This paragraph and the next paragraph are written on the day the special session ends on the 20th:
I couldn't cry. This is not my reaction after watching the movie. When I finished watching, I just wanted to stand and applaud. The idea of standing up did not come at the end. After watching for half an hour, I couldn't help but want to stand up and applaud and shout "It's damn amazing!"
I really cried into a 200-jin fool (no, 145, don’t ask anymore). After listening to the speeches of Liu, Guo Fan, and the guests present, I attended the Geek Park Conference and drove for five. Huanhuan, after calling with a friend, looking at the unusually violent sunshine on this day in Dahan, when I want to put on sunglasses. I found myself crying as a fool, a happy fool.
This happiness has nothing to do with what the movie plays. It's just about choosing your life, sticking to your own choices, seeing this road really appear under your feet, and meeting people who are on the road together, the feeling that can't be described other than "getting the meaning of life".
Adjectives are meaningless at the moment, as if I always say to our author, give me something! No adjectives! What happened in this movie watching was that the people who came from different industries, who cherished their public reputation and didn't even have expectations of domestic science fiction before, almost all gave responses that exceeded our best expectations.
So we know that Chinese sci-fi movies, the visual era of Chinese sci-fi, have come, seen, and conquered.
1. Choose the right path, not the easy path
What is it like? A feeling that cannot be expressed without personal experience. The number of ratings cannot convey the emotional outburst at that moment, and the language of comments cannot answer the doubts of bystanders. All evaluations are not important, what is important is what standards are used by all people on the scene to measure it. Yes, at the moment we walked out of the theater, we thought of many things that could be improved. When it comes to performances and lines, regrets, comparisons and similar works. But this time, our goal in mind is the highest peak of the industry. Our comparison targets are "2012", "After Tomorrow" (the translation of "the day after tomorrow" is too bad), "Independence Day", "Gravity", "Doomsday", "Deep Impact", "Space Traveler", "Global Storm", and "Los Angeles" "War", or even "Interstellar."
Obviously, this movie has achieved precise genre control and reached the top level in the industry.
To do this is an achievement that can be included in the annals of Chinese film history.
The creation of genre novels is very complicated: structural features, character prototypes, elements and settings, with its own set of dazzling rules. The complexity of producing a genre movie is at least two orders of magnitude higher than that of a novel. In the film industry, the complexity of science fiction movies is second to none. The most complex of science fiction movies is undoubtedly the disaster movie that involves a large number of visual designs and action shots that make the environment and characters interact with each other. Before Marvel created the superhero genre, the sub-genre of disaster science fiction has always been the crown of the film industry.
In addition to marking the level of the film and television industry, the unique visual pleasure brought by the creation and destruction of the world has always been the most communicative content in the Hollywood science fiction concept. Take a look at the box office rankings of sci-fi movies. Except for the movies like Avatar, Star Wars, Inception, The Matrix, and The Hunger Games, the disaster themes are weaker (and not completely absent) than other types of themes, and the others are in the front. Disaster themes dominate or even the only themes: Jurassic dinosaurs ravaged the island, Transformers threatened the earth, Independence Day alien invasion, 2012 world destruction, gravity lost in space, planet of apes monkey rebellion, interstellar travel through humans , Mars Rescue farming to survive, world warfare civilization destruction, I am a legendary zombie haunt, the world will be frozen after tomorrow, the doomsday comet hits the earth... Almost half of the top 50 sci-fi box office threats to human civilization (or with The individual symbolizes the human state), which is dominated by the catastrophic element.
This means that we must stand on the battlefield of science fiction film and television, compete with the world level, and create this market. This is the commanding heights that must be overcome.
In recent years, I have often heard some sayings with similar meanings: "Science fiction without spaceships", "Science fiction taking place on the ground", "Science fiction near the future, soft science fiction". The translation is to try not to design any machinery and devices, do not create visual concepts, it is best to just let the character COS, and it is best to use only fists to defeat the bad guys. The core is not to spend too much money.
