A good epic movie will inadvertently touch the nerves of those who like history. I think, no matter what, more or less, "Confucius" did it. Compared with the roughness of some ancient costume films, the domestic commercial films with the "box office" are obviously quite sincere in restoring the truth of history. The costumes, props, and characters are all very delicate, and some details are handled well, and there is almost nothing. Big historical fact. While we sighed at Fa Ge's handsome Confucius style, we also felt that Hu Mei, as a TV drama director, had a good grasp of historical themes.
There are many historical films, but there are very few films that can really re-ignite our deep thinking about a historical figure through the big screen, but when watching "Confucius", today's first sage in the film. At that time, the "tragic" experience still caused me to think about Confucius and his Confucianism. Confucius is undoubtedly sad personally. The benevolent etiquette advocated by him seems to be so far away from us even two thousand years later. Today, we still cannot do "do not do to others what we would like to do to ourselves". "Harmonious society" is still the goal we are striving for, but it is still as far away as the utopia of dreams. It's not difficult to understand why he hit a wall and was underappreciated two thousand years ago. Throughout the history of the rise and fall of the Chinese nation for thousands of years, a strong country should rely on Legalism, while governing a country requires Confucianism. Obviously, his ideology or his personal talents can handle the safety and security of a city and a pool, but it is not enough. If a country is really strong, some Confucianism and stereotyped dregs of thought (shown in the film through the implementation of ancient rituals by Confucius) even once became a stumbling block for the development of our nation, indirectly contributing to the inferiority of the Chinese nation for thousands of years. It gradually changed after the May Fourth New Culture, but it still has an influence to this day. However, Confucius was lucky in terms of his ideology. In his lifetime, he never dreamed that his set of values would be used by future feudal rulers as the basis for governing the country, and he himself became a generation of sages and influenced a nation. It can even be said that it is the trajectory of the development of the world for thousands of years. Therefore, when we see Confucius, played by Chow Yun-fat, tearfully kneeling in front of the city gate of Lu's hometown, we will not only sigh at the great brilliance of Confucius' personal spiritual pursuit and charisma, but at the same time, we will feel a little disappointed in the limitations of his ideals of the times. . I think, from the perspective of historical and humanistic value, the film's portrayal of Confucius is undoubtedly objective, creative, and even more successful.
The film has such a lofty idea, and the next step is to implement it in the shooting process. Obviously, compared with the developed foreign film industry, domestic commercial films still have a long way to go on the road of integrating arts, humanities and commercial considerations. Let's go, "Confucius" is still a little immature as a work of this type to set sail and explore. Here, personally, I mainly want to talk about the shortcomings of the following aspects, of course, I also welcome the children's shoes who have seen it to communicate with me:
I don't know if it is because the director Hu Mei has done too many film and television dramas before, or because of the lack of historical materials for reference, the whole film lacks obvious climaxes in the writing of the script and the arrangement of the plot, and the plot is also more The short stories are pieced together, and there is no dramatic conflict that runs through the beginning and the end, which makes the film feel like a running account story. In the second half of the film, after Confucius left the state of Lu, it can be said that the story is greatly reduced, and many of the audience next to me were almost drowsy. , somewhat regrettable.
In terms of actors, Fa Ge told us with actual effects that the actor who can play the role of Confucius in the Chinese film industry today is not like me. No matter his appearance or temperament, he is somewhat similar to this great sage. His performance brings a lot to the whole film. A highlight. But as far as his acting skills are concerned, compared to the previous Hollywood works such as "The Children of Yellowstone" and "Dragon Ball", he has not seen a qualitative leap. Impressed to reach a new level of performance, there is still a long way to go. The need for too much dialogue makes Fa Ge's performance in the film almost account for 60-70% of the whole film. In contrast, Zhou Xun's Nanzi has become a complete commercial gimmick, and the scene is completed in ten minutes. The "love" scene between the two selling point, the direct contact between the two even only took a conversation and bowed to each other (at that time, the audience in the theater was smashed), and it was a hasty affair, during which the "low-minded" The lines are even more nondescript and far-fetched. The heroine's role is still like this. Needless to say, Confucius' wife and daughter have become a foil, making the whole film look masculine because of the lack of women. On the contrary, the performance of the former "Gongsun Ce" Ren Quan left a deep impression on me. A strong bookishness and Yan Hui's image fit very well, adding a lot to the film.
In some of the war scenes in the film, the traces of special effects can be clearly seen, and some scenes can even be seen using CG animation. Someone once predicted that "Confucius" would be a very shocking movie, and I can tell you responsibly that it is absolutely not. However, when you look at Chow Yun-fat in front of you, every now and then, you will say "Shi no. There is no need to be brave, heavy responsibility and a long way to go", "Dead wood can't be carved", "A gentleman becomes benevolent by killing himself, and there is no survival to harm benevolence." field. I think that the creators of the film also hope to shorten the distance between us and the characters in the film in a way that is well known and easy to understand. In the second half of the film, the only impressive climax conflict scene of Yan Hui Xia Bing, although Yan Hui sacrificed his life to save the book can show the thirst for knowledge of the ancestors, but for today's audience, it is somewhat abrupt and contrary to common sense. If the creator can spend more effort in the creation of the script, setting up some more dramatic plots will obviously have a better effect.
It is worth mentioning that the film's ending song "You Orchid Exercise" was sung by Faye Wong, who had just returned to the music scene. It was quaint and elegant, and it was very nice. Many audience members remained in their seats for a long time after the film and were reluctant to leave, just to be full. Ear blessing.
The film will be released nationwide on the 22nd. If there is a chance, I hope everyone can go to the theater and support our own epic movies. In addition to the next-generation audio-visual revolution that shocked director Zhan's "Avatar", we can also Let's feel the artistic calm and personal touch that "Confucius" brings us, and explore the "hardship-enduring realm" of our Chinese ancestors that Nanzi said in the film.
Finally, I would like to thank Li United Cinemas for this movie viewing opportunity. It is my first time to participate in the event. Although there are not many netizens, and they did not say a few words from the beginning to the end, it is still very meaningful. I believe that United Cinemas Future events will be more colorful!
Snow on the Broken Bridge
2010.1.16 early morning
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