Chapter 88: Yan Meets Rival (Two in One)
Most of the character changes that represent growth like to use running scene changes, and the movie "Memoirs of a Geisha" is no exception.
The audience was looking forward to seeing Chiyo's small figure gradually transform into the graceful figure of a young girl in the backlight. At this moment, Chiyo, played by Yamaguchi Momoe, raised her head slightly, and finally showed her appearance to the expectant eyes of the crowd.
After seeing the girl Chiyo's appearance clearly, many people were stunned.
If Su Yun and Sayuri Yoshinaga represent stunning beauty at first sight, then Momoe Yamaguchi represents the innocence that is latent and lasting to be seen - the former is a "release" with a strong impact, while the latter is a "restraint" that requires time to understand.
Therefore, when seeing the girl Chiyo, many viewers felt a little regretful: it cannot be said that Chiyo is a better actress than the previous one, the girl Chiyo's appearance and acting skills are also not bad... but it's just that the previous part was too stunning, and the psychological connection was not made after the sudden transition, so the sense of gap was a bit too big.
In order to make the audience accept the image of the young girl Chiyo, Su Yun and Kurosawa Akira put a lot of effort into it, and set the plot to be that Chiyo has been taking on heavy chores in the past few years, and she is secretly learning skills in between work.
In the original movie, the heroine was able to defeat a peer who had trained hard for many years after only a few months of assault training. This would never happen in this story that focuses more on reality.
Iwasaki Mineko also scoffed at this plot: the so-called geisha and maiko, those music and dance techniques are acquired through hard study and practice. Even if a person is very talented, it is impossible for him to surpass his peers who have ordinary qualifications but have persisted in studying and practicing hard after giving up studying for many years and then training intensively for a few months.
This is simply an insult to the training of geishas!
Therefore, the version of the movie set by Su Yun shows more scenes of Chiyo's secret learning and secretly practicing late at night. It also explains why the girl Chiyo's face is a little rougher than in her early years - the heavy work and hard practice at night are the best explanation. No matter how beautiful something is, once it lacks maintenance, it will be worn away by life and time.
This part of the plot relies on the excellent performance of the girl Chiyo, which allows the audience to transform their previous shock into sympathy for her.
As the plot progresses, Chiyo finally impresses Mrs. Nitta, the owner of the geisha house, with her outstanding dancing skills. She becomes a maiko again from a handyman, taking the stage name Yuriko.
This kind of refreshing plot line, in which the protagonist falls from a proud son of heaven to the dusty world and then picks himself up and returns to his position, brings great psychological satisfaction to the audience.
Then, after Yuriko became a maiko, she was finally able to meet Seiichiro, the aspiring young man who had rekindled her hope, while entertaining guests.
The two young people reminisced about the past and had a great chat, then secretly held hands and fell in love with each other. Everything seemed so beautiful and warm.
But the plot always needs ups and downs. At the same time, Hatsumo, who is worried that her position will be replaced by Yuriko, takes in Yuriko's senior sister, Little Pumpkin, who has already taken the stage name "Hatsumiyo", as her sister, intending to unite with her to fight against Yuriko and compete for the inheritance rights of the geisha house.
When she met Chiyoko in her early years, Hatsumomo already knew that this girl would definitely replace her in the future; only when Chiyoko became silent did she breathe a sigh of relief.
Unexpectedly, Chiyo, who became Yuriko, showed even more terrifying power.
Hatsumomo and Little Pumpkin teamed up with other geishas and maikos whose glory was overshadowed by Yuriko, and always spread rumors slandering Yuriko inadvertently while entertaining guests. They even attacked her secretly and hid needles in Yuriko's clothes...
While patiently resisting the attacks of her supposed companions, Yuriko has already decided that in the future, when she reaches the age of 21 and is promoted to a geisha, she will give up her identity as a maiko and marry her lover Seiichiro.
However, Seiichiro's family did not support their relationship. From the struggles of the two to Seiichiro's accidental death, the handsome man who once spoke softly and laughed with laughter became a mole on the tip of Yuriko's heart that would never be erased and would make her feel distressed at the slightest touch.
This blow almost crushed Yuriko's rare spirit.
However, the love letter that Seiichiro's friend brought to her, which expressed praise for Yuriko's dancing skills, finally cheered Yuriko up. At the karaoke ceremony, she surpassed all her peers with her superb artistic skills and became the most outstanding geisha of this generation in Gion.
Those who had bullied and oppressed her were eventually defeated one by one by her talent and hard work.
Since then, Yuriko has finally fulfilled Hatsumo's worries and become the new generation of king who replaced her as the top star.
The defeated Hatsumo became increasingly depressed, and one night during a sudden heavy rain, she took one last look at the geisha house she had longed for for many years with a look of despair yet relief, and then disappeared from then on.
