Film Name: 国产凌凌漆 / From Beijing with Love / 國產凌凌漆
A film with both clear strengths and weaknesses. Its strength lies in how, after rereading 1984, revisiting the Chinese film Ling Ling Chi revealed that deconstructing narrative needn’t carry such heavy weight. I couldn’t bring myself to read 1984 a second time—I lacked the courage to face it. But stories are different; stories can be retold and revisited, stories allow us to soar.
Ling Lingqi waits for an opportunity, filled with imposed ideals, for a full decade. A person’s prime years are spent waiting for something utterly meaningless. They collectively hijack individuals with meaning, duty, and morality. One by one, people become cannon fodder—apparently ranked into tiers by decision-makers. Ling Lingqi’s obscurity stems from his dullness, his uselessness compared to other pawns, his worthlessness. His rise is merely because the power struggle needed a sacrificial pawn at the right moment. The fiercer his resolve to make a name for himself, the louder my laughter grew. See? You’re merely the inevitable cost of history’s turning point at the right moment. Everything about you is utterly insignificant. Ignorance is bliss—as long as one remains unaware of the tragedy unfolding, they won’t lose heart. They might even feel fortunate to have survived, content to slaughter pigs at work and watch porn after hours.
The subtlety of Ling Ling Qi lies in its rejection of the Western genre’s idealized portrayal of protagonists—an idealization so detached it feels unreal. China’s Ling Ling Qi, however, resonates deeply with countless ordinary people, capturing their struggles and helplessness. Before your life’s shining moment, you’re just a butcher. No matter how skilled you become, you’re still a skilled butcher. And when that moment fades, you’re back to being a butcher. Yes, it’s not glamorous. Is butchery shameful? Is being full of fighting spirit and innocence laughable?
We live our lives for ourselves, not for some lofty ideal plastered on our foreheads. Only when we dare to confront humanity’s desires and cravings do the cold shackles of power recede further. The more people realize this, the more each individual’s freedom is safeguarded.
The flaw is that, like most creative narratives, it remains a male-centric story. The peculiarity of male stories lies in their rigidly subjective impressions of women. If I were to write a female character now, the heroine would be politically correct. She’d buy the cheapest sex trade, then refuse to pay afterward, telling you she’s a pure, good girl. She’d be so destitute she can’t even afford cheap sanitary pads. she uses her self-deluded charm to flirt with the young, attractive male staff in her boss’s office, and she has a cherished private collection of pornographic magazines she watches regularly. Though she radiates repulsive desire, she sings love songs to the male lead and risks her life to deliver a wilted flower she stole from someone else’s garden. I can’t even imagine how horrific the movie’s comment section would be. I cannot fathom why the female lead falls for the male lead, nor can I comprehend her at all. I don’t understand her sufficiently tragic fate, trapped by her status and forced into submission. Why did she dare break free from her shackles? Why did she fall for him? Even though I’m starved for love myself, I still can’t grasp her. She’s a standard male fantasy from a male-centric narrative.
It’s a story about freedom, but it’s a freedom story belonging solely to men.
Please specify：Anime Phone Cases » From Beijing with Love 1994 Film Review: The cold narrative framework is deconstructed by the yearning of ordinary people.