A Glimpse of a Forgotten Rural China “隐入尘烟”的中国农村 [真实影像×VICE]

本文原载并发布于2022年9月21日《VICE》全球 “REAL IMAGE COLLECTION 真实影像甄选” 专栏，该专栏由中国真实影像传媒(REAL IMAGE MEDIA)与VICE合作推出，旨在向全球推荐华语国家和地区优秀的现实题材影像作品及所其关注的公共话题，希望世界对华语世界“眼见为实”。

“从农村走进城镇，被抛下的可能不止《隐入尘烟》”，刊登于VICE。

This Sleeper Hit Offers a Glimpse of a Forgotten Rural China

从农村走进城镇，被抛下的可能不止《隐入尘烟》

By Stanly Zhang, Lu Jialin and Koh Ewe

“Return to Dust,” a tragic love story between two struggling villagers, has surpassed expectations in China and become one of the year’s most unexpected box office successes. 

A man bullied for being the poorest in his village meets a woman rejected by her family for her disability. Acquainted through a marriage arranged by family members eager to get rid of them, the newlyweds find themselves right at the bottom of the social hierarchy—shunned by neighbors and even their own families. But their love story blossoms through shared suffering and simple joys, as the couple attempts to build a life for themselves in rural China.

IN THE TEARJERKER RETURN TO DUST, A COUPLE NAVIGATES THE HARDSHIPS OF POVERTY IN RURAL CHINA. PHOTO: COURTESY OF REAL IMAGE MEDIA COLLECTION

Set in Gansu, a landlocked province in northwestern China, the film Return to Dust paints a tragic, at times heartwarming, picture of the struggling newlyweds Ma Youtie and Cao Guiying. Director LI YUNJUN used very simple movement of the lens but produced aesthetically and narratively compelling images in the movie. But with Chinese movie theaters increasingly dominated by epic tales of modern romance, rural love stories—or rural-themed films in general—have become a tough sell to the urban crowd. 

In February, Return to Dust had its world premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival, where it was nominated for the Golden Bear, the highest prize awarded to the festival’s best film. Despite its critical acclaim, Return to Dust was met with a moderate response at the box office two months after its release in mainland Chinese theaters on July 8. But it later proved to be a massive sleeper hit, as word of mouth recommendations saw ticket sales snowball from late August. By the beginning of September, it had already raked in 50 million yuan ($7.2 million) from almost 1.5 million cinemagoers.

For Return to Dust director Li Ruijun, whose attention never left China’s fading rural villages, the film’s success is proof that any story, if told well, is still capable of capturing mainstream attention.  The movies, directed by Li Ruijun, like The Old Donkey，Tell Them I’ve Gone With the White Grane, River Road, also had good feedback from the international film festivals in these years.

“This is a good sign,” he said. “Perhaps some viewers found a connection with their own relationships and life, and recommended the film to their friends.”

“This could dispel some stereotypes about certain films, especially about the popularity of certain genres.”

Poignant stories about rural China, at one point the country’s most visible genre to the world with films like Zhang Yimou classics Red Sorghum and The Road Home, have faded from domestic cinemas in recent years. As China quickens its pace of urbanization, its cinemas have also been stocked with stories about city dreams or big budget CGI fantasy tales. Those about rural life, in comparison, appear a little too bland, unable to capture the imagination of cinemagoers. 

Li thinks one of the main reasons why mainstream attention has moved away from rural-themed films is the stigma attached to rural life. With millions migrating to larger cities for work every year—one of the largest internal migrations in the world—many young people today are reluctant to admit that they hail from rural origins.

MA YOUTIE AND CAO GUIYING SHARE A BED IN THEIR RURAL HOME. PHOTO: COURTESY OF REAL IMAGE MEDIA COLLECTION

“When we were young, teachers told us to study hard. If we can’t make it into university we would have to farm. Farmers became synonymous with losers,” he said. 

