Since the end of January this year, cinemas across the country have not been open for half a year. For all fans, it is that they have not been to this sacred hall for half a year.
The reason why we are so obsessed with watching movies on the big screen is that movies are ultimately the art of the theater, not the art forms carried by mobile phones and televisions. The details of the IMAX and the subtle sounds emitted by Dolby Surround Make the cinema's sense of presence and depth possible.
On another level, watching a movie is actually a collective artistic activity, and hundreds of viewers feel the ups and downs of the story, emotional pulse, which is a natural place for the empathetic needs of human nature.
If someone's feelings and memories of watching movies in the cinema are already a little vague, then you may wish to take a look at the new Japanese film "Silent Film Narrator" recommended for everyone today. It tells us about the rise of the novelty of cinema in Japan more than a hundred years ago, and the long-fading fun profession of "silent film narrator."
One
The story begins with a rural film in the fourth year of Taisho (1915).
Boy Shuntaro Someya and girl Umeko Kurihara mistakenly entered the scene during the filming of the film, and their images have remained in the silent film ever since.
Not long after, Shuntaro and Umeko sneak into the theater to watch a movie, and happen to see the movie where the two of them are.
Just like in "Farewell to the Overlord", Xiao Douzi and Xiao Leper fled to the theater to watch the play, the famous actor of Peking Opera, who was praised by everyone, ignited the fire of Xiao Douzi's dream.
This is where Shuntaro and Umeko's dream of making a movie begins. However, Umeko wants to become an actress, and Shuntaro hopes to be like the idol Yamaoka Akio, with just one mouth, he can bring the film's narration to life and become a silent film narrator.
But ten years later, the two's encounters have changed dramatically. Umeko, due to her poor original family, has been able to play some movie roles by acting as a maid to the well-known narrator Motegi, but she is still a tool of Motegi, not an actress in today's film industry, as long as she has starred in movies, she can instantly get countless traffic. In Japan in the 1920s, there was no such thing as a film superstar.
Shuntaro suffered worse. He had intended to join a film tour as an official narrator, but was used as a thief. He often took advantage of the villagers' nests to watch movies, stealing money from house to house.
Fortunately, not long after, Shuntaro accidentally escaped, went to a movie theater to work as a handyman, and also met his childhood idol Yamaoka Akio. When a certain Yamaoka was drunk and could not go on stage to explain the movie, Shuntaro saved the scene and did not want to become famous in one fell swoop, and since then he has played a signboard and become a popular local commentator.
However, the ending of the film is full of comedic sentimentality. Shuntaro, though eloquent, was eventually arrested and imprisoned for his previous theft. But his career as a narrator did not end, but his subjects became prisoners and prison guards.
Meizi was photographed by a well-known director and began a real actress career, she still has Shuntaro in her heart, but the two miss it again and again.
And Shangang Qiusheng, who bought drunk all day, left the cinema forever and no longer worked as a movie narrator.
This is a comedic professional film, but it is full of sentimental nostalgia and a faint sadness of helplessness.
The root cause is caused by the profession of "silent film narrator", because we know in the process of watching that even if several docents in the film fight each other and do their best, they will eventually face the elimination of the times. When the sound film arrives, this parade that feeds on the silent film will cease to exist.
Because of this, it may be a mercy to let Shuntaro go to jail. After all, only those prisoners in prisons who are out of touch with social development will always praise Shuntaro's eloquence. If Shuntaro escaped the fate and continued to make a name for himself in the cinema, he would not be able to escape the greater prison disaster - the narrator would eventually wither.
Two
As a film about film, "Silent Film Narrator" is a love letter dedicated by director Zhou Fangzhengxing to the silent film era. There are not only the ancient wounds of the docent's profession, but also the tricks of the silent film itself.
According to Tadao Sato's History of Japanese Cinema, the narrator of the silent film was originally named "Benji". In the silent film period, due to the lack of sound, dialogue and plot mostly appeared in the film in the form of words, which naturally became a stumbling block to the commercial expansion of the film in the society where the popularity of words was not high at that time. And the people who specialize in explaining the story and the lines—the Benshi—became the just need of this period.
This is not actually a specialty of the Japanese silent film period, which appeared in many countries during the early development of film, but the narrators in these countries disappeared before the 1910s. Japan and its colonies at the time still maintained this way of performing. More critically, Ben shi is not a simple voice actor, but will perform publicly next to the screen.
That's why, at the time, some film actors were not as famous as Benshi. In the film "Silent Film Narrator", several Benshi actually have excellent skills.
The master-level mountain hill autumn sound is known for its steady lines and majestic image.
The handsome-looking Motegi has become an idol of young girls with a poignant tone and eyebrows, often secretly sending autumn waves in the dark and harvesting traffic.
Although Naito, who has a fat head and big ears, is extremely sweaty and has to be bare-chested every time he explains a movie, he knows a little foreign language, and this alone can occupy a good market.
The protagonist, Shuntaro, not only has a strong ability to imitate, but more importantly, he has a flexible brain like Emperor Zhang, the king of anxious wisdom songs. Even in the fragmented and mixed cuts of Japanese and foreign films, he can tell them logically and interestingly.
Therefore, the profession of Benshi is actually the same as many film and television UP masters on the B station now, using their own language organization ability and the ability to cut ghosts and animals to provide fans with different styles of film interpretation.
For example, "The Tenth Screening Room", which is well known to many film fans, is a film interpretation program of CCTV's ten sets. Later, after operating on streaming media, it was loved by everyone with sharp and poisonous comments. Its narrator "Long Bin" has gained a large number of fans on the Internet.
In addition to the theme of Benshi, the most interesting point of "Silent Film Narrator" is a tribute to various works and styles in the silent film era.
The Japanese silent films mentioned in the film, such as "Kokujō Tadaji" and "Yuro Blood", as well as foreign business cards such as "Strange Thief Gigma", "Bell Tower Freak", "Dr. Caligari's Cabin" and so on, more importantly, the end of the film uses a ten-minute action bridge to reproduce the essence of the farce of the silent film period.
A comical shootout between the police and the thief.
The chase between the three men: Shuntaro rides a bicycle without stepping; the thief rides a tricycle carrying a coachman; and the police requisition a rickshaw.
Always a funny scene of falling on the heels.
These are reminiscent of the great masters Chaplin and Keaton of the silent film period.
In order to make the elements of silent film everywhere, director Zhou Fang Zhengxing showed the taste of silent film at the beginning and on the transition.
For example, the black and white old label of the opening "Toei".
The transition methods commonly used during the silent film period are strokes, and circle in/out.
As a result, director Zhou FangZhengxing, while maintaining his consistent comedic style, does not forget his intellectual nature, and spills his enthusiasm and archaeology for film, and his mourning and nostalgia for silent films in this film.
In fact, when I watched this movie, what I felt the most was the inextricable connection between the profession of Benshi and us as film critics.
Although we are not the ventriloquists who explain to everyone during the film screening, we are often the first time after the premiere of the new film to test the quality of the film for everyone and decide whether to recommend it. Like Benshi, we will also try our best to use all kinds of interesting dry goods and topics to arouse everyone's interest in watching movies, so as to find the inspiration between light and shadow in films with different themes but thought-provoking, and listen to the situation in life.
At this point, when the theater is closed, we only hope to continue the unfinished career of Benshi a hundred years ago, but pray that we will not encounter the sadness of Benshi when the sound film comes.
(The picture in the article comes from the Internet)
Vanguard Contributing Author | There are very few waste customers
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