February 26, 2023 | Total Issue 3159
The road comedy "The Rattle Bang" was released nationwide on February 25, and it is a film with tears in laughter. A truck driver and a left-behind child embark on a strange journey to find their father. It not only tells the story of two people, but also reflects the thousands of left-behind children, which is truly "about me".
A journey to find a father with a small view
"Rattle" is not a literary film, this film has a bright rhythm, fierce conflict, and can lead the audience to quickly enter the play. Using a road trip as a narrative carrier, the film depicts how the two protagonists establish a father-son-like relationship.
"Rattle" incorporates genre film techniques in creation, with special character relationships and extreme plot conflicts. Screenwriter and director Bai Zhiqiang sets up two story lines, one light and one dark, the bright line is the father-seeking line of edamame (played by Bai Zeze), and the dark line is the revenge line of Gou Ren (played by Hui Wang Jun). The two story lines were originally parallel, but because edamame burned Gou Ren's goods, their fates intersected.
As a road movie, the film gives the two protagonists a firm belief in moving forward. This involves three goals for the characters, the big goal is that Gou Ren wants to find Edamame Papa to ask for compensation for the goods. The small goal is twofold: one is that Gou Ren wants to find the scammer who swindled his son's treatment fee, and the other is that Edamame wants to find his father, whom he has not seen for two years. Three goals are intertwined to form the driving force behind this road trip.
The charm of road movies lies in the constant change of scenes and the unknown situation of the characters. Gou Ren and Edamame set off all the way to strange cities and villages, looking for the traces of Edamame Papa like a needle in a haystack.
Through what the two saw and heard on the road, the director used a small and large technique to show the changes in rural China. In the countryside, only the elderly and left-behind children remain, and young and middle-aged people have moved to the cities to make a living.
Gou Ren walks the streets of the city with edamame, where the prosperity of the city contrasts sharply with the loneliness of the left-behind children. There are many high-rise buildings in the city, behind which are countless "edamame dads" working hard, and the problem is that thousands of "edamame" lack fatherly love.
"Rattle" is a movie that reflects real problems, but it does not have the ability to solve them. Movies are a tool for dreaming, so Gou Ren, who misses his son, and edamame, who misses his father, come together and find an emotional haven.
The two did not see each other like family, but deepened their understanding through repeated contradictions and conflicts, so as to realize the connection of emotional bonds.
There are two scenes that mark the emotional sublimation of the two. The first scene is when Gou Ren and Edamame are beaten by a gang of thieves, and because Edamame prevents a thief from stealing, they are retaliated by the other party. Gou Ren was originally timid and retreated, but when he saw edamame being beaten, he plucked up the courage to fight back. This conflict arouses Gou Ren's desire to protect, and the father-son relationship between the two is established.
The second scene is Gou Ren setting off fireworks for edamame. This scene is a parting gift prepared by Gou Ren for Edamame, who fulfills his dream of setting off fireworks with his "father", and Gou Ren fills the lack of playing with his "son". The two of them have truly become each other's emotional support at this time, and this firework is destined to be an indelible good memory in their lives.
The story of the film uses bitter pleasure to tell a road trip full of twists and turns. "Rattle" allows the audience to think about reality after laughing and crying, which is the power of reality movies.
The emotional penetration of an amateur actor
The starring Hui Wang Jun and Bai Zeze of "Rattle" are both amateur actors who have appeared in movies for the first time. The two draw performance nourishment in life and show natural acting skills on the screen. With "real" as the key, they open the door to the inner world of the characters.
Hui Wang Jun is a taxi driver and director, and he liked to perform sketches when he was young. In real life, he encountered the dilemma of his child's illness and family debt, so he can fully understand Gou Ren's feelings.
Bai Zeze is a child from a rural area, and his parents did not go out to work, but there are many left-behind children around. At the beginning of the filming, the director deliberately arranged for Bai Zeze to separate from his parents, and he deeply felt the mood of the left-behind children at this time, and the longing for his parents was born.
The film tells a story of "zero distance" from real life, and the two leading actors perform without skill, which is highly suitable for the plot.
Gou Ren's character is characterized by a "disgusting and kind face", he has a fiery temper, speaks straight, and has a sense of oppression that people should not be close to. During the performance, Gou Ren always said the most ruthless words and did the most gentle things to edamame. On the surface, he is extremely disgusted with the edamame that burns his goods, but on the road he does his best to take care of the edamame. His words and actions are a stark contrast.
Edamame is characterized by "naivety and recklessness", he is curious, does things without thinking about the consequences, and always causes Gou Ren a series of troubles. Everything is self-defeating, highlighting the innocence and ignorance of a child, and the joke baggage in the film is basically from edamame.
"Rattle" creates characters not only focusing on the present tense, the audience can see the past tense of the character from effective clues, and anticipate the future tense of the character during the viewing process.
Gou Ren appears with resentment, and the plot gradually reveals the information that he was cheated of money and his son died, which explains the origin of his hatred. Gou Ren began as a death-seeker, and he ran on the road with the idea of dying with his enemies.
Edamame debuted only with an obsession to find his father, and his mother left him to live a new life, and his father was his dependency. Without his parents around, edamame lacks due knowledge of life and society. All his reckless behavior on the road is directly related to the lack of family education.
Gou Ren and Edamame have lived as they are now because of their past life experiences. Because of this peculiar "searching" journey, they filled the gap in their family affection in their inner worlds. During this journey, the two characters present an intertwined arc of growth.
"Rattle-Bang" has no lavish scenes and no flashy special effects. However, its story and characters can trigger the audience's inner resonance, such works, should not be ignored and buried.
【Text/Cui Ting】