Son, Father and Unexpected Guest Already the debut work of director Chen Kaige - the drama "Yellow Land" (1984), a graduate of the Beijing Film Academy, shot by him at the age of 32 years, attracted the attention of the cinematic community, which materialized in four awards of various shows and festivals. But until 1992, when Kaige’s musical drama “Farewell, My Concubine” received a Golden Palm in Cannes and a Golden Globe, plus two Oscar nominations, the director’s films, and during this period he managed to shoot three more, remained in obscurity. But after the furor with “Goodbye, my concubine”, Chen Kaige, along with his classmate Cheang Yimou, became the personification of current Chinese cinema. Even the invitation to Hollywood did not take long – in 2001, the erotic thriller Kill Me Tenderly was released. But the next year Kaige releases a new film-drama in his homeland and this film “Together” (in general, the full title sounds like “They are tired together”).
As it often happens, Kaige became not only the director of the film “Together”, but also played one of the roles, financed the filming as a producer and wrote the script together with Xue Xiaolu, who later gained some fame due to the film “Ocean Paradise” (2010) with Jet Li in the title role. And with Kaige, she wrote a story about a thirteen-year-old gifted violinist named Liu Xiaocun (Yun Teng). From an early age, he is single-handedly raised by his father Liu Chen (Lew Paiqi), who dreams of seeing his son become a great musician. To do this, the poor son and father come to the audition to enter the most prestigious music school, but Liu Xiaocun does not pass. Then it becomes known that the selected children did it with the money of their parents. But the father of talent does not give up dreams, finding his son a teacher and moving to Beijing. In a new place, Liu Xiaocun meets the extravagant neighbor Lily (Chen Hong) and this acquaintance will change the life of both the boy and his father.
The painting “Together” was the last in the author’s career stage at Kaige. His thoughtful and sometimes heavy films made the director world famous, but then he changed his creative orientation, moving to the camp of those who shoot more commercially successful films with a purely Chinese mentality - after "Together" he shot the fantasy action film "The Oath" in 2005. But adherents of Kaige’s talent and author’s handwriting could quite enjoy the work of the idol with the tape “Together”. Kaige chose the same scheme that brought him fame: several storylines, filled with drama in both the general social sense and in the personal sense, intertwine, preparing the viewer for the fact that the happy ending is not a necessary detail of Kaige’s films, he gives the film “Together” vitality and realism, emphasizing them with the help of purely modern trends in the character of mankind. Bribes, spitting, poverty, drunkenness, poverty of morals - all this is shown against the background of the relationship between father and son, to which an unexpected guest of their fate joined.
In Kaige’s three most famous works (" Farewell, My Concubine (1992), The Seductress Moon (1996) and The Emperor and the Murderer (1998)), the permanent actress was Gong Li, who at that time was considered the best representative of the profession in China. But this time the paths of the director and actress diverged: the main female role was played by Chen Hong, now Kaige’s wife. And she played very, very convincingly, especially since the image she had was not easy, because at first we perceive her Lily as a windy person living at the expense of patrons, but then she turns into a touching and caring girl who finally does something important and necessary in her life. In general, I celebrate the cool game Chen Hong. Lew Payzi tried no less: he was ready to humiliate himself, to work at the crappyest work, only to ensure the occupation of his son, but you look at this hero even more sympathetically when one secret about himself and his son is revealed. And without shyness, the young Yun Teng played his role truly honestly. And two music teachers, played by Wang Zhiwen and Kaige himself, complement the good impression of acting.
I had the chance to see several paintings of the classic Chinese cinema, which is considered Chen Kaige. I was certainly aware that all of his works are serious and carefully crafted films that cover many nuances, from the characters’ characters to the influence of mores and behavioral traits of the social environment. But of all the films I saw Kaige, I still single out the drama Together, which I recommend to an inquisitive viewer who wants to know what Chinese cinema is without kung fu and fantasy. There is something in it that even with our native modern customs coincides. And I note the acting of the entire ensemble, which was sustainedly dramatic without shining hands and feet.
8 out of 10