In the theater in 2021, we cried, burned, and moved
Text/Entertainment News Department of Yangcheng Evening News
Illustration of this edition: Collecting this edition Coordinator: Li Li
In 2021, the Chinese film market will recover, and excellent works will appear frequently. If you use five words to describe this year’s movie market, how would you choose? Friends of the Entertainment News Department of the Yangcheng Evening News, Bobo, Hue, Xiaoyu, Erqiu, and kelp chatted about the time of the hot pot, and selected these five words——
tears
Did you cry after watching “Hello, Li Huanying”?
Xiao Yu: I was crying. I went to watch this movie with my mother at the time. In fact, before taking her to the cinema, I was worried that it would be a little embarrassing, because I was afraid that we would hold the headache and cry, haha. Facts have proved that this film is indeed very tear-jerking. The director Jia Ling filmed very sincerely and expressed delicately. Sincerely, it can stimulate the tear ducts. Unexpectedly, while wiping my tears, I secretly glanced at my mother, and found that she was dozing off! A few uncles who were about her age also looked bored.
Second ball: I am empathetic! At the end of the film, when I zoomed in on the move, I suddenly caught the regret of “the child wants to support but can’t wait for the relatives”, and I also feel that the years are easy to pass, and the years have turned my parents’ heads. The movie was released on the Spring Festival stalls, but I didn’t go home for the New Year, and I was a little lonely, so my eyes were red. After I got out of the cinema, I bought two tickets remotely, thinking that I must show my parents. After they watched it, they didn’t say crying, they sighed that the young people around were taking out tissues. I bet my parents must be crying!
Beard: To be honest, I will automatically bounce off when I see the so-called “tear gas film”. On the one hand, this so-called “precision strike” marketing strategy is particularly offensive. If you want to relax, there will be hilarious movies; if you want to release your emotions, there will be tear jerks. Where to add some salt and where to add sugar, there are big data thinking behind it. I doubt that this will produce good works. On the other hand, in my opinion, there is a suspicion of moral kidnapping through family affection and tears through selling miserables.
Bobo: I didn’t dare to show my mom, but I didn’t cry when I watched it. Just like the beard, every time I bump into those carefully calculated “tear points”, a sentence flashes in my heart: finally come, count you cruel! In fact, many times when you watch “crying films”, you will have red eyes, but you will feel unwilling to see the red eyes and feel that you have lost again… However, the film “Hello, Li Huanying” is still similar to ordinary “crying films”. The difference is that as Jia Ling’s directorial debut, most of the details of the film are sincere and simple. It’s just that after it exploded, it was inevitable that a batch of films were labelled as “tear-gas films” in an attempt to replicate its success.
Kelp: I don’t like to label movies like “it’s easy to cry” and “poke tears”. Human emotions are complex and subtle. This labeling is actually unfair to the audience or to the movie. For example, the mother-daughter relationship in “Hello, Li Huanying” is actually multi-layered, including joy, sadness, guilt, and nostalgia… But many times these emotions are generally summarized as “good crying”, which is actually A kind of aphasia-when we can’t or are too lazy to distinguish our emotions, we can only use this simple and crude label to express ourselves. In addition, when “good cry” becomes the box office code, the goal of some movies is to make the audience cry. Apart from letting people vent their emotions, there is no lingering rhyme.
greasy
Are you satisfied with this year’s imported films?
Beard: Judging from the movie market, there are no imported blockbusters that impress people this year. In fact, for a long time before the epidemic, the global film market could call the wind and the rain, and the super-English films represented by Marvel are the ones that can be called phenomenon-level movies. However, in the past two years, Marvel movies have obviously not gained as much momentum as before. On the one hand, it is caused by the downturn in the movie market, but on the other hand, it may also indicate that the audience is getting tired of Hollywood popcorn movies.
