Feign!
Don't get me wrong, Brother De is not swearing, but an apt description of this movie.
For many years, Brother De has never seen such an arrogant, successful, and all-round movie, walking out of the cinema, I can't help but sigh: Little brother is convinced!
Who?
The answer is coming out -
"Nameless"
Saying that he pretends to be x, there are three main points.
The first is marketing "loading".
Spring Festival file war, seven heroes to fight for hegemony, near the release, everyone can't wait to do everything they can to print all the selling points on the brain.
"Cool! Burn! Explode! ”
But "Nameless" has only two words:
nameless
Of course, there are also two leading actors who love to ignore each other.
Not only is the poster as if the cleaning aunt has just been cleaned, it is clean to the "four walls of the family disciples", and even the trailer plays "Break Away".
Do you dare to believe that a movie released during the Spring Festival file has no copy in the trailer?
Close-up, empty mirror, lips closed.
Each character has a ghost, but they are silent, like a stormy buildup, and like a decadence.
Until the final trailer before the release, it still didn't have a single line appear.
In Tony Leung's only propaganda interview, he also emphasized:
"I don't think I need to say too much about filming"
This...... Isn't it a silent film?
Second, the director "pretending".
Cheng Er, the existence of the child next door.
Nortel Film Academy Directing Department, proper class background.
At the age of 23, his graduation work "Criminal" was amazing, and even now, its pioneering nature is still fresh in people's memories, and some people even say that compared to "Terrorist", Cheng Er is compared to the future Yang Dechang.
Until now, 46-year-old Cheng Er has made a total of five feature films.
In addition to his debut novel "The Third Man" and "Unromantic", "Border Storm" and "The History of the Demise of Romance" are unique in their exquisite models.
Especially the latter.
Although it only won 120 million box office when it was released, the film caused audiences to rush to watch the movie after it was launched on the Internet.
Under the repeated pulling of the sheet, the audience was finally impressed by Cheng Er's strong atmospheric control, and the wind of rehabilitation rose for a while, and they all sighed:
"Why is such a movie only 120 million at the box office?"
"We owe Cheng Er a movie ticket" has become the common voice of fans.
"Owe a ticket", this is the highest respect fans have for the director, looking at the entire Chinese director circle, only Stephen Chow and Jiang Wen can enjoy such treatment.
Of course, then again, why is "The History of the Demise of Romance" so good but not high at the box office?
Just because Director Cheng Er's style is too obvious.
He never shoots things that are "given directly", always hides clues in corners, between cracks, and the audience needs to experience the subtle words in the lines and actively explore the keys in the details in order to experience the fun of decryption.
I know it won't please everyone, but I'm still going to do it.
This is also why I said that director Cheng Er "pretended".
Third, it is the actor "pretending".
"Nameless" is Tony Leung's re-meeting after two years of "Shang Qi" in 2021, and the last movie starring Tony Leung is already "European Raiders" in 2018.
It's been too long since we saw Tony Leung's top movie face up close.
I still remember in 1987, Tony Leung, who was nominated for the first time but missed the Golden Image actor, was lonely and decadent offstage, and then in 1993, he even refused the Academy Award because "Hot Hand Detective" obviously had a lot of roles, but only nominated for a male match.
At that time, Tony Leung was so eager for a heavy statue.
Later, Tony Leung was out of control, like a full-powered magnet to pocket all the awards, and the sight was in full view.
Even he, who has always been silent, couldn't help the Verse track:
"Cheng has won the prize~"
Tony Leung is the actor who has won the most awards in the Chinese film industry today, and he is also the undoubted leader of the TOP 1 echelon of acting skills, and the most important thing is:
He is also very handsome.
Many times, it is enough to just look at this face.
Two years later, this handsome face looks back again, he is like a "scumbag", no matter how long he is separated from the audience, as long as he appears, the audience will always snuggle up to his chest like a bird:
"You still know to come back?"
Marketing, director, actor.
The three "outfits" gathered, and the mystery of "Nameless" was full.
Even the rating has become the last one to unveil the Spring Festival file for various reasons.
"Nameless" is like a blind box, which contains mountains and seas, or abyss hell, or birds and flowers.
Everything must be untied by itself.
And I am very fortunate to have such a key, slowly entered this turbulent and thrilling journey...
"Nameless"
After reading it, I must first say:
Director Cheng Er still has no compromise, "Nameless" is a very strong author film, if you like "The History of the Demise of Romance", and you can't put down this kind of wave undercurrent, then hurry up and buy tickets!
The story of the movie is actually not complicated, and even the main line is not too clear, it is more like a slice under the torrent of history.
The background is Shanghai in the Wang pseudo-period, the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, the division of various forces, and a big chess game slowly unfolding in the shadows.
In 1938, when Guangzhou fell, Tony Leung, who witnessed the brutality of the war, became a Kuomintang chief, but his real identity was actually an undercover Communist agent.
He has two younger brothers, one is Wang Yibo and the other is Wang Chuanjun, who specially beat Liang Chaowei and do some bloodless things to kill.
In 1944, the Wang puppet government ran out of oil, and the Japanese side wanted to find cooperation in Chongqing.
