Madeleine, Leo & Alex's Discussion
abox
October 09, 2008, 12:48 AM posted in General DiscussionHey guys, here's a quick summary of the first couple of dialogues:
"The Other Woman" centres around a phonecall from Lili to Zhang Liang. She isn't aware that he is working overtime that night and so decides to give him a call. But his mobile phone is switched off which she thinks is curious. She then decides to try his office phone number. The phone is picked up by a laughing woman who calls Zhang Liang telling him to be quick. When Zhang Liang gets on the phone, Lili accuses him of being busy lately because he is working overtime with this female colleague and little wonder that his phone is off. She asks him if she is disturbing their "private time" - the implication being that they are up to something more than work. Zhang Liang says his phone ran out of battery and that there is a big group of them working overtime. Lili doesn't believe him and tells him not to bother with the explanations, all men are the same and then proceeds to hang up. Zhang Liang urges Lili to listen to him before realising she's hung up. He then tries to call her back, only to get her answering machine.
In "Confiding in a Conniving Friend" Lili has a conversation with Chen Jing who has been manipulative before. Lili tells her that she thinks she may have misjudged Zhang Liang and it seems that he has gone behind her back with his work colleague. Chen Jing seems surprised by this, saying how honest Zhang Liang is, and says she thinks that it must be his phone ran out of power. She then tells Chen Jing about her phone call to the office and the flirtatious banter she believes she overheard. Chen Jing asks her if she's overthinking it and that it's normal for work colleagues to be joking around. Lili doesn't agree - Zhang Liang answered the phone nervously as if he had a guilty conscience. Chen Jing says Zhang Liang has been working hard and they don't even have time to see each other. Lili responds that before no matter how busy Zhang Liang was, he'd find time to be with her. Chen Jing then states that men these days aren't reliable and they are always thinking of themselves only. Lili replies that's why she tells herself that she misjudged him. In fact, she needs someone who wholeheartedly loves her. Chen Jing says that in truth Zhang Liang was ok, but it's just that he wasn't the person who suited Lili best.
"The Breakup" is another phone conversation between Lili and Zhang Liang with a fairly obvious outcome. Zhang Liang is happy to at least speak to Lili. He says for the last days he has been calling her non-stop and sending countless SMS. He asks why she has been ignoring him and does she know how worried he's been? Lili is not responsive. She asks him why he's worried and if she hasn't guessed mistakenly, shouldn't he be busy calling his new girlfriend, sending her messages. Zhang Liang is quite despairing - he asks Lili how she can still misunderstand him. He has already told her that the woman is just his colleague and that day by chance they working overtime together. He repeats that his phone had run out of power when she called. Lili gets angry then and asks him who is he deceiving - how is it that just on that day his phone ran out? Zhang Liang asks her why she won't speak reasonably - they have spoken about it so much & he was just working overtime that day. He is starting to get fed up with her and tells her, believe it or not it's up to you, women are always more suspicious. Lili takes this as proof of his guilty conscious and says she most despises the kind of man who doesn't dare admit his two-timing. Following this insult, Zhang Liang then accuses her of two-timing with Liu Xiang, the millionaire ex. Lili retorts that Zhang Liang can't compare to him and she should really be with him. They break up angrily.
Our 1st dialogue to perform is "The Other Women". These two that follow it show (1) how convinced Lili is that Zhang Liang is cheating on her - apparent in her conversation with Chen Jing - and (2) how confused and desparate Zhang Liang is to appease Lili. A couple of things I found interesting about "The Other Women" was when Lili finally talks to Zhang Liang in her accusation that he's busy because of his female colleague, she starts by using the term "原来“ - this suggest a dawning realisation of the real state of affairs kind of like "now I get it". I never realised the word could be used like this. Also in that same speech Lili talks about “私人时间”. According to John and Jenny this suggests not only privacy but intimacy and therefore makes clear exactly what Lili's suspicions are. I think we could make this dialogue dramatic and also funny - Lili's anger at the hapless Zhang Liang and the misunderstandings that follow. From reading the other dialogues it seems Zhang Liang was telling the truth and we should emphasise his total bewilderment.
mbro
October 09, 2008, 06:41 AMHey guys, below is a summary of the next three dialogues...
