Broke 80 million.
The Spring Festival file was pre-sold, but I didn't expect that the first thing that stood out was the "least Spring Festival file".
Why do you say that?
Look at this
"Nameless"
Although the Spring Festival file has long been not limited to family fun, war, science fiction, suspense, the audience has accepted more genres.
But I still haven't seen it
Others are overwhelmed with propaganda, and it has few words;
Other people's posters exploded, and it was only two people, black and white.
That's it, there are so many people rushing to see it.
By what?
Starring Wang Yibo's popularity, the male god Liang Chaowei re-acting in the Republic of China spy war drama, as well as Zhou Xun, Huang Lei, Wang Chuanjun...
But none of this, Sir thinks, is the most important.
The biggest expectation is undoubtedly him
Cheng Ear.
"The Demise of Romance" only returned to theaters six years later.
For this "Nameless", he came to the forefront, and personally participated in the publicity, and came up with a bunch of "pioneer operations"
The ridicule is a super commercial film, responding to various questions from netizens, and calling the movie with the main creator on various platforms.
The degree of exertion can be seen that the director is open-minded.
So here's the problem.
What kind of movie makes Cheng Er so fully engaged?
After watching the test film, Sir wants to say that this year's Spring Festival stall has come to an unprecedented hard dish.
(There are no spoilers in this article, please feel free to eat)
01
Tony Leung played "Mr. Yi" again?
The context of the times is similar, but this time it is more complicated.
Although Shanghai was occupied by Japan during the "island period", it became the forefront of tug-of-war between all parties because of the relationship between the concessions
The Anglo-American bloc, the German-Italian forces, Japan, the Wang puppet regime, the Chongqing government, and even Yan'an all regarded Shanghai as the most important intelligence exchange center.
Historically, Shanghai has been an important stop on such major events as Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union and Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor.
Therefore, the importance of spy warfare here is not weaker than that of the frontal battlefield, small, affecting the victory or defeat of a battle, and large, related to the survival of a country.
And this time "Nameless", the main stage is the intelligence department of the Wang puppet regime in Shanghai.
From the inside of a group of "traitors", to examine this turbulent history.
But before understanding the story.
Be prepared to deal with Cheng Er's way of telling cards without playing according to the routine.
The disrupted story line, the maze-like details echo, and the "sense of participation" repeatedly mentioned by Cheng Er in the interview
When the audience is suddenly thrown into a pinched plot, he must find the context of the story himself, and as the information given increases, the audience gradually pieces together their own understanding of the story.
This time, of course, "Nameless" is the same.
1938，1941，1944，1945。
It is several important time nodes in the movie, corresponding to several shredded but interrelated plots in the movie.
Mr. He, played by Tony Leung, is the head of the Shanghai intelligence department of the Wang puppet government on the surface.
The film shows two episodes of interrogating prisoners:
First paragraph, 1941.
Interrogating an intelligence chief of the Nationalist government in Shanghai, he persuaded with a smile on his face how strong the Japanese army was and how much preferential treatment they could receive after defecting.
He also let the other party live.
At this time, he was smiling, full of confidence, waiting for the other party to "open up".
And in the second paragraph, the same interrogation, an assassin from Chongqing, Mr. He's persuasion at the beginning is exactly the same as the previous paragraph, even the words are the same, but before the words are finished, they are directly interrupted by the other party.
Mr. He's face was embarrassed and solemn.
There is no other reason.
It was 1944, and Japan was at the end of its life.
Mr. Ho's handling of this assassin is also very simple and clear
Kill.
Because, it's useless to keep it.
The daily life of several civil servants of the intelligence department of the Wang puppet government: eating, drinking, pursuing, interrogating, beating, killing...
With numbness, counteract fear.
Some people may be wondering, why doesn't Sir introduce the character?
"Nameless".
The vast majority of characters in the movie have no names, and even their surnames are rarely mentioned.
Those daily life refer not to these few people, but to that group of people.
Among them, there are good people and bad people, but more people are good and bad, good and evil.
It is no exaggeration to say that until the last second of the movie, there is still the possibility of the story being reversed.
02
Some people may say, why bother?
I just want to see a movie.
Hey, this time the director also thought of this, remember that slogan?
Looking at this narrative technique, it seems that it has turned some audiences away, how can it be commercial?
If you put aside the story, Nameless also has its plan B.
As an element of the spy war genre, it basically has it.
For example, when captured, thrilling shootouts.
For example, during interrogation, plasma spray killing.
Not to mention the fights, some of the heroes have already been shown in the trailer
Liang Chaowei and Wang Yibo, this old and young, will have a fight to the death.
Who is positive and who is negative?
Sir is not a spoiler, just want to say that even this fight in the movie, the director buried a lot of details and design.
A detail.
There are several obvious shots in the fight that will seem strange.
But after watching the movie, I can think about it in detail...
In short, even if it is a fight, it is not just for the sake of excitement, casual fighting.
These elements ensure that even if the audience is momentarily stumped by the plot, it is easy to find new cool points.
But as a veteran fan.
Cheng Er's real coolness is definitely not only these commercial things.
Why do you expect such expectations from Director Cheng Er?