But at the critical moment, the Japanese Imperial Duke, who experienced life on the battlefield, was killed, causing the situation to change abruptly and move towards uncontrollability...
My understanding of this history is not comprehensive, that is, to see a general meaning, but the movie does not focus on macro history, but also focuses on the living people wrapped in the torrent.
The wind and clouds suddenly changed, everyone looked for a way back in the chaotic world, and the disguise was ripped off layer by layer, and the tail was broken to survive.
Huang Lei has been a key member of the Communist Party for several years, and he only wants an old house in his hometown, and even treats his colleagues who have been in contact for five years as false wives.
The revolutionary cause was burned to the ground, and he only wanted to abandon the country to become a small family.
Zhang Jingyi is ostensibly a dancer, but in fact she is an underground agent, seducing Japanese officials on the dance floor, luring them into the background and killing them.
She was circulating in the pile of men, but she couldn't even get a piece of love.
Jiang Shuying is an assassin, whose mission was originally to assassinate important officials of the Wang puppet government, but at a critical moment he moved the truth with the target, failed the mission, and lost his own.
But she has no regrets, and her only wish before dying is to ask Tony Leung to deal with it cleanly.
Wang Chuanjun is a Kuomintang eagle dog, his hands are stained with blood at a young age, and he only wants to serve the Kuomintang, and even his parents do not know what their children are doing every morning and return late.
However, he desperately tried half his life, but did not know that his boss turned out to be an enemy undercover agent.
Instead of being effective, he is his own enemy.
The same is true for Zhou Xun, Dapeng, and Tony Leung.... Of course, there is also Wang Yibo, who has a triple identity.
Noticed?
In describing the plot, I did not write the name of the character, but directly replaced it with an actor.
It is because almost no names are the characters in this film, and in the face of the strife of the times, they do their best, and they cannot escape the fate of being crushed to death by a grain of dust.
The entire film is not driven by specific "events", but profoundly outlines everyone's struggle and tearing, betrayal and perseverance in this war.
Chaos, mud, endless purgatory.
Even more brilliant is the narrative.
Like Cheng Er's other works, "Nameless" is not willing to make a feature film that follows the rules.
The film's narrative technique is very complex, and the editing is even more jumpy, not only multi-threaded synchronously, but also often stops abruptly when one thing is unresolved.
After more than ten minutes, when the audience almost faded, it suddenly appeared again, and then suddenly realized:
It turns out that he just did this!
With the truth revealed, a story that was originally ordinary, the emotions of the characters on the screen and the satisfaction of the audience outside the screen were infinitely amplified, and the reverberations were endless.
Like a complex puzzle, the audience needs to actively explore the connection of events, find the cause and effect of the story, and all the keys are hidden in the details.
The red dot on the sleeve of Tony Leung's coat, the tie that Wang Yibo temporarily replaced, the thin pamphlet....
An inconspicuous small object, a small move, may be the life of the whole big chess.
When brushing three times, what is more detailed is -
When Tony Leung interrogated Huang Lei, before Huang Lei could say the name of the contactor, the character "Chen" had already been written.
Murderous! Murderous!
If I were to describe it, the look and feel of "Nameless" is more like a wonderful Rubik's Cube.
Connecting lines with dots, forming surfaces with lines, intersecting and merging with each other, and finally combining into a perfect cube.
And the appearance of each face requires you to assemble it yourself, and the montage is magical, not even less than the Hollywood director Nolan.
This requires not only the ability to understand, but also patience and treating the film as a game.
The "sense of participation" that Cheng Er repeatedly emphasized in the interview is what he has been pursuing.
In addition to the "rationality" in editing, the "sensibility" of the picture is also outstanding.
Cheng Er said that "Nameless" has used light to the extreme, not only striving for the height of aesthetics, but also serving the narrative.
The director of photography of "Nameless" is Cai Tao of "Forensic Qin Ming", "Blizzard is Coming" and "Twelve Citizens", he has a very strong ability to express emotions in characters, and the stylist is Zhang Shuping, not to mention this one.
After watching the whole film, I understood that Cheng Er really didn't brag.
Exquisite service, tricky storyboards, brilliant lighting....
Every frame is comparable to an oil painting, where you can see information, hear breath, and feel the rhythm.
For example, at the beginning of the movie, when Tony Leung sits there thoughtfully, the camera shakes from the ground, and the dim blue light covers the ground, lining the entire scene extremely depressing.
Tony Leung suddenly turned his head and stared, as if he had made some major decision.
This smells! That's enough!
The audience did not understand until the end what kind of struggle Tony Leung was suffering at this time.
The collision of light and dark, the fusion of plain and colorful, the rhythm of fast and slow.
Plus a look that is full of stories in Tony Leung.
In a trance, I thought I was watching Wong Kar-wai's movie.
Admittedly, "Nameless" is not suitable for the joyful atmosphere of the Spring Festival file.
But I am glad that in this era of chasing fame and profit, there are still people who silently give everything for "nameless".
Who says that standing in the light is a hero?
Chinese movies have Cheng Er, and the Spring Festival file has "Nameless", and the audience also has more choices.
That's a good thing.
There are always people who do not say a word, but their actions are earth-shattering.
- End of full text.