Three months ago Sir interviewed "Miracle" director Wen Muye.
He was still in the midst of intense post-production, with undisguised dialogue and "a lot of pressure."
Sir was still a little worried.
Until he talked about the live shooting, it was like switching to another state - although it was a lot of difficulties, but the words were full of excitement and anticipation.
"There were a lot of contingencies, we experienced 4 typhoons when we were filming... What is interesting is that when we had a typhoon in the filming plot, we encountered a week of sunny days in Shenzhen. Every time I want to shoot the big sun when it's rainy, I want to shoot the rain when it's sunny, the crew can't catch up with the fast change of the weather, and the phrase 'watch the sky and eat' is vividly reflected in Shenzhen. ”
Nowadays, judging from the results, it is finally "rainy and sunny".
186 million box office, Maoyan 9.5, Taobao ticket 9.5, Douban 7.4, the total score of the three platforms and The Watergate Bridge of Changjin Lake ranked first in the Spring Festival file.
Why him?
Why him again?
Today Sir will solve the problem carefully:
"Miracle Stupid Kid"
They all say "Miracle" is good.
What's the good?
In Sir's view, "Miracle" is valuable because its success is a kind of "professional success".
This "professionalism" is embodied in director Wen Muye, that is, the keen control of the emotional points of Chinese audiences.
At the beginning, many people in "Medicine God" commented: "Skilled, skilled like a new director."
Miracles is similar, but not exactly the same.
The same is that the director once again succeeded in poking Chinese's flashpoints and tears, and the proficiency increased unabated.
"Obsessive-compulsive disorder" has become more serious:
Stopwatch timing, one action shot sixty-four times, daily "keep one"...
The difference lies in the scope of emotional resonance:
From a small group of sick people, to a city, a large number of people (migrant workers), and even a whole era of resonance.
Not necessarily an appropriate metaphor:
If "Medicine God" is a short answer question, "Miracle" is an "essay question" that contains a series of short answer questions.
fortunately.
Wen Muye, who was professional and strong, did not mess with himself.
01
The first question: "Gift film".
There is an unwritten rule hidden in this:
It is necessary to reflect the atmosphere of the times, but also not to have archetypal characters as villains.
In other words, there is no figurative enemy to hate, but to make a rhythmic and emotional commercial film.
"Medicine God", the representative of the pharmaceutical company is the obvious target of the fire.
What about "Miracle", there can be no enemies, what to do?
The director spent a lot of effort to make up for it.
Such as emotion.
The film uses a lot of life details to lay the foundation for the connection between the brothers and sisters.
Get up together, have breakfast together, fight together...
Especially after school.
At least three paragraphs, the emotions are stronger than once.
For the first time, electric car transfer.
The second time, after the car accident was injured, the pick-up was very late.
The third time, the typhoon was raining heavily on the roof, and finally homeless people had to stay at the doorman.
With the wordless family photos on the desktop, the audience slowly feels the difficult situation of the brothers and sisters relying on each other in the laying out of these details.
Jing Hao is not only an older brother, but also a father.
Therefore, his process of trying to raise money has been given a double meaning - it is a struggle, but also a lifesaver.
The former is the proposition, the latter is the human condition.
"Miracle" is a process of constantly dissolving and enriching "propositions".
Jing Hao is not only fighting for his sister.
Also for oneself, to be precise, "self-esteem."
A climactic scene in the early part of the film is a car chase.
Jing Hao needs to impress the big boss of the mobile phone company and give himself a chance to make money, by half an hour, catching up with the big boss's train and interviewing him.
Falling into a car, being hit, and running wildly, Jing Hao finally got the coveted opportunity to win the respect of his boss.
But is that enough?
Just the beginning.
Injured, robbed, unable to pay wages, the factory can not continue, and the efforts will be wasted.
What happens in the darkest hours of life?
He saw ants.
Typhoon rainy days, constantly crawling on the glass, slipping and falling again and again, continuing again and again...
The imagery is obvious:
Self-esteem is not given to you by others, but fought for by yourself.
And not once, but countless times.
Pay more attention to the music of this play, monosyllabic, short, fast, urgent, with the rainy night, low slaughter, ten sides ambush.
It is not Jing Hao at this time:
There seems to be no "enemy", but in fact, enemies are everywhere.
It is birth, fate, accident, emotional entanglement, but also the impermanence of life...
The film does eliminate the figurative villain.
However, through meticulous realistic portrayal, a larger and more familiar "villain silhouette" is depicted, and more "Jinghao" who were or are now unconsciously on the side of the protagonist, entering the story with him and empathizing with him.
02
Question 2: Characters.
"Miracle" has more characters and is also "miscellaneous".
Who are they?
It is a front-line worker, a builder, a driver, a cleaner, an assembly line worker in all walks of life...
In Shenzhen, the "land blown by the spring wind", the film took the initiative to lower the perspective and find this group of grassroots.
Miracle is a film that is entirely grassroots.
In the past, most of these "marginalized people" could only appear in the news or documentaries.
Now they are in the center of the stage.
With the new title - "Partner".
