*Spoiler Warning*
I'm not usually one to watch an anthology, a film made of separate smaller stories; however, I couldn't ignore Flavors of Youth produced by Haoliners Animation League, a Chinese company, in conjunction with CoMix Wave Films, the studio which brought us the beautiful film Your Name. The "three chapters in three cities" of Flavors of Youth, which is set in China, centres around different themes, each character with different motives for their actions and yet somehow connected to one another by the end of the film.
Rice Noodle, the first of the three stories, primarily takes place in Hunan Province, following Xiao-Ming as he reminisces about memories of his grandmother and the love he feels for her through the medium of food, San Xian noodles to be more specific. As a child, he would spend every morning with her, eating San Xian noodles from a local shop, which to him showed care and affection in the preparation of their food; this could be seen as Xiao-Ming remembering the care and affection his grandmother would show him on those mornings, lovingly spending time with her precious grandson. The shop soon closes down however and the time he spends with her lessens, becoming cursory moments in the past, drifting further away as he grows up. By the time he reaches middle school, Xiao-Ming finds another noodle shop to eat his much loved San Xian noodles. At this point, however, his thoughts are not focused on his grandmother, as they were before, but on an upperclassman who cycles past the shop every day. Xiao-Ming's love for San Xian noodles becomes less about his childhood time spent with his grandmother here, but rather shifts to a reminiscence of adolescence; a time spent longing after his first love, conflict and heartache; which then leads us back to the present day.
Xiao-Ming, now an adult, understands that the time he spent with his grandmother was precious and tries to recreate the feeling he had when spending those early mornings with her. Sitting down in a noodle chain restaurant in Beijing, he comments on how the quality and price of the noodles are nothing like those back home, wishing it could be more like his favourite dish from a simpler time. This story feels like it comes full circle, as if it's a premonition of coming sorrow; Xiao-Ming recounting the tales of his grandmother, solidifying her image in his mind. It shows us how easy it is to lose touch with those we hold most dear, reminding us that we should always try to make time for the people we love the most in our lives. I like that this story uses the commonly known fact that smells, tastes and sounds can trigger memories, memories of simpler and happier occasions. Rice Noodles seems to push that notion to the extreme, allowing us to fully explore Xiao-Ming's past experiences with his favourite noodles; I felt a little nostalgic myself watching him take a trip down memory lane, leaving me with a mild sadness which accompanied me into the next tale.
By the time I reached A Little Fashion Show, my emotions were already all over the place, so to be greeted by a cheerful scene and upbeat dialogue helped to settle me down a little. Taking place in Guangzhou, this short essentially follows Yi Lin, a famous fashion model and her sister Lulu, a student of clothes design. At the beginning of the segment, Yi Lin is thankful for her career and where it has taken her. However, this is soon disturbed by Shui Jing, a young competitor in the fashion scene and fan of Yi Lin, who causes a great deal of stress and anxiety for her; she struggles with feelings of inadequacy and doesn't want to get left behind or become irrelevant. We see how difficult it can be for an ageing model to continue their career when younger, more hungry talent comes along and steals the spotlight. It's also clear that fame can go to people's heads, as once they've been the centre of attention for so long, they lose track of what really matters; in Yi Lin's case, it is her sister.
Having been separated for so long, the two of them finally reunite when Yi Lin does the noble thing and decides to take care of her sister after their parents die, but as Yi Lin focuses more and more on her modelling career, Lulu seems to get sidelined. There are moments when she's sitting at home alone with a meal she prepared for her older sister while Yi Lin attends parties, forgetting all about her sibling. Unfortunately, the arrival of fresh talent ignites a fire in Yi Lin to succeed further and she pushes herself to the limit, eventually succumbing to exhaustion and collapsing on the runway in the middle of a fashion show. The pressure she puts on herself is a perfect representation of how we sometimes over-reach or push ourselves to do better when it's physically impossible to do so. Feelings of social anxiety flow out of the screen due to her blunder on the cat-walk and cause sensations of empathy towards Yi Lin, I personally didn't want to see her fail as she would no longer be able to support both her sister and herself. Eventually, with the help of Lulu as her emotional support, Yi Lin is able to push herself to become a top model again, wearing the clothes Lulu made for her. The short story ends on a positive note, flashing us scenes of Yi Lin wearing designer clothes made by Lulu; I just love the idea that we can all get a second chance if we just work on improving ourselves and taking the initiative.
