If I can sum it up in one word, I think "Assembly" is a "passable" movie, with good points and bad points. And the root of "unsatisfactory" I think lies in the game between multiple discourses in this film. Therefore, in terms of film quality, I can only give it four stars, but considering that the multiple discourses embodied in the film are of great analytical value, I am willing to give it five stars.
The first discourse of the film is personal discourse, that is, respect for the individual, human nature, personal value, etc. Scholar Chen Mo believes: "The most fundamental problem of Chinese films is the lack of respect for the value of individual life." The goodness of "Assembly" lies in the respect for individuals. In this movie, the war is extremely bloody and cruel. The soldiers will be afraid of death and will try to save their lives by lying; the instructor Wang Jincun is scared to wet his pants when he hears the sound of the cannons; , Millet put on the enemy's clothes and sneaked into the enemy's team to find food. These people are really not tall, but aren't they just ordinary people?
When talking about the character Wang Jincun, screenwriter Liu Heng said: "Wang Jincun is another type of person in the war. He is relatively common. The cowardice he showed in the war at the beginning was what he did before he arrived in the company of Guzidi. The setbacks suffered can better reflect the inner fear of people in the war. I still think that the fear and cowardice shown by people in the face of war are forgivable and normal. " Human nature is to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages . Yes, it is human nature to be afraid of death and fear in war. Showing this humanity is not a distortion of the warrior, but a respect. Those fighters who are afraid of death, but finally gave their precious lives for the collective, isn't this more real and touching than those fighters who regard death as home from beginning to end?
In addition to human nature, the film also expresses respect for individuals and personal values. This is concentrated in the plot in the second half of the movie where the company Chang Guzidi corrects the names of the Jiulian brothers. The soldiers of the Jiu Company sacrificed all for the sake of the large army. The collective needed their sacrifice but concealed them. The head of the regiment said that he heard the assembly number and retreated, but from his lack of confidence, we knew that the Jiu Company would not be able to return. Large units sacrifice small units, collective sacrifices individuals. What is even more cruel is that these victims are buried and become unsung heroes. So millet land to correct their names. They are not missing, but martyrs who sacrificed for their country. The film does not oppose sacrifice, but believes that victims deserve the recognition they deserve.
The second discourse of the film is the main theme discourse, which represents the official attitude and the collective position. The film is primarily the product of a game of discourse between the individual and the collective (the main theme). As the scholar Zhang Huiyu said: "Assembly" borrowed the strategy of making revolutionary history absurd in the 1980s to criticize history, but realized the re-identification and understanding of the revolutionary historical story." The film does not absolutely identify the individual, and puts the individual above the collective above. This is evident from the ending arrangement of the film. Feng Xiaogang said: " Several directors, including Tan Dun, also called me specifically to feel sorry for my choice of the ending. They even thought that Guzidi should have died in the midst of hunger and cold." Feng Xiaogang discussed this with Liu Heng, but Liu Heng decided veto. If this is the ending, then the film will be an even more pathetic story, with individual sacrifices submerged in history. But at the end of the movie, the soldiers got their names corrected and their remains were found. Gu Zidi untied the knot in his heart. The old political commissar's sentence "Brothers of Jiulian, you are wronged" soothed the hearts of the audience. In this way, the film completes the reconciliation of the individual and the collective.
This can also be found in the film's weakening and omission of certain plots. For example, in the original script, the plot of Gu Zidi wearing enemy clothes and sneaking into the enemy to find food after the sacrifice of his comrades is gone. Only Gu Zidi is left to face the enemy and wake up from another place. The neglect of this plot has castrated the human side of Gu Zidi's humiliation and survival, making his image taller and more in line with the heroic image created by ordinary war films. Another example is Gu Zidi, after knowing the truth of the commander's order (sacrifice the Nine Company for the sake of the large army), he was about to attack, and rushed to the headstone's tombstone and shouted: "Are you afraid of being bitten to death? What about us? Where is the Nine Company?" But he immediately He was persuaded, and instead lamented that the sacrifices of the soldiers were not rectified. Through this kind of plot processing, the sharp conflict between the individual and the collective is passed by, and turned in a direction that is safer and easier to deal with.
