Closing film “Flowers in the Mirror” and Award Ceremony
July 18 — If we could go back in time to watch the audience at the screening of a winning film, and talk with them a bit, what would we find? Fortunately, this reporter has recorded events for posterity. Our screening of Flowers in the Mirror at the third Shen Zhou International Film Festival begins in Tokyo, with audience members watching as, in a theater filled with elegant Chinese classical music, an ancient scroll flying in from Heavens to reveal opening titles of one of the festival’s main offerings, Flowers in the Mirror [Meng Xiang, 梦乡 (夢鄉), The Dreamland]. With such storybook simplicity, Director Jinwei Wang’s adaptation of the classical Chinese novel Flowers in the Mirror begins. It is the tale of an immortal, the Hundred Flowers Fairy Maiden. Once a god, she descends to earth. Her memory lost, she must rely on her conscience and the will she has retained to complete her divine mission amidst pitfalls. She never gives up, and is assimilated back to the heavens when, at a lively celebration party, she completely disappears. The arc of the story begins in the heavens and is realized in a dreamlike narrative that reaches to earth and back to the heavens again.
In seeking to create a worthy adaptation, the director has remained true to the classicism of the original text, even reconstructing dialogue with language directly from the original ancient work. A worthy adaptation of Flowers in the Mirror, indeed, this movie is full of classic charm. However, to those diehard fans of Chinese classics, it must be mentioned that in order to fit the breadth of the original work, which spanned 100 chapters, into 45 minutes of film, Wang has accepted the narrative challenge and made some editorial decisions. Flowers opens with a poem written by the director which serves as a prelude before the action begins:
A mirror reflects the sea and sky.
In a cool, shivered moment,
I sail, the captain of my soul;
Moved fast from dream to dream.
To find again the original condition, and to light again
In my hometown.
镜照水天波光凉
花映日月云海茫
缘舟来去梦中梦
归真返本回故乡
It is a fitting beginning for this dreamlike and ultimately uplifting narrative.
And how has this film been met in Japan? In a culture that has helped to develop and outline the concept of the poignancy of this fleeting earthly world, mono no aware, one can imagine that Flowers in the Mirror has brought some relief. Indeed, Japanese audiences on its Japanese festival tour have been receptive. Truly, Flowers was not only appreciated by Chinese audiences, but also drew great attention from the Japanese. At the festival, a Japanese woman in a kimono said, “This [movie] is a kind of pure art, a kind of pure beauty, which renders people to be deeply moved. This movie made me realize that there is a much more beautiful world beyond this human world.”There was also an audience member who said that watching this movie is reminiscent of traveling through Kyoto’s Katsura Imperial Villa, where everywhere one looks one finds deep meaning; so every part needs to be studied, and every moment after you study that part you find another truth revealed. Director Jinwei Wang said that she thinks Chinese traditional culture is a profound culture imparted by the heavens and gods; therefore she intentionally uses rich metaphors that are transparent to this transcendency, in expressing the story of Flowers in the Mirror. Through her vision of the classic, Wang hopes to share her love for Chinese traditional culture with more people in the world, and hopes more viewers will have a chance to experience Flowers in the Mirror. The director’s site for the film is located at http://flowersinmirror.com/indexcn.html. Flowers in the Mirror has been tapped for the 2009 Oscar Student Award competition.
As the last lines of the closing song drew to a close with “… all spreading the dream of the Divine Land to Heaven and Earth”, the audience had a chance to transition from Wang’s dreamlike treatment of Flowers to the everyday world of Tokyo.
In conclusion, the president of the festival delivered a speech and awards were given. In a speech marking the closure of the festival, the president of the third Shen Zhou International Film Festival, Mr. Sato Kokunan, said that this year’s festival carried with it the three-fold theme of protecting human rights, upholding justice, and bringing a renaissance of traditional beauty. He expressed his deep appreciation to audience members for coming and enjoying the film festival. He hoped that the festival’s guests will share their feedback with friends and family. Awards for those films best exhibiting talent and the festival’s themes were delivered as, with a fanfare, the hosts announced three winners. The documentary The Story of Two Professors was chosen for the Justice Award. The Courage Award went to Shock of History. And the Best Film Award, for the highlight of the festival, went to Flowers in the Mirror.
