Aftershock questions

Aftershock, 2010 dir. Feng Xiaogang

  1. In this disaster film, earthquakes of 1976 and 2008 seem to make people stronger; what qualities do the quakes bring out that Feng Xiaogang wants to be the core values of contemporary Chinese society? 在这个灾难片中,唐山大地震和汶川大地震使人民更加团结和坚强;冯小刚想显示和突出的有哪些是他觉得应该是现代中国社会的核心价值?
  1. The aftermath of the 1976 Tangshan quake begins to be felt long after the quake is over. What are the seismical changes (aftershocks) in the emotional lives of Fang Deng, Fang Da, Yuanni and her mother-in-law who survive the disaster? 唐山大地震的余震延续长久;这些余震在方登、方达、和媛妮的生活中是什么,有哪些表现?
  1. By revisiting the 1976 national disaster, what current social issues or problems do you think Feng Xiaogang might be addressing and discussing through the way he reconstructs the past? 对唐山大地震这一历史篇章的重访,使得冯小刚能够有机会讨论哪些当今中国社会中的问题和话题?
  1. What are the reasons for Li Yanni not to remarry and not to relocate? 媛妮为什么不再婚,也不搬家?
  1. What is the event that triggers or precedes Fang Deng’s reconciliation with her mother Li Yanni after ten years of staying away from her? In other words, what are the grounds on which the daughter understands her mother? 是什么事促使方凳在与母亲阔别十年后重新跟她言和?方凳了解到在母亲身上的什么品质?
  1. What is the reason for Fang Deng’s reluctance and refusal to go back to Tangshan to find out if she could find her relatives who might have survived the quake, and at same time insists that she is a Tangshan person? In what sense is Tangshan (earthquake) so important a part of her identity? 方凳为什么地震后不愿意回唐山找家中的亲朋好友,但同时又坚持自己是一个唐山人?地震对这些幸存者有什么长远的影响?
  1. According to Zhang Ling, the Canadian novelist whose work titled “Aftershock” provides the basic storyline of the film, her book is written to allow people to shed tears that never have been shed and to heal the wounds that have never been truly healed? What is the nature of her grief that takes Fang Deng decades to overcome? 《余震》的加拿大作家张玲说她的书是要让地震的幸存者有一个当时没有的伤愈的机会;她所说的伤痛具体指的是什么?
  1. What does Fang Xiaogang want the natural disaster to be about? To him as well as to the viewer, what is the relevance of this national disaster that happened 35 years ago to today’s China? 冯小刚想要让唐山大地震是一个关于什么的故事?在35年后的今天,大地震对当今的中国社会还有什么意义?
  1. What is the nature of the tension or friction between Fang Deng and her boyfriend Yang Zhi? In what way does it further develop the story as a whole? And her relationships to her adoptive parents? How do these dramatic details contribute to the overall message of the film? 方凳和男友杨志之间的摩擦反映了什么东西?她与养父母之间的关系反映了什么东西?这些剧情对整个故事的叙事起了什么作用?
  1. What characterizes the mother-son (Fang Da) relationship, Fang Deng-Yang Zhi romance, and Wang Deqing (foster parent) and Fang Deng? Is there generational gap and/or individual difference in terms of moral values? 媛妮与方达的母子关系突出地反映了什么东西?方凳与养父之间的关系说明了什么东西?两代人的代沟反映了价值观方面的哪些变化?
  1. We see documentary footages of national mourning of Mao right after Tangshan quake as well as the memorial wall for the victims of the quake at the end; what messages are being made through these moments of mourning? 在影片中,我们看到了毛泽东追悼会的历史纪录片的一些场面,也在结尾看到唐山大地震受难者的纪念墙;这些场景要表达的意思是什么?