In a Dad gives advice to a broken-hearted son Zhang Liang and his dad have a conversation about relationships. The whole way through Zhang is obviously still hurting about losing Lili and in an attempt to comfort him, Zhang's dad talks about his youth. He is trying to show Zhang that he wont always feel so low by talking about a relationship he had with a girl that he once loved but finally got over. Its interesting that even though Zhang's dad goes into a lot of detail about his past, he still doesnt seem to get through to Zhang. The last phrase "Baba, nimen zhe dair ren by dong women de gangqing.." I think shows the generation gap between the two, and also how much Zhang is still in pain from the breakup.
In Seeking Comfort, Lili has a conversation with her 'friend' (liu Xiang) about the breakup. Similarly to Zhang, Lili is obviously still hurting from the breakup. However she seems to be much more rational in her approach saying things like "women zhen de bu heshi". As the dialogue continues though its obvious that Lili is perhaps on the rebound from Zhang as she starts to flirt with Liu Xiang.
In Uncomfortable encounter in a bar Zhang Liang and a friend (Zheng Hua) run into Lili and Liu Xiang in a bar. Its obvious that the four have differing views on the breakup, as Liu Xiang is very nice and offers to buy drinks, yet Zheng Hua is rude and insulting saying that Liu stole Lili from Zhang. It seems to be a typical post-breakup awkward encounter whereby people say things they dont really mean in order to defend their friend. Zhang is obviously embarrassed by his friends insults towards Liu. The ambience of this dialogue is quite uncomfortable.
When we perform this one I think Zhen hua needs to be really aggressive and overbearing!
mbro
October 09, 2008, 12:54 PMIn its over lili and zhang seem to get along quite well. they talk about their lives just as friends would, although it seems a little awkward between them.
In its over (again) there is tension between them and zhang finally admits that he wants lili back.
They fight about liu and feifei and end up angry at each other. It seems to be the conclusion of their rollercoaster of a relationship!
Alex, I totally agree with what you said about the first dialogue. We should make Lili really angry and Zhang utterly confused. On this note...it seems that perhaps Lili was looking for an excuse to leave Zhang so perhaps things were never that great between them. So maybe we should make Lili not only angry but also decisive like she knew all along that he wasnt right for her. Also, after going through all the dialogues, Zhang really seems to care for Lili more than she cares for him so we really need to portray him as needy of her. Perhaps this is just a culture thing?
Also, the language in the bar one is really interesting and useful. We have 'stingy person': tiegongji, 'social graces': suzhi and 'rival in love': qingdi. I think these words add to the dramatic nature of this dialogue which should help us make an entertaining performance!
We should also start talking about what parts we want to do. Theres actually supposed to be four people in the bar one so we need to discuss how thats going to work! Im happy to be lili.
abox
October 09, 2008, 01:52 PMI hope that's not the end of Zhang and Lili! I don't like Liu Xiang. In "Seeking Comfort" the manner in which he speaks seems to be very cheesy. For example, he calls Lili a 'pistachio' which even John and Jenny say is very a old-fashioned corny line. I thought that in the bar scene he comes across as quite pompous when he accuses Zhenghua of lacking social graces. I suppose this just shows the cultural differences. Lili certainly seems to be enjoying his attentions and I think social graces are valued much more in China then they are here. Liu is also (unsurprisingly) not very upset at the breakup. When he says sorry in "seeking comfort" he is not referring to the breakup itself but rather to having brought the topic up - I thought it was interesting that you can't use 对不起 to express sorrow about what someone else has done, only about something you yourself have done.
