Little Dorrit BBC

bbc-little-dorrit

I don’t know why I find myself really obsessing about the England in Victorian period. As I previously talked about the fashion of Favourite Work Of Art, and I guess there were many great literatures and stunning events to talk about in Vitoria time. It was a distinguished period of England’s history. Now I have to mention about the great Victoria English novolist – Charles Dickens’ one of his best stories – Little Dorrit.

I do love the BBC! The BBC has a reputation for classic dramas. As the opposite of Jane Austin, who wrote mostly middle class stories, Dickens preferred to portray the poor common people’s lifes in 19th century. BBC has presented Oliver Twist, Bleak House and Little Dorrit this year. The characters were so vivid and I am so connected with.

Little Dorrit is about Amy Dorrit who was a spirit young woman lived in the Marshalsea Prison. Life for her was hard and little Dorrit tried to pay off her family’s debts to get out of the prison. (Background: in the Victoria period, if people were in debt, The government put people into a special prison, and people had to find work and payoff their debt.)

Amy had also to look after her father William, and he became rich afterwards by inheriting some fortunes, so far, and in the end will be a twist! (I haven’t finish it yet). The story was like a puzzle and every character had their own purpose but somehow was linking with others. It was mysterious, tangle, complex and touching story. It was very Charles Dickens’s style. I enjoy every episode and hope to read the novel too.

Little Dorrit definitely worths to read or watch! Besides, I guess I will go to visit Charles Dickens Museum this weekend.

不知何时不知不觉的喜欢上英国维多利亚时代的东西,从之前写过维多利亚时尚到文学作品。也许维多利亚时期出现了很多杰出的文学家,及文学作品和其他史记,在英国历史是一个不同平凡的时代。说到文学作品,不能不提狄更斯先生 的其中一部文学作品 -《小杜丽

太爱BBC的经典文化小说改编电视剧,之前曾看过狄更斯的名著 – 雾都孤儿荒凉山庄, 今年BBC将《小杜丽》也搬上荧幕。故事发生在19世纪,一个年轻聪慧的小杜丽全家人生活在监狱(在英国19世纪,假如你欠债,政府有个特别的监狱,进入自如,但你必须工作还清你的债)小杜丽要一边工作一边还清家人的债,最后家人又遗留很多家产,从下级社会突然转变到上流社会。通过描写小杜丽一家人以及其他社会等级的人物的刻画,展现了19世纪中叶英国从上层阶级到下层阶级整个现实画卷。故事刻画十分神秘,含有复杂悬念,情节感人,是一部值得看的电视剧或值得一读的小说。

我还没有看到故事的结尾,但我已经忍不住周末要去参观狄更斯的博物馆。这就是我喜欢伦敦深厚的历史文化底蕴 – 到处都是历史博物馆。约翰告诉我,他走过一条街起名为“小杜丽“和他们之前住过的监狱呢,就在靠近在近伦敦桥。阿 – 真有英国味道!

Sex and the City Movie

Sex and the City Movie

As a big fan of Sex And The City, I have have been waiting to see the movie. London was chosen to host the premier, and all members of the cast showed up in Leicester Square on 12th May 2008. It’s a pity that I wasn’t arriving in the UK until the week after and so missed the chance to see them. Never mind, the movie opened to the public while I was there, and I did get chance to see it.

Love is complicated…

The movie is a continuation of the last season from TV, and begins by filling in the gaps of the time immediately after the close of the TV show. All the actors are very professional and give skillful performances in the movie. The movie contains different elements which will touch and break your heart, as well as give you joy. I will not say too much about the details of the movie, but you will find out when you watch it. Actually I was in tears several times for the humorous conversation, heart-breaking moments, happy unions, and especially the understanding of different kinds of love in the movie.

I enjoyed the movie so much and there are many moment I felt so connected. I guess the movie is also the end of our legendary story of Sex And The City series. Like the movie says: there are always perfect ending in fairy tales, but in reality, there is not always a perfect ending in our lives.

I gave it 4.5 stars of 5.

作为Sex and the City 忠实fans,我们期待已久的电影版终于上映了,虽然我赶不上12号他们来伦敦的首映,但上周末去电影院就让我一饱眼福了。

爱是复杂的…

电影的主题是关于不同的爱,也是续最后一集连续局接下去的故事。有我们期待想发生的,也有我们不想发生但却发生的故事。每个演员的倾力演出让这部电影更加有味道。电影有很多触动人心感人的场面,有幽默的对白和场景,有伤心落泪,幸福的喜悦和女主角们的坚固友情,这都在短短的2个小时里呈现出来。我不能说太多关于剧情,大家到时候看了就知道。感情十分丰富的我,都被很多场面感动得满面泪水。

Sex and the City 就象是陪伴我们一起长大的故事,2008年这部电影也是对这部连续局10年来划上一个句号。象电影里面说的,童话故事都有完美的结局,但现实上不是每个人都有没有完美的结局,但当然我们还是要保持生活的积极态度。我们会想念这个传奇故事的连续剧,我们也会想念他们的服装,更想念曾经陪我们一起走过的岁月。

Black and White

a-white-lady

You might think “black and white” party? No, there is an interesting topic about different about complexion in China and the West.

