At the beginning of this year, an American movie "Uncle Drew" was released in China. A group of uncles formed a street basketball team, trying to tell us that "vitality does not lie in age, but in mentality".
In 2001, there was a Japanese movie "Five Throwing Boys". At that time, the invincible husband and wife Mu Cong and Tamaki Hiroshi showed us the fun and passion of men's synchronized swimming.
The combination of the two themes is the look and feel of last year's British movie "Uncle Synchronized Swimming Team".
Japan was very fascinated by the theme of men's flower tours. In 2003 and 2004, two TV series "Water Boy" were filmed in succession. In 2005, a special episode of 2 episodes was released. Later, both Thailand and China filmed the TV series "Water Boy". ", although the names are the same, but they are all about swimming, not synchronized swimming.
In 2009, Milan, Italy held the first Men's Synchronized Swimming World Cup, which was divided into two events: duo and team. At that time, 12 countries including Germany, Spain, Italy and Japan participated in the competition, but after all, it was not an official competition of FINA, and I never heard of it again. Second.
However, the 2015 Kazan Swimming World Championships set up a formal event of mixed synchronized swimming for men and women, and the first men's flower swimming champion (American Bill May) was born. China did not send players to participate in that year.
In the 2017 World Championships in Budapest, the Russian team won the championship. Shi Haoyu, a 16-year-old boy from China, and his female partner Sheng Shuwen, who was 7 years older than him, also participated and won the 8th place.
In July this year, the Gwangju World Championships will have this project again.
In "Uncle Synchronized Swimming Team", the male protagonist Eric has reached a mid-life crisis. Although he has a decent accountant job, he feels boring every day. Going to work is eating and waiting to die. Only in the swimming pool can he feel relaxed for a moment.
His wife had just been elected as a local councillor, and he suspected that his wife and her boss had cuckolded him, and he suspected that his sexuality was declining.
There is a teenage son who lacks respect for him.
In short, he is a bereaved middle-aged British man.
Eric found a group of uncles practicing synchronized swimming clumsily in the swimming pool he frequented. He was curious, and his swimming skills were good. To achieve harmony, there is still one player missing (to achieve an even number).
Of course, Uncle Eric added it.
Before recruiting him into the team, he naturally had to be brainwashed.
The other players told Eric that their club was not just a club, it was an expression of an idea, a protest, against the end of dreams, against the boredom of life, against ourselves, and even against rising beer prices.
The team member said: We found that you have an inexplicable intimacy.
In fact, the subtext is: we found that you are the same as us, and you are the mourning uncle of the mid-life crisis.
The club also has its own rules: don't mention the club to the outside world, keep everything in the pool in the pool; as a whole, swim together for one hour a week; private life should not affect training, don't ask questions, don't talk nonsense; not allowed Take stimulants (no drug use); treat them equally, and do not discriminate against who is the weakest.
In addition to white-collar workers like Eric, there are modern farmers, construction workers, dentists, punks, real estate brokers, silent yogis, and a mysterious "the new guy" in the club. They each have their own troubles in life and their own demons.
The pool has become a place where these uncles temporarily forget the real world, escaping ruthless judgments and trivial competitions, family pressures, disappointments, and the cruelty of aging.
The conflict between Eric and his wife became more and more acute, but he was soft-hearted and did not dare to confront his rival in love.
I was drunk in a bar alone and went back to my house and went crazy. When my wife asked him: I don't feel like you anymore, do you dare to say that you still love me? Eric was speechless.
Eric ran away from home and checked into a small hotel.
The Flower Club has become Eric's spiritual utopia. When he goes to work, he has something to do, and people are angry and look forward to the day of training. He was also very devoted in training and showed his talent - of course, by the standards of their middle-aged fat uncles.
Their motley crew was soon performing at private parties. Such a novelty, the children were stunned, and the other men also thought it was strange.
It was also at that party that a Swedish men's swimmer mentioned to them that Milan was going to hold the Men's Synchronized Swimming World Cup and encouraged them to participate - of course, in a gesture of showing favor to the weak from the strong.
After some deliberation, they decided to represent the United Kingdom to participate in the competition.
They only had four weeks of devil training time, so they hired the female administrator of the swimming pool as a coach.
The uncles were very happy during the training process, and even made a documentary video.
The closer the game gets, the more chaos there must be. That's the law. But the men's friendships and hugs are quick and refreshing.
In the end, stage fright is also necessary, and then Eric must have a few sensational speeches from Chen Xinlu to ignite the soul of the group, as well as a flaming soundtrack.
Their signature move is called "withered flowers", haha, and finally they practiced the ultimate ultimate move, the Arhat backflip.
In the end, Sweden won the championship, and these British uncles took the runner-up. We all know that there is a degree of dream-making in making movies these days, and inspiration is okay, but fairy tales are still rare.
The silent yogi, who hadn't said a word before, finally said his first and last line: Falling in love is like having a stroke or a car accident.
Such a film would have to end happily, with Eric reconciling with his wife and son after the club members helped him perform a land flower tour in front of the regional council office building.
The interlude "One Day Like This" in the last scene is very nice, and I give it to you.
I hope that in all the dark days, you can also meet silly friends to laugh with you and accompany you to go crazy.
If you want, if you really want something, you just have to reach out and grab it.
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