I hadn't really thought that Lili was determined to leave Zhang Liang but I think you're right. She is very quick to assume he's having an affair. After all, having your phone run out of battery is not that unreasonable an excuse! She is also very quick to flatter Liu Xiang when she bumps into him. He is a 大忙人 and she asks how an ordinary person like herself could dare initiate a 'connection' i.e. make contact. It all seems quite flirtatious. He replies quick that she's not like other people, using 可 for emphasis which I never realised you could do. However Lili does say that 前段时间我心情不太好 and she's 'unable to laugh' so we know that she has been upset about the breakup.
So if you want to be Lili that leaves Zhang Liang, Liu Xiang, Zhenghua and then Answering machine & other woman. Leo, if one of us is Liu Xiang/Answering Machine/Other Woman and the other is Zhang Liang/Zhenghua? - although I'm not sure how well that will work in the bar scene? Maybe we all change characters each dialogue?
lsar
October 10, 2008, 01:14 AMHi guys
I was thinking I could play zhnag liang, the hopless fool whose heart is crushed by fate. As far as the bar scene is concerned, I would think who ever plays zhen hua should also play lili. Just a quick costume change will be fine. I like that scene because its quite emotive, actually they all are, but its just good to see zhang liang's mate backing him up like that.
The dialogues are great.
It starts off in dialogue one [the other woman] where zhang liang is doing overtime in. lili tries to call him on his mobile but its off. when she tries to call work, a woman answers the phone. lili goes, well in my opinion off her tree at zhang liang and it was way overboard. only a person who is capable of cheating would assume from such trivial evidence that their boyfriend is cheating.
The next dialogue is "confiding in a conniving woman". Basically trying to get advice on the situation, lili talks to her friend about what had happened. personally the friend was fine until the final lines where she showed her true colours and told lili he didnt suit her.
the next breakup was "the Breakup". no prizes for guessing what happens in this dialogue. basically lili goes back to this over the top emotionally driven aqusation that zhang liang was with another woman. zhang liang almost brings it back to being ok until he says that all women are suspicous. lili jumps on this as admission of guilt and goes more bananas. zhang liang once again in all his male wisdom chose to then say that she was guilty of being with her friend liu xiang [ remember the rich dude from last semesters dialogue]. he compares himself to him and lili agrees. zhang liang goes well fine then we'll split then. lili agrees again.
the next dialogue was bound to happen. "seeking comfort". and where does lili seek comfort, none other than liu xiang who funnily enough had been trying see lili for some time. lili does express a desire to be with zhang liang but the charm and money of liu xiang might sway lili i think.
The next dialogue shows the other side of the fight. a dads advice to a broken hearted son is enlightening. zhang liang's dad tries to console zhang liang but zhang liang in typical teenage mode, goes "you dont understand" which prompts zhang liangs dad to tell him how he fell in love with one girl but then broke up with her then met zhang liangs mum. despite this trip down memory lane, zhang liang is convinced that his dad doesnt understand and says the situation is just so sad. sorry but i think its way over the top. i think he needs to get over lili and realise he's nothing special and nor is she.
The second last dialogue is "uncomfortable encounter at the bar". it was bound to happen sooner or later, but in this dialogue zhang liang meets lili and liu xiang. things are going ok until zhen hua [zhang liangs friend] starts abusing liu xiang. zhang liang tries to stop him, eventually having to remove zhen hua from the bar. this dialogue has four people so one of us will need to do two characters. this shouldnt be a problem as lili has only two lines or so.
The final dialogue is "it's over again". sadly zhang liang cant let go and must make himself an even bigger idiot. he goes over to apologise to lili for what happened at the bar. things, like at the bar are going well until zhang liang tries to convince lili that liu xiang is not right for her and accuses her of breaking up with him to persue rich men. this 'smooth' comment makes lili even angrier. zhang liang declares that their relationship is now "completely" over. lili yells out that they were already completely split and demands he never speaks to her again. then slams the door in his face.
well theres the dialogues. basically the total collapse of a relationship due to a lack of trust and proper communication. sad.....very sad
lsar
October 09, 2008, 12:51 AMhey,
just posted something else under the title of leo's group project. you make some great points about how we should perform the dialogues.
leo