
The Real in Chinese Cinematic Language
Lacanian Analysis
Answer in Chinese
Chinese: Fog Hill of Five Elements, Dear Ex, The handmaiden, Ne zha
Lacanian分析可以从几种不同的角度来理解你提到的这些作品,尤其是通过欲望、主体性、符号化以及镜像阶段的理论。以下是一些可能的分析方向:
- 《五行之山》 (Fog Hill of Five Elements):
这部作品可以从镜像阶段的视角来分析。镜像阶段是拉康理论中一个重要概念,指的是婴儿在镜子中第一次认出自己的形象。这个过程标志着自我意识的形成,以及对“我”的认同。在《五行之山》中,角色们的成长和自我认同的挣扎,尤其是如何与外界的力量对抗,反映了拉康关于主体性构建的理论。
- 《亲爱的前任》 (Dear Ex):
拉康的欲望理论在这部作品中尤为突出。通过电影中的人物关系,我们可以看到欲望如何在情感纠葛中显现,尤其是在亲密关系的错综复杂中。拉康认为,欲望不是直接的,它是通过他人的目光和社会符号构建的。在《亲爱的前任》中,角色们通过他们的过去关系来理解自己的欲望和身份。
- 《女仆》 (The Handmaiden):
这部电影的性别和身份的探索为拉康的符号化理论提供了丰富的土壤。拉康认为,语言和符号不仅仅是传递信息的工具,更是构成我们现实的基础。在《女仆》中,角色们通过对角色身份的重新定义和符号化来探索自我。影片的性别与权力斗争也与拉康的“他者”的概念密切相关,揭示了在他者眼中的自我构建。
- 《哪吒》 (Ne Zha):
拉康的“镜像阶段”同样可以应用于《哪吒》中的人物成长。哪吒的反叛与自我认同的过程,反映了一个处于分裂中的主体如何通过斗争来重塑自我。电影中的“我”与“他者”之间的张力,尤其是对外界预期的反抗,可以看作是对拉康理论中自我与欲望的深刻探索。
这些作品中的人物经历了从自我认同到欲望投射的旅程,正如拉康理论中所描述的那样。
Resume Cliff walkers 2021
《悬崖之上》(Cliff Walkers,2021)是一部由张艺谋执导的中国谍战电影,讲述了四名苏联训练的中共特工在上世纪30年代潜入日军占领的哈尔滨,执行名为“乌特拉”计划的秘密任务。他们面临内部叛徒、敌方情报机关的围追堵截,以及严酷的生存考验。电影以紧张的叙事、精致的黑白影调和深刻的人性刻画展现了信仰、背叛与牺牲的主题。
Homossexualidade, paternidade, maternidade em Farewell my concubine
Homossexualidade, paternidade e maternidade em Adeus, Minha Concubina O filme Adeus, Minha Concubina (Farewell My Concubine, 1993) de Chen Kaige oferece uma leitura complexa das dinâmicas de gênero, desejo e relações familiares, especialmente através do personagem Dieyi (interpretado por Leslie Cheung). Esses temas podem ser analisados em uma perspectiva psicanalítica lacaniana.Homossexualidade e Desejo
Dieyi, treinado desde criança para interpretar papéis femininos na ópera de Pequim, desenvolve uma identidade ambígua entre o masculino e o feminino. Ele ama seu parceiro de cena, Xiaolou, mas esse amor não é reconhecido de forma recíproca. No contexto lacaniano, Dieyi vive no campo do desejo do Outro, identificando-se com a posição feminina do desejo e tentando sustentar um amor impossível. Seu desejo por Xiaolou nunca é plenamente realizado, o que o coloca numa posição de falta estrutural.
A relação de Dieyi com Xiaolou pode ser lida também a partir da lógica do fantasma: ele não deseja apenas Xiaolou, mas também a posição de ser desejado por ele, uma repetição da sua relação com a mãe, que o abandonou. A homossexualidade aqui não é apenas uma questão sexual, mas um sintoma de um desejo deslocado e reprimido.
Paternidade e Maternidade
A paternidade e a maternidade no filme aparecem de maneira simbólica e distorcida. Dieyi não tem uma figura paterna estável e é entregue à trupe da ópera pela mãe, num gesto que pode ser lido como um sacrifício. No lugar do pai, há a disciplina rígida do mestre da ópera, que funciona como um “Nome-do-Pai” feroz e castrador, estruturando a subjetividade das crianças através da dor e da obediência.
