The Temptation of Pain

The Temptation of Pain

This article was written on September 7, 2013

Author: Lü Jianfeng

In the movie "American Dreams in China," Cheng Dongqing is a career fanatic, unmarried, using speeches as a substitute for sex. Peter Chan's portrayal of Cheng Dongqing with a paranoid personality and an imperfect ending is the most attractive part of the film, ending the narration at the most emotional point without any plot.

The fact is that Cheng Dongqing's prototype, Yu Minhong, is married and has a lovely daughter. If everything were perfect, it would probably not be attractive. The artistic treatment of the script is very successful, but conversely, it also shows a lack of confidence. A perfect happy ending is typical of New Year films, which usually gain popularity that year but are remembered by few later. The only New Year film we often mention is "The Dream Factory," but it has an imperfect, painful, and helpless ending.

The temptation of pain is everywhere; pain is the easiest to pass on. The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, a match made in heaven, can only meet once a year. "Ghost" is a timeless masterpiece; the director staged a love story between a ghost and a human that is impossible in reality but fictional in the movie. "Titanic" moved many to tears; the pain brought by the disaster of a thousand deaths, accompanied by the great brilliance of humanity, is the main line of the film. The elderly Rose's reminiscence of Jack at the twilight of her life pushes the entire film to a new climax.

Happy things, where you are fine and I am fine, mostly leave no deep memory. The so-called empathy mostly refers to feeling pain. From crying at birth, to growing up, to adulthood, to old age, one must experience too much birth, aging, sickness, death, helplessness, frustration, and anger. When we watch movies, we often want to find our own shadow in them. Grief and indignation produce poets; pain is the best teacher.

If pain is a temptation, I have many. Can you feel it?