First Episode 36: 与青春有关的日子

[renzhe]

A part of the Grand First Episode Project -- See this thread for more info.

Overview - eMule - youku

Language difficulty level: Upper Intermediate

A police investigation concerning a past friend of 方言 in 1980s Beijing brings back all sorts of memories about growing up in the 1960s and 1970s, friendship, and love.

--- Plot Summary ---

This show jumps between the Beijing in the 1980s and various times during the childhood/youth of the group of people we are following. The relationships between different characters get revealed in a series of flashbacks.

We start with 方言 being called to pick somebody up at the train station. Once he arrives, he finds out that the train was delayed, but runs into an acquaintance 谭丽 who came from abroad and her artist friend. She tells him that she ran into 高洋 (a childhood friend of 方言) in Hong Kong. She doesn't know if he is still with 李白玲, 方言's former girlfriend. The artist friend he tried to chat up apparently looks a lot like 李白玲.

Later, he picks up a girl at a party and takes her home for some naughty. His light is still on, so he thinks his card-playing friends are still there, so he tells his company to wait until he chases them home. When he turns off the light, she should come up -- an old signal. But he is surprised by two police officers who interrogate him about 高洋 and ask all sorts of questions about their former circle of friends, and we are introduced to the group through some flashbacks: in addition to 方言, 李白玲 and 高洋, there's also 高晋 (his brother), 许逊, his girlfriend (and everybody's lover) 乔乔, 桌越, 冯禍子 and 夏红 (described as "public property"). Seems like they were living quite carelessly and practiced some free love back in the day.

They are interrupted by the girl 方言 brought home (who was freezing outside waiting for the signal), but he pretends she is a neighbour and sends her off to a friend's place, presumably to avoid trouble for everyone involved. 方言 tells the policemen that he hasn't seen 高洋 in years and that he hasn't heard anything about him in a long time. Though they are reluctant, he manages to get friendly with them, has them stay over for dinner, and they leave in the morning, making him write a detailed description of his past dealings with 高洋 -- and without lying. Seems like 高洋 is presumed dead.

He then remembers growing up in the same courtyard with a bunch of kids, the older of whom was 高洋, who was also their leader. A bit later, in the mid-70s, 高洋 decides to join the army. He's leaving behind his girlfriend 李白玲, and there is obviously a thing developing between her and 方言. They all get completely wasted at the farewell party

--- Summary End ---

A diagram showing the relation between the main characters: click (potential spoilers)

角落 jiǎo luò nook / corner

加工 jiā gōng to process / processing

结局 jié jú conclusion / ending

悲伤 bēi shāng sad / sorrowful

洗礼 xǐ lǐ baptism

延续 yán xù continue / last longer

牵挂 qiān guà to worry

清高 qīng gāo aloof / noble and virtuous / above the fray

往昔 wǎng xī in the past

愚蠢 yú chǔn silly / stupid

饭局 fàn jú dinner party / banquet

列车 liè chē train (railway term)

款待 kuǎn dài entertain

勉力 strive / exert oneself

落款 luò kuǎn names signed on a gift or a painting or the like

踏实 ā shi practical / realistic / to have peace of mind

逮 dài catch / seize / until

当场 dāng chǎng at the scene / on the spot

落叶 luò yè dead leaves / to lose leaves

社会主义 shè huì zhǔ yì socialism

墙角 qiáng jiǎo corner (junction of two walls)

没准儿 méi zhǔn er not sure

走私 zǒu sī to smuggle / to have an illicit affair

珍贵 zhēn guì precious

逗 dòu to tease

崇拜 chóng bài to worship / adoration

同病相怜 tóng bìng xiāng lián fellow sufferers empathize with each other (成语 saw); misery loves company

干脆 gān cuì straightforward / clear-cut / blunt

凑合 còu hé to make do in a bad situation / to improvise / passable

正经 zhèng jīng decent / honorable / proper

当家作主 to be the master in one's own house

一见钟情 yī jiàn zhōng qíng love at first sight

浪漫 làng màn romantic

长成 zhǎng chéng to grow up

高攀 gāo pān social climbing / to claim connections with people in higher social class

赫本 Hè Běn Hepburn (name)

暗号 secret signal

照旧 as usual

轮奸 gang rape

哆嗦 duō suo to tremble / to shiver

激动 jī dòng to excite / to agitate

探监 visit a prisoner

接待 jiē dài to receive (a visitor)

主动 zhǔ dòng (to take the) initiative

头晕 tóu yūn dizzy

相当 xiāng dāng equivalent to / appropriate / to a certain extent

下落 xià luò whereabouts

种种 zhǒng zhǒng all kinds of

传闻 chuán wén rumor

菲律宾 Fēi lǜ bīn the Philippines

吕宋岛 Luzon (an isle of Philippines)

胡扯 hú chě to chatter / nonsense / blather

部队 bù duì army / armed forces / troops

无牵无挂 to be care-free

享乐 xiǎng lè to seek pleasure

盲人练功瞎掰

狗咬尿泡 dog-bitten and soaked in piss (???)

