I am afraid that it can be broken. Spoiler warning: because it is a beat disassembly, there will be very detailed spoilers.
Alright, let's get down to business.
Hello everyone, Mr. Cang, who is a rare movie watcher, finally watched "Wrestling, Dad", which has exploded the circle of friends today, so today, taking advantage of the fact that I just came out of the cinema today, my memory is still fresh and reliable, so I quickly dismantled it as a respect according to the old rules. By the way, you can also see how this 140-minute long film (the original film is 158 minutes, Indian films are always long) has no urine spots throughout the whole process, and successfully counterattacked "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 2 only by word-of-mouth marketing" ", including a number of high-cost blockbusters. (Cough, in fact, I believe that the production cost of this film should not be too small in terms of Indian films, but compared with "Silver Guardian 2", the gap should still be not small)
The type of film is
in accordance with the usual practice. What we need to do before solving the beat is still type analysis.
"Wrestle, Dad" tells the story of former Indian wrestling champion Mahavira, despite the pressure of public opinion, devoted himself to raising two daughters with wrestling talents to grow into professional wrestlers and win the gold medal in women's wrestling at the Commonwealth Games. Whether it was the father Mahavir, or the two daughters, Gita and Babita, in rural India nearly two decades ago, they were extremely out of place in their surroundings. And in the end, they succeeded and tasted the joy of victory.
Therefore, there is no doubt that this is a "fool's success" film. We will go through all kinds of hardships with the father and daughter in the cinema, along with the sparring cousin, and finally succeed.
Considering the marginal status of women in Indian society, as well as the inspiration and reflection that Gita's success has brought to everyone, including Mahavir's unhappiness in the local village, I think this film should belong to "The Fool's Success" The "social fool" type in the genre. That is, a man on the fringes of society who, through his actions and his ultimate success, inspires all those who meet him to reflect on his own life.
The three elements of the type are disassembled as follows:
A "fool" - unhappy dad Mahavira and two gifted and unknowing daughters, Geeta and Babita. The role of the fool in this story is played by three people (especially sister Gita and father Mahavira), although there are slightly more people, but the story is told without any clutter, which is really good.
A "great cause" that a protagonist resists - in "Wrestle, Dad," this great cause is Mahavira's ideal to win a gold medal for India as a wrestler in an international event.
A change - Geeta successfully won the gold medal in the international competition and became the hero of all Indian girls. The short hair and sportswear of her and her sister formed a great contrast and contrast with traditional women's sarees.
Suspense Analysis
The biggest test for a biopic director is how to keep the hook of suspense and keep everyone firmly in front of the movie screen when the audience already knows the ending of the story. From this point of view, "Wrestle, Dad" does a pretty good job.
According to the classification of "three kinds of death", since this is a sports-themed film, and there is a relatively relaxed but unrelenting spirit from beginning to end, there is no physical death in the whole story. threat. But whether it's Mahavira's "win for the country" ideal that brings a crisis of psychological death, or Geeta's own wrestling career crisis, there is no slack on the audience's nerves for a moment throughout the story.
In particular, the crisis of psychological death brought about by Mahavir's ideal of "winning the championship for the country" can be said to have persisted from the beginning of the story to the end of the story. Geeta must completely rely on his own strength to defeat his old enemy. This hook firmly fascinates the audience, even though everyone knows that in the real story Geeta won the gold medal in straight sets, we are still accompanied by deep empathy for Mahavira, hope to see this The whole process of turning ideal into reality.
Beat Analysis
"Wrestle, Dad" Although the length of each beat is much longer than that of regular Hollywood movies, when these contents are assembled together, it is just right for the audience to be reluctant to leave the screen. Next, let's disassemble the entire "Wrestle, Dad" one by one according to Snyder's beat schedule.
Opening scene: In the village office, with the commentary of the Seoul Olympic Games, Mahavir and a new colleague (wrestling champion) started a wrestling match, revealing Mahavir's former national wrestling status and his retirement. After that, I still pay attention to the situation of Indian wrestling. Then, through Mahavir's memories, he presented his experience of winning the national wrestling championship, and the regret that he had to retire from work early because of his livelihood.
Here is a section of the group image display and the opening song and dance in the wrestling venue, which is understandable for the sake of controlling the duration. After all, the cut content of this paragraph does not affect the development of the overall story, but students who are curious about Indian wrestling can go and see it, and this song is quite a topic.
