Old Boys enliven young dreams

What does it take to touch a generation?
它是如何感动一代人的呢？

It’s a question faced hundreds of times by Xiao Yang, whose online film Old Boys is resonating deeply with Chinese born in the 1970s and 1980s.
这正是肖央思索了无数次的问题，而由他导演的网络短片《老男孩》使得中国上世纪七八十年代生人产生了强烈共鸣。

In the movie, Xiao plays a wedding party host who loves singing, while his real life business partner Wang Taili plays a hairdresser who loves dancing.
在电影里，肖央饰演一位喜爱唱歌的婚庆司仪，而他现实生活中的合作伙伴王太利则扮演了一位热爱舞蹈的理发师。

But their youthful dreams have been replaced by reality.
而他们年轻时的梦想早已被现实取代。

At the end of the movie, the two old boys walk onto a talent show to realize their dreams, even though everyone is making fun of them.
在影片最后，尽管所有人都取笑他们，两个老男孩还是选择登上选秀舞台去实现他们最初的梦想。

When they sing a beautiful elegy to youth, a lament for all the things lost along the way, many were in tears. The song features the music of Ohashi Takya’s Arigatou, with lyrics written by the pair, known in the film and in reality as the Chopstick Brothers.
当他们唱起动人的青春挽歌，悼念一路走来错失的所有，许多人都流下了眼泪。这首歌的旋律来自大桥卓弥的《谢谢》，词作者便是短片中的二人组，即现实中的“筷子兄弟”组合。

The film has been viewed online more than 26 million times since its Oct 28 debut.
自10月28日首映起，该短片已经在线播放超过2600万次。

"I didn’t see that coming," said Xiao, 31, who makes a living shooting commercials but who had long considered shooting a film.
31岁的肖央表示：“我之前根本没想到这部片子会如此受欢迎。”他靠拍摄商业广告为生，却一直都想着要拍一部电影。

The old boys’ story came easily. As fans of Michael Jackson, Xiao and Wang told a story about ordinary people recapturing their lost dreams - performing Michael Jackson songs on the stage -- in memory of their icon and their own dying dreams.
《老男孩》讲述的故事很简单。作为迈克尔•杰克逊的歌迷，为纪念自己的偶像和逝去的梦想，肖央和王太利讲诉了一个普通人重拾梦想的故事，并安排他们在片中上台演绎杰克逊的歌曲。

"In 2009, when Michael Jackson died, so many young people were sad, perhaps not so much because the person had died, but that since their idol was dead, they feel that this signals the end of youth," Xiao recalled. "At that time I was working like crazy and I didn’t know why. I wanted a way to express this feeling, and this film is the result."
“2009年迈克尔•杰克逊去世的时候，很多年轻人都很难过，原因也许不只是偶像离世那么简单，而是在他们心中，偶像的离开象征着自己青春的完结。”肖央回忆说。“那时候不知道为什么，我发疯一样地工作。我想用一种方式来表达这种感受，而这部短片也就应运而生了。”

What comforted the two men most was that this film changed some people’s lives.
最令二人感到慰藉的是该短片改变了一些人的生活。

Netizens, many who cried during the final scenes, say the film reawakened their dreams.
很多网友在影片最后流下泪水，他们纷纷称该片唤醒了自己的梦想。

Wang said he wept many times while writing the lyrics, which to some extent were mainly based on his own decades-long singing dream.
王太利说，自己在写这首歌歌词时哭了很多次，这些歌词在某种意义上来自于他几十年来一直坚持的歌唱梦想。

Just like the hairdresser he plays in the film, in reality Wang can only sing as a hobby.
就像片中他扮演的理发师一样，在现实生活中王太利只能把唱歌作为一种爱好。

In 1993, at 24, Wang left his hometown in Shandong province for Beijing. With only 500 yuan in his pocket, he came to the city to sing.
1993年，24岁的王太利离开山东老家，只身来到北京。怀揣着500元，他来到这座城市，想要实现自己的歌手梦。

At this time, Xiao, born and raised in Chengde, Hebei province, was still at the middle school affiliated to China Academy of Art in Beijing.
而此时，在河北承德出生长大的肖央，正就读于北京中央美术学院附中。

But Xiao said he felt drawing was meaningless and had no relationship to people’s lives.
但肖央觉得画画没有什么意义，与生活毫无关系。

Because of this, Xiao decided not to become an artist, but a director. Later, he entered the Beijing Film Academy.
正因如此，肖央决定不当画家改行当导演。后来，他考上了北京电影学院。

In 2005 Wang met Xiao and the two have worked together ever since.
2005年，王太利遇到了肖央，二人也就开始了合作。

"Before we released the film, the organizers firmly believed that an online video could not exceed 10 minutes, that no one had the patience. I tried to cut it down to 10 minutes and please everyone, but in the end I had to insist," Xiao said. "The subject we were given is huge, to show the mentality of this era. Placing this big topic in a small space, it’s like playing a football match on a basketball court."
“在影片面世之前，制片方坚信网络视频短片不能超过10分钟，因为没人那么有耐心。我也曾试着把它剪到10分钟来令所有人都满意，但最后我还是坚持保留原长度。”肖央表示，“我们所要表现的主题很庞大，我们想要展现的是这个时代的精神。把这么大的主题放在如此小的空间里，就如同在篮球场上踢足球一般。”