As for Little Pumpkin, after expressing his apologies to Yuriko for being distracted by his own faults and wasting their friendship, he also left the geisha house with the small bag he had accumulated over the years.
Yuriko stared into the direction she was leaving, and all she had to say about the past turned into an inaudible sigh.
The enemies who were causing trouble around her went away one by one, and her peers in the surrounding geisha house were finally convinced and recognized Yuriko's top status.
Spring goes and autumn comes again. The adult Yuriko, who thought she would never be moved by anything again, met a young man named Takamiya at a tea ceremony and fell in love with her at first sight.
The same handsomeness, the same affection, the same... distinguished family background.
But Yuriko is no longer the Yuriko of the past.
But Takamiya did not withdraw from Yuriko's world just because of her rejection.
In order to win Yuriko's favor, he came to Gion every night for three years, rain or shine, waiting to meet her.
Outside the window, round after round of spring cherry blossoms, summer fireflies, autumn maples and winter snow reflected the picturesque time. Yuriko was finally moved by Takamiya's sincerity and once again stepped into a touching and romantic love.
However, Takamiya's family also began to block their relationship. Yuriko did not want to see the tragedy happen again, and finally reluctantly separated from Takamiya who wanted to persist in the fight, and took over the position of heir to the geisha house.
At this time, it had only been a few years since she defeated all her opponents and officially became a geisha.
In the secluded and idyllic Gion, except for the constant coming and going of companions around, time seems to have never changed.
But in fact, in this society where the old and the new are constantly changing, there are people who leave Gion to work in factories, and there are also people who find soulmates and lovers to spend their lives with...
Of course, there are also people like Yuriko, who cannot live for themselves as they wish, nor can they live by relying on others, and who compromise and hesitate, and finally have to continue to indulge in the "Utopia" where time stands still.
But in the end, Yuriko finally made her choice under the impact of the tide of the times.
At this time, the owner of the geisha house, the mature and elegant first geisha played by Sayuri Yoshinaga, walked slowly in the colorful light and shadow, allowing the audience to once again feel the stunning feeling of that year.
There is no need for explanation or introduction, the audience can understand who is coming: although suffering and hard work may make girlhood dim for a while, the true pearl will only shine more brightly after the baptism of time.
Those colorful lights and shadows that seemed so far away from her world passed away, and Yuriko finally took off all the glamour and began to live a life just for herself.
After choosing a successor, Yuriko retired from Kyoto and moved to New York, where she opened her own teahouse to entertain celebrities and appreciate art.
At the same time, she is also using the words, light and shadow that she can show to promote the traditional geisha culture of the past to the world and to explore the mysteries of the world that will eventually be lost in time.
She had experienced so many hardships, struggles and efforts in her life, and had placed her life on others to achieve her vitality and resilience; but in the end, she still responded to the fable of water and flowed into the vast ocean in her own way.
At the end of the story, Yuriko, still looking beautiful, sits quietly in a teahouse, waiting for a mysterious artist to paint her portrait.
The guest, who was in a hurry, left in a hurry, but accidentally bumped into the artist at the door.
His eyes followed the picture book that had fallen to the ground, which was rustling in the wind. On every page was the image of the former number one geisha.
The camera moves upward from the person in the painting to the smiling face of the person in the painting, and then to the face of the artist Gao Gong who has changed his attire. The ending of the whole story is in the smile between the two people...
Compared to the storytelling of Memoirs of a Geisha that made people smile knowingly, the shocking twist at the end of The Sixth Sense brought tears to countless people's eyes.
Knowing that the box office of "The Sixth Sense" was basically stable, Su Yun wanted to fly to Japan as agreed after seeing off Grandma Su and Jennifer who had gone home to prepare for the Chinese New Year. However, she was suddenly stopped by an unexpected award.
The Saturn Awards are intended to fill the gap left by the Oscars in ignoring science fiction and horror projects. They target science fiction and horror masterpieces in the film and television fields of the corresponding year, or outstanding works with breakthrough and innovative significance.
This year is the second year of this award, and "Artificial Intelligence" won the Best Science Fiction Film and Best Special Effects.
