Editor's note: This is a nostalgic theater.
There is a 28-year-old girl living in Beijing who works as a news editor for CCTV. She is going to get married soon, and the partner is a 32-year-old handsome guy, a young and promising manager of a foreign company listed in the Fortune 500, whose career is on the rise. The relationship between the two is stable, and their lives are calm, no matter how you look at it, they are quite a match.
"Sleepless in Seattle" Stills
Late one night, the girl accidentally turned on CCTV while driving and heard an emotional program. Surprisingly, the caller was an 8-year-old boy who secretly consulted an emotional expert without telling his father. One and a half years ago, his mother passed away due to illness, and his father never remarried. He felt that his father was very lonely, so he was very worried about him. Under the persuasion of the host, although the father was reluctant, he also appeared on the other end of the phone and briefly described his current situation of living alone with his child and his longing for his deceased wife, which gave him some relief.
"Sleepless in Seattle" Stills
This evening, many listeners, especially female listeners, were moved by this story. This is especially true for girls living in Beijing. She asked her friends to find out the father's contact information. This is a 36-year-old widower in Guangzhou who runs a small tea restaurant. She didn't know why, but she wrote him a letter, and she was a little obsessed with it. She took the opportunity of a job interview and ran to the Guangzhou tea restaurant to have a look at him. The two didn't speak, and even he didn't know who the girl in front of him was, but the girl felt that he was exactly what she imagined...
"Sleepless in Seattle" Stills
Back in Beijing, the girl received a letter from the widower, and after a few days of meeting, the two could meet at the Broken Bridge of West Lake in Hangzhou in spring. It was a very coincidental coincidence that the girl was going to Hangzhou to arrange a wedding in her hometown with her boyfriend. She needs to make a decision, whether to make it clear to her boyfriend that she will no longer get married, but go to the Broken Bridge to meet the man she misses but has never spoken to.
Although she doesn't know where the future will go, she feels that she must be honest with her heart.
What she didn't know was that the letter was not actually answered by the man, but a choice made by his naughty and lovely 8-year-old son for his father. We met at the Broken Bridge because the little guy had just watched a few episodes of "Legend of the New White Snake" and believed in the beautiful fate. The child is now hiding from his father and flying from Guangzhou to Hangzhou by himself to meet netizens, thinking that he can help his father find a better future. And Dad found out about it, and hurried after him...
"Sleepless in Seattle" Stills
What do you think of this story?
Some people may think that this girl is too in love with brains and lacks experience in the real world. After all, thinking about a man who has never spoken to him day and night, and even planning to give up his soon-to-be-married boyfriend for the sake of a ridiculous bridge break, is a hot-headed and even utterly wrong decision;
Some people may think that this girl is very sincere, believes in love, is not influenced by worldly judgments, insists on choosing the way of life she wants, and never easily compromises on life. Even if the ending is not good, at least she has obeyed her inner voice, and she can live without regret in the future;
——At the end of the day, love is a gamble about the future, the future is uncertain, and the result cannot be controlled by one person at all. There are some successful examples in reality, and most of the failures are tragic, but even so, everyone still has romantic desires and fantasies in their hearts, and they want to devote themselves to it whenever they have the opportunity.
This is love.
Sleepless in Seattle poster
Released on June 25, 30 years ago, "Sleepless in Seattle" tells such a story, such a love.
The above narration is to let the audience who have watched the film or have not watched it, understand how the film shows some bizarre love experiences in a way closer to our lives, but it also represents a kind of beauty and love. Bold pursuit of life.
Compared with falling in love today, both men and women will be more based on realistic conditions. The era 30 years ago was "very unrealistic". Romance movies also maintain a "that" look.
At that time, romance films were not only for one-day trips to theaters for the box office of Valentine’s Day, but were full of young men and women’s longing for love. The perfect "popular lover" on the screen is often simple and sincere. Although it is not perfect, it is not even rich, but it represents the image of a partner that the public thinks is worthy of a lifetime of companionship.
