a feeling after watching "1942
" Feng Xiaogang said two words about "1942", which left a deep impression
on me. All the films I have made before are Preparing for "1942"
2 After filming "1942", I only have two choices: either retire, or just make some heartless commercial
films The expectations for this film have reached an unprecedented height.
In my imagination, "1942" should be a great movie.
What is the measure of a great movie? For "1942", no matter what actors you use, no matter how big or small the production is, no matter where the shot is taken, no matter where the scene is shot, whether you speak Henan dialect or Mandarin, it doesn't matter. As long as it does two things, it is a great movie:
1. It makes people who have seen it feel heavier than usual when picking up their rice bowls
; This movie sees some unfamiliar and familiar "self". Unfamiliar means that if you don't watch this movie, no one may remember or realize that Chinese people are "like that"; familiarity means that you can turn a blind eye, avoid talking about it, or disapprove of it, but those people are just like that. Existed, those things happened like that, happened decades before us, we are now, we will encounter the same environment in the future, it may still happen, this is what we call nationality, this film can help you get to know him.
But "1942" let me down, he couldn't give me what I wanted.
First, I don't see the eyes of human beings on food like a wolf like a tiger, and the desire to put food, beasts, and even corpses in their mouths to chew; People kill people and people eat people. Without this kind of eyes, people living in the wine pond and meat forest can't understand it. Is it a very serious thing to not be able to eat?
Second, I didn't see that characters could give up everything, status, money, emotions, chastity, dignity, and even life in order to eat. Two writers I like very much have described to us two images of hunger in their own way: one is that the cooks seduce the female rightists with steamed buns in Mo Yan's "Big Breasts and Fat Hips"; the other is Yu Hua's "Alive". , The little grandson was so hungry that he ate soybeans, and he died. There is no plot in "1942" that can play such a role, even if Huazhi said "give me biscuits and I will sleep with you", Xingxing said "I also want to drink cat soup", that is to say, so When I heard it, I didn't feel anything special.
Third, do not see human fear of hunger, especially those who have been hungry.
Fourth, the annihilation and sublimation of human nature in the disaster is not painful or itchy, and it is all-inclusive, but it is just a touch of water.
Fifth, there is no explanation about nationality. What countries poorer than us have is why a civilized society with a separation of powers, a civilized society with planes in the sky and trains on the ground can kill so many people in a famine.
A few questions about "1942"
1. About reality
Some media wrote that "1942" is a critical film, criticizing human nature, criticizing the inferiority of the nation, criticizing society, criticizing corruption, criticizing and so on. .
I don't know if Feng Xiaogang wants to criticize, but I think the first point of criticism is reality. Let people see the real thing first, clearly and truly, and then criticize it after seeing it clearly. Restoring history is far greater than criticizing history, especially if such a piece of history can be presented to the audience in a complete and true manner, the significance of criticism or not will be of little significance.
But "1942" still gave me the feeling that I was listening to someone tell a story and watching someone perform a play. The story is well told and the acting is very engaging, but I still feel that things may or may not be true. The expression, production methods, and shooting methods of the whole film are combined together, and it does have a great momentum, but it lacks the sense of reality and reality. To give an inappropriate example, is the "Founding of the People's Republic" a big scene? Is it big? But do you believe this movie is history because of this? That's all, you know.
2. About Emotions
Feng Xiaogang is a director who is good at mobilizing the audience's emotions. His films always make the audience cry when they should cry and laugh when they should laugh. "1942" may be Director Feng's only film without a point of laughter. Even "Assembly" still has one or two, but "1942", which is nearly 150 minutes long, was not in the cinema. Hearing the laughter of any audience member, many people almost sobbed from the beginning to the end.
To put it bluntly, I think this is the result of sensationalism. Sensation is not a contemptible means, and the master is also sensational, and it cannot be said that Feng Dao is not clever. Just having said that, for a movie like "1942", sensationalism doesn't have to be the main course, right? If such a movie has to rely on sensationalism to earn word of mouth, how can the people of the country suffer?
Take "Assembly" as a comparison, there are also a lot of sensational scenes, and many people are also crying. But in addition to sensationalism, more importantly, there are some feelings that are real and direct. For example, the little instructor's fear of the battlefield and death goes straight to the audience through the screen, and the performance is extremely wonderful and makes people feel the same. But after watching "1942", first, I didn't feel that the people on the screen were hungry, and second, I didn't feel that I was hungry. Making this movie, without the hunger that wants to eat people, is a failure, the separation of wives and children, and the destruction of families are all tricks to deceive people and tears, is it shocking that the blood is flying? But it's not in line with food and stomach at all!
3. About Clues There
are two main clues in this film, one is the escape line led by the old club, and the other is the government line centered on Chiang Kai-shek. Generally speaking, these two main lines are clear, but lack of connection. Each table has one branch, and the foreign reporters did not do their job well, which objectively played a role in promoting the development of the plot, but in fact it did not leave a deep impression on people. To be honest, I don't think this foreign brand is very worth it, and the price/performance ratio is not high. If used well, this should be a very good character.
In addition, secondary clues such as beliefs and the Japanese army make people feel that they are somewhat dispensable. For example, faith is anticlimactic, with a lot of color at the beginning, and nothing at the end.
4. Regarding the actors,
I think the gathering of big names is one of the reasons for the failure of this film.
Zhang Guoli / Zhang Mo / Xu Fan / Li Xuejian / Chen Daoming / Adrien Brody / Tim Robbins / Feng Yuanzheng / Zhang Hanyu / Wang Ziwen / Duan Yihong / Fan Wei / Ke Lan / Zhang Guoqiang / Lin Yongjian / Qiao Zhenyu / Li Qian / Zhang Shaohua
Domestic In foreign countries, the best actors and actresses, everyone is good at acting, everyone loves to act, everyone acts very well, but when all the performances are put together, I will feel that this is more like a golden file. TV drama. Everyone tried their best to perform, but they failed to give me the simplest, most direct and most real touch.
Compared with these familiar faces, I prefer to see unfamiliar faces. They are really skinny and have the most real desires in their eyes. That is not a problem that can be solved through makeup and performance.
If I were Feng Xiaogang and filmed "1942", I wouldn't need a big name. Because what I did was not "Founding of the People's Republic of China", nor was it a sketch for the Spring Festival Gala, the big name was for the movie, and the big name could bring great box office, but not necessarily a great movie.
But Feng Xiaogang is not me.
As Feng Xiaogang, if he hadn't made the previous films, he might not have been able to make "1942" in his entire life; but when he had the capital to make "1942", it was impossible for him not to use these big-name stars.
I like Feng Xiaogang, only his movies I can say so much.
Said so much, because I think he must not be satisfied with this work of his own.
There are two aspects of dissatisfaction. One is that "1942" does have some unsatisfactory places. In short, it failed to become a great movie. I guess Feng Xiaogang wanted to become a grand master through this film, but unfortunately, his dream did not come true. I think he is very clear about this; Feng Xiaogang talked a little too much about the load, maybe he thought too much and the pressure was too much, he really took this as a master qualification test, ignoring the essence of his movie, what was shot in this atmosphere , it should be difficult to meet your expectations.
The English name of "1942" is "Back to 1942", but unfortunately, we couldn't go back, at least I didn't go back. Feng Xiaogang is the same.
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