New way of seeing 'jianghu'
《江湖儿女》：贾樟柯眼中的“江湖”
Brotherhood, glittering swords and knives, drinking bowls of liquor and eating chunks of meat … these are the things that are likely to enter your mind when it comes to jianghu, a word referring to the community of martial artists in stories such as Heroes of the Marshes (《水浒传》).
兄弟之情、刀光剑影、大口喝酒、大块吃肉……提到“江湖”，你的脑海中或许会浮现出这些。“江湖”一词，指的是《水浒传》等故事中武林高手的世界。

But in the eyes of the famous Chinese independent filmmaker Jia Zhangke, jianghu now has a different meaning. It is "an integral part of Chinese culture, for people living on the margin", Jia told the UK-based news website The Upcoming. "They need to form a brotherhood because they can't survive on their own. They have their own values, their own rituals, their own ways of living."
但在中国著名独立电影制作人贾樟柯看来，如今的“江湖”有着不同的含义。“对于边缘人群而言，它是中华文化的必要一环”，贾樟柯在接受英国新闻网站The Upcoming 采访时表示。“他们需要兄弟情，因为这些人无法独自生存下去。他们有着自己的价值观、自己的惯例、自己的生活方式。”
His latest movie Ash Is Purest White, whose Chinese name translates to "Sons and Daughters of Jianghu" (《江湖儿女》), hit Chinese mainland cinemas on Sept 21. In the movie, jianghu refers to "a group of ordinary people living in the margin who uphold a sense of righteousness despite coming from a shady or poor background," as the director put it.
他的新电影《江湖儿女》于9月21日登陆中国院线。正如导演所言，影片中的“江湖”指的是“一群生活在社会边缘的普通人，尽管出身不好，但他们仍坚守着正义感”。
Apart from shedding light on people living in the margins, Jia's movies also focus on changes. As the title of his famous work Mountains May Depart (《山河故人》, 2005) suggests, time may change rivers and mountains, but our hearts stay the same. The film depicts a town beauty named Tao, and her growth and love over 25 years.
除了展现边缘群体之外，贾樟柯的电影也关注了变迁的主题。正如其代表作《山河故人》的片名所展现的那样，时间或许能让山河变了样，但人心不变。电影讲述了小镇姑娘沈涛25年间的成长与爱情。
"It reflects the triviality of human connections and relationships," Jia told London-based news Financial Times. "We're apart for whatever reason: a job, a prospect ... When I think back on school friends, we spent almost all our young lives together. Then we lose touch. Some friends reappear, some not. The film is very much like that."
“这部电影展现了人际关系中的琐事，”贾樟柯在接受伦敦新闻媒体《金融时报》采访时表示。“我们因为工作、前程又或者别的什么原因而分离……我想起学校里的同窗好友，我们几乎共度了整个青春时光。后来大家就失去了联系。有的人回来了，有的人从此再没出现。这部电影就类似这种情况。”
Although his movies always have a sense of nostalgia, they also reflect reality. Some directors in the 1980s managed to break Chinese cinema out of its closed mould and try something new, but Jiang thinks they may have actually gone too far. "They've changed a lot: in their current films, you're no longer seeing the experience of life in China. While my way of filming allows me to describe Chinese reality without distortion," Jia told Australia-based film magazine Senses of Cinema.
尽管贾樟柯的电影总有一种怀旧之情，但它们也反映了现实。上世纪80年代的一些导演试着去打破中国电影的固有模式，尝试创新，但贾樟柯却认为他们或许做的太过了。“他们改得太多了：在现在的这些电影中，你再也看不到中国的百态人生。”贾樟柯在接受澳大利亚电影杂志《电影感》采访时表示。