“You’re only a little girl. I know it’s difficult to understand, love. but people just don’t get married at your age. they wait to see if they like one another when they’re older.” the mother said.
“How old?” Melody ask.
“Well...in their 20s.older sometimes.” the father say.
“But that’s twice as old as I am now. why is it so difficult when all I want to do is be happy.”
“We want you to be happy, love.”
“Then why can’t you help me instead of keep putting things in my way? I just don’t understand it. I just can’t think why it’s so terrible.”
The father don't know how to answer while the young Melody lying on the table and crying.
It has been a long time since I finished watching Melody. As long as I recall this part of the movie, I still cry.
Melody is an old film talking about the beautiful first love story of two children in 1971. But please believe me, it is completely free from the dull feeling of old movies, and the whole process of watching movies is relaxed. A good film always brings people some feelings, and what this film brings us is the memories of our childhood and the tender feelings of our first love.
In a cemetery where children often play near the school, Melody and Daniel sit close and whisper.
“How long’re 50 years?”
“Erm...150 school terms, not including holidays.”
“would you love me that long? I don’t think you will.”
“of course, I’ve loved you a whole week already, haven’t I?”
This line fully shows the innocence and optimism of the two children. I think this dialogue is very lovely, but it also triggered the audience's imagination of their future. I dare to say that the audience is pessimistic.
There are many similar scenes. On the surface, the director narrates romantically, but we can connect reality with a little association. The director is not lying.He doesn't show us the cruel reality. This is a selective expression. The general audience feels the romance in the film, while the older fans can understand the director's implicit pessimism.
The directing skills of this film are very superb, not only in the lines.
For example, the film uses a lot of symbolism.
The school is built next to the cemetery, which symbolizes their nature killed by the school.
A student tries to make a bomb for a long time and finally, explodes successfully. The car of the parents who come to "chase" the students are attacked by the bomb, which symbolizes the new generation's resistance to traditional education (through the bomb) and finally wins the victory.
While waiting for the interview of the art troupe to play "Two Tigers", the two are interrupted by the teacher who is interviewing, symbolizing the interference of traditional forces in puppy love. In addition, the director often sets the foreshadowing in this film. For example, the Latin teacher uses the cloth shoes to spank the students' buttocks, because the last shoe is taken by the students, and finally the teacher is chased and spanked by them; Other students keep trying to make a bomb, which is rather close to success, laying the groundwork for the final complete development and bombing of Daniel's mother's car.
The editing is also unique. The student failed to make a bomb, which caused the ridicule of other partners. When the children were laughing, the camera suddenly cut into the laughter of a group of adults at the dinner party. Here, they use close-up shots, and quickly switch between different adult faces to create a sense of ugliness.
In addition, this kind of smile between adults and students without any attitude forms a strong contrast, which makes the audience feel the beauty of childhood immediately. They enjoy a romantic date on the beach in this scene. The next scene is in the principal's office. The feeling of freedom is in sharp contrast to the discomfort in the office.
The BGM is a highlight of Melody. The songs in the movie are recorded by Bee Gees, which are very beautiful. The film has made eight MV-style scenes for these songs. In these scenes, the background music last for a long that was continuously, and the voice in the movie was eliminated. Bee Gees' songs make me feel about a retro style. After all, it has been more than 50 years. At that time, people's feelings about these songs should be completely different from now, similar to listening to pop music now.
It is worth mentioning that what happened in the cemetery is very important. There are four cemetery scenes, which is a clue throughout the film. As mentioned above, cemeteries are always accompanied by schools. Significantly, the symbol of the school is similar to the cemetery.
There were four scenes in the cemetery. The first one is simple, the second one is a star on a poster of the obsession of several girls in the cemetery, the third one is the first date of the male and female protagonists, and the fourth one is that when they wanted to get married and were hindered by their parents, the little boy hold the little girl for shelter from the rain (at this time, the rain and tears are indistinguishable)， The common feature of these events (except for the first ) is that these behaviors are not allowed by families and schools. At this time, the cemetery, which should be a gloomy place, has become a paradise for children, it is closer to heaven than the seemingly sacred school, which is the second meaning of the cemetery.
The last scene of the film impressed me deeply. The couple drive along the railway track to the distance. At this time, the camera slowly rose and you can have a bird’s view. In the range of vision, there is no obstacle to becoming peaceful, but who can know what is beyond? The ending subtitle then appears, "To love someone, love Melody.", there is no more perfect ending than this.
As for the shortcomings, there are still some, but the shortcomings do not cover the merits. Due to the limitations of the age, there are some technical bugs in this film. For example, its BGM is too frequent. If it shows in modern movies, it will be criticized. however, I like this movie so much, these problems cannot affect my choice. I am too deeply involved, as if I were a member of the children 50 years ago, enjoying my happy life, and completely unwilling to return to reality.
Rating A+
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