In Return to Dust, forgotten villagers like main characters Youtie and Guiying are the everyday people that Li chose to spotlight. A plot point in the film has the government pushing towards national urbanization, awarding those living in Youtie and Guiying village subsidies for dismantling their old clay houses to make way for apartment buildings. Youtie and Guiying are forced out of their temporary home by its homeowner, who’s eager to claim his subsidy. But despite being eligible for relocation to a new apartment building, the couple reject an offer to move to the city—they simply couldn’t imagine how they could survive without farming. Without any skills besides being a self-sufficient farmer, Youtie feels that he has little chance of making money with a job in the city. Though it’s a fictional story, this is a reality for many in China. 

CAO GUIYING AND MA YOUTIE ATTEMPT TO HATCH EGGS IN HOPES OF REARING CHICKENS. PHOTO: COURTESY OF REAL IMAGE MEDIA COLLECTION

“Some older villagers today have this problem. Younger people can migrate out of villages and begin new lives in the city, but older farmers don’t know how to do anything besides farming,” said Li. “While everyone is marching on the road to urbanization, Ma and Cao were left stagnating.”

As rural-themed films wane in popularity in recent years, understandings of rural life, especially among urban youth, have also become increasingly blurry—evident from contradicting critiques of Return to Dust. Some viewers commented that the village portrayed in the film was too clean to be true, though others argued that it was dirtier than what they imagined present day villages to look like. Meanwhile, many had trouble believing that people like Youtie and Guiying actually exist—it may simply be too painful to come to terms with the fact that some people have lives as tragic as theirs.  

VILLAGERS LIKE MA YOUTIE AND CAO GUIYING RELY ON FARMING TO BE SELF-SUFFICIENT. PHOTO: COURTESY OF REAL IMAGE MEDIA COLLECTION

Li thinks that these debates are beneficial in raising awareness about rural China today. And he remains committed to bringing more rural stories to the big screen. As someone who grew up in a village in Gansu, it was natural for Li to tell stories about his hometown. 

“It’s precisely because people have stopped making rural films that I want to do it,” he said. “I was born and raised here. I am familiar with rural villages, and find it easy to relate to the experiences of those living there. Who is going to film it, if I don’t?”

“People should be able to see themselves on the big screen. All genres should exist in the market.”

In partnership with Real Image Media Collection.

All in “Real Image Collections”

《This Sleeper Hit Offers a Glimpse of a Forgotten Rural China从农村走进城镇，被抛下的可能不止<隐入尘烟>》Vice In partnership with Real Image Media Collection. 真实影像甄选

7月8日在中国内地上映的《隐入尘烟》，总票房已破1亿元。前期在排片率仅有1%的条件下，票房逆势增长，后期则通过流媒体的二创传播与口碑发酵，成功破亿。虽说破亿票房并不罕见，但对于当下国内文艺片来说实属难得。这让创作者看到可能，也让市场看到观众仍愿意为优质作品买单，《隐入尘烟》在艺术与商业间做出了很好的平衡。作为一部纯粹讲述农村生活的作者型电影，导演李睿珺用平实的镜头语言、油画质感的精美构图，将一对在困难生活中走到一起的农民夫妻刻画得单纯而浪漫。

在一片惨淡的电影市场中，《隐入尘烟》获得了远超这一类型影片的票房成绩。讲述农村生活的电影，曾经是中国电影被世界看到、获得国际电影节展大奖的重要类型，但随着中国城镇化速度加快、农村人口脱贫，将镜头对准真实农村的影片愈发减少。小镇青年、县城家庭、大城市中的失意者，一度成为当下青年创作者所关注的主流。

作为创作者，李睿珺的目光一直没有离开乡村。他执导的《老驴头》《告诉他们，我乘白鹤去了》《家在水草丰茂的地方》都完全发生在乡村，《路过未来》讲述的也是农村人在城市当中的遭遇。

