i actually have soooo many thoughts
- red symbolizing divisions in so many different ways (jiu-er being carried in the litter and the expected joy she should be feeling/the tragic reality; the sorghum wine being the color of blood which is something that sustains life but also implies violence)
- the scene where the grandpa is seducing the grandma in the field…holy erotic. hes crushing this sorghum in the shape of a circle and his heavy breathing, the sound of the plants being crushed, his frantic movements, the disorienting camera work. GOD it’s so good! its like simulating the sex before they even have it
- the part later in the film when the japanese have rounded up the workers and theyre being forced to crush the fields and its wayy less erotic and wayyy more melancholy. but its still an incredibly physical act, though less energized because of the horror of it
- the seduction of jiu-er and her eventual child (chinas “future”) and the japanese destruction of the field and their crushing of china’s future (seen literally in her death)
- jiu-er being placed in the role of power, but her refusal to accept it and the way that almost seems as though she is seceding to the men to try and convince them to not view her as a sexual object to desire. like shes making herself into less of a target for derision and resentment, which ideally makes her less of a target for desire and violence
- the PHYSICALITY OF IT ALLL good god. talk about intense physicality!! the fact that the men are constantly in states of exertion and their bodies are almost placed on display to be witnessed. in the beginning when they’re carrying jiu-er and we get a POV shot of her watching their backs move while they sweat. and then later when theyre making the wine and theyre pushing, pulling, climbing, lifting different parts of the machine to make wine and its impossible to ignore how much physical labor goes into making a single barrel of wine. AND THEN (oh godddd) at the end when san-pao has been captured and his body is strung up for the other man to flay and he looks almost like hes bowing in midair and its impossible to ignore the strain that is being put on his muscles, and the fact that the still image of him and the flay-er brings so much attention to their physical connection and the fields of sorghum in the background (almost as a reminder of the physical freedom they lost from the japanese invasion)
i actually have soooo many thoughts
- red symbolizing divisions in so many different ways (jiu-er being carried in the litter and the expected joy she should be feeling/the tragic reality; the sorghum wine being the color of blood which is something that sustains life but also implies violence)
- the scene where the grandpa is seducing the grandma in the field…holy erotic. hes crushing this sorghum in the shape of a circle and his heavy breathing, the sound of the plants being crushed, his frantic movements, the disorienting camera work. GOD it’s so good! its like simulating the sex before they even have it
- the part later in the film when the japanese have rounded up the workers and theyre being forced to crush the fields and its wayy less erotic and wayyy more melancholy. but its still an incredibly physical act, though less energized because of the horror of it
- the seduction of jiu-er and her eventual child (chinas “future”) and the japanese destruction of the field and their crushing of china’s future (seen literally in her death)
- jiu-er being placed in the role of power, but her refusal to accept it and the way that almost seems as though she is seceding to the men to try and convince them to not view her as a sexual object to desire. like shes making herself into less of a target for derision and resentment, which ideally makes her less of a target for desire and violence
- the PHYSICALITY OF IT ALLL good god. talk about intense physicality!! the fact that the men are constantly in states of exertion and their bodies are almost placed on display to be witnessed. in the beginning when they’re carrying jiu-er and we get a POV shot of her watching their backs move while they sweat. and then later when theyre making the wine and theyre pushing, pulling, climbing, lifting different parts of the machine to make wine and its impossible to ignore how much physical labor goes into making a single barrel of wine. AND THEN (oh godddd) at the end when san-pao has been captured and his body is strung up for the other man to flay and he looks almost like hes bowing in midair and its impossible to ignore the strain that is being put on his muscles, and the fact that the still image of him and the flay-er brings so much attention to their physical connection and the fields of sorghum in the background (almost as a reminder of the physical freedom they lost from the japanese invasion)