My western friends keep asking me “ why the Chinese always like taking the umbrella wherever sunshine is coming out?” people like be tanned or have a brown skin in the west. On the opposite, people in mainland China prefer their skin to look very white even like pale. There are several reasons for that. The big reason for white skin because Chinese men like women to look white. If women look white, it means they are week and innocent and men can protect them. The others reason is that white skin means they are rich, dark skin means they are working outdoors all the time, not an properly ladies.

However, in the west, people like to be tanned a lot and it represents healthy and fashion. It means people have more time for outdoors or on holidays and it is a rich symbol.

The same thought has appeared in most cultures. Hundreds of years ago it was a sign of beauty in Europe for a woman to be white, and this was for the exact same reasons: being white implied you were not working class, being dark implied you were a worker. At that time women used to apply all sorts of dangerous chemicals to their face to make it whiter. Queen Elizabeth I is famous for wearing lead powder, a chemical that we now know as being toxic to humans.

I’m sure the same will happen in China and over time having a tan will be a sign of wealth.

黑白主题

是否想到黑白派队呢?不是哦,是一个关于西方和中国喜欢不同肤色的主题。很多西方朋友问我,为什么中国人每当太阳出来就撑起雨伞呢?欧洲西方国家人们喜欢棕色的皮肤,而相反来说,中国人喜欢白皙的皮肤,主要的原因是中国男人喜欢白皙皮肤的女人,代表天真纯洁软弱,他们可以保护;二来白皙皮肤代表富贵的象征,假如棕色的皮肤,代表你是农民阶层,不是上流社会,白领的女人。

相反来说,西方国家喜欢棕色的皮肤,代表健康和时尚,同时也代表人们富裕的象征,有多余的钱去度假,晒太阳,享受生活,是有钱的象征!其实同样的事情发生在大多数的文化背景中。几百年前的欧洲,上流社会名媛白皙皮肤就是时尚与身份的象征。这也是同样的理由你不是工人阶级。伊丽莎白一代皇后就喜欢超级白皙的皮肤,涂上很多有毒的白皙化妆品,而这些漂白的化妆品而却是致癌的。

时代的变化,我相信不久的将来中国人也喜欢棕色的皮肤,同时也是代表富裕和健康。

Favourite Work Of Art

If we are talking about ages, then my favourite age is the Victorian one, spanning the years 1819 to 1901. This period of time was characterised by rapid changes and developments in nearly every sphere. Queen Victoria was the first English monarch to see her name given to a period whilst still living. I love a lot of literature, fashion, and works of art from the Victoria era. Today we associate this time with Protestant work ethics, family values, religious observation, and institutional faith.

There is so much artwork and fashion from the Victorian age that I love. My favourites include Georges Seurat (Sunday afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte), a French painter who was a leader in the neo-impressionist movement of the late 19th century. Georges Seurat is the ultimate example of the artist as scientist.

Another is James Tissot. Victorian Life/Modern Love features many of Tissot’s finest works (The Ball 1878 di James Tissot oil on canvas). Tissot’s entire career, with particular emphasis on the paintings he did in London, reflect his penetrating insight into Victorian life.

There are a lot of books that represent the Victoria era like ” A Woman’s Place” an Oral History of Working Class Women, 1890-1940 from Elizabeth Roberts. This tells the story of a conformist generation, obedient to tradition, their emotional and material wants narrowed by poverty and fatalism, their manners and morals disciplined by Christian values (not doctrine).

维多利亚时代的时尚

维多利亚时期也正是艺术界最活跃的时期之一,经过了新古典主义绘画,记录真人为模特的肖像画取代了原本的宗教画,由此我们也可以从当时的绘画中,最直接的看到十九世纪的维多利亚时代的各种时代背景,像时装,文学和风格。维多利亚时代的女性在追求成为谨慎的“ 女士”同时,职业妇女,去异国旅行的有闲太太等以新的行动模式出现的女性层出不穷。上世纪六十年起风行的维多利亚风潮中最有趣的是,从政治宗教的观点来看,它跟身穿黑裙的维多利亚女王所统治的十九世纪封建维多利亚王朝的理念是完全对立的。这也是当时的维多利亚时尚的魅力所在。内衣外穿,蕾丝和丝袜和缎子,长衬裙,再加上多数的Chelsea (伦敦高级时尚区)的女孩都在蝴蝶结或鞋上缀上以浮雕宝石,六十年代所流行的维多利亚风就这样被定义下来,那是一个新时代,同时也象征着一个纯洁无暇的时代的到来。