值得一提的是，最佳特效那裏，《人工智能》和《驅魔人》都有提名，但唯獨是一個鐵打的名字不變：因為無論是《人工智能》拿獎還是《驅魔人》拿獎，都是蘇韻這個兩部電影都參與了後期特效制作的魔鬼的榮譽……
所有人都不知道，也就是這一年，開始了蘇韻往後多年的視覺特效技術獎項的霸主生涯。
當然，有得必有失，為了美國這邊1月7日的土星獎頒獎，蘇韻是沒趕上東瀛那邊《藝伎回憶錄》的第一輪宣傳活動了。
不過除了接下來的第二輪電影宣傳活動之外，蘇韻還是有需要飛往東瀛這邊的任務，因此在10號的時候，她又一次搭上了前往東瀛的飛機。
認識的人基本都沒空聯系，在酒店裏百無聊賴的蘇韻，拿了那把準備帶回香江送給王嘉遽的馬丁D-35玩了一陣之後，就換了一身厚重的裝扮，然後決定出門覓食。
雖然現在已經夜深，但東瀛的深夜時分從來不缺那些成為故事一般的“深夜食堂”，況且蘇韻還是不太愛那些酒樓大店典型雕琢味道的人，于是仗着現在是冬天裝扮得嚴實加上夜幕遮掩，就這麽靈活地往那些街邊風味小店裏鑽。
不作死不會死，吃得滿嘴流香之際，竟然是被東瀛某眼尖又敬業的狗仔給瞄了個正着。
發現敵情的蘇韻頓時以迅雷不及掩耳之勢從座位上彈起，一邊擦嘴，一邊動作迅速地撲入旁邊的迪廳裏。
大概是這間迪廳今晚有着什麽音樂對抗的活動，吵得連隔音牆都擋不住，在外已經是吵耳，進來就簡直是震撼。
那些搖來晃去的彩燈灑落四周，配合着強勁猛烈的音樂節奏，更是讓人感到仿佛是一不留神就進入了群魔亂舞的混亂世界。
蘇韻這段時間靠着系統的支援，身高是直接竄到了将近一米五，這在後世都要比同齡女孩身高平均水平稍高的高度，放在現在大多數人都不怎麽樣的平均海拔裏，努力點踮下腳都能冒充成年人了。
特別還是在流行嬌小可愛型女性的東瀛。
靠着靈活的身形動作溜到後臺那邊，看到身邊就是一排挂着的演出服飾和飾品，蘇韻靈機一動，當即就摸了一套衣服和面具閃進了換衣間。
等一會換了衣服戴上面具，大搖大擺地跳着舞蹦着迪從追進來的狗仔身邊蹦過去什麽的……就很完美！
蘇韻美滋滋地才換了衣服出來，幾雙手就扒住了她：“23號在這裏！”
“你們幹什麽？！”蘇韻正要動手掙紮，沒想到迎面就是一個吉他怼了過來，瞬間打斷了她的蓄力。
“快上臺，你的對手已經在臺上了！”那些匆忙的工作人員趕鴨子上架一般硬是把蘇韻趕到了臺上，“別害羞，大膽點！”
蘇韻猝不及防地被推出來，往前是群情洶湧的熒光棒和喚來了更多同伴游蕩其中尋尋覓覓的狗仔，往後是守在門口的安保和後臺裏擠成一團準備後續工作的工作人員——這個形勢，那就是只能繼續硬着頭皮上了。
于是蘇韻抱着吉他，看向了舞臺對面的那個對手。
對面的小哥同樣也是戴着面具抱着吉他，而且還染了一頭色澤超級漂亮的金色卷發，那吹得蓬松優雅的造型，乍一看還真的挺有這個時代流行的華麗風美型漫畫人物的神韻。
至于那雙沒有被面具遮掩的眼眸，是亞洲人典型的棕黑色，不過眼睛的形狀漂亮得很，瞳色看起來很深，觀之頗有種深邃而高冷的感覺。
蘇韻所站的地方逆着光，兩人距離亦遠，眸中紫意深隐，倒還真的讓她蒙混過去了。
行家一出手就知有沒有，互相一動手試音，兩人就都發現對手絕不是善茬的事實。
随着樂聲漸起，蘇韻就更深感對面的金發小哥實力強悍，頓時壓力更大，只得加快了節奏，開口唱了起來。
都說東瀛人說英文只有他們自己能聽懂，然而想不到的是，在蘇韻能以為可以用她的英文發音碾壓對方時，對方同樣開了口，以完全不像東瀛人平均質素的流利程度，不甘示弱地與她纏鬥。
“加入X吧！”兩人正纏鬥得激烈，一聲異軍突起般撕心裂肺的呼叫，硬是壓下了場內的音樂聲和呼喊聲。
蘇韻下意識地低頭望去，一個染着金毛帶着面具的瘦高少年正扒在舞臺邊，手舞足蹈，喊得起勁。
玩音樂的人多數另類獨行，所以喜歡染各種顏色的頭發彰顯個性她能理解，只是這樣另類獨行到當面跑到舞臺邊到處挖牆角的，這還是第一次見……
當然，那個當面挖牆角的金毛殺馬特沒喊多久，就被對面小哥的隊友聯合場內的安保人員一起整個架走了。
略去這點小插曲，蘇韻重新将心神放回舞臺的比試上。
這麽優秀的對手實在難得一遇，更何況音樂碰撞只會越來越激烈，每一次的碰撞，都是仿佛燃燒生命般的對抗。
任她招數百出，對方依舊緊緊跟上。
蘇韻咬緊牙關，誓不低頭：對手實力很強，但她也不想就此認輸！
就在蘇韻越來越奮力的時候，終于也在對方的細微小動作裏，發現了對面的人和自己一樣，都是快要到達極限卻咬緊牙關堅持不願認輸的真相。
不用看也能清楚對方眼中的鬥志，就在一曲将罷也許是快要分出勝負時，又是突如而來的一聲高喊，硬生生地打斷了這番燃燒生命和熱情的對抗——