在他看来，乡村电影在当下的缺席，可能主要存在两方面的原因，其一是市场，农村片的市场想象力太低，其二是大众对乡村的关注度也较低，“甚至很多人不愿提起自己的乡村身份”。但这些现实潮流的变化，并不会影响他自我的创作，“正因为大家不拍了，我才要拍。因为这个地方没有电影，所以我才要在这里拍电影。你得让大家在银幕空间里看到他们的存在。市场什么类型都需要（存在）。”

这样的稀缺性，也让《隐入尘烟》获得了超出预期的票房成绩。当然稀缺性只是原因之一，李睿珺认为，也有不少观众与影片产生了共情，“可能一部分观众找到了跟他们自身情感经验和生活经验的连接，会进行口碑宣传，推荐朋友观看。而且很多观众看完后分享了观感，带来的自然的发酵。也许在未来可能会打破影城对一些片子的‘偏见’，认为某种类型一定没人看，也许在未来，当类似影片再上映，影城也会多给一些排片。这是一个积极的信号。”

根据自己的成长环境拍摄作品，在执导作者电影的青年电影导演群体中非常常见，小镇、县城一度充斥各大影展，也与这一批相似成长背景的青年导演的某种集体表达息息相关。对生长在甘肃农村的李睿珺来说，讲述自己的家乡，也成了一种顺理成章。“我在这儿出生长大，我熟悉乡村，容易跟他们的遭遇和经历感同身受。我不拍谁去拍呢？”

“我一直认为我所做的所有电影工作，都是在截取生活中已经发生的事，做一些编辑工作，串联成一部电影影像并呈现出来而已。”李睿珺表示。

在大时代背景下，城市化进程中，农村是如何逐渐式微？如今居住在北京的李睿珺有着切身感受。“为什么大家不愿意回首农村？我们小时候，老师就说要好好学习，考不上大学就要‘修理地球’。‘修理地球’就是种地，是说我们考不上大学只能当农民。农民好像是失败者的代名词。另外，劳作艰辛而不易，收入也很微薄，后来很多年轻人也主动放弃土地。这是双方的原因导致的，这是一个全面长期的困境。如果我们不认同乡村身份，也不去拍、不去看，选择性地去遗忘，就会变成这样。”

城镇化甚至在《隐入尘烟》中一度成为推动两位主角发生变化的重要元素。因为一项“推倒废弃老房子可以获得一万五补贴”的新规定，无处可去的马有铁与曹贵英，才不得不去一点点修建属于自己的房子。也正是因为县城专门拿出楼房低价分配给贫困住户，马有铁才不得不在半推半就下推倒自己亲手搭建的新房住进楼房。

“这些都是近些年正在发生的事，也是时代变化的一部分。当人的生产生活方式、居住环境的方式发生变化后，人的内心也会发生变化。整个社会都在不断推进，农业社会逐渐城镇化，我希望能让观众感受到这种变化。这也是周边人对老四（马有铁）和贵英态度不一样的原因之一。当大家都在城镇化的路途上迈进，他们两人是被滞留在那儿了。”

滞留的老四，有着许多非常现实的担忧。住进楼房，哪儿去种地？怎么养鸡？驴怎么办？过去种地养鸡养猪，可以不用花钱就养活自己，但住进楼房意味着一切都要靠钱，“他是有种本真的对未来的担忧，因为他觉得靠土地生活没问题，但进城后，他除了种地不会别的，能做什么呢？当下有一些年纪大的农民就面临这样的现实问题，年轻人可以离开乡村去城里开启新生活，年纪大的农民除了种地啥也不会做，进城就要面临怎么办的问题。”

这些生活中的种种，也是刺激李睿珺进行创作的出发点。“我每次都问自己，我为什么要拍这部电影，原因是什么。尽管可能我不会跟别人说，但我要找到出发点。它跟我的关系是什么？它跟当下社会其他人的关系是什么？别人为什么要去看这样一部电影？这都需要让我为自己找到合理的解答。”

