At the beginning of the film, it shows a completely different style from previous Chinese movies. Mr. Li is a celebrity in Shanghai. He has good relations with church forces and has good relations with the British and Americans. He is well-rounded and makes the family's life enjoyable. Li Mingyu is his eldest daughter. She was married once. Her husband died young. She received a new education, knew English, and worked as a teacher in a church university. Mr. Li felt that his daughter was still young and he should find another one for her to look at. He also asked her to make a cheongsam instead of wearing Western clothes. Li Mingyu was no longer a father, so he had to take a car to the tailor shop. The time was printed on the big screen: 1940, Shanghai! Search TWKAN on GOOGLE Chen Qi and Li Wenhua used many shots to show the city scene at that time. They saw row upon row of buildings with various styles of various countries, foreigners everywhere, cars, rickshaws, police officers in the patrol room, talking about stocks and finance-··· There are street shots and studio shots. As we all know, Shanghai is Shanghai and the concession is a concession. They are two completely different worlds. There are more than 5,000 factories, more than 30,000 shops, and dozens of banks. Countless foreign businessmen and foreign capital have made Shanghai the largest city in the Far East. "Miss Li, why are you thinking about making cheongsam?"
"No way, my father insisted on letting me do it, saying that you are the best tailor in Shanghai." "Excessive praise, excessive praise, let me measure you?" " Li Mingyu arrived at the tailor shop and met Zhou Jiasheng. Zhou Jiasheng was older, but he was friendly, tidy, and looked decent from head to toe. He measured her with a ruler. The camera showed a close-up of his hands and a tape measure. His nails were neatly manicured, flexible and skillful, and the tape measure stretched and contracted in his hands, moving horizontally and vertically, as if he was completing a set of works of art. Li Mingyu stared at him and saw that he was well-behaved, focused, and his movements were quick and precise, so that he would not embarrass himself too much, so he couldn't help but add some points to his impression. "Hey, are there guests?" At this moment, Lao Wei, played by Wei Zongwan, walked in with a carefree and playful smile: "What a beautiful lady, you old gangster has been so lucky every day!" "Don't talk nonsense, this is Miss Li's family!" Zhou Jiasheng reprimanded him and hurriedly explained: "Don't mind, he has a bad mouth!" Then he turned around and said, "Go out and find your Mary!" "I can't wait to keep you here, go home and love my Mary!" Old Wei wandered away. "Who is he?" “My neighbor, who owns a restaurant, is married to a Belarusian woman and he loves her very much. I heard that my ancestor was a nobleman. When he first came here, he spent a lot of money. He spent all the money quickly and went to his restaurant to serve dishes. " "Oh~" Li Mingyu said in a long voice, jokingly: "Belarusian women are very beautiful, and he is the lucky one. "I just often complain to me that the smell is too strong and I can't stand it." "You really know how to talk!" Li Mingyu was amused.
After taking the measurements and making an appointment to pick it up a few days later, she left. Zhou Jiasheng knew that Miss Li taught in some foreign school. She was very knowledgeable, beautiful, and had a good impression. What follows is a fragment of their lives. Li Mingyu is in a missionary school, where there are many foreign teachers, students, and celebrities. The influence of the school is very great. Zhou Jiasheng lives a standard citizen life, with two funny neighbors, one is Lao Wei, and the other is an Italian played by Marino who runs an art school in Shanghai. They are all in a higher income group and have good housing. A plot was foreshadowed in advance. Old Wei boasted, but was actually treated submissively by his Belarusian wife. He often forgot to bring his keys. When he came back at night, he would stand downstairs and shout: "Mary, the key!" He would reach out a hand from the upstairs window, drop a key, and open the door. And if there is anything different about Zhou Jiasheng, it is that he often receives foreign guests. There are people from England, France, the United States and Italy who can speak a few foreign languages. There is also a Japanese guest who is a doctor. That is the role played by Cheng Zhi. Cheng Zhi has a round head, wears a pair of glasses, always smiles and looks very kind. He likes to play a little game with Zhou Jiasheng. He takes a token and switches his hands back and forth, asking the other person to guess which hand it is in. If the guess is correct, he will give a little extra tip. Various industries in old Shanghai issued many token coins, which can be understood as small-denomination coins. For example, there were tokens specifically for taking buses, some specifically for buying beer, and even brothels issued tokens to the coachmen who solicited customers. In the first half of the film, a picture of Shanghai Beach unfolds slowly, with a brisk and natural rhythm. Li Mingyu took the cheongsam and felt that Zhou Jiasheng's craftsmanship was indeed good, so she often went to the tailor shop to make clothes. After going back and forth, the two of them had a good impression of each other, but they also had concerns. Zhou Jiasheng felt that he was not worthy. Li Mingyu felt that the other party was low-educated and older, but she didn't like the arrangements her father had arranged. Finally, with the encouragement of Lao Wei and his Italian neighbors, Zhou Jiasheng began to pursue Li Mingyu, sending flowers, gifts, and writing love letters, making a lot of jokes, and then invited her to watch a movie and watch "Gone with the Wind." "Gone with the Wind" was released at the Shanghai Grand Guangming Theater in 1940. In order to keep up with the level of the goddess, he secretly watched it several times in advance and even memorized the English lines. After the two of them finished watching the movie, they came out of the theater. It started to rain outside. If "Singin' in the Rain" was released a few years earlier, Chen Qi would have arranged for Yan Shunkai to dance in "Singin' in the Rain." Unfortunately, this is a 1952 film, so the time doesn't match up. "I-I'm here!" Li Mingyu had a car and sent Zhou Jiasheng home first. Zhou Jiasheng was reluctant to leave. I feel like the atmosphere tonight is great and I really want to confess to her. So he stood in the rain, learned the lines from "Gone with the Wind", and spoke English stumblingly: "Whatevercomes, I'll love you,
just as I do now. Until I die! " Translated: No matter what happens, I will love you just like I do now until I die! Li Mingyu's eyes widened and she was suddenly touched, but she still hesitated and just shouted: "Don't stand in the rain!" ‘I really want to say this to you! " "You get back in the car first!" Zhou Jiasheng refused. Li Mingyu had no choice but to get out of the car with an umbrella and stand with him, telling her own view of love: "I hope two people can understand each other. I like a man who can understand me and open my treasure box. I don't know if you can It can’t be done.” "You mean, I haven't opened your treasure chest yet?" "It's easy to open a box, you just find the right key.' "Where can I find the key?" "You ask me? Maybe you should ask God, ask the Virgin Mary!" Li Mingyu smiled, waved his hand, and turned to leave. "Wait! Wait!" "Please wait a moment and let me try!" Zhou Jiasheng moved a few steps back and stood downstairs from Lao Wei. He hurriedly called her and looked at his puzzled sweetheart. He showed a trace of the sincerity and cunning of a young Shanghai man and said, "Maybe the Virgin Mary will tell her Throw the key to me!" As he spoke, he raised his head and shouted: "Mary, the key!" Cry! The key fell from the sky and fell into his hand. "Wow!" There was a low cry from the audience, and everyone's face was filled with a smile that was being spat. This kind of scene will not be outdated in 20 years, let alone in the 1980s? At this point, the movie is halfway through, and there is no trace of pain or struggle in the first half. It has nothing to do with the theme of the concentration camp. It just tells the love story of the male and female protagonists, mixed with the scene of the market at that time. And the foreigners unexpectedly discovered that, yes, they can understand it! Not only do I understand it, but I also find it very interesting. Maybe it’s the religious elements in it, or maybe it’s the fusion of Chinese and Western elements in Shanghai Tang. Anyway, it’s different from all previous Chinese-language films.