Xiaoyu: To be honest, I haven’t paid much attention to which imported blockbuster movies have been released this year. The only thing I am interested in is “Dune”, but it is a pity that as a person who has been chasing science fiction since junior high school, I finally missed it. I feel more and more that watching movies is a very luxurious thing for busy social animals. But even so, there is an imported film this year. I not only watched it, but also watched it twice. The touch is still there, and I still admire the director’s ability to control and understand complex issues such as life and death, forgiveness, growth, and life…It is this kind of film that will make you truly feel that “movie is an art”.
Kelp: When it comes to creating visual wonders, Hollywood is still the most skilled. Watching “Dune” in the theater, I deeply feel that film is indeed a dream-making art. This film restores the magnificent and mysterious scenes of the original novel: dragonfly aircraft, giant sandworms, and blue-eyed dungeon residents Fremanns… plus the audio-visual effect of “Dune” is very good. When watching the film, I felt like leaving reality and entering the world of sand dunes. I couldn’t help but sigh that human imagination is so powerful.
Second ball: No impression. This year, I usually watch imported movies on video websites or on a business plane, and rarely go to the cinema to watch them. One is that there are few imported films, and the other is that I always feel that the degree of homogeneity of imported commercial films shown in mainland theaters is slightly higher. right! I’m talking about the “Marvel” series. I used to “relive” the stereotyped plot and actors while eating popcorn with the mentality to join in the fun. After watching it, I usually lose my memory quickly.
Bobo: In fact, in addition to the popcorn blockbusters, there will be some small and medium cost but high reputation works in the imported films every year. This year I was more impressed with “Father in Time” and “Persian Language Lesson”-because there are not many films, I not only watched it by myself, but also urged many friends to go to the theater to watch it. However, audiences who pass by will not buy it. This year’s “007: No Time to Die” box office is very ordinary. Therefore, innovation is the eternal proposition of creators all over the world.
Brave
Did the main theme blockbuster touch you?
Erqiu: As a Hubei native who had been isolated at home for two months in early 2020, the main theme blockbuster that moved me the most this year is undoubtedly “Chinese Doctor”. The film has achieved sufficient realism, and the degree of restoration and the concentration of emotional resonance at the anti-epidemic scene are sufficiently high. I believe that people in Guangzhou who were quarantined at home during the Guangzhou epidemic this year should also resonate strongly. For the experienced audience, the anxiety, fear, and warmth will be doubled when watching the movie. Sometimes, the movie may only show a person for a moment, but you can easily restore the whole world.
Kelp: “Changjin Lake” really moved me. I think many young people, like me, don’t know much about the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea. The most familiar ones are the battles of Huang Jiguang and Shangganling. “Changjin Lake” helped me make up a lesson. In volunteer soldiers, I saw the blood and resilience of the Chinese nation. “Changjin Lake” won a box office of more than 5.7 billion yuan in the mainland, and the box office in Hong Kong soon broke through 10 million Hong Kong dollars, proving that this film can indeed arouse the national sentiment of the Chinese people. Yu Dong, the producer of “Changjin Lake”, said that he believes that the film can “remember that period of history and the loveliest people”, and this goal has been achieved.
Beard: What impresses me the most is the fireworks in these main themes. With the fireworks, the talents in the works are within reach, and the things in the works will become everyone’s “discussion”. This point has been prominent in the main melody blockbusters in recent years. In the anti-epidemic film “Chinese Doctor”, the little girl played by Zhang Zifeng said “I just want to know, what should she do if a person has no mom and dad” after hearing the death of her parents, making countless people break the defense in an instant; “1921” Here, the scene of young Mao Zedong running on the streets of Shanghai, the shot conveyed by the lens of the young people’s enthusiasm, passion and vigorous vitality is inspiring. This kind of “firework” is full of life texture and life reality. It makes heroes more accessible and inspires ordinary people to work hard.
Xiaoyu: Of course I was moved. But I also want to sigh-Wu Jing is so tired, haha! He can be seen in most of the main melody movies. In addition to him, the behind-the-scenes creative teams of many major blockbuster movies are relatively fixed. I hope that more Mesozoic actors and young actors will have enough strength to participate in the main theme blockbuster, and the creative team will grow stronger and the creative soil will be stronger.
