WHEN I WAS WALKING AHEAD

改革开放为中国乡村带来不可逆的商品化、城市化，有些人顺流而下走进商海人潮，有些人观望徘徊，最后还是回到乡间野地，儿时的玩伴、童年的回忆仿佛是最后的内心净土。故事讲述两位从小一起长大的两个男人，在工厂打工的贵溪与在银行上班，已经娶妻生子的志宏，他们背井离乡，现在居住在同一个现代化的都市，却很少见面。在各奔东西很久后重逢，两人彻夜饮酒畅谈，一同走过高楼桥底、山间野河、城郊野村，他们之间的过往也一一揭露，两人曾经相爱但渐行渐远，留在山间却意外去世的女生朋友，在这趟夜间行走中，两人的裂缝也愈加明显，最后，志宏离开，只留下贵溪继续向前行走。直到黎明，他走入荒野，邻近一片静谧的睡眠，他的情感和过往随着他在水面上浮沉。

The reform and opening up has brought an irreversible commodification and urbanization to China’s countryside, with some people going downstream into the business world, while others are watching and wandering around, and finally return to the countryside, where their childhood playmates and memories seem to be the last pure land in their hearts. The story is about two men who grew up together, Guixi, who works in a factory, and Zhihong, who works in a bank and has a wife and children. They have left their hometown and now live in the same modern city, but rarely see each other. Reunited after going their separate ways for a long time, the two men drink and talk all night long, walking together past high-rise bridges, underneath bridges, through wild rivers in the mountains, wild villages and outskirts of the city. The past between them is revealed, and the two men, who were once in love but drifted apart, with a friend of a girl staying behind in the mountains who accidentally passed away, become more and more evident in the cracks between them during this nighttime walk. In the end, Zhihong departs, leaving Guixi behind to continue on his walk. Until dawn, when he walks into the wilderness, nearly in a quiet sleep, his emotions and past float on the water with he sleeping.

导演：杨孟军
编剧：杨孟军，孙艺凡
主演：魏如光，黄宇聪
制片人：张秋思
摄影：梅墅轩
类型：剧情短片
时长：29分钟
完成时间：2024年
对白语言：汉语普通话、成都方言
地区：中国
制片公司：杭州觉是文化传媒有限公司、杭州森斯文特教育科技有限公司

Director: Mengjun Yang
Screenwriter: Mengjun Yang, Yifan Sun
Cast: Ruguang Wei, Yucong Huang
Producer: Qiusi Zhang
Cinematographer: Shuxuan Mei
Genre: Drama short film
Length: 29 minutes
Year: 2024
Dialogue: Mandarin Chinese, Chengdu Dialect
Region: China
Production Company: Hangzhou JUESHI Culture Media Co.,Ltd. Hangzhou Sensivent Education Technology Co.,Ltd.

杨孟军，导演，摄影指导，影视制作人。毕业伦敦艺术大学电影硕士，栗宪庭电影学校十五期成员。热爱现实主义题材电影和纪录片创作，监制指导数十部短片，持续创作者。

Yang Mengjun is a director, director of photography and film producer. Graduated from the University of the Arts London with a master’s degree in film, he is a member of the fifteenth class of Li Xianting Film School. Passionate about realist films and documentaries, he has supervised and directed dozens of short films and is an ongoing creator.

现代中国社会发生的变化让人猝不及防，城市建设日益庞大，侵蚀乡土，曾经的友谊和情感也变得让人无法回望，商业社会中，从乡村走出的人艰难的在大城市生活，影片拍摄一个完整的城市空间变化，从高楼林立到街道、到城郊结合、乡村直到郊野。完全的室外空间拍摄。

两个主角志宏和贵溪，他们曾是最好的儿时伙伴，也是往昔相恋的爱人，但在中国城市中，他们又不能结合，志宏选择了娶妻生子，贵溪则像被流放一样，情无归处。他们没有能力去真正的沟通彼此，珍惜彼此相处的机会。主角志宏也无法真正的面对他们过去的这段情感， 而贵溪他尝试面对，尝试挽留志宏，却也无法顺畅地表达爱意，压在他身上和志宏心里的，是无法打破的隔阂。他是一个情感中的失意者，在这个一夜的散步当中他慢慢的释放自我，只有融于自然，他才能体会片刻自然所带来的治疗和愈合的机会。

我想讲述一个失落和疏离的极简故事，因为它也是发生在我身上，和许多人身边的，关于成长和情感的无可奈何的故事。我将这种情感浓缩在短暂的、冒险的一夜行走中，影片并未设计强烈的冲突和复杂的情节，随着他们深入城市郊外的旅程，他们像是回溯了家乡，回到两人曾经在一起的旅程。

Modern Chinese society has changed so much that it catches people off guard. Urban construction is becoming more and more massive, encroaching on the countryside, and the friendships and emotions that once existed have become impossible to look back on. In the commercial society, people from the countryside are struggling to live in the big city. The film captures a complete change of urban space, from the high-rise buildings to the streets, to the combination of the city and suburbs, and the countryside up to the countryside. The film is shot entirely in outdoor space.

The two protagonists, Zhihong and Guixi, who were once the best childhood friends and lovers in the past, are unable to unite in urban China, with Zhihong choosing to marry and have a child, and Guixi feeling like an exile with no place to return to. They are incapable of truly communicating with each other and cherishing the opportunities they have to spend time with each other. The protagonist, Zhihong, is also unable to truly face this past emotion of theirs, while Guixi, who tries to face it and retain Zhihong, but is also unable to express his love free. What weighs on them is an unbreakable barrier. Guixi is an emotionally frustrated man who slowly releases himself during the walk, and only by being close to nature can he experience the moment of the healing nature brings and the opportunity of it.

I want to tell a minimalist story of loss and alienation because it’s also what happened to me, and to many others, about the inexorable nature of growing up and emotions. I condensed this emotion into a short, adventurous one-night walk, and the film is not designed for strong conflict or complexity; as they journey deeper into the outskirts of the city, it’s like a journey back home to where they used to be together.