This is the first time I write a long review. I have little talent and knowledge. If there are any shortcomings, please guide me.
Regarding "Alive", I read the original book first and then watched the movie. The first time I read the original book was three years ago, when I was a sophomore in high school. At that time, my view of things was relatively simple, and it was even a bit black and white. I just feel miserable, and this kind of thinking has actually continued to the present, so I was very nervous before watching the movie. However, after watching the movie, I found that Zhang Yimou said that it was adapted into a movie, but it actually told two stories with Yu Hua's original work. Moreover, Director Zhang has also made drastic changes to many plots in the original work, making the movie version much easier than the original book as a whole, so that the audience like me can feel hope. The most important thing is that the ending of the movie version is satisfactory. Thanks to director Zhang Yimou (some people think that Zhang Yimou's adaptation does not respect the original work, I think this statement is biased, and the reason will be discussed later). Therefore, this film review only talks about my feelings about this movie. In other words, the "Alive" I said is completely different from Yu Hua's "Alive", but it will also be supported by the original. I will only talk about the characters. After all, if you want to analyze the plot, it will become a text version of the movie (laugh and cry).
The main characters of this film are basically the same as the original, Fugui, Jiazhen, Fengxia, Youqing, Chunsheng, Erxi and so on.
Let’s talk about Fugui first. In the original book, Fugui, fate has deprived him of everything he once had, and only alive is left. It stands to reason that such a person should have become a walking corpse like a camel Xiangzi, but he did not. He lives with the old cow. , continue to live. The Fugui played by Ge You is more like most people in that era, and the unilateral character is vividly displayed in the movie. Ask him to hand over the steel, and he will hand it in; ask him to burn the shadow puppets he once depended on for a living, and he chose to burn it after much painstaking consideration. Throughout the whole movie, what he and Jiazhen said the most was "well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well." Director Zhang deliberately highlighted this point when he portrayed the role of Fugui, and put the social appearance of the 1940s to the 1970s on the screen, which is a breakthrough in itself. Through the Fugui in the film, that In a special era, the helplessness and bitterness of ordinary people are exposed. Compared with Yu Hua's Fugui, I think Fugui in the movie is more representative of the majority of that era.
Let's talk about Jane. Needless to say, Gong Li, not too many classic works, basically all the masterpieces of the Chinese film industry have her figure. To tell the truth, other people really can't play the feeling of home Jane. In the original novel, Jiazhen's ending also went to another world with people other than Fugui. And the movie version of Jiazhen lived to the end, and everyone was happy (I really like the character of Jiazhen). To be honest, it was the greatest luck in his life that Fugui met Jiazhen. If Fugui represented the common people of that era, then Jiazhen was a microcosm of the women. There are two scenes in the movie that shocked me the most. One of them is when Youqing died and Jiazhen cried out her son's name. At that moment, I was really amazed by Gong Li's acting skills. She deserved the title of Queen of the Movies.
There is also a bright spot in this movie, Chunsheng. (I saw Chunsheng for the first time, isn't this Guo Tao? He would be handsome when he was young). Chunsheng, he and Fugui climbed out of the dead, a brother who died; however, he was also Fugui's enemy, Youqing died under his truck (in the original Youqing also died from donating blood to Chunsheng's wife) ), he owes Fugui a life. I don't think Chunsheng killed Xu Youqing by accident, but inevitable. Even if it wasn't for Youqing, he who had lost his original intention might have hurt others. In the ten years of turmoil, he was criticized and his wife committed suicide. I remember the original Zhong Jiazhen said, "The life you owe our family is now repaid." In the film, the scene of seeing Fugui at the night of Chunsheng can be said to be the finishing touch of the whole film, and it also highlights the meaning of "living" and why one should live. I remember a classic line in the soldier's assault: "As long as today is better than yesterday, isn't this hope?" The difference, give you hope in times of despair, and make the whole work feel more positive to the audience.
The most shocking scene in the movie was the scene where Fengxia died due to dystocia. The look and expression on Fengxia's eyes when he bleeded really shocked me, and I got goosebumps at that time. Later, I checked and found that it was actually performed by Liu Tianchi. I once saw her as a mentor and commented on the contestant in the variety show The Birth of an Actor. This acting is amazing. (By the way, her husband is Zu Feng who played Li Ya in Lurk. Lurk is one of the ceilings of Chinese spy war dramas in my mind). In that section, the real old scientist was beaten into the bullpen, and only some little red guards were guarding at the hospital, which indirectly caused Fengxia's death. However, Professor Wang, who was picked up from the cowshed, choked on his throat because he ate too much steamed buns. He didn't wake up for a long time, and missed the best time to rescue Fengxia. I think this paragraph is borrowed from the original story of bitter root eating beans and choking to death. These two paragraphs together form the biggest irony of the film. The master is wandering, and the clown is in the palace. And the child born by Fengxia in the movie is called Mantou, which I think is similar to the bitter root in the original book.
Many people say that Zhang Yimou does not respect the original work, is that true? Not necessarily. Zhang Yimou really "didn't respect the original work", because what he wanted to express and what Yu Hua wanted to express were not the same thing at all. It can be found in the movie that he intentionally magnified the various problems that existed in that era. To put it bluntly, he was exposing the scars. The consequences of exposing the scars must be painful. To be honest, it is inevitable that this movie will be banned. I think this film is more about reflection, reflecting on the people and things of that era. To be more confident, what was shot alive is the real China, at least one of the few works closest to the real.
The film review is very poorly written, and it even feels like listening to your words. When I read it myself, I just feel that I have written a large piece without saying anything. relatively solid. But seriously, the movie itself is actually like that, saying nothing but saying everything. "Alive" has been sung through the ages, and it is difficult to make a movie of this level in China.
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