Like many directors, Luo Yao also has a passion for acting. The character "Luo Yao" in the film is a cameo role played by herself.
Luo Yao was already in her thirties, and her current appearance resembled that of the head teacher. It was really difficult for her to play a young woman in her early twenties. Even so, she insisted that the makeup artist give her a youthful look and then went ahead with the role herself.
The elderly Zhao Lele is still played by Shang Yechu. Shang Yechu has white hair, a deeply lined face, eye discharge, and lips pressed into two thin pieces, like an old tree stump that has accumulated dirt and grime.
This old-age makeup required her to sit still for three hours to complete. During this time, she couldn't make any movements or large expressions, and she couldn't speak. In addition, with the wig, hand wrinkles, and implants, Shang Yechu endured a full six hours in the makeup room.
This period of time left Shang Yechu incredibly bored. He could only chat with 103 in his mind. They talked about everything from career to career (the only topic they could discuss was unifying the world), and finally, they started haggling over the 10,000+ kilograms of weight Shang Yechu owed. Of course, he didn't manage to get a single gram off the balance.
With silicone and latex stuck to her face, her skin could hardly breathe, and the stuffy, sticky feeling was something Shang Yechu deeply resented.
Furthermore, with her facial features blurred like that, it would be very difficult for her to make expressions. Fortunately, Zhao Lele doesn't have many scenes depicting older characters, otherwise she would have suffered terribly.
Luo Yao appeared on screen and began acting opposite Shang Yechu.
From a professional actor's perspective, Shang Yechu had to admit that while Luo Yao was undoubtedly a genius as a director, her acting was utterly appalling. No, she wasn't acting at all; she was simply playing herself!
Fortunately, the "Luo Yao" in the movie is indeed Luo Yao. Even with such a natural performance, it didn't feel too jarring or require many takes. Instead, it added a sense of documentary realism. Otherwise, Shang Yechu couldn't even imagine the feeling of having to do so many takes with a face full of silicone.
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Luo Yao often visited Zhao Lele at the nursing home. Over time, Zhao Lele began to tell Luo Yao about her past with Lin Fengyu.
That magnificent love story moved Luo Yao to tears. The filter used in the later episodes was also dreamlike, like colorful love bubbles.
Soon, the old man died, leaving all his inheritance to Luo Yao. The so-called inheritance was actually just an old box containing a few photographs, a snuff bottle, a handkerchief, a pocket watch, bullet casings, a riding crop, and some long-expired coins.
Luo Yao rummaged through the tattered items and finally pulled out a worn letter from the bottom of the box. The letter paper was yellowed and old, the back was glued with paste and wrapped with layers of transparent tape to make it sturdy enough not to turn into dust.
Even so, the letter was tattered and old, clearly having been read and examined many times.
This must be the letter Lin Fengyu left for Zhao Lele.
Luo Yao sat on the ground and began to read the letter.
The letter was short, but its words were earnest and heartfelt, bringing tears to Luo Yao's eyes. However, upon reaching the end, he discovered that the letter was unsigned.
No, to be precise, the signature hasn't been finished yet.
There is a letter "L" at the bottom of the signature.
At that time, the modern Chinese Pinyin scheme had not yet been implemented in Taiwan. The Wade-Giles system was still prevalent in Taiwan and other areas. In the Wade-Giles system, "L" was the first letter of Lin Fengyu's surname. Logically, if time was short and Lin Fengyu didn't have time to write his full name, using an abbreviation would be reasonable. However, the more Luo Yao looked at this "L," the less it resembled "L," and more like the vertical stroke "㇄" in Chinese characters.
Which character begins with a vertical stroke followed by a hook?
Luo Yao suddenly remembered that Zhao Lele had once told her that Lin Fengyu was literate and that people in the self-combing women's group would often come to her for help writing letters...
In the earlier episodes, although the self-combing women lived in the village, they still had to go outside the village to buy some daily necessities and then sell the village's goods. In addition, they had to pay various taxes and maintain good relationships with merchants and buyers. The villagers responsible for this task would have to go out for three to five months at a time.
The situation was chaotic, and the mothers and sisters in the village often worried about their relatives who were away from home. They would ask Lin Fengyu to write letters home and have the nimble little monkeys deliver them.
In the village lived a clever girl, the same age as Zhao Lele, who was in charge of purchasing and was the leader of a group of shoppers. Coincidentally, she was also named Lele. However, Zhao's Lele was a pampered young lady born with a silver spoon in her mouth, while the village Lele was born into poverty, wrapped in a tattered fishing net. Because she shared the same name and age as Zhao Lele but was more capable, she was often compared to her. In the earlier parts of the story, Zhao Lele deeply resented her.
Could this letter actually be something someone asked Lin Fengyu to write to another Lele?
Which character begins with a vertical stroke followed by a hook?
mother!
Luo Yao shuddered.
If that's the case, then isn't Zhao Lele's lifelong dream just a pipe dream?
If that's the case, then Lin Fengyu didn't leave Zhao Lele with a single word.
If that's true...
A wave of immense terror and sorrow gripped Luo Yao's heart, and silence spread throughout the room.
Luo Yao sat there as the sun set and the room gradually darkened. Her eyes ached from staring at the letter, so she stood up and rubbed them.
She felt death. Then, she felt intense love. Finally, everything vanished, leaving only this tattered box and this letter with an enigmatic signature.
Does Lin Fengyu truly love Zhao Lele? Does he genuinely want Zhao Lele to live a good life? Is this letter Lin Fengyu's heartfelt expression, or a letter entrusted to him by Lele's "lowly" mother to be written on her behalf?
All of this will never be known to anyone.
Zhao Lele is dead, taking with her selfish, fanatical, and destructive love, her lifelong obsession, her memories of beautiful love, and her lifetime of suffering. Everything from the past vanished with her death, losing all meaning.
Now, she is left as an outsider, standing in her room in the nursing home, facing a box of discarded historical artifacts, lamenting the passing of time on behalf of the deceased.
Luo Yao folded the letter several times and tossed it into the box. He closed the lid, picked up the box, and went out.
Bang.
The door closed.
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