The domestic youth film goes to the sun
2022-07-15 10:30:20Source: People’s Daily Overseas Edition
2022 is a special year for youth films. Although many films have been adjusted or withdrawn due to the impact of the new crown pneumonia epidemic and other reasons, youth films have been relatively stable. Since the first half of the year, many youth films have been released, with various forms and outstanding performance. The domestic youth films are shown in a cluster in a relatively short period of time, like a prism and a kaleidoscope, showing the temperament and charm of youth films from other countries and regions from many aspects.
Overall performance is impressive
Youth is always accompanied by bright and splendid sunshine, and many beauty of youth are often endowed with images of youth.
Since the beginning of this year, youth films have been seen everywhere in various schedules, and the overall performance of domestic youth films has been impressive. In the New Year’s Eve in 2022, the low-cost youth film “Love in Years” staged a warm New Year’s Eve love story, thinking about social life, and feeling bright and sunny. “Miracle · Stupid Child” once aroused heated discussions in the Spring Festival stalls. It tells the courage and courage of a Shenzhen youth to face difficulties, reflecting the gradual growth of the younger generation and the responsibility of bravely taking on the important responsibilities of the family and the country. Also a Spring Festival film, the blue sky and boundless ocean in “The Four Seas” are particularly eye-catching, and the use of youth elements such as small town youth shows a strong author style. “I Want Us to Be Together”, re-screened in the “May 1st” file, speculates on the way of psychological pleasure preferred by young people. The pure love in the film is accompanied by youthful portraits, allowing the audience to relive the song “So Many People in This World“. Emotional interpretation… After the end of the college entrance examination in June, many youth films such as “Secret Love: Orange Life in Huainan” and “Friends of the Week” appeared on the big screen one after another. “Secret Love: Orange Born in Huainan” is adapted from a popular youth novel, and has a very delicate psychological description of young people; “A Week of Friends” is adapted from the Japanese comic of the same name, with a peculiar conception, interspersed with white school shirts, small notes, etc. Youth elements evoke people’s memories. In the following summer files, there will also be a number of youth films such as “I’ve Always Loved You” and “Forgetting You”, which reminds people of campus life and the person, those people who are always unforgettable…
Youth films originated in France, and later developed to a certain extent in the United States, and also became a fixed type in Japan, with mature youth narrative methods. For example, the Japanese director Iwai Shunji’s film “Love Letter”, which will be re-released in China in 2021, has a lonely style and elegant temperament, which has greatly affected the Chinese audience’s perception of youth films. In a narrow sense, the core content of youth films is the presentation and guidance of various complex experiences in the growth process of young people. From the perspective of themes and materials, youth films have changed from focusing on “nostalgia” in the early stage to focusing on “transformation” at present, more expressing the feelings and thinking of young people in the process of entering society, eager to realize their ambitions and gain social recognition. The overall style is fresh and simple, and the colors tend to be bright and bright. Compared with other film types, youth films have their own unique aesthetic concept and spiritual atmosphere.
present its own characteristics
Around 2010, influenced by some youth films in Taiwan, domestic youth films were differentiated from children’s films, romantic films and even comedy films, and developed rapidly, emerging year after year and emerging one after another. At present, the image expression of domestic youth films has jumped out of the fixed pattern formed in the past, combined with its own strengths, showing certain characteristics.
Behind the hot production and release of domestic youth films in recent years is the unique advantage of this type. Relatively speaking, youth films are more likely to obtain higher box office returns with small and medium production costs. The so-called “small to win big”, without special effects and visual spectacles, can quickly gain favor from all parties; the protagonists of their stories are mostly 15 to 30 years old. This is also the main audience for domestic movies. It can not only generate greater social repercussions, but also bring higher box office, so the development of youth films has been continuously promoted, and domestic youth films have become a relatively stable film with a large number of creations.
As far as the domestic youth films released in recent years are concerned, they can be roughly divided into two types: one is based on “The Year in a Hurry”, “You at the Same Table”, “The Brother Sleeping in My Upper Bunk”, “Whose Youth Is Not Confused”, “The Best” It is represented by “We” and “Your Wedding”, which are more in line with the characteristics of youth films. Generally, campus romances, the helplessness of entering society, the memories of adults, and nostalgia are the themes, school uniforms, playgrounds and bright sunshine. It is an iconic scene, and it has a certain amount of practical attention, and attaches great importance to the creation of a cheerful and lively atmosphere. Although the overall production needs to be improved, the box office is often surprising; “Over the Spring”, “Youth as a Teenager”, “Home at One Point”, “A Little Red Flower for You”, “My Sister”, etc. These films are not limited to the stereotypes of genre films, but reflect the realistic plight and emotional needs of young people from different aspects , and has the characteristics of art film viewing reality.
The popularity of domestic youth films has been evolving for more than ten years, and it has also gone through a process of repeated development. The quality of the early stage was mixed, with traces of imitation of overseas youth films, and there were also some stylized phenomena. In recent years, domestic youth films have paid more and more attention to reflecting the worries and troubles of young people and the ups and downs of life, reflecting the perceptions of young people when they face social changes, focusing on the warm communication between individuals and families, with obvious social development marks.
Committed to innovation and change
In recent years, with the rise of new media, the global film industry has changed, and the Internet has also prompted the mainstream audience to become younger. The choice and preference of the “Internet Generation” for film themes also makes the image expression of youth films more innovative, and the creative hotspots focus more on the genres and themes such as youth, love, comedy, action, etc. The origin of domestic youth films also starts from Original and youth literary works are extended to “Internet students” works such as online literature, comics, science fiction, and videos.
In direct response to the above situation, the cross-border and cross-regional cooperation in the production and distribution of film production, adaptation, remake, and application has become more frequent and close. , Youth films are particularly active in this regard, and their flexibility and “international” tendencies are increasingly revealed.
It should be seen that the advantages and characteristics of domestic youth films need to be further highlighted, the originality should be strengthened, and the works should be carefully researched and refined. When presenting the complex level of young people’s emotional transition, the creators need to express their detached aesthetic interest and pay more attention. It should also be more expressive when deconstructing the connotation of love in describing the details of life.
In recent years, some youth films from Japan, Thailand, and South Korea have relied on traditional oriental culture and Asian emotional models to tell stories. Many excellent films have appeared on the screen one after another, and some of them have been introduced to domestic screenings, bringing surprises and inspiration to people inside and outside the industry. Although domestic youth films are still a little immature, they have been seeking innovation and change. It is believed that with the increase in the number of youth films and the deepening of cooperation at home and abroad, the creation and development prospects of domestic youth films will also be broader. (Text / Chen Xiaohong)