After watching "Fame and Fame", I found it difficult to find a similar movie in the new films that have been released this year. Comedy, suspense, era, crime, after using each genre element to the extreme, director Liu Xunzimo also let us see how the future "script killing movie" should be made.
Indeed, just looking at the cast of this film, it is enough to attract attention.
Yin Zheng, Yu Entai, Deng Jiajia, relying on the previous national comedy image, is enough to ensure the entertainment topicality of this film; Yang Haoyu, Chen Minghao, Yu Haolei, with a solid and delicate level of acting skills, so that the character personality can be beautifully presented; plus Qin Xiaoxian, who has a cross-talk foundation, Zhang Benyu and Kodak, the familiar faces of Wanhe Tianyi, "Yang Ming Liwan" has the physique and qualifications of "dark horse" no matter how it is seen.
01
Needless to say, the first place to immerse people in "Fame and Fame" is naturally its story.
During the Republic of China, the Shanghai film industry. A group of film practitioners gather in a mansion to adapt a murder case that has caused a sensation throughout Shanghai. What will happen to the actors, writers and directors on a dark and windy night in a month when a blockade cannot escape the house?
This is the suspense that the film throws at the beginning.
Boss Lu, played by Chen Minghao, is a famous film investor in Shanghai Beach. This time, he bet all his life on this movie. The case that was adapted was the "Murder of the Three Elders".
The so-called "three elders" refer to the three most powerful bosses in Shanghai Beach, who control Shanghai's politics and economy, and have strong capital chips and connections. But one day, the three bosses, along with their bodyguards, were suddenly killed overnight. Even the newspapers and periodicals, which have always been thoroughly inquisitive, are secretive about this.
Such a gimmicky case naturally aroused the interest of these actors and directors invited by Boss Lu. However, what the latter never expected was that Boss Lu not only spent a lot of money to buy the internal materials of the police station, but also brought the murderer to the creator of the movie, and even the western-style building he chose was the scene of the murder.
From this point on, the plot is full of twists and turns, and the puzzles begin to be gradually solved. For example, why did the murderer Qi Leshan, played by Zhang Benyu, move his killing heart? What is the truth behind the murder of the Three Elders? These mysteries, under the investigation of the reporter Li Jiahui, played by Yin Zheng, are exposed to us like a cocoon.
02
It can be said that the difference between "Fame and Fame" and the previous domestic suspense crime films is that it uses the current popular script killing mode to unfold the story.
For example, Boss Lu's search for a group of filmmakers to adapt the story is itself a game-like action. Zheng Qianli, the director played by Yu Entai, took the lead in adapting a short story with a complete clue based on the facts of the case, which was actually a script kill.
Another example is that the murderer Qi Leshan re-fabricated his own crime story based on the French doctor's corpse case that everyone was talking about, and mixed the two cases with each other, and finally covered up his motive for killing, which was another script to kill.
The eight protagonists in the film, according to their own character settings, interpret the drama of a script discussion, which is actually a higher-level script killing.
"Fame and Fame" is to kill and nest several layers of script together, so as to make this story fleshed out and very interesting.
Among them, the unexpected reversal plot is the top priority of this film.
The first reversal is the debunking of Qi Leshan's identity as a murderer, which makes the originally relaxed and playful script discussion suddenly tense; the second reversal is Qi Leshan's military identity, which greatly deepens the difficulty of script adaptation; the third reversal is the spread of Lu Boss's bottom card, so that an ordinary film project has become a gambling game.
The plot reversal since then has become more intense.
Lee Ka Fai's revelation of the truth about Qi Leshan's murder of Sanlao; the sudden arrival of the police team of eight; the film team's trip to Vietnam to shoot and release the film, and finally the revelation of Qi Leshan's real modus operandi and purpose.
It can be said that director Liu Xunzimo does not have a waste pen in the whole film, so that each shot has its own use, so that the reversal section of each layer will be so solid and forceful that it is difficult to figure it out.
But this layer of reversal is not only for entertainment, but so that the true feelings that are finally hidden can shock the audience.
When we learn from the montage clip at the climax of the film, it turns out that Qileshan has been guarding the daughter of a deceased lord, not only taking care of her living and eating, but also protecting the girl after she became a singer. In the end, he took advantage of the loopholes in the conversations of Li Jiahui and others to hide the girl's secret, and this sincere emotion was touching.
This can't help but remind people of the 2019 "Manslaughter", the same close relative, in order to protect the loved one, at the expense of committing a mistake, and then with his ingenuity to let the beloved escape from the haze. From this perspective, "Fame and Fame" undoubtedly gives us emotional recoil in addition to comedy and suspense.
03
In addition, it must be mentioned that the superb acting skills of several actors in this film.
Lee Ka Fai, played by Yin Zheng, lets us see a side that he has never shown before. In the past, the role played by Yin Zheng was either in the Yuan Hua type in "Charlotte Troubles", which made people laugh, or with Shang Xiaorui in "Sideburns Are Not Begonia Red". This time, the role of Lee Ka-fai is obviously a bit untrimmed, but it gives people a feeling of stubbornness in insisting on their hearts.
Also eye-catching is Su Mengdi, played by Deng Jiajia. Although as early as "Love Apartment", Deng Jiajia had imitated Wang Jiazhi in "Color Ring", in "Fame and Fame", Su Mengdi completely removed the joke and funny sense of "Little Aunt", and the withering, sorrow and helplessness of the popular actress were interpreted by Deng Jiajia.
In addition, the director Zheng Qianli, played by Yu Entai, in addition to maintaining the cowardly character of Xiucai in "The Legend of Wulin", has added a slippery sophistication and responsibility when the crisis really comes; and Guan Jingnian, a former actor played by Yang Haoyu, makes people feel the inner struggle and pain of this character in addition to disgust and ridicule.
It can be said that Liu Xunzimo's directing talent is not only reflected in the scene scheduling of the image, but also in the tuning of these outstanding actors. They were often still fighting with each other a second ago, causing people to gag, but after a blink of an eye, the panic on their faces, or the pear blossoms under their eyelids with rain, were all handy, really powerful.
It is precisely because of the excellent performances of these actors that the comedic standards, suspense reversals and emotional expressions of "Fame and Fame" can be accurately completed. In addition, the exquisite costumes, the ability to restore the sense of age, and the golden sentences that have come from the mouth have made this suspense comedy the most interesting cinema film in recent times.