The third story of the film, Love in Shanghai, has more of a vibe of love and regret; it perfectly describes the feeling you have when missing tiny moments in life, ignoring the most important times. Set in a shikumen in Shanghai, the narrative centres mainly on Li Mo and his friend Xiao Yu as they tiptoe around their budding love for one another, dreaming of the future, with Li Mo even designing them a house. On her way home from Li Mo's house one day, Xiao Yu ends up twisting her ankle on uneven cobble, spurring Li Mo to carry her home, solidifying the slight feelings they already have for one another. Due to her injury, Xiao Yu is forced to stay home, missing valuable classes and asks Li Mo to record them on a cassette tape; this sparks a back and forth dialogue through the medium of recordings. The more they talk and delve further into each other's wants and desires for the future, the more the romance between them blossoms without explicitly defining their relationship. A core theme of this short is the sense of aspirations, focusing on following a dream for the sake of someone else is not always a good idea. Xiao Yu's father essentially forces her to take the entrance exams for a prestigious school, however, enrolling in said school would take her far away from the love she would much rather pursue, so decides to fail the tests on purpose. Li Mo, on the other hand, decides to work extremely hard to pass the same exams, wanting so badly to attend the same school as she does, being told by others time and time again that he won't make it.
The pressure he puts on himself to strive for success, not a success specifically for his own gain but one that would benefit them both, blindsides Li Mo and he no longer pays attention to his surroundings, unintentionally pushing Xiao Yu away, but in the process proving his doubters wrong. I love this message, the message that if you work hard enough you can accomplish anything you set your mind to, however, it also shows us that we need to live to the fullest, enjoying the little details in life and not overworking ourselves, otherwise we could end up missing out on something extremely important. The different desires of both characters, coupled with miscommunication, end up taking them far away from one another, Li Mo going on to attend the school Xiao Yu tried so hard to fail at entering; with her staying behind. They lose contact and eventually Li Mo learns that she had moved to America to study. He finally listens to her last message on the tape they exchanged all those years ago and is filled with deep regret, regret that he didn't tell her the feelings he held in his heart, regret for leaving her behind and regret for not keeping in closer contact with her. We're told that it's okay to agonise over the past and especially past mistakes, however, we also need to move on as we never know what lies around the corner. I sense a real homage to 5 Centimeters per Second, another CoMix Wave film, with the feeling of loss you get from this story, however, in contrast to the other studio's film and much like Your Name, Love in Shanghai ends on a happy note, both characters reuniting once again in Li Mo's hotel, designed similarly to the house he dreamed of years ago.
When I think about the storytelling of Flavors of Youth, it reminds me a lot of the style a poet would use to capture their audience, the way the stories flow, coupled with the dialogue, have sort of a lyrical rhythm to them; especially in Rice Noodle, where the main conversation is a monologue through the main character. I really enjoyed the fashion in which the different stories were told, when you look at them separately, Flavors of Youth felt like a set of liberally-connected, animated poems. Don't get me wrong, there are occasional flaws in remarks the characters express and the dialogue does seem a little bland, however, I am unsure whether this is due to inadequate writing or subtitles lacking correct translation on Netflix's part; I like to think it's the latter because when you realise the depth in the messages of the film, more ideas open up to you. At the root of these three tales is a more powerful message, one of family and the love we feel for them; love for a grandmother, a sister, a friend and what we do with that love. Flavors of Youth also shows us how separately, seemingly unconnected lives can, for a brief moment, cross paths and interweave; all three narratives coming together in the airport at the end of the film, passing each other in a fleeting moment.
The overall feel of Flavors of Youth was definitely a CoMix Wave film, visually and audibly it was as stunning as previous works of theirs, with added tweaks from being a joint project. I think China was the perfect setting for this film and I'm glad that a story like this could be developed, the expansive cityscapes and detailed scenery were beautiful to watch, therefore, if I was to ignore the dialogue, which as I said previously was just poorly localised by Netflix in my opinion, I would most certainly have to give Flavors of Youth 8/10.
Comentarios