What the director did was not to emphasize the "bottom layer" and sell misery sympathy.
Instead, there are constant attempts to weaken stereotypes on them and make you remember the characteristics, personalities, and even hobbies of each supporting character.
The "straight" of the female worker Wang Chunmei (Qi Xi).
Face the rogue directly back, face the love of Geng straight confession;
The "monster" of boxer Zhang Longhao (Gong Lei).
Have a criminal record, be silent in front of people, and be gentle dog lovers after people, and once there is danger, they will become the contrasting thugs who coexist with strength and dexterity;
The "dashing" of the nursing home Uncle Zhong (Gong Jinguo).
Thick and thin, coarse can tell the past of his own war and broken legs as a joke, fine can be a watchmaker, dismantling the small mobile phone parts in one breath.
Not to mention Jing Hao.
Opening a mobile phone repair shop is a low-level entrepreneur with professional skills (mobile phone repair).
Strange?
But because of the existence of "Huaqiang North", there are many young people like Jinghao in Shenzhen.
Watching the movie carefully, it seems that you can find the trajectory of Jing Hao's previous life:
He is friends with forklift workers in dry warehousing, and has been a "Spider-Man" high-altitude glass cleaner.
Even according to the description of the foreman Yue Ge, Jing Hao had frequent job hopping before.
Sir has reason to believe:
After his mother's death, in order to earn money to support the family, the boy tried almost every profession he could do.
In the end, I found out what I was good at, so I had this still:
Huaqiang North Mobile Phone Repair Skills Competition, First Prize.
It can be said that the solid place of "Miracle" is here:
Behind almost every character, there is a certain realism and three-dimensionality.
And Sir's favorite, the wedding scene.
The awakened former "Three And the Great God", and the female pilot who drove the excavator, decided to get married.
Weddings do not have expensive wedding dresses, complicated etiquette, luxury hotels.
They set up a platform in the village in the city, invited neighbors, co-workers and colleagues, and then happily received everyone's blessings.
The wedding was very festive, but what really made people feel was:
It shows that outside the Internet, in the shadow of high-rise buildings in first-tier cities, there is still the self-sufficiency and self-consistency of ordinary people.
Sir recalled similar shots in Hong Kong films more than once.
The urban village of "Miracle" also condenses similar memories.
What memories?
It is the kind of expectation that is not materially rich, but still has confidence in a better life.
These expectations will one day be able to create a "miracle".
03
Question Three: Miracles.
Miracle is a "big word", and indulging in big words is a movie taboo.
Of course, Wen Muye understood this.
How to narrow down the "miracle"?
Sir started with two data:
In 2019, Shenzhen's GDP was 2,692.7 billion yuan, and the added value of the secondary industry was 1,049.5 billion yuan;
In the same year, Shanghai's GDP was 3,815.5 billion yuan, but the added value of the secondary industry was 1,029.9 billion yuan.
That is, in 2019, Shenzhen surpassed Shanghai for the first time in history and became China's first industrial city.
From a macro point of view, in 2018, China's manufacturing output value reached 4 trillion US dollars, which has surpassed the sum of the United States, Japan and Germany, which ranks second, third and fourth in the world, and is deservedly the world's first.
After 2019, this will be the first industrial city of the world's first industrial country.
Shenzhen, in itself, is a living miracle.
But how does such a miracle resonate with us?
price.
There is a detail in the movie that is very subtle.
After Jing Hao got a big order, he began to form a team, a fast-paced montage:
Plant, personnel, equipment, approvals, business permits, fire review... In the end, the factory landed successfully.
It's unbelievably easy.
Even, the operating cost of this factory has to rely on the factory director to go out and be a "Spider Man" to earn back.
Doesn't seem very reliable.
But to some extent it is reality:
At that time in Shenzhen, the environment and policies for setting up factories and doing business were extremely free, relaxed and convenient.
The cost is high elimination, high risk.
Of course, the movie does not clearly point it out, but only occasionally mentions in the flashing pictures and lines, such as the "refurbished machine" that is about to collapse with a paper policy, the mobile phone alchemy that "wants money and not life", and the manager's caution when facing the big boss...
Compared with the heavy real events of "Medicine God", it is indeed a little less stinging and impactful.
But it also creates another, broader kind of little-character heroism.
The film always emphasizes one word:
"Repair".
Repair mobile phones, repair hearing aids, repair tall buildings, "repair" terminal illness...
Are miracles "repaired"?
Indeed, in the eyes of outsiders - shenzhen's prosperity, entrepreneurial wealth, high-rise buildings, these seem to be a "miracle" that has been achieved overnight and renewed.
But the director also wants us to see a deeper level.
For every specific person inside.
Chances are just a few strokes of luck.
More people, just rely on their hands to tinker with their own present, in the predicament of their own future constantly corrected.
The so-called "miracle".
Not simple disassembly and assembly.
Let those who have been "torn down" by the times and the tide have the opportunity to repair their dreams step by step and repair their destiny.
It is a "miracle" that is truly worth looking back on.
The picture in this article comes from the network
Editorial Assistant: Gilmour's Gyro