Retrospect of Gon Rinpoche's Later Period

Compared with the recent Hollywood blockbuster Transformers 5, Gon Rinpoche is really too small. No matter the rhythm of the plot or the attention of the audience, people who have seen the film can feel the power of the film and leave a sense of shock. This is a pious journey of life and death.

I believe everyone has heard the story of pilgrimage to Tibet. Every time pilgrims crawl forward, every time they kowtow. This is my inner shock and baptism.

Gangrenboqi recorded the story of 1 1 Tibetans from Mangkang who went to the west for different reasons. They crossed 1200 km and kowtowed three times at a time, from Mangkang to Lhasa and from Lhasa to Shenshan Gangrenboqi.

Some of them are over 70 years old and regard pilgrimage as the last important event in their lives? Grandpa Yang Pei? ; There is a little girl who is only nine years old, and she is not sensible enough to break the path; Nima, the father regretted his death and took away the leader of his uncle's dream; A mother looking forward to a new life; 1 1 all kinds of people, conscious and sinful butchers, went all the way west for their firm beliefs.

Ding Zidengda of Gangrinpoche? A child born on the pilgrimage route, Yang Pei? An old man died on the pilgrimage. These are two fragments of the whole film about life and death, like a circle and a reincarnation.

We can't understand that we are pregnant and go on a pilgrimage regardless of our health. It's even more outrageous for us to continue westward without confinement after giving birth. After seeing the child, the grandparents still let the child live with themselves. This is their belief. In their minds, the child born on the pilgrimage came with a blessing and a mission, and he should have finished this journey.

These eleven people, with their own reasons, bowed to the distance without looking back. Continue to kowtow, continue to pray, pray for yourself, for your family and for all beings. Go straight ahead, you are not afraid of wind, frost, rain and snow. If there is mud beach, you will drip over and stop to have a rest when it rains heavily. The avalanche accident couldn't stop them. If they are injured, they should rest for a few days before going. If the front of the car breaks down, they will lose the front of the car and pull up to move on. It seems that in their hearts, nothing can stop them except faith. When they arrived in Lhasa and saw the Potala Palace, they seemed to have found their former home.

"Gon Rinpoche" is a thankless genre in both subject matter and shooting techniques, but it is such a realistic film like a documentary that became a dark horse among many domestic films released in June, with a weekly box office of 20 million. This achievement can't be compared with the box office of hundreds of millions, but for such a small film, it is undoubtedly an encouragement and example for domestic excellent films.

"Gon Rinpoche" has no gorgeous and amazing scenes, only a documentary scene similar to that shot by a mobile phone, but it gives people a simple and plain feeling. Although the film only repeats the switch of kowtowing, chanting and resting during the pilgrimage from beginning to end, it truly reflects the true meaning of the cycle of life and death, as well as the awe of faith, which brings people a spiritual impact in the dull.

The details of Gang Rinpoche are commendable, such as the butcher kowtowing while waiting for a beetle to pass slowly; For example, while helping the elderly, a group of pilgrims listened to the teachings humbly and enthusiastically helped the elderly to do farm work; For example, girls continue to bow down after a short stay in the snow; At the end of the big vision, in the snowy world, they are like statues walking on their knees.

Some time ago, in a short film shot by instant video, I answered a question related to movies: how to watch classic movies? My answer is: three? Not afraid? .

Don't be afraid of classics, spoilers and intuition.

Don't be afraid of classics. Classics are not far away, broad and profound. A movie can stay after the time screening, precisely because it has a close relationship with us, or life, or soul.

Don't be afraid of spoilers. A movie can't be spoiled, especially a good movie. How many times have I read the most complete script first, and I can't figure out what the final movie looks like. Spoilers will help us learn more about a movie.

Don't be afraid of your intuition. It doesn't matter what experts say or critics say. What you see and feel is the most correct and precious, and it is also the best feedback to a movie.

In fact, this also applies to all movies. Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, don't be afraid to look, don't be afraid to influence yourself, don't be afraid of your intuition? No? .

The same is true of Gang Rinpoche directed by JASON ZHANG. I want to use this as a sample to talk about how I view this seemingly complicated film.

JASON ZHANG, director of Oka Rinpoche, whose previous works include Spicy Love Soup, Bathing, Yesterday, Fallen Leaves, and Flying Over the Nursing Home.

This is a documentary feature film, but its story is actually very simple, that is, 1 1 Tibetans set off from Mangkang and traveled more than 2,000 kilometers to Lhasa and Kangrinpoche for pilgrimage.

It sounds scary. Afraid it's boring, boring, difficult, not enough? Does it look nice? .

Don't be afraid. It's beautiful.

Look at the stories and pictures first.

This is indeed the story of 1 1 Tibetan pilgrimage. They live in a village and belong to several families. The year of the story is 20 14, which is the year of the horse in Tibetan calendar.

▲ You need to do a lot of preparatory work before going on a pilgrimage. This is a pilgrim who makes an apron out of sheepskin.

In Tibetan Buddhism, the year of the horse is the year when Sakyamuni was born and became a monk, and it is also the birth year of Gangrinboqi. In this year, the gods will gather in Gangrinpoche.

