The reason why I say this is actually my own fault: before the release of "Shadow", the national teacher has said more than once in multiple interviews that this is a "literary action film", but I didn't believe it. Until the first second of watching the movie, I watched it with the expectation of a beautiful commercial blockbuster, and the result was really a sigh of relief...
If I had known, I should have watched this "Shadow" with expectations like last year's "Blade Runner 2049", at least the gap would not be that big...
No nonsense, let's start the comment directly: The first is film aesthetics. I guess everyone can understand how superb the aesthetic design of this film is just by looking at the trailer: the hazy screen, the gossip diagrams, ink clothes, and the simple and elegant landscape scrolls show Zhang Yimou's art photography skills from time to time. In the main base color of the film, there are only five kinds of black, white, gray, skin, and blood. In fact, there are still some green bamboo forests, but Zhang Yimou deliberately made those bamboo forests appear dark green. The same is true for the two colors of skin and blood. The former is dyed as white as possible, while the latter is a dark red venous blood color. These color adjustments make the aesthetic system of the film extremely uniform and the viewing effect is excellent.
In addition to the handling of colors, Zhang Yimou also showed an extremely terrifying level in other parts: the soundtrack was extremely simplified, using only three musical instruments: Qin, Xiao, and Se, and every key emotional turning point in the film was accompanied by a clear voice. Music, the effect is not too good (here I must praise the composer of this film, Lao Zai); in terms of camera language, it is also extremely elegant. The light and shadow effects and composition are as beautiful as ever, and the most impressive scenes are: the water droplets under the slow-motion camera during the rehearsal of the real body and the shadow, the "shadow puppet" style of the shadow cast on the screen when Pei Wang sent someone to assassinate Zi Yu, There is also the split-screen shot that Zi Yu saw through the mask at the end when he was dying. It's really impressive, at least in terms of art style, no one can surpass "Shadow" this year.
Let's talk about something else: why is "Shadow" so bad for me?
In fact, in terms of the theme of the film, "Shadow" is not as ethereal as "Heroes" and "House of Flying Daggers", but as serious and serious as "Golden Armor in the City". Confrontation, strategy and blood in the courtroom, as well as a little ethical insertion. Of course, in terms of film completion, "Shadow" can be said to beat "Golden Armor". But in terms of viewing experience, "Golden Armor" is much more enjoyable than "Shadow". why?
First of all, "Golden Armor" is a very standard commercial blockbuster. Why do you say that? Because in the progress of the narrative, the dramatic conflict and the small climax on the action scene overlap, and in this mode, the audience's nerves are constantly teased, until the climax of the dramatic conflict and the climax of the action scene in the last ten minutes broke out, and the audience The audience's movie-watching mood also reached the highest point at this time, but it was more in line with the audience's movie-watching needs.
And "Shadow"? An obvious difference is that the director deliberately separates the "dramatic conflict" from the "climax of the action scene", probably to emphasize that this is a "literary action film". But the real failure is not here, but the problem that the two climaxes have separated: I watched a lot of behind-the-scenes footage and previews before the release, and the "Jingzhou Siege Battle" that I was looking forward to was unexpectedly The space is so small, and there are only a few shots of the fierce battle with Guan Daobing after the Umbrella team rushed downhill? ! Just jump to the point where both sides have killed a few left, seriously? ! To say that Laomouzi didn't make the film, I wouldn't believe it. I've been looking forward to Guan Dao Zhan Pei Umbrella, but there is no Mao, so it's strange that there is no gap in watching the movie!
As for the dramatic climax at the end, it feels really bland. Because many plot reversals can be guessed, and Zhang Yimou's ambiguity in the theme (personal awakening and resistance) has also caused many viewers to feel a little unclear about this scene... Anyway, I think this scene is. The final result is not very good....
From the above, it can be seen that after experiencing the capital kidnapping and creative constraints of "The Great Wall", Zhang Yimou was really suffocated, and he gave "Shadow" all he wanted to express in one breath. At least in costume action movies, this is the most mature one Zhang Yimou has done. Unlike the usual high-level ideas and weak completion standards, Zhang Yimou has devoted himself to combining the ideas and the film quite well this time. Form processing. But the core problem of the text still exists, but this time it is not so obvious. . . .
In addition, this film has contributed to the best posters of the Chinese film of the year
View more about Shadow reviews
