南山中英文学校学生制作青春微电影《回首》

    Anna Zhao

    anna.whizh@yahoo.com

    A micro-movie called “Reminiscence” — about youthful love, friendship and the pursuit of dreams — made by students of Shenzhen Nanshan Bilingual School (NBS) premiered last week on the NBS campus, before its release on some portal video websites such as Youku.com, Tudou.com, Letv.com, Tencent.com, Sina.com, and YouTube, and some provincial satellite TV programs.

    The story begins with two boys, Zhang Haoxuan and Xiao Renhan, close friends who grow up together. They are inseparable in school and also in their spare time, attending guitar lessons — and they later become sworn brothers. Then Zhang falls in love with a girl he meets at a party. But Xiao is very much against their relationship, as he thinks the girl is frivolous and capricious and that she will ruin his brother. Their friendship is tested as they clash repeatedly and are pulled apart.

    The 29-minute movie is an exploration of contemporary senior high school students’ inner struggle in the pursuit of love and friendship — and it also portrays the hope for a better life.

    Students who participated in the making of the movie said the topic — reminiscences — came about from their desire to record their life and growth in an artistic way. The student producers said the movie was a faithful reflection of what they were experiencing: living in confusion with the intertwined tangle of burgeoning love and friendship and at a loss as to what to do to untangle them.

    “In the process of growing up, one will meet somebody whom you really care about but, at an immature age, we often do not know the right way to care for other people and screw up everything in the end. That’s not totally bad for growth, because the frustration makes us mature,” said a student who participated in the making of the movie.

    The producers said the movie was also made to remind people of their youth — when people fearlessly open up their thoughts and feelings to their friends. “People may find there are fewer people in whom they can confide as they grow up, and will probably miss someone whom he or she once had a spat with over trivial things,” said the student. “This is what we intend to express through the movie.”

    While shooting the movie during the winter vacation, the students became short of funds because they were inexperienced with budget making, so they had to fund it with the money they received as gifts from their parents during the Spring Festival.

    “The movie made me think about life — that we ought to cherish what we have before it is too late and we regret its loss,” said Chen Ziyun, a Senior 1 student, after watching the movie at its premiere in the school.

    Some students said they liked the movie as the cinematography is stunning and the music complements the mood perfectly. In addition, it all seems very familiar to some of the students, as some scenes were shot in locations in Shenzhen that they often visit.

    “But I think sometimes the plot leaps a bit too fast before we can make sense of it,” said Han Xinyan, a Senior 1 student producer of the film.

    “‘Reminiscence’ is a good movie. It is kind of short, but that keeps it from getting too boring. The main reason that it is funny is probably because we know the actors and they have quite a few entertaining scenes,” said Wu Anruo, also a Senior 1 student producer.

    Green, a Chinese-language teacher at the school, said the movie’s focus on friendship is meaningful because it makes parents and teachers think about how some students may not get along well with others, organizing themselves into some sort of factions, or falling in love when they are too young.