电影里他们住的地方，刚来北京找房的时候我去过，下了地铁到小区要先爬个小土坡，再穿过一铁道，再在施工的路上踩着沥青走十分钟，中介当时鼓吹我说：嫌累的话你就买个摩托，下班还能拉活儿多好啊，你晚上怕黑，这一路全是人，大伙儿都加班，你有啥可怕的。我当场吓跑了。后来我搬了很多次家，换了好多室友，张译和他们中许多人很像，怯生生的，话不多，心血来潮来北京混饭吃，随时等着机会落头上。我们一般白天早早的就走了，晚上回来心情好了用公用厨房做个菜，心情差了就闷在房间里。上厕所会揣着纸，自己会准备好晾衣杆，晚上从不大声喧哗生怕吵到隔断那头的室友，早上洗漱得轮着来，宽带经常掉线，炒菜会关紧厨房门，会问室友要不要吃。这种日子过了一段时间后，我们陆陆续续都搬走了。身边儿很多毕业就扎到北京的好友，干了一段时间的也回了家乡，这个过程很短，短到来的时候两手空空，走时只能带着一脑子互联网思维和一口京腔。电影里艾伶也回到家乡，二婚的妻子调侃她爸“你女儿这次回来不走了，是发财了还是混不下去了？这么大了怎么不嫁人？不着急么？”艾伶不着急，也是心气高了，也是这趟漂程，心里有忘不掉的。忘不掉从合租室友变成恋人的张译；忘不了一起乐得清贫过得好日子；忘不了不用打草稿就能对对方脱口而出的矫情的话；忘不了在广袤天地间，孤立无援时刻握紧了的手；忘不掉那些把对方安插到命终的设想。你知道的，一个人心里藏着事儿，有着牵挂，那么不管他怎么昂首阔步随时能露出马脚。电影总结起来一句话就是，讲了一个女孩从北京回家乡开舞蹈房教舞蹈的事儿，其中穿插和男友回忆。电影很好看。拍了两个城市，一个是北京，这里有一群没头没脑扎进来的外来客。一个是小城都江堰，有古香古色的建筑，潺潺的流水，和就认定了安稳生活，扎根在此的本地人。拍了一对儿情侣，张译和艾伶，有几个片段我记得清楚：张译在艾伶家，顶着被子在地上绕圈；张译背着艾伶玩儿石头剪刀布，艾伶耍赖，赖在张译后背上不下来；两个人一起在河边儿吃饭，艾伶让张译闻河水的味道，张译说别文艺青年了，饿死了。拍了上一辈，王志文演了艾伶爸爸，王志文演的很好，演了一个失去妻子，和胖女人再婚，为了生活磨没了脾气的老人，喜欢朗诵诗歌，喜欢浇花，对女儿的指令唯命是从，爱女儿又小心翼翼。但是这么一个细节处理很好，台词很说人话，一切刻画的很用心的电影。结局很糟糕，所以总的来说这个电影唯一的败笔就在这里了。何平导演拍摄过程中的很多细节戳中我，唯独结局以死来戛然而止一段感情做的有点儿不地道。看电影时全场除了我只有一对儿情侣，情侣提前离场。我一直看到结束。起身出来北京又雾霾了。还在这里继续打拼的我只能回到合租房里。随手写一堆没人看的东西。一天就结束了。

It's 11/4/2020 and I'm stressed out waiting for an official offer from my new employer in Beijing after I just bought the ticket back to China from where I am now - the United States (Washington, DC, to be precise) - while a completely unexpected general election result is still pending.

Could not focus on my current job here working from home. Could not continue following the news anymore. Forced myself to sleep in the early evening after the work schedule, woke up after 2-3 hours, felt even worse and realized that it was time to distract myself from the anxious waiting, the politics or the business in shock. This was when I decided to look for a relaxing/healing movie.

I started with those on SHOWTIME because I just started free trial there. Since I felt like escaping the reality, I browsed all the movies by genres (except documentaries) and sadly, found nothing even bearable. Therefore I had to start over with all movies, and suddenly, saw Pavarotti, the documentary among all others. It didn't take me any hesitation to click on it.

I went to a lot of operas and concerts all through my earlier life (yes everything's gone since the start of covid-19), was an alto myself in my college chorus and even took a course on opera appreciation. Although I'm not a tenor person (in general, I prefer baritones), Pavarotti is obviously no stranger.

Like everyone, I was mostly familiar with O Sole Mio and Nessun Dorma. But you'd still be astounded every time listening to a man so gifted to sing the highs and lows and highers so well in his NATURAL voice. What more could I say. I was just thirsty for more of his singing and didn't have enough in the documentary. This is not necessarily a defect in this documentary, considering that I could be one of the few people who still relish operas in their entireties in addition to the arias, in the age of fractured fast-food information and entertainment. You can look up for these famous arias and even full operas online anyway.

So the documentary should be about just him - his personal life in addition to the professional one. I vaguely remember some of the romantic rumors around him and some of the controversies. This documentary walks us through all these in a concise manner, yet it feels personal. A good job done by the director. It could be easy and difficult when you have a great number of footages all through his life and availability of people to interview. BTW, I don't have a strong view on how well the interviews went - the cuts are just fine.

I'm not sure if I would have given this a 5-star if it wasn't because of the personal relief it brought me for this exact moment. In my opinion, one could potentially present something better with this plenty of footages, access to his family members and celebrity friends and most importantly, such a legendary life story. A 4/4.5 (just as the current 8.3 suggested) may be more accurate.

I didn't mean to write a comment for a documentary on a legendary man. Otherwise, I wouldn't have started in English on Douban if I meant for anyone else to look at it. I just wanted to document this toxic moment for myself at a place where some relief was given - something positive just for myself. However, and unsurprisingly, English literature takes more bytes and it easily exceeded the word limit for short comments. So here I am, and I wish no one be offended by the language used.

苏联抓间谍方法太差了吧；中泽发现大柳证据居然不上报；日本人就看不出肖汉生是假的？一群日本人抓李小冉居然抓不住，在谁的地盘？苏联抓间谍方法太差了吧；中泽发现大柳证据居然不上报；日本人就看不出肖汉生是假的？一群日本人抓李小冉居然抓不住，在谁的地盘？苏联抓间谍方法太差了吧；中泽发现大柳证据居然不上报；日本人就看不出肖汉生是假的？一群日本人抓李小冉居然抓不住，在谁的地盘？苏联抓间谍方法太差了吧；中泽发现大柳证据居然不上报；日本人就看不出肖汉生是假的？一群日本人抓李小冉居然抓不住，在谁的地盘？……………

青涩的演员尽力的出演，故事情节不算曲折但也比较饱满，只不过受制于小众成本的影片，有许多值得怀念的元素出镜，从红白机、干脆面，录像厅与光盘，甚至是家喻户晓的丽声VCD，从各处淘换而来的旧货拼成的一副一副场景，一段纯真的爱情，男一号与男二号，在当下的环境下甚至也可以成为一对CP，而那时还是纯真的男女关系，每个人的记忆力肯定都有一位跟自己打过架、和过泥、打过球、喝过酒、看过片的发小，尤其是男生们的成长过程，回想起来可能时过境迁，也都有了各自的新环境新生活，但那段时光依旧是值得怀念回味的；可以看到许多的演出人员，甚至是路人，利用内陆三四线城市直接作为取景地，直接成为上世纪九十年的样子，也透露出这座城市的发展缓慢