Abstract:

Five Vertical Levels of Shanghai:
A Spatial Analysis of Five ShanghaiSubject Youth Films(School of FilmTelevision Art and Technology, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200072, China)Abstract： 〖WTBZ]This essay, taking five youth films about contemporary Shanghai as the study cases, gives an interpretation of five vertical levels of Shanghai' s urban space, that is, roof tops, business offices, elevated roads, stoneringed doors and underground rooms, and provides an argument of the cultural character and artistic quality of each space. On the one hand, Shanghai Park tells a story mainly happening on the roof top, showing the impracticality and selfcontainment of young generations; on the other hand, Leaving Me, Loving You, most of which is shot in the business office, displays the hypocrisy of middle classes when they are looking down upon the city. At the same time, The Longest Night in Shanghai, whose main location is on an elevated road, presents a utopian solution to the communication between two different classes. What' s more, A Beautiful New World depicts the desire and difficulty of the underclass to immigrate into the city. And Suzhou River implies the possibility and imagination of the underground space where crimes are normal. 

Key words: Five Vertical Levels of Shanghai, A Spatial Analysis of Five Shanghai, Subject Youth Films