We pick up the story on our main character's bus ride home. He sits alone, looking content, trying to pass the time. Then, something seems to get in his eye, because he rubs it and then closes the buses window. Something changes about him. He looks around and feels a strange disgust in the bus filled with quiet strangers also trying to get home and minding their own business. Pavel-Ivanovich is so disgusted that he gets off the bus several stops before his home and walks, arriving at dark. From here his story begins, and we go along for his sad ride. From that evening on he sees only sadness and wrong in everything. He can't respond to kindness, and scolds those closest to him. He offends everyone. At his work he tries to go against as many people as possible, and hurt ordinary citizens too. He also feels that everyone is against him. His condition seems to worsen. How will all this end. Sure this can't be the end for Pavel-Ivanovich, a good man somewhere deep inside. 　　The brilliance of this film lies in the main character's deep state of mind. His suffering. The fact that he hurts everyone around him, feels horrible about it but still does it until he almost loses everything. If you like film's where you feel that you can relate or feel the character's emotions, you might like this film. An incredible pressure is built up throughout the film, and the last scene, for me at least, magically lifts it, if only for a couple of seconds. 　　This is a strange film, and I don't say that a lot. It is very hard to describe, but the main elements that drive the feel of this film are the main character's state of mind and the music (more than half of the film has incredible original music playing in the background). Daneliya's films have incredible music like in Autumn Marathon, Kin-Dza-Dza, and Thirty-Three. Daneliyaa was into jazz and played drums in a band way back before he started making film so his films are very rich in music. Also this film is sad, but is also a comedy. All these elements mix to make an incredible movie

《昔归轶事》以世界茶树起源地之一的临沧市临翔区昔归茶山为背景，讲述一位台湾青年远赴临沧茶山，寻找那个用文字叩响他心门的女孩。通过茶为媒，信传情，家为归的情感主线，展现了“茶暖人，家聚心”的温情叙事,传递“茶和天下，家国归心”的深意。

Perhaps the most enjoyable Oliveira film I've watched so far also proved to be the most frustrating experience (through no fault of the genial Portuguese director, whom I saw at the 2004 Venice Film Festival): unfortunately, the copy shown on late-night Italian TV was of an atrocious quality – with intermittent picture loss, rampant pixellation and considerable stretches where the dialogue was so low and muffled as to be barely audible (thankfully, the movie was presented in its original language accompanied by Italian subtitles), despite the volume of my TV being practically set at its maximum level! The irony is that this was scheduled again on the very same channel just the other week and, had I known of the poor state of my copy, I'd have tried to record it again…though, of course, I would've had no guarantee that they were able get hold of a superior print unless I went through the whole thing over again! 　　Anyway, having seen it, I'm now able to understand how Oliveira felt so completely at home making that Bunuelian tribute BELLE TOUJOURS (2006); in fact, this has much the same aura of elegant surrealism evident in the Spaniard's contemporaneous masterpiece THE DISCREET CHARM OF THE BOURGEOISIE (1972), while throughout Oliveira displays an admirably Ophulsian propensity for intricately mobile camera-work. The premise is original and quite delightful: a woman has lost a husband and remarried; she used to despise the former but, now, she realizes how much she actually loved him and, consequently, starts to neglect Spouse No. 2. Also, the first husband had an identical twin brother – so the wife feels closer to him than her current husband; the latter, humiliated by this awkward situation, commits suicide! Then, the sibling of the deceased confesses that he's actually the man she married and that it was his twin who had died (he just had the inexplicable urge to exchange identities with him!); so, the ex-bride and groom go to court to make their re-union legal…except that, by this time, it dawns on her that Husband No. 2 is the one she truly loves! 　　Amid all this, their close circle of friends try to make head or tails of the woman's whims and quirks; further complications, however, arise out of the subplot involving a man who makes passes at two of the women (one's married, the other happily cohabiting with her divorced ex!). The latter turns him down flat, while his affair with the former proves no less volatile than the leading lady's roundabout ways; the man, then, deliberately picks a fight with his lover's husband – who had earlier also exchanged harsh words with the heroine's cynical second husband. Though lacking perhaps the cheerful mockery that Bunuel managed to bring to this essentially staid environment (even if the Mendelssohn score still lends it undeniable irony), Oliveira's script is both intelligent and witty – to which his small cast of unknown actors (to me, at least) respond extremely well. These extend to even the minor roles of butler and maid: apart from indulging in their own romantic dalliances from time to time, the butler is visibly annoyed in having to attend to the mansion's gates after every vehicle that calls at the premises (in fact, apart from a brief flashback and the church finale, we're virtually stuck on the grounds of this single location). He also witnesses the second husband's fatal leap from the window as well as the wife's escape from the very same room (in which she's been locked by Spouse No. 1 after her passion for his replacement is re-ignited), while the maid has no qualms about spying on her masters' violent squabbles through a keyhole. 　　The ironic ending sees all concerned attending the wedding ceremony of a young bride and groom – with the central couple entering the church together but then taking separate seats away from one another because of lack of room; the emphasis placed on the newlyweds' promises of lifelong devotion obviously ring hollow at this point while, seemingly on a whim, Oliveira decides to end the film on an amusing shot of the church organist (sporting the somewhat clichéd unkempt appearance of the typical musicologist). It should be said here that PAST AND PRESENT is the first entry in the director's so-called "Tetralogy Of Frustrated Love" along with BENILDE OR THE VIRGIN MOTHER (1975), the five-hour TV serial DOOMED LOVE (1979) – both of which I own and intend to check out presently, as part of my ongoing retrospective honoring Oliveira's 100th birthday next month – and the as-yet unavailable FRANCISCA (1981).