“這個人不是參賽者，是假冒混進來的！”
被發現了！
眼看游蕩的狗仔往臺上看了過來，蘇韻一個激靈，丢下吉他拔腿就跑。
等等，對面那個家夥跟着我跑什麽？！
四目相對——确認過眼神，原來你是和我一樣的人！
既然都是冒牌貨，兩人心中似乎莫名就生出了一種惺惺相惜的友誼。
不許多言，互相攙扶着牽緊了手，就這麽踏上了“逃亡”的狂奔。
出門時夜深如墨，奔出時俨然已經是晨光初曦，一路迎着風跑過街道跑過草地跑過水流，最後停在一處橋下的陰影處，确認已經甩開了追在後頭的狗仔隊時，方才松開緊緊牽着的手，互相看着對方那狼狽不堪的模樣，上氣不接下氣地大笑起來。
“呼，總算是甩脫了。”蘇韻前段時間在美國呆得久，一時間腦子沒轉過來，脫口而出就是英文。
“話說……你是因為什麽被追的？”緩過來這一口氣，兩人異口同聲地問向對方。
“不需要追究那麽多，反正就是不想理他們。”蘇韻擺了擺手。
“我也是。”金發小哥贊同地點了一下頭。
“OK，那我要走了。”蘇韻看了看天色，發現已經可以感受到清晨初陽的溫暖光輝時，便趕緊開口道。
“嘿，我還不知道你叫什麽名字呢！”手突然再次被拉住，蘇韻回頭，正對上金發小哥那雙深邃的眼睛。
“在這裏的話……我叫千代。”
“我叫伯恩。”
“你為什麽取了個外文名？”蘇韻來了興趣：是混血？還是自小就在外國長大？還是其他原因？
兩人先前說話，全是因為蘇韻最開始說了英文，然後就下意識地都使用了英文交流，這金發小哥英文這麽好，實在是難得。
要是長得不錯的話……也許能撈過來演個什麽角色。
“這個……你看到我的樣子，應該就明白了。”金發小哥的語氣裏突然帶上了一些飛躍的微帶着小惡劣意味的音調，似乎有種惡作劇的味道，“不過，作為交換，你也要摘下面具讓我看看你的模樣。”
“我怕你看到我的真面目之後，可能會吓一跳。”蘇韻揚了揚眉毛：《藝伎回憶錄》播出之後，打長途電話聊天時，蒲池法子一直說她成了東瀛這一代人的白月光，幾乎是無人不識，所以讓她過來這邊要特別小心。
蘇韻當時不覺，現在認識到了人怕出名豬怕壯的現實，這才是開始有了不聽好友勸告的後悔心思。
“這句話應該是我說才對。”金發小哥此時依然和在臺上對奏那時一樣毫不示弱。
“那好，我們一起摘，看誰吓着誰。”蘇韻說着就要動手。
“先等等，萬一我摘了，你卻只是裝個樣子……”金發小哥突然提出了一個假設。
“怕了你了，這樣吧——你摘我的，我摘你的，這樣就不用擔心了吧？”蘇韻果斷地提出了解決方案，同時一只手也舉高起來，按到他的面具下沿。
“好。”金發小哥同意了，同樣伸手就按上了蘇韻耳側的面具邊緣。
“一、二、三……你？！”
難怪對方會這樣說。
面具摘下的那一刻，不止是蘇韻明白到了這一件事。
對面棕黑色的眼瞳裏倒映着驚豔的神采不假，但蘇韻自己大概也知道，她自己臉上的表情應該也淡定不到哪裏去——
The mask that concealed the truth was taken off, and the cold and charming look in his eyes was completely neutralized by the innocent smile on the corners of his lips. His bones were handsome yet powerful, and his eyes were slightly raised with a sense of pure dreaminess.
It seems that just one glance can make one's heart tremble and one's soul break.
At this moment, she finally understood why the person in front of her gave her the illusion that he had the aura of a beautiful comic book character.
Because he is the prototype of all the beautiful comic characters popular in Japan at that time, the one whose beauty in the legend blurred the gender boundary——
The most beautiful boy in the world.