Under the appearance of a calm life, there are often unknown surges, and everyone's life is a layer of choices of right and wrong.
How to distinguish between good and bad movies?
This question is like what the meaning of life really is, and there is no standard answer.
Yang Dechang said in "One Eleven", borrowing the mouth of the fat man: "After the invention of the film, human life has been extended at least three times longer than before. ”
Watching a movie is like watching a lot of people's lives. What we understand and don't understand, we can all see in movies.
Therefore, in my concept, the main function of the film is to bring people a variety of different "experiences", rather than judging it from the perspective of God.
In this sense, a good movie should still allow us to have a "new experience" after 125 years of film development.
"Calm Wind and Waves" is such a movie.
The film is a drama crime film directed by Li Xiaofeng, produced by Huang Bo and starring Zhang Yu, Song Jia and Wang Yanhui.
The film premiered at the Shanghai Film Festival on July 29 this year and has already gained a good reputation. On November 6, it finally waited until it was released in theaters nationwide.
"Calm Wind and Waves" tells the story of Song Hao (Zhang Yu), a student bully who fled his hometown after killing someone in his third year of high school, and returned to his hometown after 15 years but accidentally discovered the truth of that year.
Fifteen years ago, the student bully Song Hao (Zhang Yu) was replaced by the mayor's son Li Tang (Li Hongqi), who wanted to go to Li Tang for an explanation, but he did not expect to accidentally hit and break into one of Li Tang's neighbors' house and stabbed the neighbor by mistake. Song Hao's father, Song Jianfei (Wang Yanhui), who arrives later, is worried that the matter will be exposed and kills his neighbor without stopping.
Song Hao did not know the truth of the death of his neighbor, thinking that he had killed someone, and terrified, he could only go away from home and go to work in a stone carving factory, leaving the original smooth trajectory of life.
Fifteen years later, Song Hao returned to his hometown because of his mother's funeral, and everything seemed to have calmed down. By chance, he reunites with his old classmate Pan Xiaoshuang (Song Jia), which gives him a long-lost light in his life.
When Song Hao learned the truth of that year from Li Tang's mouth and "killed" again, he decided to uncover the scar that he had not dared to touch for fifteen years and complete a seemingly impossible self-redemption.
As mentioned earlier, this movie will make people have a "new experience", which in my opinion is even more amazing.
First of all, its story has an extremely unique idea. General crime films or crime novels, with the development of the case, must end up solving the case.
But the story of "Calm Wind and Waves" is more special, first of all, it is to unfold the story from the perspective of a criminal, and secondly, it is not to use the story as a framework to fill the plot, but a film that is completely driven by the characters.
The so-called one-step wrong step-by-step mistake, this story is essentially an image interpretation of the domino effect. After Song Hao took that step impulsively, the vortex of fate wrapped him forward step by step, and there was no way to turn back.
The core of the movie has long been different from the ordinary crime film's right and wrong exploration and the thrilling game of cat and mouse. Instead, it is to go as deep as possible into the hearts of the characters, starting from the deepest desires and loneliness of each character's heart, to explore a more metaphysical existence.
There is no particular ups and downs of dramatic conflict, focusing on the character's heart and the state of the character. This kind of conceptual design gives the film a rare depth, making it more than just a story.
Song Hao's loneliness of guarding earth-shattering secrets for fifteen years, Song Jianfei's extreme desire for power in his heart, Pan Xiaoshuang's blind desire for the object of his young crush, Li Tang's personality and madness that have already been completely rotten from the inside... It's all very humbling.
This is a rare crime film that doesn't discuss right and wrong.
Song Hao's life is a process from sin to self-redemption. But the director did not shoot his atonement, but focused on the process of punishment. Both from a cinematic point of view and from a human point of view, this is a very good idea.
Under the appearance of calm and calm life, there are often unknown surges, and everyone's life is a stack of right and wrong. But we must all have a clear understanding of sin, because both we and Song Hao have worldly moral concepts and a desire for goodness and beauty.
