Text | Wang Chongyang lp
It is difficult to accurately evaluate the artistry of "The Savior Stick", only that it is both ironic and warm.
Ironically, in the years before Hong Kong's return to the motherland, Chen Kexin and Li Zhiyi retained the confused and fearful sentient beings of the small people in the city with extremely short and concise lenses, forming a historical retrieval that seems precious today.
What is warm is that no matter how asshole, how selfish, and mercenary this "god maker" played by Liang Chaowei is, when he finally watches Chen Chun (Chen Xiaochun) preparing to "burn my body to save the world", he still has a conscience to find out that he wants to save people.
And the most interesting thing is the tone of the movie:
Obviously, what you see from beginning to end is Li Zhiyi saying "Don't be stupid, where is the god in this world", in the distant shot at the end, the earth is quietly interpreting a thousand strange things in the universe, Wu Gang on the moon while cutting down trees while flirting with Chang'e sister, Chang'e said "Your pants are really beautiful" Said and said, he moved his hands and feet, Wu Gang was anxious:
"Don't make a fuss!"
The pants were clearly the flag that the Americans planted on the moon when they landed on the moon...
By the way, Chang'e's actor is named Yuan Yongyi.
Nowadays, looking at some of the works taken by Chen Kexin and Li Zhiyi before "97", you can feel the special creative state of their years, and a group of strange people have made some "sad and happy and funny" films, such as "New Difficult Brothers and Brothers", "Rogue Doctor", "Three Heroes of the Wind and Dust", "Savior God Stick", which have surreal settings, and most of them are comedies.
Compared with the commercial films made by other companies at that time, the level was not low, and it would never be shoddy, but it was a pity that the shooting was usually not too delicate.
However, it still does not prevent the audience from experiencing its theme in detail and conception.
One
The script of "Salvation God Stick" comes from Chen Kexin, Lin Aihua and Ruan Shisheng, and directed by Li Zhiyi.
The lineup is also very strong, in addition to Leung Chao-wai and Chen Xiaochun, there are also a vote of Hong Kong artists such as Norma Lam and Karen Mok.
The imagination of this film is very good, roughly telling the inner contradiction between a "god stick" and a "god stick" that creates gods in the "end times" where everyone is in danger, in faith and worship:
The "god stick" regards itself as a true god, and the "god stick" who created the god finds that the other party is a person after all.
At the beginning of the film, there are some later "reversals" of star-eaters:
Huang Dafeng is an operator who is good at constantly creating an atmosphere among the fools to shape the "master", he is stubborn, cold, and even a little cruel, and he has been living by cheating money since he was a child with the master of the god stick, and gradually formed a character that questions everything.
And he is a staunch atheist, very mean to the people around him, seeing too much human nature ugly, the time is long and the anger is heavy, and later the assistant Wu Zhi (Lin Boyi) swallows his anger but reverses the water at a critical time, which is a bit of "Tang Niu is the real god of food" taste. The most infuriating thing is that this person also satirized the Big Feng who personally took him to "debut" and "could not keep up with the times", and Huang DaFeng, who suffered betrayal, fell down overnight.
At that time, on another timeline, a statue of a male and female figure was found on the beach in Hong Kong, looking suspicious and mysterious. After this news was reported by the media, it led to speculation, some dolls said, and some said that the "true god" of the end times had come.
So the two spaces coincided together, Huang Dafeng met Chen Chun, and found that he looked somewhat similar to the inexplicable god statue, he decided to train Chen Chun to become "Master Dada", under the coincidence of several accidental collisions, "Master Dada" doubled in value overnight, Huang Dafeng simply threw himself into packaging Chen Chun, but unexpectedly, Wu Zhi saw that Chen Chun had a greater "business opportunity" to cooperate with Huang Dafeng to "buy out" Chen Chun, and Huang Dafeng agreed after hesitating.
What about Chen Chun? In the film, he is a young man who does not look very bright, Huang Dafeng asked him to dress up as Dada, let him pretend to be a miracle, let him shoot advertisements and dance, he also did, all day playing God, there is only one word in his mouth:
"I will atone for the sins of all with my death."
In the process of such a young man going from being ignorant and stupid to actually gradually having a "divine taste", I saw Chen Chun's kind side, no matter how Huang Dafeng fooled him, he always regarded it as a kind arrangement between friends. In fact, everyone did not take him seriously, Huang Dafeng did not, Wu Zhi did not, nor did the female anchor (Played by Karen Mok) who followed and reported the news.
Their pursuit of profit and the play of faith contrast sharply with Chen Chun's childlike innocence.
Two
Under the entanglement of interests, Huang Dafeng fell into a dangerous situation without knowing it.
