The film Crimes of Passion (一场风花雪月的事) tells the story of an unworldly and selfish policewoman, Lü Yueyue, falls in love with a humorous mafia Kim JongHee and flees with him, betraying her honest boyfriend, policeman Xue Yu. However, after a series of mental struggle, Lü Yueyue finally decides to betray Kim JongHee and caught him to police. The clip I choose is the last long conversation between Lü Yueyue and her boyfriend Xue Yu before she flees. During the conversation, Lü found out that his boyfriend was aware of his feelings for Kim JongHee and wanted to exonerate herself. However, Xue Yu pointed out that Lü has fallen in love with another man and betrayed his trust. The displeasure of this conversation is one of the direct reasons that urges Lü to leave Xue, but Lü's guilt towards Xue is also buried in her hear, foreshadowing her final decision catching her paramour Kim to the police.
Given how important this clip is in the film, I got on my bike and rode for an hour to Mangrove Forest Park in Shenzhen Bay, where the long conversation takes place. Unfortunately, I was unable to go to the exact location where the conversation took place, which has been turned into a wildlife reserve under military control. Fortunately, I found a platform on the edge of the park with very similar scene – even the stone columns were the same. Standing on this platform and looking around, I felt as if I could travel through time and reality, and feel the thoughts of the protagonist as well as the profound reasons why this place is chosen.
In the film clip, Lü stands on the land side, with the dark green mangrove forest as background. Meanwhile, Xue stood on the seaward side, and when the camera turned to him, the background was the bright sky, the sea, and the city stretching to the skyline. This light and dark contrast shows the two completely different state of mind: Lü just wants to wash out their suspicions with excuses in front of her boyfriend. However, Xue has already known all and even dares to tell the truth in front of girlfriend for the first time. When Lü's argument is interrupted by Xue, the camera gives Xue a close-up, and the bright sea and sky suddenly replaces the dark forest, giving the audience a straightforward visual contrast. This contrast of and conflict also implies that Lü and Xue are not same kind of people, foreshadowing Lü's betrayal towards Xue later.
However, during my field trip, I found also something very interesting. While the scene seems to show the deep estrangement between Lü and Xue, it also reveals their partnership as boyfriend and girlfriend. As I walked around the platform, I could feel the cold, strong sea wind blowing from Shenzhen Bay nearly blew my hat off. In the film, Xue happens to be standing on the seaboard side of the platform – instinctively shielding his girlfriend from the wind, even though he is so disappointed with her. Perhaps Lü finally reformed her misbehavior because of the guilt of remembering such meticulous care from Xue.·The edge of Mangrove Forest Park. Tourists standing here would feel strong and cold sea wind blowing from the sea. During the field trip, I also found the differences between the movie scene and the actual scene. The actual scene is a lot brighter, but in the film, the director likely added a Slightly Dark filter for this scene. I think this is mainly to deepen the color of the woods behind Lü – the mangrove trees are actually not dark enough to make the contrast that previously mentioned. In order to increase the contrast between the backgrounds of the two people in the dialogue, the director finally decides used a filter to make the mangrove forest darker – and it worked well.
·The Platform on the edge of Mangrove Forest. In the movie, two characters are standing on a similar platform near the forest.The stone columns are exactly the same on this platform and in the movie, even the movie was taken 7 years ago! CCHU9034 Wuyang Du u3583012 March 14, 2021
In your fieldwork, you were strategically using the video as a way of documenting and narrating your argument at the same time. Comparing a scene from the film (printed, on your iPad, etc) while you’re shooting the analysis video on site would make it even powerful. I’ve been wondering, how could you tell if the scene was taken on the mangrove conservation part of the bay? Was it because of the skyline? If we were to film the scene again today, would there be any other place along the bay to pose a similar character? Another point you mentioned in your reflection was how the contrasting background when both characters were arguing seemed to match their state of mind. It might also be as constructive to think about the space where the argument took place and see it through the “space as practised place” perspective. Relating your analysis to one of the key ideas we have discussed in the class will be helpful for you to read through the site and build your argument.
Thank you very much!