空旷 kōng kuàng spacious and empty / void

清晰 qīng xī clear / distinct

公共财产 gōng gòng cái chǎn public property

当地 dāng dì local

流氓 liú máng rogue / hoodlum / gangster

怀念 huái niàn to cherish the memory of / to think of

落下 luò xià fall

催 cuī to urge / to press

一事无成 to get nowhere / accomplish nothing

膏药 a (medical) plaster

眉宇 forehead / appearance

英气 heroic spirit

为此 wèi cǐ for this reason

聚居 jù jū to inhabit a region (esp. ethnic group) / to congregate

帮人 people from the group/clique

复员 fù yuán mobilization

演义 yǎn yì to dramatize historical events

培养 péi yǎng to train / culture / to bring up

胡编乱造 hú biān luàn zào reckless invention / a cock and bull story

孤老 old and lonely

迹象 jì xiàng mark / indication / sign / indicator

孩子王 hái zi wáng the leader in a group of children, the top dog

热切 rè qiè fervent

管区 district

列宁 Liè níng Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (1870-1924)

托洛茨基 Tuō luò cí jī Leon Davidovich Trotsky (1879-1940)

叛徒 pàn tú traitor / turncoat / rebel

奇袭 qí xí surprise attack / raid

没劲 exhausted/listless

批评 pī píng to criticize / criticism

发育 fā yù to develop / growth / development

Some stuff I'm not sure about:

望接

开嗅

小一号

豁出 expose?

中苏 (something with Jiangsu province?)

共军 common army?

胡彪 hú biāo

This episode basically sets the story through a series of flashback that jump back and forth in time, and we learn about the relationship of the main few characters (though there is doubtless more to come in the following episodes).

It's good stuff, and apparently develops into a character drama with a love triangle and all the troubles young misfits have in the 1970s and 1980s China. It's gritty and well done.

But I didn't particularly feel gripped by it enough to keep watching.

Edited February 9, 2010 at 02:06 PM by renzhe

[xinxin]

豁出 I think it should be 豁出去, which means to give all what you can to do something despite risks, danger etc.

中苏 I don't know the show, but I guess it means China and Soviet Union

共军 It's the way to call the army of the communist party during the 2nd world war and the Chinese civil war.

胡彪 hú biāo Isn't it a character's name in the show?

[roddy]

Watch online, or download with Emule.

This was recommended to me as being like 阳光惨了的日子 (which you should watch) in the form of a TV series. Just watched the first episode, and I'm definitely going to give it a bit more time, as it's looking pretty promising.

Basically Lu Tao from 奋斗 is a layabout writer in late 80s Beijing who comes home one night to find a couple of policemen waiting to ask him questions about old childhood and army friends, one of whom has met a sticky end in Yunnan. Cue flashbacks.

Plotwise, that's about it so far, bar the who was who's girlfriend when stuff, which I've forgotten already. The show must pull nostalgia levers for most of China, as you've got scenes from the 60s, 70s and 80s, not to mention lots of very nice old footage of Beijing. The scene of the kids playing soldiers is worth the price of admission on its own. The murder mystery plot will need to be good for long-term watchability I think, but you won't go wrong watching just this episode for the feel of it.

Language-wise it ain't necessarily very easy. It's very Beijing, and many characters appear to be suffering from badly swollen tongues. Some good laughs though, including one crack which I was a bit surprised to hear on what I assume is a prime time TV show. You'll know it when you hear it.

[roddy]

Merging after discovering Renzhe had already covered this one

望接 - 希望的望， I hope you can meet us. It's in a telegram, hence being very brief.

开嗅 - 嗅 in their argot seems to be used along the same lines of 泡 in 泡妞. So to start 泡ing.

复员 fù yuán mobilization - should be demobilization.

[roddy]

Up to episode three of this - I don't feel like we're getting that far on the overall plot - I'm assuming that the death of 高祥（？）is going to be the thread running through the whole show - but it's still watchable. The script, with its constant verbal jousting, is brilliant.

[zhen_shuai]

This is based on the Wang Shuo novel 《玩儿的就是心跳》, right?

Howard Goldblatt translated it into English under the title Playing for Thrills. Really really good. Wish my Chinese was good enough to read the original.

Maybe watching this would be a good start!

[gato]

I read an interview with Wang Shuo over the weekend, in which he highly recommended this series. He said that he bought many sets of DVDs of this series for his friends. Did people here end up watching it?

It's available now on sohu's video service:

http://tv.sohu.com/s2009/yqcygdrz/index.shtml

与青春有关的日子