Theme presentation: (stably stuck in the 10th minute after the opening) Mahavira expressed to his pregnant wife that he hoped that his son could realize the unfinished business for him: to win the championship for the country.
This theme comes very early, proportionally even before the "Foreshadowing" part. Its appearance set the tone of the film early and highlighted Mahavir's idealism. When Mahavir faced the school administrators of the Sports University in the following text, his begging and explanation formed the first and last echoes, which became the most important clues throughout the whole film.
Foreshadowing: Mahavira tried various methods of seeking children, but only had four daughters, and his hopes of inheriting his father's business were lost. In the end, he was disappointed to put away all the wrestling honors he had ever received, and accepted that his hopes were ultimately in vain.
The episode went by quickly, but it played up Mahavir's disillusioned emotions very well. Here, Mahavir's "psychological death", that is, completely giving up hope of winning the title for his country, was presented in its entirety, causing the audience to have deep sympathy and empathy for the former national champion. We begin to identify with his loss and hope for a miracle to change this lifeless situation - which sets the stage for the impetus that follows.
Pushing the incident: Geeta and Babita beat up two boys and were approached by someone to ask for their guilt. After reviewing the whole process of the two daughters beating (poor cousin Omkar), Mahavir was surprised to find that the two daughters have an innate talent in wrestling. He is determined to train his two daughters as wrestlers and let them fulfill their unfulfilled dreams.
This is where everyone begins to feel sympathy for Shabao cousin. That is, from here, the cousin completed the transformation from human flesh set board to human flesh sandbag. I have to say that in the whole serious story, although cousin Doujiu has been sparring and cheering from beginning to end, without his (including his father) support for Mahavira, Geeta and Babita are I can't become a professional wrestler, so my cousin is also very important.
Dispute: Can the two girls really become wrestlers as Mahavir wants? It seems that with the exception of Mahavira himself, almost everyone is skeptical and joking. At first, the two girls could not understand the painstaking efforts of their father. While complaining about all kinds of harsh training (this song is really a very appropriate child's psychology), they tried their best to "resist tyranny". Mahavira had to manage not only the training of her daughters, but also their nutrition, and she had to withstand all kinds of pressure from public opinion (especially for her two daughters to wear T-shirts, shorts and short hair).
This episode is probably the one that caused the most intense controversy about paternity, but in fact the father only asked to experiment for a year first. If the two children really don't have the talent in this area after a year, he will not insist on it. Think about the various talents we were forced to learn by our parents when we were young. Having talent is one thing, and whether it can be turned into skills and talents through hard training is another. Sometimes the things that make us feel comfortable are completely different from the things that are actually good for us. Being able to step out of the comfort zone and strive for a better future is where the deeper love of parents is shown.
What's more, in a place like India where women's rights are extremely low, it is very likely that Mahavira only knows the way to win the wrestling championship if she wants to let her two daughters get out of the countryside and have a greater right to choose in life. So he was willing to rub his daughter's feet (this domestic theatrical version was deleted, which is a pity), and he was willing to give everything he had to pave the way for them. Unfortunately, at this stage, the daughters do not seem to be aware of this, and Mahavira has long said the crux of the problem: "They will no longer be selected by men, they will choose men."
The dispute paragraph is much longer than the general conventional commercial film, but for the audience who are not familiar with the various customs of India, this long dispute paragraph has also become a panoramic display of the father and daughter in the village. At the same time, it is a stark contrast to the warm welcome that Geeta received after winning various honors.
The connection point of the second act: This is the only song and dance scene in the whole film, which somewhat makes up for the shortcomings of song and dance. The ashen-faced yet ornately decorated bride contrasted with the jolly and playful crowd. A conversation with a best friend who was forced to accept child marriage made the two sisters suddenly realize that if they don't want to be married at the age of 14 and become a woman, they will only be able to become wrestlers. Since then, the two sisters no longer need to be forced by their father, but voluntarily began to receive wrestling training, from "I want to train" to "I want to train".
Although this girlfriend's conversation does have the feeling of "political commissar talk", it must be said that this is indeed the heartfelt words of child marriage brides. There is no harm without comparison. Although the training of wrestlers is indeed cruel and ruthless, compared to marrying a woman at the age of fourteen, becoming a fertility machine and a housekeeper, and being trapped in a small village for life, the training of wrestlers has been soaked. The warmth of a father's love.
