Text/The person who guards the smoke
# Box Office View: Say goodbye to the "blockbuster" era and return to the original aspiration
2018 was the year when the Korean commercial film bubble burst, and blockbusters with production costs of more than tens of billions (KRW) ushered in box office disastrous failures one after another. Some media even compared it to an "earthquake" in the film industry.
That's right, this is indeed the most difficult year for Korean commercial films to make a profit. Of the 17 Korean film masterpieces with an investment of more than 10 billion yuan, only 4 have recovered their costs. The proportion of commercial blockbusters' profit dropped from more than 50% in 2015-2017 to less than 25%, reaching an unprecedented low value. Throughout the whole year, there is only one "Walk with God-Cause and Fate" left to win the box office of commercial films.
Song Kanghao’s "Poison King", Ha Jung-woo’s "Jedi Tunnel War", Kim Ji-un, Jiang Dong-won’s "Wolf", Hyun Bin Son Ye-jin’s "Negotiation", Hyun Bin’s "Rampant" and many other anticipated works continue to hit the street, which is shocking and seems to prove The box office formula of traditional commercial films is outdated, and the undefeated myth of famous directors and famous actors is dying.
The themes of blockbuster films flooded with ancient costumes, politics, and violence make the audience feel over-tired. What movie do they want? Last year, I talked about this issue when I was chatting with a Korean film critic. The other party analyzed that, “Korean audiences are too tired, and modern people need more and more relaxing and healing content, whether it’s through horror, music, comedy, or other things. Type, if this effect can be achieved, the box office may sell well."
In the 2019 Spring Festival file a few months later, there was finally such a movie landing on the theater line-it is neither sensational nor tearful, and there are almost no love scenes. The goal is very simple, concentrate on doing comedy, and sell jokes seriously.
"Extreme Profession" tells the story of the five anti-narcotics team pretending to open a fried chicken shop in order to perform the task. The net production cost of 6.5 billion won is considered a medium-scale investment in Chungmuro Road, and the cost can be recovered with only 2.6 million people watching the movie.
Surprisingly, such a work has created a miraculous box office record. Only 15 days after the release, the number of viewers surpassed 10 million, 26 days after the release, 14.53 million viewers successfully squeezed out "Walk with God" and landed in the top 2 of Korean movie history. The total box office revenue has surpassed "Ningliang Sea Battle". Climbed to the top of Korean film history champion.
People have always had different opinions on "tens of millions of movies." For example, the Korean viewers of the diss film felt that it had no content, but with its schedule advantages, it ushered in the box office luck during the film shortage. For an orthodox comedy to top the box office TOP2, some people may find it unbelievable, and there will be a certain kind of contempt. Indeed, it does not have the patriotism of "Mingliang Sea Battle", the tear-gas segment of "Walking with God", the family memory of the era of "International Market", and the social criticism of "The Defender". This seems to be "empty". Why did the film "Nothing" make it into the top 2 of film history?
"Ten Thousands of Movies" naturally have their own big selling rules, and "Extreme Career" abandons the existing box office big selling formula, combining action and comedy to write its own success record. Although it may not have any other specialties besides comedicity, it perfectly caters to the needs of the current audience.
It is just such a movie that concentrates on selling jokes, which has achieved a win-win of word of mouth and box office in South Korea. The critics and film reporters who have always been picky are also convinced. "Extreme Profession" has become the top 3 Korean film critics in the box office. The highest movie.
It is now mid-March, and the film has been on theaters for nearly two months, and the current box office pre-sale rate still ranks third.
# The perfect return of orthodox comedy
There are always directors who are obsessed with a certain genre or subject matter, such as Zhang Jaixian who only makes religious suspense films, Zhang Shanyu who is obsessed with portraying human desires, and Liu Shengwan who continues to produce action crime films. And if you look at the catalog of works by director Li Bingxian of "Extreme Profession", it is not difficult to find that all his works are comedies without exception. From his debut in 2012, "Come on, Mr. Lee", to the small successful youth comedy "Twenty", to the adult comedy "Wind Wind" that lost the box office last year, director Li Bingxian has always been on the road of comedies. .
"Extreme Profession" concentrated on the jokes in the first half, and ended with a neat action drama in the second half, without any muddle. Unlike previous Korean blockbusters, especially comedy movies, it did not insert sensational passages to ask the audience to respond emotionally.
When a reporter asked why sensational passages were not included in the film, Director Li Bingxian said, "It's not that I hate playing sensational cards, but I just don't think it is necessary." The loyalty to pure comedy makes the tone of the whole movie brisk. After a long time, the audience finally came across a movie that could burst into tears with laughter in the theater without any burden.
The opening was an oolong hunt for the five-member group of the anti-drug class, which ended in a rear-end collision amidst their many mistakes. The arrest failed, the group of five was reprimanded, and the class leader Gao was even ridiculed by his juniors who were promoted in the workplace. After obtaining clues to the drug gang, the five began to lurch day and night. In order to catch the suspect, Squad Leader Gao did not hesitate to take out a pension to cover the fried chicken shop opposite the suspect’s den.