It was only when Chen Chun stopped the bullet for him that he had a short thought and hesitation, but Chen Chun, who had come back from the dead, seemed to have become different from before:
Believing himself to be the "Master Dada" and believing himself to be the Savior who saved the world, he kept repeating the words "I will atone for the sins of all with my death." ”
Huang Dafeng did not understand, but the audience could see Chen Chun entering heaven at the end of his life and singing with Elvis Presley, when the movie began to give people a little doubt -
Hard to come by... Is there really a hell and a heaven in this world?
Huang Dafeng, who had originally "sold" Chen Chun, wanted to take Chen Chun to Hawaii, but Wu Zhi, who had "bought" Chen Chun, actually wanted to burn Chen Chun to death in public in order to create a greater superstitious effect, creating the illusion of "salvation".
Everyone did not know that in the night of his repeated entanglements, Chen Chun, who came to the rooftop alone, seemed to be receiving an unpredictable oracle when he raised his hands and looked up at the night sky.
When Chen Chun was about to be burned to death in many live media broadcasts, it rained heavily and extinguished the flames.
At the same time, it was Huang Dafeng's greed and the female anchor's final weariness of this farce.
Huang Dafeng wanted to stop Chen Chun from self-immolation, but Wu Zhi did not do it, saying:
"He is the God you made, and you now say that he is not God, who believes?"
Huang Dafeng was speechless.
The female anchor was pretending to be happy in front of the camera to call on everyone to see the birth of the miracle, when suddenly she took off her hood and revealed her bald head to the photographer and said, "Don't shoot"...
The two people here also seem to be receiving a kind of "oracle":
This chaotic "end times" are precisely caused by "us" and these people.
The result of the film is of course good, Chen Chun, who was saved by the heavy rain, was dazed, Huang Dafeng said "thank you" to the sky, the two of them went to Hawaii, Chen Chun lay on a chair on the beach and asked "Brother Feng":
"Is there a God in this world?"
They say:
"How do I know?"
So the camera is getting farther and farther away, and we see above the gradually small characters, Wu Gang and Chang'e flirting...
Three
This movie is ironic, funny, and has a bit of connotation, but unfortunately it is not very deeply filmed. And we must combine the special historical period and major historical events filmed by the film to see, otherwise we will not be able to experience the fun.
For example, in the film, when Huang Dafeng was a child, the Americans landed on the moon successfully, and people all over the world rejoiced, but his god stick masters were sad:
After all, there is no Chang'e on the moon, no gods.
The three sisters and six wives in the room talked and looked at the god stick that seemed to be getting more and more lonely.
After becoming an adult, Huang Dafeng circled around idols, the public and the media all day, the singer (Du Dewei) cut his foreskin and was hospitalized and could not hold a concert on time, but he could not directly say the reason, simply pretended to be unconscious in the hospital, Huang Dafeng accepted the commission and pretended to the fans:
"He needs the power of mind, your power of mind, you have to pray."
At night, many fans sat at the hospital door singing the singer's famous song, everyone lit a candle in front of them, and the singers in the Harmony Hospital looked at the sincere looks in the live camera, and a trace of shame appeared on their faces...
When Chen Chun accepted the self-immolation plan to save the world, those onlookers had all kinds of emotions, some clamoring to burn him to atone for his sins, and some constantly shouting to save the master not to speak lightly about life and death, this drama can deeply feel the indifference and filth of the media that disregards human life for the sake of hype and ratings, as well as the ignorant conformity and selfishness of those "sinners".
There are also some more profound roles in the meantime, such as a male anchor, from the beginning he was not very willing to report the news of "Master Dada", every time he reported it was a look of resignation, and finally after seeing the noise of "God Stick Salvation", he couldn't help but leave the scene directly in the middle of the news report...
If you watch the whole film, you will find that from the beginning this movie emphasizes the self-danger and emptiness of everyone in the city, some people continue to "create gods" in order to give people the expectations and beauty of people's imagination, today is the mind of tomorrow is the water... "selling" happiness and empty checks more and more, until the "Master Dada" is sent to the altar.
As for the ending of the protagonists, it is obviously a kind of beauty that the screenwriters expected:
After all, the world still needs some good and righteous, let the good people live, let the bad people die, and let the fools continue to be ignorant.
No god in this world can save the greedy beings of the outward civilization and the inner greedy beings.
Therefore, "The Savior Stick" has a different comedy, it has comedic elements, but the overall style is dull.
Unfortunately, like many Hong Kong films, the ending deliberately adds a comedic element to dilute the serious atmosphere of the film, which may be a habit left by Hong Kong films in their heyday.
To leave the scene with a smile, everything just now should be a joke.