Bobo: Speaking of style, in fact, this year’s main theme blockbuster has given me a lot of surprises. Several of them have breakthroughs in genre. For example, Zhang Yimou’s “Above the Cliff” has increased the style of the suspense film in the spy film; for example, “Changjin Lake”, the addition of Xu Klin Chaoxian made the film do a good job in the genre of war films; there are also narrations “1921” of the story of the founding of the party, captures the characteristic that the average age of a major representative was only 28 years old at that time, and made the feeling of a youth film… The main theme of the past always makes people feel too serious, but the main theme of the current blockbuster is mostly commercial It is also very successful in terms of sex, and for ordinary audiences, the “palatability” is getting stronger and stronger.
Burn
Will Guoman branch out in 2021?
Beard: From the “New God List” at the beginning of the year to “The Green Snake Tribulation” to the “Lion Boy” at the end of the year, it can be said that Guoman has entered a period of competition among hundreds of people. The audience’s enthusiasm for watching movies, the team’s creative enthusiasm, and more importantly, the confidence of all people who love animation in Guoman has also been ignited. As an old two-dimensional element, I already feel very happy. You know, the slogan “Rise of Guoman” has been chanted for so many years, but it is very embarrassing that it has made people feel short of breath for a long time. Even if there is a good work occasionally, but the follow-up is always weak. And these works of this year have considerable points, and it can also be seen that the main creative team has already begun to lay out the plot at the beginning of the creation. The aesthetic world of national comics. This is an expression of sincerity and an increase in self-confidence.
Xiaoyu: The edge is supported but not fully supported. I think Guoman has great ambitions, but the details have to be better. For example, the “New God List: Nezha Rebirth” that I have watched, the big scene can be said to be spectacular and exquisite, but the most basic things, such as the characters’ expressions are still very blunt, the sense of mask is very strong, close-ups and close-ups The look and feel of the lens is very uncomfortable. In addition, the logic of the whole story is also very weak, and the characters are not very standable… The “shell” is very delicate and weak inside, and there is still a lot of room for improvement.
Kelp: I think that the current national comics are still in the exploratory period. This year’s popular national comics can actually see the influence of Japanese comics, Meiman, Disney and other big animation players. For example, the flood of steampunk and cyberpunk elements are used, and the stereotyped character setting is also used in Guoman. Just like Hollywood anime, each work must be set with a gag character, as if only by doing this, the movie can be interesting. . However, it takes time to establish a mature aesthetic style and narrative method. I believe that Guoman is on the right path. Come on!
Two goals: I also remain cautiously optimistic. In many people’s impressions, Guoman is now equivalent to Guofeng, traditional stories, Fengshen Bang, Nezha—seriously, I’m tired of Nezha! Compared with Japanese comics and American comics, the realistic themes of Chinese comics are still somewhat lacking. I interviewed some animation summit forums this year and found that the level of animation production in China has actually improved significantly. If you can see more new characters and new eras on the subject, it would be even better.
Bobo: Speaking of the exploration of the theme and aesthetics of the new era of Chinese comics, I would like to recommend again the “Lion Boy” which was released last weekend. First of all, it tells a story about left-behind children realizing their dreams and guarding their relatives. This choice of realistic themes distinguishes it from a large number of Chinese comics that follow the traditional mythical IP route. In addition, you will see in the film that style that is extremely close to the real scene, which is also rare in the past Chinese comics. Regarding the innovation of this movie, there is also an interesting episode-the facial shapes of the main characters in this film are a bit “non-mainstream”, which led to some critics from netizens, saying how you deliberately painted the characters like this ugly. In this regard, when I interviewed the director before, I asked him specifically, and the director read helplessly all over his face: I paint like others, everyone said I am not creative; let me be creative, but you don’t accept it—really. It’s too difficult! Ha ha.
new
Are there any surprises in the subject matter of the big screen this year?