Today's young female audience, I wonder if they want to marry a man who looks like this? 30 years ago, this was the popular icon.
Such a movie, in addition to going to the cinema together on Valentine's Day, can also be enjoyed at home alone late at night. Even the latter viewing experience can better appreciate the beauty that the film wants to show.
Although the number of romantic films produced every year still occupies the largest number in the global market, judging from the artistic content and the effect of impressing the audience, in recent years, except for a few films such as "La La Land", "this kind of" romantic films have basically disappeared.
Romance movies are not the same as romance movies.
"Sleepless in Seattle" is even more different from other romance films.
Director Nora Ephron (right) and actress "Aunt May" at work. It can be seen that the communication between women is so relaxed and casual.
The film's director and screenwriter Nora Ephron, she is one of the few female screenwriters and directors in Hollywood. At the age of about 50, he created three famous love movies: "When Harry Met Sally" (1989), "Sleepless in Seattle" (1993), "Electronic Love Letter" (1998) . Although she only wrote and did not direct the first film, the three films have a creative perspective that is obviously different from that of male directors. The content of the description is delicate and romantic, and each film has become a classic.
The impact of these films is far-reaching. Even today, when watching American comedy/romance movies and TV dramas, if you want to express a person’s nostalgia and romance, most of the movies they like to watch most are these movies. And Chinese female screenwriter and director Xue Xiaolu created "Beijing Meets Seattle" ten years ago. The various inspirations and tributes in the story can also be seen in this film.
"Sleepless in Seattle" has an obvious tribute to "Jin Yu Meng". At the same time, it also influenced the creation of many love films later. It is a very romantic thing that a classical concept of love can be continued for decades or even centuries in excellent movies.
This kind of factual influence and inheritance, just like the male and female protagonists in this film, although they are separated from each other, but they all like the same old Hollywood movie "Jin Yumeng" (1957), it represents the literary and artistic love of each generation of audiences when they were young. Inspired by the works, how to establish a beautiful imagination of "love" and how to have a simple and beautiful concept of love.
In that Hollywood movie, the male and female protagonists fell in love at first sight during a chance encounter. Half a year later, they met on the top floor of the Empire State Building in New York, but they missed each other because of an accident, and finally met again. Also because of the influence of "Jin Yumeng", the hero and heroine of the film finally made an appointment to meet on the top floor of the Empire State Building, bringing the story to a beautiful Hollywood-style finale.
8 year old son is a Cupid. He is far more innocent than an adult.
To put it bluntly, "Sleepless in Seattle" is a very old prototype of a love story - "a thousand miles and a thread lead by fate". In this type of story, the male and female protagonists often fall in love at first sight. Even if they spend a short time together, they both have the idea of spending time together in the future, and even make promises that seem light but heavy. To fulfill this promise, one needs to fight against the ruthless teasing of fate, to break through the obstacles of accidents and secularism, and even needs a little help from the goddess of luck to regain the lost lover.
These wonderful twists and turns, just like "Ten years of cultivation can cross the same boat, and a hundred years of cultivation can achieve sleep together", the Chinese call it "fate fate" in the dark. It shows that the instinctive and deep attraction between men and women can overcome the physical isolation of time and distance, and bring two people together in the end.
The Hong Kong translation of the film is called "The Sky of Fate". The poster style is the coconut tree style aesthetic popular 30 years ago.
If you look at it with a realistic eye, maybe such films are slightly paranoid and unreasonable. As I said at the beginning, if you change the angle, then the heroine is the standard "love brain"-desperate for the imaginary love, and give up the kind, lovely and rich fiancé around her, just to meet a A widower who never spoke a word. If you put two men side by side in reality and choose randomly, no matter how you compare them, the fiancé is better.
At the same time, no matter the film or "Jin Yumeng", there are some "specially stupid" things that the two missed. There will be no more accidents and misunderstandings.