Everyone should know that making money is not easy, and saving money is of course necessary. But everyone who wants to make money obviously should know how history happened, and why Americans make science fiction films that seem to save money. As long as you count the American science fiction movies that have been officially released, you will find an obvious fact:
Those classic cases of science fiction that are promoted as small-cost plots are all emerging after Hollywood's sci-fi blockbusters were established in the 1990s. And in the two types of science fiction, Drama and Comedy, almost no one has made money.
Why does low-cost science fiction continue to exist and is still developing? The reason is that the market explosion that began in the 1990s has brought a series of effects: market expansion has led to the expansion of enterprise product lines, the increase in scale has led to the dilution of R&D and education costs, and the increase in R&D and education promotion employees. However, the top-level projects are still limited in capacity, so the final result Resources and talents spilled into low-cost areas.
On the contrary, under the premise that there is not enough market scale to feed so many talents, pursuing low-cost science fiction may be the only choice for a single company, but it is a dead end for the entire industry.
From the perspective of military science, a battle without a starting position is unthinkable.
Fear blinded our eyes and gave us the illusion of expecting to become famous with Xiaobo, but David who defeated Goliath was not the savior. Moses who had separated the Red Sea could guide the way.
We must aim at the top of the industry and create an unprecedented experience in order to launch China's science fiction film and television market.
2. Load on the road of your choice
This paragraph was written after the large-scale screening on the 28th:
Some "dislike" voices made me more convinced of all judgments.
Science fiction, whether it is a novel or a movie, is first of all an art. Since literature has no first and no military has no second, then we do not force everyone to have a common standard, and we must even resolutely oppose the notion of a unified standard. Because once art has a standard, it immediately becomes a satire to oneself.
But respecting everyone's expression and choice of art does not mean that this industry can have unlimited trial and error.
Chinese science fiction used to have many fate, but with Liu Cixin's achievements, it has ushered in a golden opportunity that is rare in the history of world culture. Until now, the possibilities and energy of this opportunity are still being released, and it seems that they are far from reaching their limits. In this rare wave, neither the former practitioners nor the former followers can clearly judge the current state. Everyone seems to have various possibilities, but in practice it is still difficult. Therefore, since there are people like us who think this will be the golden age of Chinese science fiction dominance, there will also be people who judge that this is just a gold-plated bubble dictated by luck. In the complex contemporary context, this little controversy is not important at all.
However, the cultural industry has its own cycle. If you miss a window, no one knows if you will have a chance next time. History can spiral upward, but it will not simply repeat, let alone wait. At this opportunity, Chinese science fiction has new science fiction writers since Liu Cixin, who have a social foundation, capital attention, and a trend of social development that continues to rise. If you can't work hard to open up the large-scale commercialization of science fiction, is there a better opportunity?
Large-scale sci-fi movies are not only the commanding heights on the battlefield, but also the only breakthrough to create a sci-fi commercial market.
Hollywood's establishment of the market value of science fiction does not rely on "Arrival", "The Night That Comet Comes", "Her", "The Ninth District", "Moon", or even "Blade Runner", "Dune", and "2001" movie history-level movies. Before the blockbuster logic was launched in the 1990s, it was "Star Wars" and "Star Trek" that established a credible narrative of the universe. "Terminator", "Alien" and "Total Memories" let the audience know about the wonderful science fiction action dramas. "Established a credible bridge between daily experience and the human spirit. These movies are indeed more commercial, more clichéd, and lack the so-called "artistic uniqueness." But let us judge from a more practical and utilitarian point of view: using these movies as a model, a large number of imitations appeared in Hollywood and even the whole world. It is these techniques that are not geniuses and can be learned by ordinary people, which have opened up a path to "leave a craft for future generations and grandchildren to eat." This is something that the classics of film history cannot and will not do. After all, the reason it becomes a classic is because others cannot imitate it.