Já a maternidade é ambivalente. A mãe de Dieyi o abandona para garantir sua sobrevivência, mas ao fazer isso, reforça a ferida narcísica que marcará toda a sua vida. Por outro lado, Dieyi encarna a posição feminina e maternal na relação com Xiaolou, sustentando o laço afetivo mesmo quando ele escolhe casar-se com Juxian. O filme mostra que a maternidade não é biológica, mas um lugar simbólico de cuidado e entrega, que pode ser ocupado por qualquer um – inclusive por Dieyi.
Conclusão
O filme explora a homossexualidade como um desejo impossível, a paternidade como uma ausência estrutural e a maternidade como um lugar de renúncia e dor. Tudo isso está atravessado pelo contexto histórico e social da China do século XX, onde as mudanças políticas e culturais reforçam a precariedade dos laços afetivos e a fragilidade da identidade.
Xiaolou, dividido entre seus parceiros amorosos, não se torna pai, mas é amado no teatro
Dieyi, se torna uma mãe má no teatro, não consegue impor a lei para a nova geração, perde seu lugar para uma filha simbólica má no teatro
Tentativa de estabilidade da recusa amorosa pelo ópio
Insuportável da relação, boca maldita em público em que eles acusam uns aos outros
O suicídio de Jixian como o insuportável de não ser amada pelo marido
Isso ressoa fortemente com uma leitura lacaniana dos impasses do desejo e da estrutura simbólica que atravessa Adeus, Minha Concubina. Vamos por partes:Xiaolou: amado no teatro, mas sem paternidade
Xiaolou nunca se torna pai, mas sua posição no teatro é de um “masculino amado” – alguém que ocupa o centro do desejo sem precisar se comprometer com a função paterna. Ele não assume uma posição de Lei, nem para Dieyi nem para Juxian. Sua recusa em nomear um desejo claro (seja por Juxian ou por Dieyi) é uma forma de fuga da responsabilidade simbólica.
Dieyi: uma “mãe má” no teatro e a falha na transmissão
Dieyi ocupa um lugar de maternidade simbólica no teatro, mas uma maternidade que não consegue sustentar a Lei. Ele é incapaz de garantir a continuidade da tradição e perde seu lugar para uma nova geração representada por uma “filha má” – alguém que não respeita seu legado. Esse fracasso na transmissão pode ser visto como uma falha no Nome-do-Pai: sem uma estrutura simbólica estável, o desejo se dissolve no gozo destrutivo.
Ópio como defesa contra a recusa amorosa
A recusa do amor e do desejo entre os personagens se torna insustentável, levando Dieyi ao ópio. O consumo da droga funciona como uma tentativa de estabilizar essa falta insuportável, como um objeto a que ele se agarra para preencher o vazio. O ópio aparece como um “sintoma” que tenta dar um contorno ao real da falta, mas que, no final, apenas o condena a uma posição ainda mais alienada.
Boca maldita: o gozo da acusação pública
A cena pública de acusações entre os três protagonistas é a revelação do insuportável na relação. Quando o laço simbólico entre eles desmorona, resta apenas o gozo de expor o outro ao pior – é um momento onde o supereu se impõe com toda sua crueldade. As palavras que deveriam sustentar um pacto se tornam armas, revelando que não há mais lugar para a sustentação do desejo.
Suicídio de Juxian: o insuportável de não ser amada
Juxian é a personagem que tenta construir um laço amoroso estável, mas sua posição de mulher é inviabilizada pela recusa de Xiaolou em reconhecê-la plenamente como esposa. Sua morte pode ser lida como a única saída possível diante da impossibilidade de ser desejada. Em Lacan, o amor é aquilo que dá consistência ao desejo; sem ele, resta apenas o real do gozo, que no caso de Juxian se traduz no suicídio.
Conclusão
Cada personagem fracassa em encontrar um lugar estável no desejo e no campo simbólico. O teatro, que deveria funcionar como um espaço de sustentação, desmorona junto com os laços que os uniam. No final, Dieyi retorna ao papel de Concubina Yu, num gesto que é ao mesmo tempo uma reafirmação de sua identidade e uma entrega à morte simbólica.
