Perhaps no one would have thought that the premiere of "Mulan" in early March would be the last feast in Hollywood in the first half of the year.
I remember that the Avenue of Stars had been closed since the morning, and the surrounding area was completely blocked. The red carpet is spread from the inside to the outside from the Dolby Theater, which hosts the Oscars every year. On both sides of the road, military-like tents are lined up, lined up with ancient Chinese weapon armors. Tonight, Hollywood will welcome one in the most solemn manner. The princess of the East, she is a daughter, a warrior, and a leader, and she is Mulan.
After finishing the day’s work, I changed into a red silk shirt and hurried to the premiere scene. I found that many people were wearing a little red, and there were white girls in a cheongsam, shawl or fan, in twos and threes at Mulan’s giant Taking a selfie in front of a poster is also very pleasing to the eye. When entering the stage, I met the actor of Mulan’s father, Ma Tai, an old Chinese opera, the director Chen Kexin with two lovely daughters, and the comedy star Ouyang Wancheng who played Jing Yang in "Silicon Valley". In short, the industry and Chinese culture The scenes and scenes of the affair with the relatives are here, and everyone's expressions are full of expectation, and sincerely hope that the movie will be good.
In the premiere, everyone turns in their phones and locks them as soon as they enter the theater. While sitting in the waiting position, I remembered that I had written a special topic for "Universal Screen", from Huang Liushuang to Hua Mulan, the ups and downs of Chinese actors in Hollywood for more than half a century. Finally, "Mulan" is about to be released. The significance of this movie is self-evident, and it surpasses the all-Asian romantic comedy "Golden Romance" that aroused heated debate in the industry two years ago. More magnificent production scale, Hollywood's largest label of the real princess series; deeper cultural origins, classic stories familiar to the Chinese nation; more Chinese cast members, all standing on the stage of the Oscar Dolby Theater. Before the opening, I was a little emotional, and it was difficult to watch the movie without personal emotions.
The following random feelings may involve a little part of the plot, but the story and key plots of "Mulan" are all too familiar to us, just to remind people who are very mindful of spoilers do not need to go down:
1. The movie "Mulan" is generally youth-oriented. This is not a war epic about "Mulan Ci", but a real-life style of Disney animation. The overall plot is relatively young, which is also expected. In addition, the visual effects, fighting design, and war scenes are all online. The actors have a stable military spirit, and the childhood little Mulan is extraordinarily cute. Generally speaking, the degree of completion is high.
2. "Loyalty, courage, and truthfulness" is the three-character mantra that runs through the film, representing the spirit of this version of Hua Mulan, and a word-"filial piety" is added at the end. The English used is devotion to family, which has a broader meaning than the word "filial piety". It has both the glory of the family and the attributes of a warrior, which I think is better. In the movie, we try to use ancient Chinese culture as much as possible, such as "Two rabbits walk next to each other, An Neng distinguishes me as a male and female" in "Mulan Ci", and "Four or two throws a thousand catties" and so on.
3. Compared with the animated film in 1998, there are two larger adaptations. One is to split General Li into two roles, one is the general played by Donnie Yen, and the other is Honghui, a colleague who has an emotional line with Mulan. There must be some protest against political correctness, but I think it’s done well, and it has got rid of the compound relationship of military superiors and subordinates who have to fall in love. Donnie Yen is in charge of the teacher's part. He sees Mulan as admiring promising younger generations, and even quietly being included in the list of prospective sons-in-laws can make a laugh. Honghui and Mulan’s emotional line is more pure and simple. They went to the camp to train together, sleep and eat together. There were conflicts and misunderstandings, and they also quietly moved. They are partners, comrades in arms, and can be handed over on the battlefield. On the back of each other, the two actors also performed this kind of clear and clear love.
4. Another new story line is the enemy witch played by Gong Li. The little dragon Mube in the cartoon is removed, and the magic part is borne by the witch. In fact, the idea of this line is very good. Women who are also talented women are suppressed by the real society and belong to different camps. I understand that the director and screenwriter want to have a female-female communication during the war. The big woman's guidance and care for the young girl is just a little too much of the magic, so that the final turning point is slightly abrupt. It's a pity. Gong Huang's bearing is infinite. If you can build this line well, it will definitely bring the movie to a higher level.
5. Liu Yifei's performance can be regarded as the best one of the few works I have seen. You can feel that she is 100% diligent and not overstretched, whether you are not talking about martial arts, or speaking in English. When playing against Gong Li, Yen Zidan and other seniors, he did not shy away from being a fledgling but talented warrior. When he played an emotional rivalry, he returned to the little girl's attitude, as if he came out of the folk songs of the Southern and Northern Dynasties, simple and simple. Innocence. I believe she can only behave like this if she surrenders her body and mind completely to this role. Besides, it's so beautiful. Niki Caro shot Liu Yifei beautifully. It is a natural beauty that only female directors can capture. It is very different from the beauty under the high concentration of "male gaze" (male gaze) in her previous film and television works. Mulan scatters the cloud temples, breaks free of her armor, plain red clothes, swords and horses, as soon as she advances into the enemy's formation, the audience on the fourth floor of the Oscar Dolby Theater applauses thunderously, my thoughts are connected from the inside and outside of the screen to the past and the present. Oh, my daughter of China, I can’t help it. A little bit of tears.
6. At the end of the movie, Hua Mulan returned to her home, reunited with her family and reconciled with her father. The general came with the emperor's reward, and once again sent an oral message asking her to be an officer of the Imperial Forest Army. Mulan's heart moved, she raised her head, and saw the colorful phoenix of the family totem soaring freely in the sky, and the story stopped here. This stroke surprised me a bit, it is a step further than all previous Mulan stories, "A girl became a soldier, a soldier became a leader, and a leader became a legend." The girl became a soldier, and then became a legend. , The final achievement of a legend. Since I was born with my talent, why bother to resign and return to the field? This may also be an expression that is more in line with the spirit of the times. This is Mulan at this moment.
7. There was another moving moment at the premiere. Before the screening of the film, the director came on stage to call out all the actors in turn. Everyone stood in a row. Jet Li stood to the left and Donnie Yen to the right. Then, Liu Yifei dressed in a phoenix-embroidered long skirt, and the sparkling girl walked up to it. In the middle. The director proudly said, this is our Mulan, and now it belongs to you.
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To add a little bit: This is an instant feeling written after the premiere in March, but due to well-known reasons, the schedule was postponed until now. If I were to score now, I would probably score at 3.5. There is bound to be a gap between watching movies on streaming media sites and big screen presentations, and the atmosphere at the premiere at Dolby Theater is indeed very contagious.
In fact, the first few articles basically talked about the limitations and flaws of the film (targeting the youth, the story is younger, the word "filial piety" is not appropriate, the Gong Li line is a pity, etc.), but I don't agree to shout a bad film and pull it down. As a good young man, I am more willing to meet up and point out where the movie has performed well in the Disney real princess series, and the significance of the Chinese actress leading the US$200 million global release of the blockbuster.
Just like "Black Panther" is not exclusively filmed for African audiences, "Aladdin" is not exclusively filmed for Arab audiences. There will be a new generation of children who will know and remember this version of Mulan in different corners of the world. Neither you nor I are target audiences.
Everything is in the process. Without Huang Liushuang of the year, there would be no Joy Luck Club later. With this version of Mulan, perhaps there will be more opportunities in the future that Chinese-speaking audiences and global audiences can enjoy. Rich in Chinese elements The movie, I was so looking forward to it.
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