Shower questions

Shower, 1999 dir. Zhang Yang

  1. Water is inextricably linked to human life and survival; as China modernizes and urbanizes, the way people use water also changes. How do people structure their communal life around water in pre-modern as well as industrial societies as far as made clear in the story? 人类生存不可能没有水。随着中国的现代化,人们用水的方式也跟以前不一样了。谈谈张扬如何表现工业革命前后人们怎样用水。
  1. As depicted in the film, does the change taking place in Beijing appear to be beneficial or detrimental to human communities, with old style bathhouses torn down to make room for new apartment buildings with private showers? What is lost through the technological advances? 在影片中,拆迁旧澡堂对社区是一件好事还是一件坏事?随着科学技术的发展,什么一去不复返了?
  1. Why is Old Liu emotionally closer to Erming, a retard and his liability, and not affectionate with his older son Daming, a successful and independent businessman living in Shenzhen? 为什么老刘对二明他的弱智的小儿子感情更亲近,而对事业有成的大明却有些反感?
  1. How do you interpret the scene in which Daming and Erming, after their father passes away, sit together to watch a National Geographic TV program about the life cycle of insects in Africa? What is the significance of this scene? 请分析一下大明二明在父亲死了以后一起看电视上关于非洲野生动物的科教片这样一幕;在整个故事中,它有什么意义?
  1. Why is father’s account significant in which his wife can only bathe one time before her wedding because she is from a rural area devastated by draught? And what is the relevance of his story of Tibetans traveling long distance to bathe in a lake that they believe to purify their spirits? 怎么解释父亲的故事,说妈妈来自一个缺水的乡村,结婚前才洗过一次澡?两个藏族女性长途跋涉去仙湖洗澡治百病,又有什么意义?
  1. What are the reasons people such as Zheng He and Zhang Jinhou come to the communal bathhouse and what consequences does Zhang Yang suggest or imply there would be once these bathhouses are modernized out of existence? 郑和、张金厚这样的顾客来澡堂除了洗澡还来做什么?导演张扬提醒公众如果公共澡堂一旦拆毁,后果将是什么?
  1. What is Daming doing at the precise moment in which his father passes away? 父亲去世的那一刹那,大明在哪,在做什么?
  1. What redeeming qualities does Erming possess, qualities that distinguish him as an intelligent, sensitive or even thoughtful person rather than a retard? 虽然二明有智障,但这并不等于他没有智慧和灵感;请举例说明他在哪些方面并不比哥哥的智商情商低。
  1. What type of social commentary is the film with regard to rapid urbanization in China? Do we have reasons to be optimistic about social change and progress? 张扬的电影说明中国的城镇化中存在着哪些问题?导演对城镇化有什么看法?
  1. What is Daming’s gift on his father’s birthday? Is he thoughtful or obtuse as far as his father is concerned? Why? 大明在父亲生日时给他的礼物是什么?他的礼物说明他想的很周到还是证明他很迟钝?
  1. What do you make of the beginning in which Zheng He is taking a shower in an automatic shower unit? 你是如何理解影片的刚开始,郑和在一个完全自动化的洗澡间里淋浴?
  1. When and how does Zhang Jinhou become sexually impotent, and where and how is he cured? What does the director want to say through this character? 张金厚是在哪从什么时候变的阳痿的?他的经历对整个故事的叙事起什么作用?