Dieyi acusado de não ser fiel à pátria, mudanças de governos, invasão, ausência de fidelidade ao Nome-do-Pai
Se apresentar e se filiar por outros signos, dinheiro, outros interesses
A acusação de infidelidade à pátria contra Dieyi ressoa diretamente com a ausência de um Nome-do-Pai estável ao longo do filme. O teatro de Pequim, que deveria ser uma instituição estruturante, é constantemente atravessado por mudanças políticas e simbólicas – governo nacionalista, invasão japonesa, Revolução Cultural – desestabilizando qualquer referência fixa.
Fidelidade e a falta do Nome-do-Pai
No discurso lacaniano, o Nome-do-Pai não é apenas uma figura paterna, mas a estrutura simbólica que organiza o desejo e a subjetividade. Dieyi, sem um pai real e com um mestre cruel, nunca se fixa numa fidelidade ao Nome-do-Pai. Ele se entrega ao teatro como um espaço de desejo, mas o teatro também é instável, absorvendo as mudanças políticas e não garantindo um lugar fixo para sua subjetividade.
Substituições do Nome-do-Pai
Diante da ausência de um Nome-do-Pai forte, Dieyi tenta se filiar a outros significantes. Ele se entrega ao teatro como um destino absoluto, mas esse laço não é suficiente. Outros signos começam a ocupar esse vazio:
Dinheiro – como forma de assegurar uma posição no mundo.
Xiaolou – como objeto de desejo e como tentativa de se ancorar num laço simbólico.
Ópio – como um gozo substitutivo, que amortece a falta.
A pátria – que deveria ser uma referência simbólica estável, mas se transforma num significante vazio, que muda conforme as reviravoltas históricas.
Acusação de infidelidade e desamparo estrutural
A acusação de infidelidade à pátria é apenas mais uma variação da exclusão que Dieyi sofre. Ele nunca pertence completamente a nada – nem à nação, nem ao teatro, nem ao amor de Xiaolou. Essa posição desamparada o empurra ainda mais para um gozo solitário, culminando na cena final, onde ele reencena a morte da Concubina Yu, repetindo a tragédia de sua própria existência.
Lacanian Analysis
chungking express 1994
Lacanian Analysis of Chungking Express (1994) Wong Kar-wai’s Chungking Express (重庆森林) is a film deeply concerned with desire, loss, and the shifting nature of identity, all of which can be analyzed through a Lacanian framework. The film’s two separate but thematically linked stories explore the persistence of unfulfilled desire, the function of objects as substitutes for lost love, and the instability of subjectivity in a postmodern, urban setting.1. Desire and the Lost Object (Objet a) Lacanian desire is structured around lack—what we desire is always mediated by loss. In Chungking Express, both male protagonists (Cop 223 and Cop 663) attempt to hold onto relationships that have already ended, clinging to objects and routines as a way to stabilize their loss.
Cop 223 and Expired Pineapples: His obsession with eating canned pineapples that expire on May 1st is a clear example of a metonymic displacement of desire. Rather than confronting the fact that his ex-girlfriend has moved on, he ritualizes his grief, giving his loss a symbolic form. The pineapples function as an objet a—an object that stands in for his missing desire but never truly satisfies it.
Cop 663 and Inanimate Objects: After his breakup, Cop 663 projects his emotions onto objects—his soap, wet towel, and stuffed animals—treating them as if they, too, have been abandoned. This externalization of loss reveals the instability of his identity, as his relationship was central to his self-perception. In Lacanian terms, he is trapped in the Imaginary, unable to symbolically process his loss.
2. The Role of the Gaze and Fantasy Lacan’s concept of the gaze is central to how Chungking Express depicts urban loneliness and unattainable intimacy. The characters are constantly watching or being watched, yet never fully making a connection.
Faye Watching Cop 663: Faye’s secret intrusion into Cop 663’s apartment represents a fantasy of love that exists without direct confrontation. She alters his world while he remains unaware, a situation akin to the way desire operates—always at a distance, never fully realized. Faye is neither fully inside nor outside Cop 663’s world, mirroring the position of the voyeur and the impossibility of attaining the Other.
Blurred Cityscapes and Fast Motion: The film’s cinematography frequently blurs or distorts movement, emphasizing the disjointed, fragmented nature of urban desire. This aligns with Lacan’s assertion that what we seek in the gaze is never simply an object, but an encounter with our own lack.