Zhao Erdou played by Deng Chao is also a unique character. On the surface, he is a later friend of Gu Zidi, but at a deeper level, he is the incarnation of the organization, the main theme and the spokesperson of the collective in the film. Zhao Erdou had a high position in the organization, and it was through his help that the soldiers of the Nine Company were discovered. It was he who mediated the conflict between Gu Zidi and the trumpeter (collective). Moreover, the film also arranged for him to marry the instructor's widow. The existence of this good man has greatly eased the tension between the individual and the collective in the film, and even added warmth.
It is through these plot manipulations that the film achieves a balance between personal discourse and main theme discourse (leaving cracks and twists in the film's narrative). In this way, the film not only passed the censorship somewhat unexpectedly, but also received official recognition and appeared on "News Network" and "Focus Interview": the announcer introduced the film ""Assembly" tells the story of a surviving company commander, in order to To comfort the fallen comrades in arms, to search tirelessly until the heroic spirit is recognized as a martyr." ... Afterwards, CCTV-1 once again reported on "Assembly" under the title "New Exploration of Domestic Films" in the "Focus Interview" column, and emphasized that this film "has made a worthy contribution to the development of domestic films. A useful exploration for reference." (Quoted from Rao Shuguang's "
The third discourse is commercial discourse, which embodies the commercial nature of the film and its relationship with the market and the public. The production of film is different from literature, it is industrialized, it needs capital and team, it is impossible to do it alone. Its massive investment must require corresponding returns, so it is difficult for the film to break away from its commercial attributes. Audiences who have watched the film will be shocked by the highly visual war scenes in the film. The maker of this shock is the production team of the Korean War blockbuster "Taichi Flag Flying". "Due to the participation of the Korean professional team, "Assembly" has a first-class war scene that is in line with international standards: the tragic scenes in the brutal war scene are one after another, and the explosion points are real and clear, giving people a strong audio-visual shock. It is said that South Korea Our professional team and technicians have provided the latest gas explosion technology for shooting war scenes in "Assembly", which can ensure that people 20 centimeters away will not be injured." Spending a lot of money to invite foreign teams is precisely to create a first-class war spectacle to conquer the audience.
In order to meet the aesthetic needs of the public, the film must also cater to the plot. In addition to the implied game between individual and collective discourse, the aforementioned ending process actually involves the intervention of business discourse. Liu Heng denied the bleak ending proposed by others. His explanation was : "If Millet Di is like this, the original intention of the film will change, and it will become that people's indifference kills Millet Di, and most of the kind audiences will kill Millet Di. Emotionally reluctant to accept." This is completely from the audience's point of view, not a personal expression. Director Feng Xiaogang is also a director who pays more attention to the box office and less personal expression. He is very direct about his position: "I am a director of commercial films, and the most important thing is the box office." "I make movies for the masses, not for the small audience. Yes, from my personal emotional point of view, I also hope to vent for Gu Zidi and Jiulian. Although it may be considered not deep enough, the so-called profound is actually very tacky and routine. I must respect my wishes, I If you can't become a master, don't pretend to be a master." In this way, it is not difficult for us to understand the role of business discourse in the ending of the film.
It can be seen that in the film text of "Assembly", there are triple discourses of personal, main theme and business. These triple discourses are intertwined in the film, and finally a game that tries to satisfy everyone, but in the end makes many people feel unsatisfactory work. It promotes the individual but compromises the collective; it has a personal expression but compromises the business; it depicts the war in detail in the first half, but hastily advanced the plot in the second half; these twists are also like its cast-playing small roles for many years Zhang Hanyu plays the protagonist, and he is matched with familiar star faces such as Hu Jun and Deng Chao. Such films may seem imperfect, but they are interesting and have room for interpretation.
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