To ridicule Zhang Yimou has become a form of political correctness. It is safer to mock Chinese blockbusters. But the problem is, in such a context, adding a little bit of innocence to abuse is no longer sharp but more tactful.
The first round of taunts began when The Great Wall released its cast and storyline earlier. At that time, people's concerns were justified, such as stamp-collecting star faces, such as the setting of Chinese-style epics that have tried and failed. But when "The Great Wall" was released, we could easily find that most of the criticism remained outside the film, about the mysterious life and background of the female lead, Jing Tian, and the clichéd Zhang Yimou's views on power aesthetics and collectivism The love of the landscape goes so far. The discussion of the "Great Wall" movie itself was scuttled.
There are weird parts in this movie. For example, in that army, almost everyone died. Only the head coach played by Jing Tian survived. As the female general who was inexplicably promoted the fastest in the forbidden army, in front of her, all the dangers and dangers Dangerous situations eventually became the background for her intelligence and heroism. She is a famous general, and all the bones are forgotten. But obviously, all of Jing Tian's performances did not support such a role that Wang Ding was overwhelmed by. But casting gossip and speculation is one thing, the story of the movie itself is another. Objectively speaking, as a popcorn movie, "The Great Wall" is undoubtedly qualified. It has finicky visual effects and a well-documented story line, including tested friendship, subtle love, selfishness and heroism, individual freedom and collective belonging, and so on. Of course, all this There is no effective discussion, because this is not the vocation of popcorn movies. Many people think that the spirit of this movie is empty, but the question is, why must popcorn blockbusters be responsible for their spiritual demands? Could it be that so many viewers looked forward to Zhang Yimou's new film as an art film when they first saw it?
We cannot demand and frame a standard Hollywood popcorn entertainment film with the spirit of an author's film, and vice versa, nor can we ask Jia Zhangke why he didn't invite a little fresh meat to join him when watching his works. There is no fight or special effects in the plot? Such a requirement is clearly misplaced.
In terms of story modules, "The Great Wall" is an attempt at the Hollywood standard. You can replace gluttonous food with any monsters or aliens: powerful and unknowable external forces invade good human beings, people rise up to resist, accidentally find a way to destroy each other, and consume themselves in various divisions, confrontations, and doubts. After that, he finally defeated the enemy with his condensed power. Isn't it the same setting whether "The Great Wall" or "Independence Day"? Not only do such films share a common story shell, but even flaws are prone to fall into the same mold. For example, the gluttonous monster group this time still has a leader and a core. Some beasts are cannon fodder, and the king needs protection. Once the king is destroyed, the monster group will automatically collapse. This superficial imagination is nothing more than imitating the order of human society. This kind of video game has a full sense of defeating the big boss, and the setting of other small soldiers and pawns to automatically fall apart is very naive and perfunctory, but it is effective, and it is the least in this type of movies. Wrong spelling. It appeared in "The Great Wall" and also appeared in "Independence Day 2", so you can hardly say that this is Zhang Yimou's own appeal. It's more like the type of story itself.
Let's look at the heart of its story, Matt Damon and his mates are two mercenaries, a mix of thieves, businessmen and killers whose ultimate dream is to make a fortune, at the cost of killing people to get the best of their time. "Nuclear weapon" black powder. Matt Damon was originally a liberal who only looked at interests and not the flag, while Jing Tian spoke for a group with opposite demands. If Matt Damon was fighting for food, Jing Tian was Fight for faith. In other words, Matt Damon, a freelancer, met someone with a "unit." Matt Damon stood on the edge of that high platform, facing ridicule and agitation, he said, I will not jump, I choose to believe in myself. Back then, this liberal wanderer, a mercenary guerrilla fighter, still didn't believe in "organization" and didn't need a sense of belonging. But later, he changed. He was stimulated and catalyzed by the hormones of heroism, swallowed and infected by the aura of collectivism. Of course, he was also unwilling to face a powerful enemy. The complex emotions made him willing to integrate into a group, which completed a This kind of "naturalization", but he didn't indulge in collectivism. When everyone was kneeling again and again, this dazed "gentile" just bowed his hands, and, in the end, he still chose to hang out with his friends. leave that group. There is a well-known old criticism that Zhang Yimou has the self-subconsciousness of annihilating the individual into the collective. Such criticism can be established at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, but in the story of this film, all settings are more like a natural human heart. Change, if these are deliberately used to prove Zhang Yimou's political views, it is too far-fetched.
Yes, this story is full of sacrifices. The soldier played by Lu Han changed from cowardly to brave, and finally chose to die. The military adviser played by Andy Lau and the old commander played by Zhang Hanyu, they all became stones, and finally they were able to let him die. Matt Damon fired the flaming arrow, and Jing Tian took the flag. The faint-hearted emperor and the inner-court struggles that were hesitant to speak were all used as backgrounds and flashed by. More to keep the story within the standards of Hollywood narrative. Calm, destroy calm, return to calm, and accomplish it all with a brutal battle with countless casualties on both sides. Among them, the influence of freedom fighters and the praise of people going through fire and water are more for the purpose of replicating the narrative rules of classic Hollywood entertainment films, rather than for highlighting Zhang Yimou's personal value orientation. It is not appropriate to use those female soldiers who threw themselves into the sea of savage beasts and Lu Han who committed suicide to stop the monsters as evidence to denounce Zhang Yimou's values.
Zhang Yimou actually did two things, deliberately banning the spiritual core, and deliberately banning self-awareness and personal symbols. As for the former, he imitated it very well. One of the characteristics of Hollywood blockbusters is that they are hollow in spirit. Then, the story with no suspense at the end will generate some chicken soup-like truths for people to briefly empathize in the dark theater. Throw it away after use. As for the latter, even if we try our best to improve it, there is still the lingering imprint of Zhang Yimou, those drumming messengers who quickly brought people back to the Olympic opening ceremony scene, and those dense forest of arrows, those bungee jumping There is no way to eliminate his high-level attacking method and the flower gun moves that the female generals brought from Peking Opera. Even if he erased a large piece of red, he still leaked his love for thick colors everywhere, and he played down the crowd of people. , but moved this hobby to the visual processing of the gluttonous side. He got rid of something and left something.
In such an industrial entertainment film, Zhang Yimou's personal consciousness is actually limited. His first appeal is to embed all work into the framework of standard industrial standards, which is particularly lacking in Chinese films. Zhang Yimou just wanted to try to connect this lesson, so it is meaningless to use a movie like "The Great Wall" to explore and criticize the director's values again.
External discussions of Zhang Yimou have long overshadowed the detailed analysis of each of his works. This time, he obviously knew what he didn't want, such as not having too many ideas, not too much individuality, and trying his best to make himself a part of the industrial system. Playing with works of this size and subject matter, in the current pedigree of Chinese directors, Zhang Yimou's work is not as bad as the legend.
(This article first published Tencent's "Everyone" column)
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