Perhaps the most enjoyable Oliveira film I've watched so far also proved to be the most frustrating experience (through no fault of the genial Portuguese director, whom I saw at the 2004 Venice Film Festival): unfortunately, the copy shown on late-night Italian TV was of an atrocious quality – with intermittent picture loss, rampant pixellation and considerable stretches where the dialogue was so low and muffled as to be barely audible (thankfully, the movie was presented in its original language accompanied by Italian subtitles), despite the volume of my TV being practically set at its maximum level! The irony is that this was scheduled again on the very same channel just the other week and, had I known of the poor state of my copy, I'd have tried to record it again…though, of course, I would've had no guarantee that they were able get hold of a superior print unless I went through the whole thing over again! 　　Anyway, having seen it, I'm now able to understand how Oliveira felt so completely at home making that Bunuelian tribute BELLE TOUJOURS (2006); in fact, this has much the same aura of elegant surrealism evident in the Spaniard's contemporaneous masterpiece THE DISCREET CHARM OF THE BOURGEOISIE (1972), while throughout Oliveira displays an admirably Ophulsian propensity for intricately mobile camera-work. The premise is original and quite delightful: a woman has lost a husband and remarried; she used to despise the former but, now, she realizes how much she actually loved him and, consequently, starts to neglect Spouse No. 2. Also, the first husband had an identical twin brother – so the wife feels closer to him than her current husband; the latter, humiliated by this awkward situation, commits suicide! Then, the sibling of the deceased confesses that he's actually the man she married and that it was his twin who had died (he just had the inexplicable urge to exchange identities with him!); so, the ex-bride and groom go to court to make their re-union legal…except that, by this time, it dawns on her that Husband No. 2 is the one she truly loves! 　　Amid all this, their close circle of friends try to make head or tails of the woman's whims and quirks; further complications, however, arise out of the subplot involving a man who makes passes at two of the women (one's married, the other happily cohabiting with her divorced ex!). The latter turns him down flat, while his affair with the former proves no less volatile than the leading lady's roundabout ways; the man, then, deliberately picks a fight with his lover's husband – who had earlier also exchanged harsh words with the heroine's cynical second husband. Though lacking perhaps the cheerful mockery that Bunuel managed to bring to this essentially staid environment (even if the Mendelssohn score still lends it undeniable irony), Oliveira's script is both intelligent and witty – to which his small cast of unknown actors (to me, at least) respond extremely well. These extend to even the minor roles of butler and maid: apart from indulging in their own romantic dalliances from time to time, the butler is visibly annoyed in having to attend to the mansion's gates after every vehicle that calls at the premises (in fact, apart from a brief flashback and the church finale, we're virtually stuck on the grounds of this single location). He also witnesses the second husband's fatal leap from the window as well as the wife's escape from the very same room (in which she's been locked by Spouse No. 1 after her passion for his replacement is re-ignited), while the maid has no qualms about spying on her masters' violent squabbles through a keyhole. 　　The ironic ending sees all concerned attending the wedding ceremony of a young bride and groom – with the central couple entering the church together but then taking separate seats away from one another because of lack of room; the emphasis placed on the newlyweds' promises of lifelong devotion obviously ring hollow at this point while, seemingly on a whim, Oliveira decides to end the film on an amusing shot of the church organist (sporting the somewhat clichéd unkempt appearance of the typical musicologist). It should be said here that PAST AND PRESENT is the first entry in the director's so-called "Tetralogy Of Frustrated Love" along with BENILDE OR THE VIRGIN MOTHER (1975), the five-hour TV serial DOOMED LOVE (1979) – both of which I own and intend to check out presently, as part of my ongoing retrospective honoring Oliveira's 100th birthday next month – and the as-yet unavailable FRANCISCA (1981).