So I heard a voice saying: This is a movie with a poor plot logic. So what kind of perspective do you judge from? I heard a voice saying: This is an emotionally false movie. So what kind of perspective do you judge from? I heard a voice saying: This is a random and sensational movie. So what kind of perspective do you judge from?
I even heard a voice saying: The plot where all human rescue teams assist each other in the climax is too hypocritical. So, do you really understand science fiction? Sublime: A sense of belonging and fear of things beyond one's own, and a sense of identity at the bottom of being a member of a social animal. If you disagree with the foundation of this kind of science fiction aesthetics, may I ask, have you read science fiction wrong?
Science fiction welcomes every reader who has a serious understanding of science fiction, but it does not force everyone to accept this worldview. No matter what choice you have, science fiction will always be in front of realistic thinking. It will not favor it but is not afraid to face it. Every issue that needs attention. If science fiction concerns you that bother you, then first think about whether your view of the world is flawed.
Yes, everyone thinks that this movie still has a lot of room for improvement, such as the performance of "sublime". Obviously, if Jupiter can slowly appear on the horizon, it can form a beautiful and shocking picture; Jupiter's sense of volume and Reality can be expressed by the shadows cast by satellites or the earth on its surface; Yongye plus the huge Jupiter that occupies the sky can make everyone who enters it more de-socialized and then transcend this fear; Yes, in addition to the return of the ground rescue team, the fate of the space station can also allow all crews to vote; some characters can be more dignified in the final moment of the doomsday broadcast. In addition to this, many technical aesthetics may also be improved. For example, the exoskeleton's output device lacks a sense of power; for example, the final explosive airflow should have a more bulky and thick shape; for example, the moment of flameout and ignition of a planetary engine can be better. Atmospheric and environmental impact. For example, the plot had to cut the 145-minute version to 125 minutes in order to meet the time limit of the Lunar New Year file. As a result, the roles of Grandpa and Wang Lei were not fully reflected, and many editing were too fast. For example, everyone is a family relationship, or should we establish different emotional lines. For example, there are still many problems at the performance level such as roles and lines. Of course, in addition to the previous aesthetic issues, the script and performance are after all ten years of trees and 100 years of people, and it is not a matter of overnight change. There are indeed good actors now, but if producers, directors, and writers go to them and talk about making science fiction, they may just refuse because no one has ever filmed science fiction. Everything is difficult at the beginning, and you don’t know how expensive Chaimi is if you are not in charge.
The most important thing is not these, but before discussing these issues, we must first be aware of a problem. That's all, this is the problem that science fiction film and television has been solving and innovating for more than 30 years. Why are we still trying today, even many people do not understand the meaning of these questions? Just because there is no such a movie, everyone doesn't even know where the topic is.
For example, one of the most common problems in the past few years, the so-called discomfort of Chinese faces, I also think it has always been a false proposition. The reason is the same as my idea of denying all kinds of false propositions: please look at the reality and talk about it.
A direct counter-example is Daniel Wu, who has played "Around the Earth in 80 Days", "European Report", "Global Storm" and "Tomb Raider". These films are of different genres and different scenes, but they are all enough to see the effect. Do you guys think he let you play? I don't think so, because many people will never remember that he has a strong sense of presence in these dramas if they don't check the information. Its awkwardness is far lower than the practice of some IP series big productions forcing dramas or even roles for the Chinese market. What's more, now in Hollywood science fiction and fantasy films, there are various Asian faces all year round. Do you think they are acting?
The real problem behind this proposition is that the film was not shot well. It's that simple. Your character is useless in the plot, it’s not a problem of your face; your performance and lines are too bad, it’s not a problem of your face; your genre element is not well expressed, it’s not a problem of your face either.
Similarly, in this movie, I believe everyone will feel that there are some places where foreigners appear deliberately to reflect the sense of internationality, so it becomes "foreigners are not suitable for science fiction"? The false proposition is so ridiculous that it breaks at the touch of reality.