The reason is that his films will have a strong "sense of premium".
The word is very vague, but in Cheng Er's movie, it is obvious.
There is a scene in "The History of the Demise of Romance" that is very impressive
Mr. Lu led his men to negotiate with the Japanese, and the talks collapsed.
The room was instantly full of gunfire and fighting, but Mr. Lu stood up and calmly left in the exchange of fire between the two sides, not even taking a step slower.
In the old-school people, no matter how cruel the fight, no matter how many people die, they will not show their cowardice in front of the opponent, and they will not affect their own slightest.
This is the decency of an old-school person.
Discerning, confident, proud...
Therefore, when Mr. Lu went to Hong Kong, he faced the border prosecutor and raised his hands without dignity.
It completely announced the end of an era.
From the logic of the characters' behavior to the thematic thinking of the story, there is obvious "carving", the director relies on piling up a large number of details, and finally completes the author's expression, and can be logical and self-consistent after repeated scrutiny.
This is the advanced level of Cheng Er's film.
And "Nameless" also inherited this this time.
Take an example.
Dog.
Three times in the film the dog is used as an imagery.
In 1938, when the Japanese army bombed Guangzhou, the bomb shelter was full of refugees who were evading, and a lame dog fled in, was driven by soldiers, and led outside the bomb shelter with half a piece of cake.
On the other side, on the Japanese plane bombing Guangzhou, a Shiba Inu wore windproof glasses, wrapped in clothes, and embroidered a large sun flag on his back, named "Roosevelt".
In 1945, when the news of Wang Jingwei's death in Japan came, the people of the Wang puppet government were panicked and scattered.
There is also a dog, with its tail between its legs, that leaves the yard of life.
This kind of use of dogs to map the situation, a line needless to say, the audience can understand.
The ridicule of that super commercial blockbuster is not on "business", but on "blockbuster".
Film is the art of audiovisual.
"Nameless" this time, like "Romance", at this point, the focus has been polished, and even sometimes without lines, only with some lens language, picture design, can let you guess the progress of the plot.
Use the switch of cold and warm tones to show the different psychological states of the characters.
With this top-down perspective, from the direction of light, you can almost predict the direction of the plot. (From light to darkness, from darkness to light)
And when showing group portraits of the cruelty of war.
With slow motion, empty mirrors, large vistas, sculpture historical images.
Not to mention sound performance.
A few old foxes of the Intelligence Department in the movie, every time they talk and fight, they will always be accompanied by changes in sound effects, provoking the audience's emotions, sometimes tense, sometimes soothing.
At the same time, when the character is struggling inside, sound effects like a whistle will also appear, slowing down the pace while reminding the audience:
Don't miss it, this is an important twist in the plot.
It can be said that even if the authorial expression of the director himself is aside.
Don't care about those commercial type elements.
"Nameless" can also capture the attention of the vast majority of the audience with audiovisual effects.
This is a real "blockbuster".
03
December 16, 2016, the New Year's Eve.
Cheng Er's "History of the Demise of Romance" was released.
This blockbuster with an investment of 150 million yuan only received 118 million at the box office.
But in the following years, this movie, which hit the street at the box office at that time, was gradually discovered by many people as its high quality, and to this day, it has become a regular on various "bead" movie lists.
It is called a rare masterpiece of domestic films.
Even the director's ridicule in the movie has been repeatedly used by many people to play memes:
A movie that is not prepared for everyone to understand.
If everyone can't understand it, it seems that it should accept such a fate of failure.
But what are the facts?
Those so-called "simple and successful" movies have not made the general environment better, and even because of them, the sense of existence of movies is slowly declining.
In this era of full prosperity in the entertainment industry, the competition for attention has become intense.
What is the strength of the movie?
The film represented by "Nameless" may be some kind of attempt to answer this question
Do our best, with the best input, to make the best results.
Even if it does not take the initiative to please the audience, even if it loses the largest group of the audience.
But.
It's like "The History of the Demise of Romance".
The fruits of those sincere efforts, like gold, will eventually be seen as shining.
This time, "Nameless" directly entered the Spring Festival file, is it the head iron?
But Sir thinks that the audience's taste and demand for the Spring Festival stall has begun to change.
Audiences don't just need brainless vents.
Because after a fight, everyone will finally calm down and find works that really immerse people's hearts.
Just like the previous response of the general director of "China Strange Tan" to the audience's incomprehensibility: the creator has the responsibility to raise the audience's aesthetic threshold.
And this road, Cheng Er has been walking for many years.
Since more than two decades ago, when he was called "the best graduation project in Nortel history", he has been trying to make something different.
"The Third Man", "Border Storm", "History of the Demise of Romance", grind one in a few years, one is better than one, but it lacks once, "super commercial film".
Movies that don't play according to routines really can't be commercial?
The pre-sale box office of the Spring Festival file has refreshed our original concept.
As the most crowded schedule of the year.
Spring Festival file, lack of movies?
There is no shortage of them.
But is there really no shortage of movies in the Spring Festival file?
Lack.
There is no movie that is worth watching again and again in any schedule.
Just wait for "Nameless".
The picture of this article comes from the Internet
Editorial assistant: Gilmour's gyro