The long process of Song Hao's inner punishment is the process of self-reflection and self-knowledge, and he suffers in the wandering of right and wrong, good and evil, but it is precisely in this pain that he is able to establish his world view, improve his personality, and achieve true salvation.
Some netizens said that the story of "Calm Wind and Waves" is like a glass of spirits, full of momentum. I feel very similar, two words: up.
Some people say that you exaggerate so much, is there no disadvantage?
There must be shortcomings, but the flaws are not hidden. Whether it is the reality of the story and the precise presentation of the actors, to the out-of-control and changed theme of life, any cross-section can be discussed and studied.
In the final analysis, "Calm Wind and Waves" is a Chinese film with a unique temperament.
Having told the story, let's talk about the actors. The cast of this film is top notch.
The male protagonist Zhang Yu belongs to the late formation of the big instrument, when he starred in "I am not a medicine god" in the "yellow hair", he has been in the industry for 13 years, 36 years old "advanced age".
He is not a "handsome guy" in the traditional sense, but he has his own unique aura and intimacy. Perhaps it is precisely because he is also a small person that he can perfectly integrate with the character when interpreting the small person.
He can perfectly interpret one role after another, and his thinking is inseparable. In my opinion, he belongs to the sober type of actor, knows what he wants, and never blindly pursues.
It is worth mentioning that director Li Xiaofeng once made a movie called "Maiden Nezha", and in Zhang Yu's understanding, this is a story of juvenile Nezha.
In the interview he mentioned:
"The core of the play is a very classical story, a classic core of an Oedipal complex, something about father-killing, something I like.
The plot of killing the father, in my opinion, is a contemporary Nezha story. His kind of rebellion, in the end he cut off his bones and returned to his father is this story, let me think that Li Xiaofeng's first film is not "Maiden Nezha", I think "The Wind and Waves Are Calm", in fact, is a "young Nezha".
Although the character I played was already a full adult physiologically, the person did not grow up. In the movie, there is a juvenile and adult part of this character, and the juvenile part is played by another actor, and when he is full of spirit, he is a teenager of biological age.
But I said I was going to play the real teenager Song Hao. 15 years away from home, 15 years of "original sin" and their own punishment for themselves, and then return to such a person in their hometown.
He is the real kind of "run away for half a life, and come back as a teenager".
Actress Song Jia has long had superb acting skills, and has had many wonderful roles in the past, and in "Calm Wind and Waves", she is not only as stable as ever, but even has a more exquisite expression.
I believe that this also has a lot to do with Zhang Yu, two actors with very good acting skills, two actors who appreciate each other, will definitely rub and exchange more things, and will also present this spark to the audience.
The love scene between the two of them in the movie is eye-catching. Passion dramas, umbrella plays in the car, yogurt marriage proposals, etc., really let people understand what romance really means.
And one of my favorite scenes is the yogurt proposal.
Pan Xiaoshuang was lying on the toll window, Song Hao stood facing her, the two sometimes looked at each other, sometimes at the same time, but unconsciously showed a sweet smile. Seriously, this scene is simply the ultimate romance in the world.
Two people in their thirties actually performed a kind of shyness and beauty of a young boy and girl, which is simply too surprising.
Li Hongqi, who played Li Tang this time, also contributed a very breakthrough acting skill. He has rarely played such a villain role in the past, but this time, through a wonderful performance, a crazy character image completely corrupted by power and money is vividly on the screen.
At the same time, the film's camera movement, soundtrack, and picture are very distinctive, and it can be said that every detail of the concept is to keep it away from mediocrity.
For example, that cruise ship scene seems to have no function, in fact, when I see the old man on the cruise ship standing upside down, that kind of floating and drunken dreams and death, and the dark complexity of that kind of society are immediately imprinted in my heart.
Life is just a ridiculous dream.
The staying power of this movie is indeed not small, even if it has been watched for a week, many fragments in the movie still come to my mind from time to time, and I still have a deep heartache for Song Hao.
I often think that each of us must live alone, die alone, and life is actually a lonely journey. Maybe subconsciously we've always known this, that's why we're constantly looking for it.
The fate of moths is to put out fire, and we are born to die better.