Xiaoyu: No surprises. Maybe I am more strict. I think the so-called bright spots are “the taller one among the short ones.” It may also be due to the epidemic. In the past two years, the film and television industry has been shrinking. Everyone is limited in starting work, and the attempts they can make are relatively limited.
Bobo: In fact, it is precisely because of the impact of the epidemic that in the past two years, many large-scale productions have “retired”, but instead have given some market space for domestically produced films with small and medium costs. For example, “Fame”, if it were released with a crowd of strong players, it might be overwhelmed. Of course, the overall market is cold, and audiences are accustomed to entering theaters less frequently. This will also greatly raise the barriers for the “out of the circle” of the work-you must take into account the artistic and commercial nature, and also make young audiences feel innovative in order to be “upset.” “, become a dark horse. From this perspective, films that can pass the “touchstone” of the epidemic must have enough surprises in terms of the subject matter and the expressiveness of the film language, such as the “Assassination of Novelists” at the beginning of the year and the end of the year. “Famous Li Wan”.
Beard: Indeed, this year there are many small and medium-cost domestically produced movies that surprise me, such as “Reminiscence of the Tropics” and “The Wonderful Things of the Old”. “Once Upon a Time in the Tropics” is not like a new director’s work. The atmosphere is very full. The people in the film are hot and unspeakable, the ambiguous truth and imagination, and the humid and sultry air of southern China blows over them. , I feel that everyone is sweaty, and I need to drink herbal tea to get into the fire. “The Wonderful Things” is also the work of the new director, but the bigger gimmick is the script written by Wang Shuo. Although a soft sci-fi shell is added, the story is still about Wang Shuo’s “not to love”. It can be seen that the creator is expressing himself in the genre space. There can be more works of “carrying private goods”.
Two balls: The simplicity, innocence, and joy of “Five Poking Boys”, and the ignorant feelings and youthful confusion of “Midsummer Future” all let me remember. In recent years, domestic youth dramas have risen, such as “Hello, Old Times” and “The Best of Us” have repeatedly refreshed the ceiling of domestic youth dramas. It feels that this year, domestic youth dramas have finally caught up with the pace of youth dramas.
Kelp: What surprised me most this year was “The Legend of the White Snake: Love”. First, I didn’t expect opera movies to be so good-looking: Lie female Xiaoqing is very pleasing, Fahai has human nature, and the love story between Xu Xian and Xiaobai has a more modern expression. It can be seen that the film has been adapted very well. Great effort. The second is that this movie made me rediscover that Cantonese opera can be so good: Actually, Cantonese opera and Cantonese pop songs have been learning from each other for a long time. There are many arias in “The Legend of the White Snake: Love”. Just change the singing method and change the arrangement. An elegant pop song. We are now talking about how to bring traditional opera to life. “The Legend of the White Snake: Love” can be regarded as a successful case, igniting young people’s interest in Cantonese opera. As a Cantonese, I am quite proud.
2021, you most recommend
Beard: “Wild Horse Split Mane”, I like to travel around that tune.
Kelp: “Anita Mui”, a group of filmmakers used the greatest kindness and sincerity to cherish the memory of a queen, which is touching.
Bobo: Lou Ye’s “Lanxin Theater” and Chen Jianbin’s “The Eleventh” are both innovative films in the expression of dramatic language.
Two balls: “Mom’s Wonder Boy”, Hong Kong-style warmth, Wu Junru’s performance made me dream of “The Thief of Time”.
Xiaoyu: “Dune”, the love I missed. Please give me a chance to re-screen, let me make up for it!
2021, after watching “Work Injury”
Xiaoyu: “New God List: Nezha Rebirth”, fear of being dominated by bad plot and rubber faces.
Kelp: “Antique Bureau Intermediate Game”, a commercial film that watched me fall asleep.
Beard: “Turandot”, my eyes are blind…
Bobo: Both “Secret Visitor” and “Hunting Soul” are not bad movies, and the actors are also great, but the plot is too ridiculous—there is no end!
Two goals: “The Sun Never Sets in a Hotel”, went to Shen Teng, but it turned out to be fooled!
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