昭和初期。ある城下町の“椿屋敷”と呼ばれる家に若菜という美しい娘がいた。若菜はある日、高校生島村雄作が家の庭に乱れ咲く椿をもらいに来たことから彼と知りあった。“椿屋敷”はもともと雄作の家だったが、鰊漁で成金になった若菜の父銀蔵が買い取ったのである。その日以来、若菜と雄作の間に、愛情が急速に深まっていったが、銀蔵は若菜を家柄の良い高須賀家に嫁がせる心づもりで、その準備を進めていたから、若菜が雄作と親しくしているのを知って激しく叱責した。若菜の兄で作家の巳代治はそんな妹を不憫に思い、雄作との恋を遂げさせるべく駆落ちを勧めた。すでに銀蔵は高須賀家との結納を取り交していたこともあり、巳代治の勧め通り、東京へ出ようとした雄作は若菜の待つ場所へ急いだが、巳代治が左翼作家として逮捕され、その巻き添えで捕まってしまった。家に連れ戻された若菜は、心すすまぬままに、高須賀信之に嫁いで行った。一年後、若菜の若奥様ぶりが板についてきたように、端目には見えたが、彼女の胸から雄作の面影が消えたことはなかった。雄作が子供の頃から大事にしていたオルゴール時計を取り出してみては心の支えにしていたのである。そのことが知れて夫や姑に冷たくされた若菜はつらい日々を送らねばならなかった。そんな時銀蔵が亡くなり、“椿屋敷”も焼けてしまった。こうしたことで心労の重った若菜は目を悪くし、盲目に近い身になってしまったが、彼女はますますいづらくなった高須賀家を飛び出し、小さい頃から世話になったトヨと二人で屋敷の焼け跡に暮しはじめた。そうしたおりに、建築家志望の学生としてドイツ留学の決った雄作が姿を現わした。雄作は若菜との再会を喜んだが、彼女の目が悪いことを知ると、ドイツ留学を棒に振って一緒に東京に出て若菜の目を治そうと決心した。一度は、雄作の出世の妨げになるからと断った若菜も、雄作の自分を想う言葉に承諾し、喜びに浸った。しかし、二人の運命はあくまで皮肉だった。雄作が荷物をまとめて若菜の許に急ぐ途中、かねてからの持病の心臓発作で彼は倒れてしまったのである。雄作の死後、一人の盲目の女がその墓標を抱くようにして死んでいった。誰が刻んだのか、海を見下ろす崖の上の自然石に、「若菜・雄作」の字がいまでも残っている。

昭和初期。ある城下町の“椿屋敷”と呼ばれる家に若菜という美しい娘がいた。若菜はある日、高校生島村雄作が家の庭に乱れ咲く椿をもらいに来たことから彼と知りあった。“椿屋敷”はもともと雄作の家だったが、鰊漁で成金になった若菜の父銀蔵が買い取ったのである。その日以来、若菜と雄作の間に、愛情が急速に深まっていったが、銀蔵は若菜を家柄の良い高須賀家に嫁がせる心づもりで、その準備を進めていたから、若菜が雄作と親しくしているのを知って激しく叱責した。若菜の兄で作家の巳代治はそんな妹を不憫に思い、雄作との恋を遂げさせるべく駆落ちを勧めた。すでに銀蔵は高須賀家との結納を取り交していたこともあり、巳代治の勧め通り、東京へ出ようとした雄作は若菜の待つ場所へ急いだが、巳代治が左翼作家として逮捕され、その巻き添えで捕まってしまった。家に連れ戻された若菜は、心すすまぬままに、高須賀信之に嫁いで行った。一年後、若菜の若奥様ぶりが板についてきたように、端目には見えたが、彼女の胸から雄作の面影が消えたことはなかった。雄作が子供の頃から大事にしていたオルゴール時計を取り出してみては心の支えにしていたのである。そのことが知れて夫や姑に冷たくされた若菜はつらい日々を送らねばならなかった。そんな時銀蔵が亡くなり、“椿屋敷”も焼けてしまった。こうしたことで心労の重った若菜は目を悪くし、盲目に近い身になってしまったが、彼女はますますいづらくなった高須賀家を飛び出し、小さい頃から世話になったトヨと二人で屋敷の焼け跡に暮しはじめた。そうしたおりに、建築家志望の学生としてドイツ留学の決った雄作が姿を現わした。雄作は若菜との再会を喜んだが、彼女の目が悪いことを知ると、ドイツ留学を棒に振って一緒に東京に出て若菜の目を治そうと決心した。一度は、雄作の出世の妨げになるからと断った若菜も、雄作の自分を想う言葉に承諾し、喜びに浸った。しかし、二人の運命はあくまで皮肉だった。雄作が荷物をまとめて若菜の許に急ぐ途中、かねてからの持病の心臓発作で彼は倒れてしまったのである。雄作の死後、一人の盲目の女がその墓標を抱くようにして死んでいった。誰が刻んだのか、海を見下ろす崖の上の自然石に、「若菜・雄作」の字がいまでも残っている。

陆景明赴战场前，曾嘱咐妻子，若他战死，可改嫁村中那位以凶狠闻名的猎户。那猎户虽腿有残疾，却力大无穷，传闻甚至打死了前妻。三年后，陆景明战死的消息传来，陆家奶奶却收了猎户的二十两彩礼，强行将儿媳送嫁。在严寒腊月，娘在冰冷的河水中洗衣，被刻薄的奶奶视为“贱蹄子”，连生火的柴火都被抢走。在绝望之际，她唯一的念想就是带着年幼的女儿一同离开，然而，奶奶的冷酷回应，让母女俩的未来笼罩在更深的阴影之中。