I don't know which year it started. The so-called New Year films in the New Year stalls began to disappear, replaced by a pile of chaos. The audience's complaints about the films during the Spring Festival were the same as the Spring Festival Gala, and they were disappointed year by year. But on the contrary, during the Spring Festival, the box office continued to record highs, and the Spring Festival period has become the most hard-earned film schedule. Cheap online ticket sales have made going to the cinema for the whole family to entertain a fairly affordable option. For movie fans who like to enjoy movies quietly, it may be a better choice to avoid the peak season of the Spring Festival.
"Wolf Totem" is undoubtedly the most sincere film during the Spring Festival. Just seven years of shooting time and the starring of Quanzhen Wolf are enough to make people look forward to it. After all, there are not many movies in this era that are shot in years, not to mention those pipeline products that can't wait to make money in theaters with a shooting cycle of only a few days.
"Wolf Totem" was changed from the novel of the same name. The novel has been popular for many years. Last year, I heard that the movie was going to be released. The relationship between the wolf and the Mongolian people is used as an introduction to describe the battle of animals. The wolf-horse war and the flying wolf slaughtering the sheep have reservations in the movie, which are also the more exciting parts of the novel. The downside is that the novel exaggerates the influence of the wolf's nature on a nation. People with a little historical common sense can I found countless arbitrary conclusions about history in the novel. I will not discuss it in detail here. If you are interested, you can look for the novel to read.
Speaking of the movie, the director intends to string the fragmented novels into a complete narrative story to express the relationship between humans and animals. The first half is well done, and there are still many moving parts. There is a sense of rupture, especially in the last 30 minutes, there is a sense of loss of narrative rhythm, which is also the reason why many audiences feel tired in the second half.
In the scene, some of the movies where the wolves rounded up the yellow sheep in the original novel were only briefly mentioned. The only real big scenes are the wolf-horse battle and the flying wolf entering the sheepfold, both of which have a high degree of reduction, especially the wolf-horse battle. , The chase scene is very thrilling. In the novel, the bloody picture of the wolf tearing the horse's stomach and letting the horse step on his stomach and die was not shot, but considering the difficulty of shooting, it is quite satisfactory to be able to complete this level.
"Wolf Totem" is about the relationship between humans and wolves. Many people will ask what kind of relationship is that? The film is very vague about this. Except for the repeated emphasis on the awe of Tengger in the lines, there is no other more clear expression. Of course, the audience can explain the relationship between humans and wolves on their own, but the film is too weak. There are two reasons for this perception: First, Feng Shaofeng's adoption of the wolf is unclear, and the follow-up explanation is not clear. A sense of identification with the wolf's emotions. Second, the expressive power of the wolf pack has been weakened. The original novel has done a better job in this regard. For example, the original novel's description of the wolf king is more anthropomorphic, making people feel the confrontation between the two forces. The film has not reserved this aspect. . Perhaps this kind of light treatment is a way for the director to pursue authenticity, but sometimes it is difficult to highly unify the authenticity and drama. "Wolf Totem" itself is not a documentary. No matter what the pursuit of authenticity, the wolf presented in front of us is still The traces of domestication cannot be erased.
The theme is blurred in this film, and we can only watch it in the thrill of running and killing wolves. As for the influence of wolves on the Mongolian people, I don’t know what the Mongolian compatriots will think. I think it is too much to say that it is a myth. After that, it's more like a fairy tale for the grassland, a sleeping song.
Having said so much, these are just some of my thoughts on the comparison of the novel and the movie after reading the novel. In the final analysis, "Wolf Totem" is still an alternative work that is hard to see in theaters, and it is worth spending money to watch. Valentine’s Day’s screenings received a good response, but during the Spring Festival, they were squeezed out of the film by the overwhelming number of films. Now, the film is still slowly picking up due to the advantages of word of mouth. However, compared with the so-called 700 million investment, the current box office is difficult to pay back, so I didn’t watch it. Friends can grab the tail of the Spring Festival stall to have a look.
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