In the last month of 2019, the film industry has brought us a lot of surprises.
Director Diao Yinan, together with powerful actors Hu Ge, Gui Lunmeng, Wan Qian, Liao Fan, etc., brought us "The Party at South Station".
The story is beloved by ghost director Quentin Tarantino.
This "black" story takes place in Wuhan.
Car thief Zhou Zenong (Hu Ge) accidentally shot a policeman in a car theft sports meeting with an opponent gang, and the police offered a reward price of 300,000 yuan for the arrest of Zhou Zenong.
Zhou Zenong, who became a fugitive, began a fugitive life in the "extralegal land" of the southern city, Wild Goose Lake, turning the escape of survival into a return run for death.
In this process, he accidentally met a swimmer Liu Ai'ai (gui lunmeng), who did not know each other, and opened a special love affair in his death...
Director Diao Yinan, an art film director deeply influenced by Quentin's style, perfectly blends art and business.
If art is called elegant and business is called customary, then his works can be called elegant and popular appreciation.
This "Party at the South Station" is not only the only Chinese-language film shortlisted for the Cannes International Film Festival this year, but also a powerful attempt by Diao to express a new expression of the crime genre after "Daytime Fireworks".
Similar to "Daytime Fireworks", both are film noir, and the protagonists are "little people" full of the atmosphere of the city;
It shows the relationship between people and society, people and the times, portrays violence, and highlights human nature.
The difference is that the investment in "The Party at South Station" has reached more than 100 million yuan, which is 5 times that of "Daytime Fireworks".
So what's so good about it?
In terms of content, it not only retains the style of literary and art films, but also balances the needs of commercial creation, so that the film has a larger film pattern.
In terms of visual expression, the film also continues to film noir.
Readers familiar with film noir should know that the visual presentation of film noir inherits the mantle of a group of German expressionist masters represented by Fritz Lang, including the lighting of low-light ratios and the repeated use of shadow and shadow.
The unique point of "The Party at South Station" is that it focuses on the use of high-saturation colors, and the brilliance of colors weakens the high-intensity visual impact brought by violence and bloodshed to the audience.
The film incorporates the director's strong personal style, the audiovisual language is exquisite, the atmosphere is extremely excellent, and the light and shadow details are intriguing, creating an image space for us that seems familiar but has never been seen before.
The bloody psychedelic light and shadow effects and the sudden, wind-like action scenes are breathtaking.
Large sections of obscure and metaphorical shots: posters, zoos and other special clips, using montage techniques to make the film more dreamy, the story seems to take place in an elevated small town.
The use of urban villages, taverns, and grey trading places creates a mysterious, uneasy, and frightening environment for the film.
Diao Dao once said: "If life is doomed to be a failure, if the collapse is bound to come, we especially appreciate those who consciously choose this failure and completely bear this failure." ”
Starting from the "suffering of society", we delve into the "complexity of human nature" of the soul.
In addition to the unique characteristics of the film itself, the powerful protagonists have also brought us great surprises, and the blessing of Wuhan dialect has also added a lot of market atmosphere to the film.
In the early stage of film shooting, the main actors made great efforts in language learning, and Guilun Magnesium, who has a soft Taiwanese accent, also needs to learn through continuous language learning to better fit the character image of the Wuhan dialect in the movie.
Even the local group actors in Wuhan had a private agreement that they must speak to Hu Ge on the set in Wuhan dialect.
Although hu ge received many questions from many people when he first selected the actor, can a costume idol drama actor really perform a screen work?
But, Hu Ge did.
In order to make his image more suitable for the decadent and emaciated Zhou Zenong, he did not sleep for several days;
In order to get close to the role from outside to the mainland, he learned the Wuhan dialect while entering the group to practice martial arts a month in advance;
In order to have a better visual effect in the scene of bare upper body muscles, he did not drink water for three days, only drank a little coffee...
Hu Ge shared that when shooting a firefight scene, his physical fitness reached its limit, but it made him forget himself, become one with the character, become the real "Zhou Zenong", and become the protagonist with complex and marginalized characteristics that supported the entire black film.
In the on-set documentary, Hu Ge said:
"The profession of an actor is too easy to gain fame and fortune, and once immersed in the feeling of joy, it is difficult to break through."
Fortunately, I am a more greedy person, and I always want to have new attempts in my profession. ”
Hu Ge's exploration of the unknown self has also been recognized by director Diao Yinan: "I think he has opened a door for his future, and he will get a different performance experience through this performance."
It is the wholehearted dedication of all the creators and staff and the constant pursuit of awe that makes it a work worth looking forward to.
"The Party at South Station" has both the strict framework of Western film noir and the romantic freedom of traditional Chinese jianghu films.
The sentient beings at the bottom of society have the heroic righteousness and romantic feelings of the jianghu warriors.
Using the most simple characters to tell the lowest story, this is probably the spirit that Diao Dao wants to pass on to us.
Finally, to quote cannes artistic director Fu Mao's evaluation of "The Party at the South Station":
The film does not stick too much to the tradition of Chinese cinema, but boldly innovates the aesthetics of film noir and police film.
Bluestone Film Editorial Office | The old king next door