——If you have started to pick on the shortcomings of the film from these angles, it may mean that you have experienced the vicissitudes of life and learned to look at the story of the film with a more realistic attitude. At the same time, you also understand that the problems in life cannot be solved with love.
You do mature. But probably older too.
An 8-year-old boy can have a "childhood sweetheart", but adults are more lonely. Why?
If you don't hold such a critical attitude, then the whole story of "Sleepless in Seattle" is pure and beautiful.
The heroine, like several other female-directed masterpieces, is played by the blonde Meg Ryan. She was called "America's Sweetheart" when she was young, and she was the hottest idol actress. The roles she often played are somewhat similar to the "silly white sweet" in today's online articles. But "white" and "sweet" are just appearance standards that meet the public's aesthetics, but "stupid" is not necessarily. In fact, the heroines she played are not stupid, but because the way of looking at life is not so practical, she has a beautiful imagination of literature and art, and her personality is slightly stubborn, which makes her seem a little comic.
The leading actor is Tom Hanks, who looks very down-to-earth. Quiet, gentle, reliable, even a little silly and melancholy. Except that he doesn't look like a rich man, his charm value is slightly lower, and he is almost a man with no personality flaws. It represents an ideal home style, and I feel that after marriage, it can give the unrealistic heroine the greatest tolerance and support.
The temperament and charm of the two actors, combined with the characters in this way, became the best screen combination in the 1990s.
They are just actors, but countless audiences want them to be together. Because this will make many viewers "believe in love again."
The other supporting characters are mostly kind-hearted ordinary people, who may be nagging or childish, but they are all concerned about the hero and heroine's journey to find love. Even the fiancé of the heroine, when he learned that she wanted to give up the engagement, also sent his blessings gracefully, and turned away without delay, making him the best ex-boyfriend.
In the light comedy atmosphere similar to sitcoms, there are no villains in this film, only the anxiety and hesitation faced by men and women in love. The biggest enemy is not the evil mother-in-law or the destruction from a third party, and the two of them don't have any personality conflicts, but they just know that "being connected by fate" seems extremely unreliable, so should we take this step?
Simple story, but also extremely delicate and common urban emotions.
The perfect ex-boyfriend. very perfect. It just feels a little less. Sometimes all love needs is a little "want to spend the rest of my life with you" feeling.
"Sleepless at night" is about single men and women who, at the end of a hectic day, settle down late at night and find themselves so alone that they can't sleep. But when I think about going into a new relationship, I have to put in all kinds of efforts, and even because of the pain I have encountered before, I lack confidence in the future and feel discouraged. So what should we do?
The widower, with the innocent help of an 8-year-old child, was forced to go on the track; while the slightly "stupid" heroine was more active because of her "stupidity", she traveled thousands of miles to meet each other, and even bravely took on the responsibility of regretting the marriage social pressure.
Compared to saying they are stupid, perhaps it is more worthy of praise for their courage to face failure in life, believe in love, and believe that they can find a life with love. This kind of tacit understanding of hope, hard work and two-way rush for life, compared to whether the hero and heroine can really spend together in the end, is the truly beautiful part of the film that reflects the light of humanity.
The light of humanity is to believe that there is a "miracle of love" in life. If there is, miracles will most likely fall on those who believe in it.
Compared with now, audiences 30 years ago may be more willing to believe that this light of humanity is real.
In today's era when the overall marriage rate is decreasing year by year, young people seem to give up their efforts to find a partner as they grow older, and instead comfort themselves that "living alone can be very happy"; Station B became popular and introduced literary works by talking about love, which also showed a potential desire of young people.
An old film like "Sleepless in Seattle" is classic and timeless because it can always inspire the audience. No matter what kind of experience and blows you have had in the past, you still have to believe that life may become better. A more suitable person, a more suitable way of life is not far away. Even if we can't see it now, maybe we can reach out and pick it up.
If you can't sleep alone, why don't you watch this film and give yourself a little more imagination and hope. It is possible to find the person next to your pillow, as long as you are brave enough to pursue love, don't pay too much attention to worldly views.