《告诉他们，我乘白鹤去了》是李睿珺最快找到答案的一部作品，刚刚看到作家苏童的原著小说，他就笃定了要将其改编成为电影的冲动。至于其他多部作品，可能是从看到某种现象，从而产生思考，再将其变成剧本去进行回答。

但对观众来说，或许观影后带来的感受可能会大相径庭。尤其是当中国城镇化水平提升、有众多城里的年轻人缺乏对农村生活的认知，加上扶贫力度的逐年加大，过去真实的农村，也被蒙上一层模糊的面纱。“太干净”跟“太脏乱差”，两种截然不同的质疑，都曾出现在《隐入尘烟》的观众评论中。

李睿珺认为这样的争议是有益的，无论是在作品层面还是现实层面，甚至可以在一定程度上，吸引对真实乡村有兴趣的观众，可以亲眼去看看，拓宽自己的认知。“看完电影，在认同和不认同的辩解和思考中，就已经在产生思辨了。可能很多人没有机会走出自己认知的世界的范围，电影帮你打开了一扇窗看到周围不同维度的人的生活。如果未来有机会，你可以亲自去感受；如果没有机会，也能通过影像方式拓宽对世界的认知。这是电影的特殊性。”

如今的李睿珺，已经长期定居生活在北京，似乎与他镜头中的甘肃农村生活产生了不小的距离。但对他而言，正是因为身体离开了家乡，才有机会去重新审视、观察过去的生活中的点点滴滴。“当你身处其间，很多东西就融为日常。当你有机会跳脱出来，就好像‘旁观者清’，才能对这些事物产生新的思辨。当我每年回去，都会发现家乡跟之前的变化，但天天呆在那里，看不清这样的变化。”

老家、北京两头跑，贯穿了他最近十几年的生活。在没有戏的时候，他每年总会在老家呆上一两个月。这根纽带似乎看上去有些脆弱，但也让他在精神和心灵上，始终与老家紧紧地链接在一起。“我觉得似乎自己从来没有离开过那儿，反而是北京，因为每年要办居住证，警察都要去家里核实你是否真的住在这里，每年我都会被提示，自己跟这儿没什么关系。北京就是一个工作的地方，在甘肃老家不会有人来查。”

心理上的归属感，再结合作为导演的职业信念要求——对生活的细心观察，让《隐入尘烟》中许许多多的农村生活的细节都分外真实。李睿珺常常会因为看到生活中的一些细节而反复琢磨，哪怕不记得样子，也能记住肢体动作跟语言上的细节。“比如有一天下楼，发现一名男外卖员正在上楼送餐，摩托车后面还坐着一名女生。我就好奇。等他下来，发现他们有说有笑，是一对情侣，大概是女生来北京看男友，但他一整天都要送外卖，她觉得表达情感最好的方式就是陪伴，于是就陪他一起送，哪怕只能短暂呆两天，这两天也是一直在一起的，而不是一个人孤零零在屋子里等着，每天只有男孩下班那一点时间相处。我突然就觉得，这是一对最浪漫的外卖员。可能职业性让我天然就能感知到这种情况，这样的细节会戳到我。”

不论是在生活中还是电影里，可能真实的底层人民，无法真的像商业片里的那些特立独行的英雄一样，成为逆潮流而上的个体。“在时代的洪流中，有时候个体是无力的，面对巨大的历史背景，很多人不得不去主动或被动调整自己的生存姿势。”

或许正是因为用真诚的态度直面时代，《隐入尘烟》成为今年截止目前唯一一部入围欧洲三大电影节主竞赛单元的内地华语电影，入围了今年2月举办的柏林电影节主竞赛单元，这也是李睿珺继威尼斯电影节地平线单元、戛纳电影节一种关注单元之后，首次入围欧洲三大电影节主竞赛。他认为，自己没有什么获得电影节评委认可的秘诀，如果要分享经验，那就是“去做多元化的表达，遵从自己，回到创作本身，抛掉创作之外的因素，让电影回归电影、创作回归创作”。