the 20th century, film has accompanied people through 100 years of ups and downs, bringing countless joys, dreams, and moments of exuberance. However, in recent years, in China, people have begun to forget about film. On one hand, domestic films have become increasingly detached from the reality of cinema consumption in terms of their positioning and production. On the other hand, China's cinema consumption environment has become increasingly unsuitable for modern life. As a result, television dramas have almost become the sole way for most Chinese to read, enjoy, and consume stories. People are immersed in the joys and sorrows, twists and turns of everyday life stories, spending month after month watching the same, repetitive television dramas. In this passage of time, people's narrative experiences have become simpler, their aesthetic experiences more superficial, their spatial awareness weaker, and their idealism beyond daily life more distant. Due to the absence of film, the audio-visual aesthetic ability of Chinese audiences may become rougher and their narrative aesthetic ability more naive under the shadow of television dramas, while China's audio-visual art will also increasingly fall behind the trend of global art development. In fact, television and television dramas can never truly replace film or the film-watching experience. The differences between film and television—such as the differences between film and video, the differences between film screens and television screens, and the differences between cinema-going and home viewing—determine the distinctness of film and television, as well as the distinctness of the film-watching experience and the television-viewing experience. Fundamentally, the aesthetic experience of film is beyond the ordinary. In a closed, dark space, we face a huge, singular screen. Whether it is grand scenes or close-ups, fleeting images or powerful music, the experience provided is a broad sense of "spectacle" that differs from our daily lives. Even in the most realistic films, such as the Italian neorealist masterpiece Roma, 11 a.m., which depicts the story of a crowded building collapse, or Zhang Yimou's realistic film Qiuju Defends Herself, which features a character demanding justice ("yao ge shuofa"), the experiences still differ greatly from our daily lives. Precisely because the experience of film is beyond the ordinary, it pursues the "spectacle" of audio-visual, the "complexity" of narrative, and the "strangeness" of limited aesthetic experience. In this sense, as it has been pointed out before, the film-watching experience is more like an experience of "dreams." Although it is closely related to our daily experiences, its operation is more complex, its images more peculiar, and its narrative more enigmatic. Conversely, most television-viewing experiences differ significantly from those of film. Televisions, sofas, refrigerators, telephones, and other daily appliances are arranged together in our living rooms as "home appliances," making them part of our daily living environment. Watching television often coincides with activities like chatting, answering phone calls, or doing household chores. Moreover, we can adjust our viewing at any time with the remote control, shifting from a topic on elderly health care to an advertisement for large breasts, and then to an emotional drama. Therefore, if film is a "dream," then television is more like a "window." Film provides a beyond-the-ordinary experience, while television offers more of an everyday experience. Through this window of television, we see the vast world and the myriad of people that are closely related to our current time, place, or feelings. As a result, television dramas generally do not pursue spectacular scenes, complex or intricate stories, the tension between narrative and visual space, or the extraordinary nature of characters and events. Most television dramas are set against the backdrop of our daily lives and draw their material from everyday life. Even emperors and generals must be portrayed in their ordinary states. Thus, television drama audiences spend long periods of time watching the characters in the dramas day after day. When the drama finally reaches its conclusion, the audience feels as if they are saying goodbye to the familiar neighbors and friends they have grown close to, carrying a sense of loss as they continue to search for new friends on television channels. From this perspective, the beyond-the-ordinary dreamlike experience of film cannot be replaced by the everyday realistic experience of television. Therefore, as we enter a new century and a new millennium, to express our love for film, we have edited this Centennial Film Classics. From the tens of thousands of films in the world, we have selected 200 classic films for this book. We aim to prove the unforgettable and irreplaceable charm and value of film in the 20th century. Of course, these 200 films are only classics chosen from our perspective, and different people often have different standards and benchmarks for classics. We have tried to determine whether these films are classics based on their status in the history of film art, their impact on society and audiences, and their creative and innovative achievements. We have also provided a reference rating for these films, although any classification of artistic rankings is inherently risky. However, everyone has their own scale of judgment, at least a scale of preference, so we have marked this scale for the readers' reference. In fact, the artistic charm of film can often only be conveyed through film, just as film can never fully restore the charm of literary masterpieces. Similarly, words can never fully restore the charm of film classics. Despite this, literary masterpieces are still adapted into films time and time again, and we still attempt to record the classics of a century of films in writing. This is because many classic films are difficult to see, and many films we have seen are difficult to revisit. Moreover, even the films we are familiar with may lack the time and energy to fully understand, appreciate, and record our emotional responses. Therefore, we have edited this Centennial Film Classics to provide readers with various archival materials of these films, as well as a journal of film-watching notes. While providing historical documents, we also attempt to evoke readers' attention and activate their memories of these films through a film experience. Thus, this book serves not only as a film reference book but can also be read as a film journal. The authors of this book are mostly young people with professional film training, and their greatest commonality is their love for film. Therefore, this book collects not only the materials of 200 films but also the perspectives, experiences, and interpretations of a group of film enthusiasts. It includes not only professional methods of film reading and analysis that can be shared with readers for the joy of rational interpretation but also the viewing pleasure and interest of ordinary film lovers, allowing them to exchange their emotional impressions and evaluations of film. Thus, this book is both a professional reference tool and a collection of film appreciation. Of course, each of us approaches film with different expectations, preconceptions, immediacy, and viewing contexts, so our understanding of film will naturally vary. Therefore, despite the book's potential imperfections or differing opinions, it strives to provide a platform for those who love film, where every click from the reader signifies a form of communication. Dedicated to this book in memory of the filmmakers who created the centennial film classics and to those who love film. Film is with us.