Game time: After the two sisters began to take the initiative to receive training, their abilities improved by leaps and bounds. Mahavira decided to take the sisters to see the following real wrestling match. The appearance of the female wrestler greatly surprised the onlookers. Despite the initial defeat, Geeta's strength was also initially reflected. Then, she gradually grew into a champion of sand wrestling, enjoying the honor and becoming the object of onlookers.
The crowd-pleasing scene in the first game was cut from the theater, but Geeta's brilliant performance was preserved. The emergence of mud wrestling meant that Geeta could move on to a more professional game, and it was an early victory over Mahavira's teachings. Thinking that these little actors have only received nine months of intensive wrestling training to show such professional-level skills - will some actors in our country feel ashamed?
This scene is also a concentrated display of Indian folk wrestling. The originally empty walls are filled with various folk awards. Geeta has also been successfully selected for the national youth team and is about to embark on a formal professional journey. Here, the cinema version has deleted the scene in which the father asked for a long vacation to accompany his daughter to train, and finally resigned and went home. The deletion of this scene also weakened the depth of the father's love, which is a pity.
Story B: Mahavir started mat wrestling training for his two daughters. Here is a very professional explanation of the rules of freestyle wrestling. Don't ignore this rule explanation, here is the foreshadowing that Gita successfully counterattacked and won the gold medal at the last second. As Geeta became more professional, winning time after time in the professional arena, her career as a professional athlete was fully unfolded.
To tell the truth, I believe that many people should be like me. It was not until I watched this complete freestyle explanation that I finally understood how to appreciate a freestyle wrestling match. So although this B-story is relatively bland, it doesn't actually make people feel boring because of the game after game.
Midpoint: Geeta wins the national championship, returns home, and is selected to study at the National Sports Academy.
According to the calculation of 2 hours and 38 minutes of the whole article, this midpoint appears at the position of about 1 hour and 9 minutes, which is just right and not chaotic (although each beat is prolonged, but the total beat ratio is not chaos).
From here, Geeta and her father Mahavira gradually drifted apart, gradually deviating from the path that her father expected and planned for her. However, at this moment, they didn't know anything about it, and Mahavira only thought that he wanted to send his daughter to a higher starting point, and did not express any objection. The bad guy at the National Sports Academy
is approaching: Geeta enters the National Sports Academy and starts to receive new training. The coach asks her to forget all the training content she has received in the past and accept a set of training methods for the national team from scratch. And Geeta himself began to relax his self-requirements, go shopping with his teammates, put on makeup, and grow long hair...
In this film, the "bad guy" part is played by the headstrong coach, and the first meeting between Mahavira and the coach can be said to be very unfriendly. The coach's face-to-face slaps can be said to have established the father-daughter relationship that has been declining since then, and Geeta, under the instigation of his teammates, reduced the training intensity and scattered his energy on things that have nothing to do with wrestling, such as long hair, makeup, shopping, etc. , easing dietary restrictions, then acted as another part of the "bad guy" approaching.
For a coach who is actually very easy-going in reality and a father who did not intervene in training, this adaptation can be said to be very unfair, but it does enhance the drama of the whole movie and strengthens the tacit understanding and harmony between father and daughter. The thoughtfulness of the father in tailoring a complete training program for his daughter. The second sister, who was trained by her father, formed a very sharp contrast with the older sister who relaxed herself. Coupled with the belated rebelliousness of the eldest sister, and the opportunity of the coach to let her forget her father's lesson, she began to slide quickly towards His own career died without realizing it.
Nothing: Geeta goes home, denies the techniques Dad had taught him in the past, and beats Dad hard in a confrontation with Dad. Mahavira was very frustrated by this, but his sister Babita said the key: it's not that Dad's skills are not as good as others, but that he is getting older and his physical strength is declining. The self-satisfied Geeta exited the Sydney International Championships, but lost again and again in the first battle, and was eliminated in the first round.
By convention, there must be a breath of death in the stage of nothingness. Undoubtedly, it is Geeta's continual failures in the competition that bear that responsibility here, and her career as a wrestler has been seriously challenged. Meanwhile, in the clip, Geeta's performance at the World Championships contrasts sharply with Babita's performance at the National Championships. Between one offense and one defense, Geeta's self-indulgence is on full display.