In normal years, pilgrims can wash away their sins by visiting the mountains here; Going out of the mountain for twelve times can avoid the suffering of hell, 108 becomes a Buddha in this life; In the Year of the Horse, when Sakyamuni was born, you can increase your merits by 12 times when you go out of the mountain once, which is equivalent to going out of the mountain for 13 times a year.

These eleven people, including the elderly, pregnant women, butchers and disabled children, walked on the road dusty.

Along the way, they met many things, big and small. Some people were injured by stones, pregnant women gave birth, and they kept meeting locals and other pilgrims along the way.

▲ On the way, the pilgrims met a family, and they were gathering the strength of the whole family to build a house.

Finally, it took them a year to reach Lhasa and Gangrinboqi, Potala Palace and the mountains of Gangrinboqi. All wishes have come true.

▲ One step can't be less.

It looks like a documentary, but halfway through, you will vaguely find that it has a story, and the material has been screened and mediated. After all, the actual pilgrimage may not happen so much. Once the pilgrimage is told in movies, we must focus on the events.

I like this vague story.

This year, they walked 2000 kilometers and experienced four seasons. The surrounding environment has been changing, with snow-capped mountains, grasslands, rape fields and small villages surrounded by peach blossoms and apricot blossoms, and trees are shaded in summer.

In recent years, JASON ZHANG has kept a low profile, as if he were in Dali and other places. Conspiracy? What, especially after flying over the old people's home, rarely appeared until he took out two films, Gangrinboqi and Soul on a Leather Rope, and was shocked. When everyone was crowded in Beijing and busy developing IP, various projects and capital dance, he plunged into the cold and desolate border plateau.

Zhang Yang is really calm. It took nearly half an hour to describe the daily life of Tibetan villagers, making firewood, lighting fires, cooking and chatting. In front of the village is the sight of mountains, sometimes with snow and sometimes with clouds. At the foot of the mountain, chickens and dogs hear each other, and yellow hair hangs its head and enjoys itself. Several villagers are preparing food and tools for a pilgrimage to Lhasa. It was not until the tractor as a supply tool suddenly appeared that the pilgrimage began.

People who participate in the pilgrimage also show a daily life close to reality, including the elderly, little girls, pregnant women, the disabled, and young adults as the main force. They knelt on the long road, got up and knelt down again, with the same pious face and the same earnest and persistent action. At the same time, they built large and small Mani stone piles on the roadside, and even if they were resting, they would set up tents to cook, eat, drink tea and recite poems together.

"Gangrinboqi" may be a road film, because the villagers have been banging their heads on the side of the road and gradually moving forward; Probably not a road movie. It is not very similar to the road film we understand in the popular sense. Too much like a simple and sincere documentary, without any rendering. This is a pilgrimage and a sacred road. The difficulties it faces are not legendary or dramatic, but they are equally exciting. The pregnant woman gave birth to the child on the way, the young man was almost hit by a falling stone, and the old man passed away on the way. The tractor dedicated to supply was hit by a car accident and became headless? Rickshaw? Wade across the river and everyone is still kneeling?

Pilgrimage is like a ferry on the vast sea, and kowtowing is like steering. They should keep trying to move forward. Through this journey, they will ferry themselves to the other side of the soul and bathe in the beautiful Buddha light at the foot of the holy mountain.

How far are we from Lhasa? It may take three or four hours by plane, three or two days by train, and it is estimated that it will take one or two weeks to drive from Sichuan-Tibet line and Yunnan-Tibet line. For Tibetans around the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, a trip to Lhasa may take about a year or even longer. It's a long way, and the altitude rises with the mountain. They hit their heads all the way, rain or shine, and their knees, heads and palms hit the ground countless times, moving almost like snails. Every step is not perfunctory, and every working procedure is not missed.

In the film, this group of Tibetans who set out from Mangkang walked quietly in the journey of 1200 kilometers, just like a group of silent ants, but no matter how slow, they had to move forward and reach the finish line. They passed heavy trucks and fashionable off-road vehicles, lively towns with flashing lights, rivers, lakes and snow-capped mountains in spring and summer, and nothing happened.

After watching Gon Rinpoche, I felt ashamed to look at myself in the mirror. People who live in cities often doubt life, the meaning of life and the necessity of going to work, and so does Uncle Fish. There is always a time in the day when they have to doubt all kinds of trivial things in front of them and want to jump out of their bodies and go hiking.

The Tibetan compatriots in the film obviously don't have this kind of confusion, because they don't have much desire and confusion beyond life itself. They are extremely patient, they are easily satisfied, live a good life now, go on a pilgrimage with pure wishes, live and die in heaven, and have no complaints in particular.

Few directors do this? Suffering? The way JASON ZHANG makes movies reminds me of my favorite German director Herzog, especially director China, who said? I am a strange creature, advancing along life, leaving traces on the beach behind me. These marks are my movies. ? JASON ZHANG has similar attributes, is dissatisfied with the status quo, and always wants to take a different road.

Through Gon Rinpoche, JASON ZHANG's fascination with movies and his love for life seem to be gathering in a quiet and restrained direction. Wait a little longer, maybe JASON ZHANG's better works will? Suddenly arrived? , contain us.