3. Identity as Fluid and Unstable (The Symbolic and the Real) Lacan sees subjectivity as inherently unstable, always shifting between the Imaginary, Symbolic, and Real orders. The characters in Chungking Express struggle with identity, using external signifiers to reshape themselves.
The Blonde Woman’s Disguise: The mysterious woman in the first story constantly changes wigs and outfits, embodying the fluidity of identity in a world without stable signifiers. Her disguises suggest that subjectivity is constructed through masks and appearances rather than any fixed essence.
Faye’s Music and Transformation: Faye listens to California Dreamin’ obsessively, using it as a means of escape from her current reality. Her eventual departure to California symbolizes her attempt to reconfigure her identity by stepping outside the structure that defines her relationship with Cop 663.
4. Conclusion: Desire in a Postmodern World Chungking Express presents love and identity as fragmented, ephemeral, and mediated by signs and symbols rather than authentic connections. In a Lacanian sense, the film suggests that desire is structured around loss and that no object—whether pineapples, airline tickets, or a new lover—can ever truly satisfy. The characters are caught in an endless circulation of desire, illustrating Lacan’s notion that “there is no sexual relationship” (il n’y a pas de rapport sexuel)—only the fantasy of connection, always deferred.
2046 2004
Lacanian Analysis of 2046 (2004) Wong Kar-wai’s 2046 is a film deeply rooted in Lacanian themes of desire, loss, time, and the impossibility of a fully realized love. The film, which serves as both a sequel to In the Mood for Love and an exploration of nostalgia and memory, is structured around a writer, Chow Mo-wan, who becomes entangled with multiple women while unable to move beyond a past love. In Lacanian terms, 2046 is an investigation of the objet a , the real of love , and the impossibility of closure.
1. The Objet a and the Structure of Desire In Lacan’s theory, the objet a is the unattainable object of desire—what fuels our longing but is never fully realized. In 2046, this is embodied in Chow’s obsession with the past, specifically his lost love for Su Li-zhen (Maggie Cheung). Rather than engaging in new relationships authentically, he approaches them through a repetition of desire, always searching for something lost.
The Women of 2046 as Variations of the Lost Object
Bai Ling (Zhang Ziyi) —She offers herself fully to Chow, but he treats their relationship as transactional, refusing to acknowledge her love. In Lacanian terms, Bai Ling is positioned as an object of jouissance—she is desired but never truly recognized as a subject.
Wang Jing-wen (Faye Wong) —Her love is directed toward a Japanese man, which mirrors Chow’s own unfulfilled longing. In Lacan, desire is structured through the Other, and Chow’s inability to intervene in Wang’s love story reflects his own incapacity to engage with his own.
Su Li-zhen #2 (Gong Li) —The return of a woman with the same name as his past love suggests an attempt at symbolic repetition. However, this repetition fails, as she is not a true replacement.
Each of these relationships demonstrates that Chow is caught in a cycle where he chases women as stand-ins for an irretrievable past. His failure to recognize them as subjects in their own right reinforces his entrapment in a structure of unfulfilled desire.
2. The Real and the Impossibility of Love Lacan famously states that “there is no sexual relationship” (il n’y a pas de rapport sexuel), meaning that love is structured around a fundamental gap or misalignment. This is clearly illustrated in 2046, where every relationship is marked by missed encounters , emotional asymmetry , and impossibility .
The futuristic story within the film, set in “2046,” functions as an allegory for this impossibility. In the sci-fi world Chow creates, passengers travel to the future to recover lost memories, but no one ever returns. This mirrors his own condition: he is fixated on a past love that he cannot return to, and every attempt at re-creating it only deepens his alienation.
Time itself becomes a metaphor for the Real in Lacan’s sense—something ungraspable, outside of the symbolic order, and resistant to narrative closure. Chow’s stories, like his real-life experiences, are fragmented, looping back on themselves rather than progressing forward.
3. The Role of Writing: Fiction as a Failed Symbolic Solution
Chow, as a writer, attempts to use fiction to process his unresolved emotions. Writing should, in theory, function as a symbolic act, allowing him to mediate his loss through language. However, instead of resolving his past, his stories merely reiterate his inability to move forward.