Successfully broke the illusion and false proposition, this is the value of this movie. The problems it solves are almost ground-breaking. After the experience is slowly accumulated, the industry can have a solid foundation. Undoubtedly, the manifestation of these problems and the reflection on the solutions in the film will undoubtedly raise the standards of the entire Chinese science fiction industry. This is exciting, because only strong competition and cases can make the industry really take action.
The greater value of this film is that it chooses to overcome difficulties, not afraid to expose its own shortcomings, but strives to solve the most important problems. It chooses hard knock technology, so it gains credible visual details; it chooses to stick to the type, so it keeps the continuous motivation of the plot; it chooses to face the sublime, so it can stand on the highest arena in the industry.
Collage, dissolution, irony, metaphors, symbols, and philosophy are all very good, but let us repeat history: these cannot build an industry, cannot open up a market, and cannot give younger generations a bite of food.
Everyone has his own artistic pursuit, and of course social tolerance will also give artists a reasonable return. But only by knowing that he is pioneering a path, a path that he might not even go back, can such a path opener receive and deserve the respect and support of all latecomers.
Without these people, other arts may not even have the chance to appear.
3. From now on we seize the treasure of hope
This last paragraph was written after the lifting of the ban on large-scale word-of-mouth at 0:00 on New Year’s Eve half a month later (this paragraph will be published separately):
At this point, I have watched this movie 4 times, and it is no exaggeration to say that I can still find new details. This experience once again verified the previous judgment: this movie is not inferior to the top works of the same type. This release will become a landmark event in the development of Chinese science fiction films. Its importance is not only to achieve visual effects not inferior to Hollywood level, but also to grasp the core of sci-fi narrative.
This is the hope of Chinese science fiction movies, a treasure that will never be lost again.
Adaptation is difficult, and adaptation of science fiction is even more difficult. This is a historical problem. I have done a lot of analysis before, and the success rate of adaptations is not high, especially for science fiction. Because movies are not novels after all, the two have their own unique techniques to attract audiences, but they cannot be used directly. Reading science fiction, the reader is excited about the grand scene of brain supplement, and under this background highlights its small but important human behavior. But this kind of aesthetic experience is obviously difficult to be directly used in movies. On the contrary, the audience's excitement in "Avatar", "Interstellar" and "The Martian" is also difficult to reproduce in the novel.
Reflecting the confrontation between mankind and the universe, the novel can be accepted by readers in just a few hundred words, but the movie must start from the small world around the characters and show this huge new universe bit by bit. After all, this is a world where the earth is far away from the sun and humans live in dungeons. Such a brand-new concept and scenario must give the audience credible clues and guide him to accept it a little bit.
Because the film has to face tens of millions of audiences, even audiences who do not watch science fiction at all, rather than thousands of readers who are already fully familiar with science fiction. Movies cannot rely on the reader's own imagination to fill it. It must persuade the audience with clear, clear and detailed pictures and sounds, and even let the readers associate the taste, temperature, power and speed.
Liu Cixin's original novel is only 20,000 words, and it is more like a full-length excerpt with wonderful passages. It is almost the most difficult experiment in the history of science fiction to adapt such a work that has a glimpse of the leopard and cherishes the ink as gold, but has a complicated theme.
In Liu Cixin's novels, a hundred years are just a few moments, and there seems to be no connection between them. In these moments that test courage, wisdom, humanity and even luck, it reflects the real situation of human destiny in the universe: we are not the lucky ones of the universe, nor are we the spirit of all things, but the life struggling for survival forever, in these struggles However, there are some things that I don’t want to lose.
Novels with artistic conception dominating the content are not uncommon in the history of science fiction. Short stories such as the famous Chinese American sci-fi writer Ted Jiang’s masterpiece, "The Story of Your Life" (adapted as "Advent"), long stories such as the golden age sci-fi master Hein Lane’s "Time Enough for Your Love", and sci-fi masters Clark wrote the novel "2001 Space Odyssey" while Kubrick was making the movie of the same name. These novels that leave space for readers to fill with personal experience and preferences can easily enter the depths of memory, because these texts have become part of the reader's heart, to hypothesize how they will be in this new world.