Night of the Soul: After Babita won the national championship, he also went to the National Sports Academy, and Mahavira began to feel helpless about whether the two daughters could grow further under the guidance of the new coach. Babita revealed her sister's change in one sentence, and then, Gita, who was stubborn at the beginning, suffered consecutive defeats in international competitions. She could no longer ignore her failures and fell into serious self-blame and despair. among. And the coach said that maybe someone is destined to not win a medal.
When the soul is dark, the protagonist must fall into the deepest abyss. When the first stop in Sydney was lost, Geeta could calmly paint her nails while telling her sister to shut up. However, the successive failures brought her into the lowest point of her career. A wrestler who won three consecutive national championships was always eliminated in the first round in international competitions. Does this mean that her career can only stop there. , Dad Mahavir's ideals in life have also been most seriously questioned.
The third act connection point: When the sister Geeta is in serious self-doubt, the sister Babita appears in time, recounts her past achievements, and persuades her to call her father to have a good communication. The father also took the phone call from Geeta under the persuasion of his mother. Although Geeta was sobbing on the other end of the phone, the originally rigid father-daughter relationship was thawed again. Geeta started preparing for the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi in six months, only to be downgraded by his coach. In a rage, Dad packed up and ran to rent a house near the school to give Geeta special training.
The cousin who was going to follow him in this scene was very cute, especially when he saw the two cousins, he immediately changed his mind and said that his uncle forced him to go, and everyone laughed in the movie theater. But I have to admit that behind the success of Geeta and Babita, the heroes behind the scenes are not only the father who directly guided the sisters, but also the cousin who has always been willing to be a sandbag and errands, and although he does not understand, he always silently Support the mother of the sisters.
From this period, the father-daughter relationship was restored, and Geeta also began to learn to combine his father's teaching and his own experience to show his strength on the field.
Ending: With Dad Mahavir's push, Geeta and Babita return to their old training intensity. Even though the extra training puts the girls in danger of dropping out, Dad's heartfelt pleas for a chance and promises Geeta a gold medal. In the end, Geeta lifted the crisis of dropping out, but the father could no longer directly guide his two daughters. Guided by video and phone calls, Geeta was successfully selected for the national team and overcame his first-round exit at the Commonwealth Games, fighting all the way to the final. And without her father's advice to her, she won at the last second with her own experience and wisdom.
In all fairness, this third act is really a bit long, especially with the deleted training part, which is almost an entire hour long. Luckily, a lot of the third act is three professional-level wrestling matches, so while this third act is horribly long, it doesn't tire or tire the audience at all. And every time Geeta either fights until the last second on the field to decide the outcome, or it is the impact of two different orders on Geeta that are quickly edited and compared, so for the audience, it is "I know she will definitely Win but I still want to know how she won", so there is still no piss point.
Of course, a lot of the content of this episode has been greatly adapted for dramatic effect. For example, in reality, Geeta actually won the gold medal cleanly and beautifully in straight sets in the final, but in the movie it was changed to She completed the counterattack with a five-point rainbow fall at the last second. And in reality, the conflict between the coach and dad is not that serious, and there is no such thing as locking dad in the utility room during the finals. It must be said, though, that this adaptation kept the film's suspense until the last second, and Geeta's all-on-your-own victory made the victory all the more meaningful.
Also, the memory kill in the final round was really good. This signifies that Geeta won the game on her own, not her father's puppet. If you look closely at the last round of the game, if you say anything about patriarchy, it can only be said that it is a debate for the sake of debate.
Final scene: Locked in the utility room, Mahavir rushes back to the arena to celebrate with Geeta. As well as introducing the achievements of the real Mahavira family.
Cousin's summary is just right, and a simple "proud of you" is enough to sum up all the emotions at this moment.
In addition, this family is really a wrestling family. The third sister also won the wrestling championship, and the niece was also trained as a wrestler by Mahavira. Mahavira has at least changed the fate of thousands of Indian women, which is indeed a great contribution. And Gita, who brought hope to the girls, is indeed an Indian hero.
As a final digression, I believe that the success of "Wrestle, Dad" is enough to give a resounding slap in the face to some people in China who think that with "IP + little fresh meat + good schedule" they can reap the big box office success. Audiences aren't going to be stupid forever, sooner or later they'll demand better stories, better movies. As for me, who is responsible for writing stories, what reason is there not to catch up in front of such good stories and good movies, and try to write them well?
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