His novel “2046” is not a true act of sublimation but rather a compulsive repetition of his trauma. He does not symbolically integrate his loss but instead replays it endlessly, refusing to accept the finality of his past relationship.
This aligns with Lacan’s idea that language both structures and limits our reality—Chow can only articulate his past through a fictional construct, yet this construct keeps him trapped rather than freeing him.
4. The Significance of the Year “2046” The title 2046 operates on multiple levels:
Politically, it references the year marking the end of Hong Kong’s 50-year transition after its return to China, symbolizing an uncertain future.
Personally, it represents Chow’s psychological state—he is frozen in time, incapable of moving beyond his past.
Metaphorically, it signifies the unattainable—a temporal and emotional limbo where lost love is preserved but never recovered.
Conclusion: The Eternal Return of Desire 2046 is an illustration of Lacan’s fundamental insight that desire is structured by lack . Chow remains trapped in an endless cycle of remembering, re-creating, and failing to recover what was lost. His fate is to be perpetually caught between nostalgia and missed encounters, proving that the past is never simply past—it is a persistent ghost, structuring every new attempt at love.
Cliff walkers 2021
Lacanian Analysis of Cliff Walkers (2021) Zhang Yimou’s Cliff Walkers (悬崖之上) is a spy thriller set in the 1930s, following four Communist agents on a dangerous mission in Japanese-occupied Manchukuo. Beneath its political and historical narrative, the film operates on a deeper Lacanian level, dealing with themes of betrayal, the split subject, and the instability of truth within a symbolic order dominated by deception.
1. The Paranoia of the Subject and the Structure of the Big Other Lacanian theory suggests that the Big Other (the overarching symbolic order—government, ideology, language) structures reality and determines the subject’s place within it. In Cliff Walkers, the world of espionage is one where the Big Other is inconsistent , meaning that truth is always unstable, and characters are caught in a system where betrayal and survival are intertwined.
The Communist agents operate within a fragile symbolic network, where they must rely on signs and codes to navigate deception. However, the symbolic order itself is unreliable , as even those within their own ranks might be compromised.
This creates a paranoid structure —every interaction is saturated with suspicion, and identity is never fully secured. In Lacanian terms, paranoia arises when the subject perceives the symbolic order as fractured, leading to an unbearable sense of instability.
2. The Split Subject and the Spy as a Divided Being Lacan’s idea of the split subject (
The film’s protagonists are never fully “themselves” in any moment; they must navigate a world where their speech and actions are always-already a performance , echoing Lacan’s notion that the subject is constituted through language and the gaze of the Other.
This self-division aligns with Lacan’s claim that “the subject does not know what he wants” —each character is driven by duty and ideology, but at the cost of personal desire and self-integrity.
3. Betrayal and the Real of Death Lacan emphasizes that beyond the Symbolic and Imaginary orders lies the Real —the unassimilable trauma that resists representation. In Cliff Walkers, the real of death is ever-present, as characters are constantly at risk of execution, torture, or exposure.
The betrayal of comrades is the ultimate encounter with the Real. The possibility of being turned against one’s own cause is an unbearable rupture in the symbolic order, forcing the subject into direct confrontation with the void at the heart of ideology.
This is heightened by the torture scenes , which strip the subject of symbolic identity, reducing them to pure suffering—a state where language collapses and only the Real remains.
4. The Gaze and the Cinematic Frame Lacan’s concept of the gaze (le regard) is particularly relevant to Zhang Yimou’s visual storytelling. The film’s use of surveillance, framing, and reflections plays with who is watching and who is being watched , reinforcing the instability of truth.
Spies must be hyper-aware of being seen , as misreading a situation can mean death.
The cinematography mirrors this Lacanian gaze —characters are frequently filmed through windows, mirrors, and distorted reflections, emphasizing their fragmented subjectivity and the impossibility of total knowledge.
Conclusion: A World Without Guarantees In Cliff Walkers, truth is never absolute, loyalty is always conditional, and survival depends on navigating an unstable symbolic order. The film embodies a Lacanian world without guarantees , where the subject is caught between competing realities, always at risk of falling into the abyss of betrayal and the Real of death.
