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In 1995, Liu Guochang's feature film "Follow Me" was released in Hong Kong, and the current Douban score is 8.1.
Prior to this, Lau was known for his realist films, and his first feature film, The Boy Scout, was regarded by many audiences as one of the classics of Hong Kong cinema.
The Boy Scout – a pseudo-documentary. Liu Guochang's use of realism, coupled with the method of live broadcasting, makes this film an almost documentary film.
Liu Guochang never imagined in any way that the realistic film path he had adhered to for many years would one day be abandoned by himself.
In 1993, the film "Yangchun Strange Conspiracy" directed by Liu Guochang and Zheng Danrui was released, which gathered many big names, including Zhang Weijian, Wu Mengda and so on.
But the film is a comedy film, and the dramatization of its content and the bias towards a crazy film style made Liu Guochang once deviate from the path of realism.
Fortunately, two years later, Liu Guochang returned to the road of realism with "Follow Me Again".
Some film critics jokingly called Liu Guochang "lost and returned".
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When "Follow Me" returned, it really did not cause too many waves, and after a long time, people naturally forgot it in the long river of film history.
Some netizens wondered: "I saw it ten years ago, why didn't it become a classic?" ”
In fact, it is simply too normal for the movie "Follow Me" to be forgotten.
Why?
Because it's too simple, the plot is simple, the character relationships are simple, there are no special effects, no moving plots, and so on.
But why is it that such a simple film, some audiences still regard it as a classic?
That's because those that seem simple often contain great power.
"Follow Me" tells a story of father and son recognizing each other, although the story is quite old-fashioned, but its touching point is that it is written without deliberately sensationalizing.
A trip full of waves and fun, two people, one big and one small, happy, anxious, in a hurry, looking for their own happiness this summer.
Since Zhang Fengyi's role as Duan Xiaolou in "Farewell to the Overlord" has become popular, many Hong Kong film production companies have thrown olive branches to him.
Zhang Fengyi saw such a situation and thought to himself, why not make a profit.
So he signed a contract with a Hong Kong company, and for a considerable period of time since then, Zhang Fengyi has been active in the Hong Kong film industry, participating in many movies, such as "Tang Chop the Murderer", "New Revenge", "Follow Me" and so on.
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In the movie "Follow Me Again", Zhang Fengyi plays Ma Bencheng, a man who has been in prison in Hong Kong for seven years and is repatriated to the mainland after his release from prison.
While serving his sentence, his wife Du Xia (Played by Wu Jiali) wrote to him to tell him that she was divorcing him and that she had one of his children.
After returning to the mainland, Ma Bencheng began the process of finding Du Xia. When he returned to the home where he had been living, the house was in tatters and dust everywhere.
Ma Bencheng wanted to see his son, so he first went to the factory where Du Xia used to work, but found that the factory had been demolished.
On the way back to the hotel, Ma Bencheng recalled the scene when he was with Du Xia.
At this time, one flashback after another appeared on the movie screen: he and Du Xia kissed passionately; Du Xia chased the train; Ma Bencheng rode a bicycle, and Du Xia sat on the back and leaned on Ma Bencheng's back.
After many inquiries, Ma Bencheng finally found Du Xia.
Unfortunately, Du Xia's brother told Ma Bencheng that his son had died as early as a year old.
Ma Bencheng did not believe it, so he followed Du Xia to her parents' house, but he did not expect to be discovered by Du Xia's brother.
At dinner, Du Xia's brother found a few social, beat Ma Bencheng hard, and finally threw him on the road.
Ma Ben was angry, so he kidnapped Du Xiaozheng, the son of Du Xia's brother.
After this, it is the main content of this movie, through one small thing after another, not only showing Ma Bencheng's innermost world, but also in this trip, Ma Bencheng gradually reconciled with himself, and was no longer paranoid about meeting his son.
The content of the story is quite old-fashioned, Ma Bencheng has always thought that he kidnapped Du Xia's nephew, and did not expect that Du Xiaozheng was actually his son.
After learning that Du Xiaozheng was his son, Ma Bencheng began to feel scared, he was afraid that Du Xiaozheng knew what a remarkable appearance his father was.
"He does not lack a father, I do not deserve a son" A simple sentence exhausted Ma Bencheng's bitterness.
When he was a teenager, his father died lying on the track, and the body was broken into pieces, and Ma Bencheng found a very large basket to pack the body.
When he was young, in order to make his family's life better, Ma Bencheng ignored the persuasion of others and insisted on using his broken boat to transport fertilizer.
Unfortunately, the boat sank in the river and everything disappeared.
I owe a big ass debt. So I wanted to go to Hong Kong to make a profit, but I didn't want to kill the foreman by mistake, and I squatted in prison for seven years.
When he was repatriated, his son was his reason for survival.
Back on the mainland, he found that his son had died.
In a scene of dark night and rain, Zhang Fengyi played Ma Bencheng, who had no business in his heart like a walking dead.
I think that if he hadn't kidnapped Du Xiaozheng, he might not have been able to walk back to his hometown and see his son's grave.
As he lay down in front of his parents' grave, his ears attached to the ground, his mouth muttering, "I heard him say, Daddy, I'm dying, you come down and lie down with me for a while." ”
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In terms of visual effects, the movie "Follow Me" can not bring much to the audience.
It is more of a power to show family affection, warmth, and healing, but this power is not directly expressed on the screen, which requires the audience to carefully ponder.
Perhaps because of this, "Follow Me" did not win the public's favor.
Similarly, the simple production, low-cost investment, and clichéd storyline should also be the failure of this movie.
However, if you are willing to watch this movie, you must carefully appreciate the father-son relationship that blood is thicker than water.
When Du Xiaozheng fell off the embankment and needed to transfuse 400cc of blood, Ma Bencheng did not hesitate, and even said: "400cc blood counts as something, not much more than a bubble of urine." ”
At the end of the film, Ma Bencheng and Du Xiaozheng meet at school, and when they are separated, Du Xiaozheng repeatedly asks Ma Bencheng to come to see him.
Du Xiaozheng turned back step by step and told Ma Bencheng not to steal other people's watermelons anymore; when the train came, don't stand there stupidly.
I think it would be difficult to appreciate this emotion without sons, who are not just a father and son, but also a good friend.
Many people will compare it to Kikujiro's Summer, but I would say that it predates Kikujiro by four years.
Text/Ah Hui