The comedic character of "Extreme Profession" was born in the predicament of the dissolution of the anti-drug class. Five public officials who failed in the workplace contracted the fried chicken shop. Unexpectedly, it ushered in an absurd turn of fate.
The police had to open the door to do business. Team member Ma Fengbajiang’s family-renowned "Shuiyuan Spare Ribs" sauce was used to make fried chicken, but he turned the previously unattended closed shop into an Internet celebrity fried chicken shop. In this way, the criminal policemen who failed in the workplace suddenly become small traders who are making money every day. Should they catch the suspect or open a shop?
When the clichéd anti-narcotics story combined with the down-to-earth Internet celebrity fried chicken shop, an unprecedented delicious meal was born. The squad leader Gao, who was facing resignation, was facing the biggest crisis in his career. When he was being scolded by the chief of police, a take-out order call came unexpectedly. The squad leader Gao instantly turned into a fried chicken shop owner, connected the phone, and the shop slogan blurted out: " Unprecedented taste. Is this ribs or fried chicken? Yes, it is Shuiyuan Large Ribs Fried Chicken!"
The fate of the fried chicken shop became the main narrative clue. The anti-drug squad took over the fried chicken shop and the Internet celebrity shop was born. It was exposed to negative news. The criminal gang attempted to use the fried chicken shop chain as a cover to conduct illegal transactions. The fried chicken shop just got in touch with the criminal gang by accident. After the five members of the anti-drug class broke away from the status of criminal police and turned into small merchants with special skills, they finally wiped out the drug gang happily. This time, they cast themselves in the net.
As a movie involving crime and violence, it is commendable that "Extreme Profession" has the right focus, concentrates on funny, does not use violence and bloody eyeballs, and masters the right scale of violence ("15 prohibition" rating). Throughout the South Korean crime action movies in recent years, too many movies have focused on violent and bloody scenes. Whether it is the box office success of "1987" or the fiasco of "Poison King", too much excessive and unnecessary violence has been added. scene.
Director Li Bingxian admitted that the plot itself of this movie is not new. But their script put a lot of effort into characters and settings. "Ordinary criminal investigation films will emphasize the sense of justice of public officials, or heroic citizens. The protagonists of this film are criminal police officers at first, but when they successfully wiped out criminal gangs, they fought against them from the standpoint of small traders."
In the end, Squad Leader Gao singled out the big boss Li Maopei and said, "I think you don't understand our small vendors too much. We are all fighting for our lives."
As a shareholder of the fried chicken shop, I use my pension to cover the shop and manage it hard. When the reputation of the chain of the shop is damaged, it is also worth fighting for. Off-line detectives arrest drug dealers, and witty petty dealers fight against villains who mess up the chain signs. "Extreme Profession" combines the two to create a bitter and ridiculous drama.
The supporting characters in the film are very three-dimensional, lifelike and full of joy. The neighbor aunt of the fried chicken shop was originally hostile to the anti-drug group. After discovering that they had packaged the fried chicken shop, the aunt instantly smiled and showed a different attitude than before, and the second time monitor Gao’s wife received the Gucci packaging bag. The performance after being frightened, these exaggerated pen and ink vividly presented the epitome of ordinary citizens in the money-worshiping society.
From an incompetent criminal policeman to a business man working hard for his career, the ambiguity of identity and the change of roles are just screenwriters' tricks. The core of it is the realization of the self-worth of the characters, whether it is the successful transfer of a criminal policeman to a business person, or the success of a criminal gang after several defeats.
The common sensational scenes in comedy films have been replaced by thrilling action scenes. Although the unexpected kiss scenes were a bit embarrassing, forgive them considering that they were laughing and crying. It is also regrettable that there are Chinese lines in the film. Regardless of whether it is an overseas Chinese or Korean character setting, it is still too awkward for Chinese audiences. It is basically difficult to understand without subtitles.
At the end of the movie, a hunting incident echoed the Oolong in the opening, including bus accidents and dinner stalks that also echoed from end to end, causing the audience to burst into laughter. It's just that the most proud members of the serious crime team were the ones who were dissed this time. In the final contest with the criminal gang, the true face of the five-member group in the anti-drug squad was finally revealed. They have repeatedly failed before, and each of them has stunts!
Will there be a second movie in this tearful movie? In response, Director Li Bingxian responded, “I haven’t talked to the investment agency and the production agency in detail, but I once joked with the screenwriter Pei Shiying (note: the screenwriter responsible for adapting the script), if she writes the book, then I'll just pat and watch."
The night of March 16, 2019 Av. Belgrano, Buenos Aires
(The edited version of this article was first published on the public account "Krypton Entertainment" on March 27)
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