These masterpieces can easily become great film works, because they can give play to the most powerful feature of science fiction creation: highlighting the hidden themes in daily life.
In life, it is very difficult for us to consider the survival of the entire human race. This matter is like a joke, but we can't help but ignore it. The hypothetical asteroid impact and the end of the world in the movies "Deep Impact" and "2012" are not entirely impossible.
The sci-fi movie "The Wandering Earth" retains the core theme of the original as much as possible: human beings face the challenges of the universe. In order to maintain this theme, while conforming to the law of film narrative. The production team put a lot of effort into it, and obviously abandoned a lot of the original material, even some very important emotions and themes in the original.
This drastic choice is not uncommon in film history. For example, the darling of Hollywood science fiction films, American science fiction master Dick, some of his adapted works have been completely changed into a new story, such as "Memory Rift", "Comprehensive Memories", "Minority Report" and so on. On the contrary, many adaptations of the original story were completely unsatisfactory, but the word-of-mouth and the box office were not ideal, and even the original was dragged down and no one asked again.
The movie "The Wandering Earth" considers these issues very thoughtfully, and every audience can experience the reality of this world.
"On the ground, the sea water left by the huge waves was frozen before it could recede. The surviving tall buildings in the city stood alone on the ice, with long icicles hanging. A layer of impact dust fell on the ice, so There is only one color left in this world: gray." The description of the frozen world in the novel is faithfully reproduced in the movie. Ice and snow are often white or even blue in previous movies, but here, they are all black-gray tones, with a texture similar to translucent rocks, depicting the reality that the earth far away from the sun is completely frozen .
The highlight of the movie is that the earth is close to Jupiter. The original story reads: "Jupiter has already occupied the entire sky, and the earth seems to be a balloon floating on Jupiter’s boiling dark red clouds! And Jupiter’s Great Red Spot is in the middle of the sky. It's like a huge red eye staring at our world, and the earth is shrouded in its gloomy red light..." In the movie, this feeling was firmly nailed into the audience's field of vision by several close-ups, facing such a picture. In the picture, it is difficult for you to focus on the character of the dialogue, and you will always get lost in the giant gas vortex of Jupiter.
In a dungeon engulfed by magma, no superhero can save the lives in it; facing rational and emotional choices is an eternal problem for mankind; a pioneer in spaceflight for mankind will always have inevitable sacrifices. These elements that set off the theme of the original work are all absorbed by the film one by one. Such meticulous treatment allows the film to restructure characters and stories based on commercial narrative rules, while still retaining the core characteristics of Liu Cixin's sci-fi creation: the heavy destiny of respecting reality and the rational choice of understanding human nature.
In addition to absorbing a large number of local elements, this respect for the original work and understanding of social reality is the biggest breakthrough made by the film "Wandering Earth" in the creation of localized science fiction. For a long time, localized science fiction seems to have either plunged headlong into the old papers of history, or just copied the short-lived reality hot spots, or just copied the aesthetics of Western science fiction. Rare can start from the work itself, from the history of sci-fi works, and from the soil in which the writer’s creation is rooted, to find the common ground.
On the one hand, Liu Cixin's novels inherited the core of the essence of science fiction, supported a huge framework and heavy themes with simple narratives, and constructed a huge science fiction architectural wonder. On the other hand, they are often close to the Chinese thinking, looking at the world from the perspective of ordinary Chinese, trying to find a way to survive in this heavy but always hopeful world, and for this reason, he will not hesitate to expand the boldest imagination and pay the price of exceeding the limit. . Because of this, he and more local science fiction writers can gain social recognition, push Chinese science fiction movies in the right direction, and create their own era.
The golden age of Chinese science fiction has come, because we have hope:
"We must have hope, not because hope really exists, but because we are to be noble people. In the pre-sun era, to be a noble person you must have money, power, or talent, and today, as long as you have hope , Hope is the gold and gems of this age, no matter how long we live, we will have it! Tell your children this tomorrow."
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