[FIELDWORK] I BELONGED TO YOU, TESTBED 2 Art Center

I BELONGED TO YOU，DIR. Zhang Yibai, 2016

TESTBED 2 Arts center, Yuzhong district Chongqing

[Left: City Radio, where the hero Chen Mo works, scene from I BELONGED TO YOU (2016), directed by Zhang Yibai. Right: The roof of the City Radio in the setting sun, scene from I BEONGED TO YOU (2016), directed by Zhang Yibai]

I BELONGED TO YOU is a 2016 Chinese romantic film directed by Zhang Yibai. The film is a touching romantic tale revolving around two radio disc jockeys and the world they inhabit. They find the audience they reach reflects their love and heartbreak and forces them to deal with issues larger than their own lives. The film mainly tells three poignant love stories, respectively around Chen Mo, who is known as the cheapest person in the whole city, and Chen Mo’s two little brothers, the spookiest Zhu To and the most innocent Mo Shiba. They live mundane lives as ordinal Chongqing citizens, thinking that they can all live freely, but the result is that they hit the greatest turning point of their lives. They heal each other, experiencing encounters and departures, losing their paths until they hear a voice from around the world.

The film opens with the broadcasting station called City Radio of Chongqing. The entire picture is immersed melancholic blue because of the silence of the rainy day, which corresponds to Chen Mo at a time of heartache which is a mixed feeling from a breakup. The flight line of aerial photography is a circle around the broadcasting. The camera shoots from the top of the broadcasting can capture the whole city at night. Jialing River, Jialing River Bridge, and some other buildings built against the hill can be found in this frame, which reflects the unique characteristics of Chongqing, surrounded by high hills and rivers. The complex terrain is just like the complex experiences and psychological changes of the protagonists and the three tragic love stories unfold in this city. The same scenario, City Radio, and the same visual angle, from top to bottom which can overlook of Chongqing city, however, create two kinds of atmosphere and give audiences a completely different emotional experience through the different hues resulting from different weathers. A contrast between these two frames is formed through the depressed feeling portrayed from the first frame and hope from the second frame. This also cleverly corresponds to the different psychological states of Chen Mo.

[Mao Shiba and Li Zhi were talking at SHIBATI, scene from I BELONGED TO YOU (2016), directed by Zhang Yibai]

SHIBATI, literally translated as the 18 steps, is one of these steep stairways through the still homes that remained untouched. (Benjamin,2016). This is an alley built against the hill, which fits the terrain of this mountain city perfectly. This is not so much a street as a noisy neighborhood and generations of Chongqing people lived in such communities. Vendors and tenement houses are randomly located on both sides of SHIBATI and that makes this alley bustling.  The mountain road stretches off into the distance, which makes the world beyond become a frightening and unpredictable place. The light of the streetlamp fells on the couple, and this puts them in a warm and fuzzy atmosphere. Contrasts in tones can be found in this frame, the bright yellow light in the foreground and the dark blue light in the background, making SHIBATI in this film more dimensional feeling and administrative levels.

[Modern infrastructure of mobility: Chongqing Rail Transit (CRT), Chen Mo and Yao Ji take the train through the city, scene from I BELONGED TO YOU (2016), directed by Zhang Yibai]

Chen Mo and Yao Ji take the train through this Chongqing, passing through the mountains and buildings, which gives an overlook of this city. Because of the high speed of the train, the frame also gives audiences a feeling of leaping through time, not just space. The implied meaning of this seems to represent the change in states of mind of this couple, they grow up healing each other.

Notes

1. I Belonged to Youis a 2016 Chinese romantic drama film directed by Zhang Yibai and starring Deng Chao, Bai Baihe, Yang Yang, Zhang Tianai, Yue Yun-peng, Du Juan and Liu Yan.^[2] It was released in China on September 29, 2016.^[1] I Belonged To You is a romance omnibus of mini love stories adapted from Zhang Jiajia’s best-selling internet “bedtime stories” novel of the same name
2. Ben, J. (2016).The Chongqing Days: Shibati and the 18 Stairs Gentrification. Retrieved March 11, 2022, from https://pathsunwritten.com/chongqing-days-shibati-18-stairs-gentrification/.

Bai Yingxue

UID:3035948251