The Siberian tiger that no longer roars is frozen in the Hegang universe

◎ Chen Yanan

The Year of the Tiger is approaching, and a "Siberian Tiger" has quietly embarked on the domestic theater line. Despite the comedy label and the addition of popular comedian Mary, the film did not amuse audiences in the cinema. A vast northern city, near-stagnant character dialogue and a slow and methodical shooting rhythm, so that the audience who came to see the lively audience was very unbeaten, so that the response after the release of the film was flat. This is director Geng Jun's first film on the theater line, but this does not mean that he is a newcomer director, after the linkage of "Youth", "Hammer and Sickle All Rest" and "Easy + Happy" and other films, his film has almost formed a unique style of "Hegang Universe", and this black cold humor style that is difficult to be generally accepted by the public is actually the personal imprint of Director Geng Jun.

Hegang Is a grim image city

"Hegang", which initially became a popular word, began with its low housing prices, and under the background of economic underdevelopment, the city appeared particularly deserted in the image. In Geng Jun's shots, Hegang is always spending the winter, and the characters wear thick winter clothes and walk slowly in the snow-covered land. This slow pace is very different from the hilarious personality of the northeasterners in people's minds, some people feel that Geng Jun's video style is similar to Aki Kaolismachi, and some people think that his films have roy Anderson's shadow. The slow pace, the cold style, the cold humor, living at the same latitude, and therefore, Geng Jun called the northeast movies he made "cold zone movies". In this perspective, the temperament of the whole city is like the words of the protagonist of the film, Xu Dong, describing himself - old age and decay, economic decline.

This sense of desolation makes the protagonist have an obsessive ideal of the warm south, which is also described in films such as "Easy + Pleasant". Xu Dong hopes to become the male protagonist in MTV, surrounded by beaches, sunshine and beautiful women, and has been living in it. However, on the contrary, he is a realistic, absurd, and sad film male protagonist, the Siberian tiger in the zoo who only lies on the ground and no longer roars.

The film's footage rarely follows the character through the city and the countryside, and more often than not, it gazes at the city. A cheating husband seeks revenge for his dog, a debt-ridden builder collects debts and hides debts, a pregnant wife investigates Xiao San, and when she accepts the accommodation of an almost stagnant "worldly space", all the movements are slowed down, so that the audience is disappointed, and the seekers are not in good spirits, he kneels and begs the other party to apologize for a dog skin; there is no positive conflict between the debt collector and the debt, whether it is smashing a luxury car or a house, the connection is a calm face; the northeast woman comes to the door to find Xiao San, Nor was there any insult or tearing. All the emotions that should have been accumulated and erupted were frozen by the cold images of Hegang in winter, so they could not be dissolved, the problems were not solved, the emotions were not expressed, the revenge-seeking and indebted sat at a dinner table to reach a symbolic reconciliation, and the cheating and pregnant people still lived together to welcome the arrival of new life. Xiao Er – In Geng Jun's cinematic universe, a character who has always been slightly stupid but remains truthful, good, and beautiful, the kite he gave to the construction merchant floats in the air, bringing illusory hope to this unresolved story.

Comedy Cold and absurd

Speaking of Northeast comedy, the most deeply rooted in the hearts of the people must be the two-person turn and sketch, this kind of lively, accompanied by fireworks comedy often won the audience's love, and as a comedian, Ma Li has also contributed hilarious jokes in many movies, but the combination of "Northeast Comedy + Ma Li" in "Northeast Tiger" is restrained, subtracting the actor's actions and expressions, and finally achieving a simple comedy style. The wife played by Ma Li went to find the woman suspected of being Xiao San, and after she did not pay attention to scratching off the other party's hat, the long hair that the other party had just washed showed that this was just a misunderstanding, and Ma Li was vaguely excited: "Put it on, don't get cold." This kind of cold humor was born in the few seconds of stagnation in which the two looked at each other, and the slow time and space accommodated and generated a highly stylized comedy presentation, which is a derivative of the "Hegang Universe".

When realism and absurdity collide, it brings a magical effect to reality. In "Easy + Pleasant", several scammers with different tricks cheat on each other, and eventually get a job as a police station security guard; in "Hammer and Sickle All Rest", the robbers and the scammers come together to form an organization, but are easily subdued by a passing woman. These are all unconventional bridges in everyday circumstances, and the comedic effect is born from the paradox. In Siberian Tiger, this paradox is tinged with a bit of idealistic romance. The ineffable Xiao Er brought a bag of fish, a brightly colored kite, and five hundred yuan to the indebted builder, and the builder refused to accept the money, and the two chased silently in the snow-covered wilderness in the north, one after the other; Xu Dong braved the wind and snow, held up a trumpet and a poetry collection among the vendors selling sugar gourds and roasted sweet potatoes, and slowly and methodically sold the mentally ill poet word by word. In Geng Jun's film universe, comedy is far more than making people laugh and make people get emotional value, but watching it makes people feel "a little interesting".

The image style of "Siberian Tiger" is calm and cold, but the emotions contained in it are not calm. Because his wife was pregnant, Xu Dong's dog that he had raised for more than ten years had to be sent away, but he was reluctant to sell it and wanted to find a good family to raise, so he tied it to the door of the builder Ma Qianli's house. Unexpectedly, the dog became the plate of Ma Qianli to please the debt company, leaving only a complete dog skin. Ma Qianli is a builder, pulling relatives and friends into the gang, the result is that the building cover is crooked, the material fee will not be returned, the developer also smashed his car, he hid at home to make explosives, to blow them up. Mei Ling found out that her husband was cheating during her pregnancy, and after some investigation, she said that she had been poisoned in the meal. The fierce character contradictions and conflicts that should have been externalized are all hidden in the light and breezy image style, and internalized into the depressed knots that stir in the chest of the characters.

The first half of the film is carefully laid out, sometimes relaxed and sometimes tense, but in the final meeting between Mei Ling and her husband and Xiao San's restaurant, the tension of the drama is tightened to the peak. As soon as they met, it meant that the three of them knew what had happened, but no one poked it, and Mei Ling took out a bottle of liquor from her bag and urged everyone to drink and have fun. One because of the poisoning incident just now, there was a palpitation, one wanted to drink, the stalemate could not be stopped, Xu Dong said "There is a problem with this wine", so that all the things that were led but not sent out were spread on the surface, and the tight string was also broken.

The image and the story are competing between cold and heat, and the tension generated by the drama is also a game to present the inner emotions of the characters. In the cold shrouded city, hidden forbearance is the tone of space and the characters living here, helpless to accept their "old age, economic decline", but they have to embarrass each other, debt, revenge- and betrayal, adding a "disaster" to their unsatisfactory lives.

At the end of the film, there is a kind of hidden forgiveness, the poet pinches Ma Qianli's cheek, Ma Qianli is puzzled, Xu Dong says", "Don't bother him, he is avenging me." He added that he had taken revenge in a different way. This does not mean forgiveness, but the three people are drunk and eating at the same table, and their understanding of their respective situations is self-evident, which is also the balance reached by the characters after the game of self.

"Siberian Tiger" is a work with a very personal style in terms of imagery, and it is obvious that the director has made changes according to the theatrical film in the choice of actors, although it has not received a warm response, but Geng Jun's "Hegang Universe" is still continuing, and because it accommodates a variety of emotions and hidden conflicts, it has a richer layer of connotation.