Director Ang Lee's "Gemini Man" was released last weekend, and I also watched the 120-frame version for the first time. French director Godard once famously said: film is the truth at 24 frames per second. Ang Lee's view is that the picture quality of this "truth" is too inferior.
This is Ang Lee's second 120-frame film. The last one was "Billy Lynn's Halftime Battle". In other words, it was a really good movie, and it took the old beauty's "patriotic support of the army" to pieces. Of course, the old beauty didn't buy it, and the box office was very poor.
That movie didn't do well at the box office in China either. It told an American story, and the Chinese audience didn't get too caught up in it. As for the 120-frame gimmick, it has set off a movie-watching boom for some moviegoers, crowding out the few domestic theaters capable of showing 120-frame movies.
In fact, personally, I don't really care about 120 frames, and I can't see how clear the picture quality is with my naked eyes. Or to put it this way, sometimes technology is pushed to the limit, and it becomes infrared or ultrasonic, which is beyond the range of our senses.
It may be for the consideration of investors, this time Ang Lee chose the theme of action movies. However, for directors like Ang Lee, we have special expectations in our hearts. Just like Hou Hsiao-hsien is going to make a martial arts movie, how can it be an ordinary martial arts movie? It's a pity, what Ang Lee brought us this time is an ordinary action movie. Not only ordinary, but old-fashioned.
The subject of human cloning may have been popular 10 years ago, but it is too old now. It is said that this film has been circulating in Hollywood for many years, and no one has taken over, because the technology cannot be realized. In fact, in the past two years, the motion capture technology has become more and more mature, and it has been able to meet the needs of the film, but still no one has taken over, why? The story doesn't work.
So this movie, except for the clearer picture, is lackluster. Many Ang Lee fans can't accept this kind of failure, and they want to defend Ang Lee. Some people say that there is still a spiritual core in this film, the reflection on cloning technology, and the common theme of "Fatherslaughter" in Ang Lee's films. Don't make trouble, this theme is not as clear as "The Hulk".
Others said that the film was too invested, Ang Lee lost his dominance, and the script was not written by him. In other words, Ang Lee encountered what Zhang Yimou encountered in "The Great Wall" in this movie. Of course, this doesn't make sense. Shooting a 120-frame movie is proof that Ang Lee is leading this movie.
In fact, I want to say that there are two reasons why Ang Lee made such a film. One is that he wants to rest and change his mind. This is not what I guessed, it was revealed by him when he came to the Shanghai roadshow. Action movies are more like products of an industrial assembly line, which are troublesome but not mind-blowing. Literary films are more like handicrafts and test the director's craftsmanship. Only this time, Ang Lee relaxed a bit.
Another reason was that he was too obsessed with 120fps. Now think about it, why did Ang Lee choose such a script that has been circulating for many years? Is the story exciting enough? No, any Philip Dick novel is better than this. The reason I can think of is that this movie is too good for virtual characters. It's so much fun to make a completely virtual Will Smith.
So it's a film made for technology, and it's focused on technology implementation rather than telling a better story. However, when both money and time are invested in technology, the entire film loses its balance, and Ang Lee is also faced with the embarrassment of cutting his feet to fit his feet.
In fact, having said that, if you change a director, even James Cameron, we may not be so harsh. But this is Ang Lee. His past artistic level, his courage, his insight into human nature and even his Chinese identity make us look at him differently. We hope that he can continue to surprise us, and we do not want to disappoint him. This makes us love deeply and take responsibility.
Not to mention, go back and watch "Diet Men and Women" again to appease your hungry soul.
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