Comrades: almost a love story 1996
Lacanian Analysis of Comrades: Almost a Love Story (1996) Peter Chan’s Comrades: Almost a Love Story (甜蜜蜜) is a film structured around themes of migration, love, and missed encounters, making it a rich text for a Lacanian reading. The film follows Li Xiaojun (Leon Lai) and Li Qiao (Maggie Cheung), two mainland Chinese migrants in Hong Kong whose love story unfolds over a decade, marked by separations, economic struggles, and unfulfilled desires. Through a Lacanian lens, Comrades can be analyzed in terms of desire, the objet a, the Real of migration, and the impossibility of a complete love story .
1. Desire and the Objet a (The Love That Never Fully Arrives) Lacan states that desire is structured by lack —we never desire what we have, but what is always just out of reach. The love between Xiaojun and Li Qiao is marked by constant postponement , as if its fulfillment would dissolve the very structure that sustains their longing.
Li Xiaojun and Li Qiao’s Relationship as a Circulation of Desire
Their love is never fully realized because it is always mediated by external obstacles —marriage, money, migration. Each time they get close, another structure reasserts itself to maintain the lack .
This echoes Lacan’s concept of the objet petit a , the unattainable object-cause of desire. For Xiaojun, Li Qiao embodies an ideal of love and home, but always at a distance, never fully attainable.
The Deferred Kiss and the Logic of Desire
Their first real romantic moment (in the McDonald’s scene) happens only after a long delay , reinforcing the idea that their love is structured around an almost , rather than a full realization.
The final scene in New York, where they finally reunite, suggests that desire always finds a new way to sustain itself , rather than resolving into satisfaction.
2. Migration and the Real (The Trauma of the Unstable Identity) Lacan’s concept of the Real —that which resists integration into the Symbolic—manifests in Comrades through the experience of migration , where the characters struggle to establish stable identities.
The Mainland Chinese Identity in Hong Kong
Both Xiaojun and Li Qiao are outsiders in Hong Kong, navigating a foreign economic system and adopting different strategies to survive.
Li Qiao’s pragmatic approach to money is an attempt to integrate into the Symbolic Order of Hong Kong’s capitalist society, but this adaptation is never complete—she remains caught between survival and longing.
Xiaojun, on the other hand, clings to his past, which prevents him from fully integrating. His attachment to his hometown and his fiancée (whom he does not love in the same way as Li Qiao) reflects his split subjectivity —he is neither fully from the mainland nor fully from Hong Kong.
New York as the Real of Migration
The move to New York marks a further dislocation, where the past is neither recoverable nor fully lost. In a Lacanian sense, migration exposes the subject to the Real , the inassimilable rupture that prevents a return to a previous state of being.
The film’s final moment in Times Square is not a resolution but an encounter with the Real of their love , stripped of economic and social structures, where they must finally confront each other without external mediations.
3. The Incompleteness of Love (Il n’y a pas de rapport sexuel) Lacan famously stated that “there is no sexual relationship” (Il n’y a pas de rapport sexuel), meaning that love is always marked by a fundamental misalignment. Comrades exemplifies this principle through its constant near-misses and deferred resolutions .
Xiaojun and Li Qiao are never able to fully occupy the same symbolic position at the same time —when one is available, the other is entangled elsewhere.
This structure sustains their love as an “almost” rather than a stable reality. Their strongest moments are when they are longing for each other , rather than when they are together.
4. Teresa Teng’s Songs as the Voice of the Lost Object Lacan discusses the voice as a fundamental aspect of desire, often detached from the body and functioning as a haunting remnant of the past. Teresa Teng’s songs, which frame the film, serve as a sonic objet a , symbolizing the nostalgia, longing, and unattainability of their love.
“甜蜜蜜” (Tian Mi Mi) plays whenever their love is recalled but never fully present.
The fact that Teresa Teng herself was a diasporic figure (born in Taiwan, famous in mainland China, passing away in a foreign land) mirrors the displacement of the protagonists , reinforcing the theme of love as something that is always remembered, never fully lived .
Conclusion: Love as an Eternal Migration Comrades: Almost a Love Story is a perfect Lacanian text because it illustrates how love is structured around missed encounters, displacement, and the persistence of desire through absence .
Xiaojun and Li Qiao do not find a stable relationship , but rather an eternal movement toward each other , reflecting the structure of desire itself .
Their final reunion is not a closure but an opening toward yet another phase of longing , proving that love is never a destination but always a journey—an “almost” rather than a finality .