佐々木：中国の『フヨーチン』という映画ごらんになりましたか？
門倉：いいえ、まだなんです。
事佐々木：ヒロインの人生が政治に左右される様子が、かわいそうでしたよ。
Sayuu suru, Sayuu sareru
Sasaki: Chuugoku no "Fuyouchin" to iu eiga goran ni narimashita ka?
Kadokura: lie. Mada nan desu.
Sasaki: Hiroin no jinsei ga seiji ni sayuu sareru yoosu ga kawaisoo deshitayo.
Sasaki: Have you seen the Chinese film "Fuyouchin"?
Kadokura: No, not yet.
Sasaki: The way the heroine's life is influenced by the political situation is really pathetic.
The "kun" pronunciations for the words right and left are migi and hidari. When their respective "on" readings, sa and yuu, are combined the result is this week's word-sayuu. The expression sayuu suru (transitive form) means to have something completely under one's control; the intransitive form is sayu sareru.
I saw the film "Fuyouchin" the other day at Iwanami Hall. There wasn't a dull moment in the two hours and forty-five minutes of tense drama. The beautiful young heroine runs a food stand in the apparently fictional town of "Fuyouchin" from which the film gets its title. Fictional or not, however, it is on Fuyouchin's main street that the story unfolds. Indeed, the street is in every shot of the film. It's market day, people gather at one of the stalls along the street,
the heroine criticizes a female government official for being bourgeois and subsequently has the new house she'd just built with her savings taken away, the government takes away her entire bank account and job and orders her to clean the main street every morning. She is accompanied by the town's foremost intellectual and ex-director of the Culture Center.
Ousted from his position for writing a poem critical of the government, he too sweeps the street. From just one position the camera steadfastly focuses on these two and their developing relationship. We also see the changing seasons, spring to winter, the Great Cultural Revolution, the Red Guards...At the end, the government has returned the house, the heroine is married to her fellow street cleaner (to whom love has mysteriously fallen), had children, and there is even talk of the husband's reinstatement as director of the Culture Center. The film ends by giving the impression that the heroine's experiences are probably not representative of what happens in present day China.
It is certain that many people suffered a terrible fate during the Great Cultural Revolution. Ningen no unmei wa nani ni yotte sayuu suru ka wakarimasen (No one knows what will determine a person's fate).
But the image that will linger longest for most who see this film is that of the intellectual. As the political order changed he was accused of being a Tightest and made to clean the streets; but he continued to live, to enjoy life. Kare no kokoro wa dare no meirei ni mo sayuu saremasen (His mind was not swayed by
anyone's orders).
The plot of the film is quite simple. If you don't understand Chinese or can't read the Japanese translation but still know something about the Great Cultural Revolution you should be able to follow along. It's said the director of the film, like many other progressive intellectuals, was stripped of his job and forced to do menial work during the Great Cultural Revolution. This is a film that will influence the way you think about China (Kore wa Chuugoku ni taisuru kangaekata wo sayuu suru eiga desu).