"It's full of people in the house."
At the scene after the premiere, actor Hu Ming described the movie "Uninvited Guest" in his eyes.
As director Liu Xiang's first big-screen work, "Uninvited Guest" shows a good surprise from the narrative structure, shooting and editing techniques, actor performance, etc., among which the single-scene enclosed space is one of the reasons why many people feel that "like the script to kill" after watching the film; and the multi-line parallel + non-linear narrative structure has built an exquisite and brain-burning god reversal comedy atmosphere for the film.
On the 19th, "Uninvited Guest" opened the on-demand screening, the number of people who wanted to see The Cat's Eye wanted to see was nearly 80,000, the on-demand rating was 9.1, and the audience attendance rate was the first, and now it seems that this directorial debut is regarded as a small-cost dark horse. Who exactly is an "uninvited visitor"? What is the "truth" of everyone? Director Liu Xiang and "takeaway" Dou Xiao have something to say:
Interview with Dou Xiao & Director Liu Xiang: "Uninvited Guest" Quiz, who is the real story player
1 Year God Reversal "Everyone Has the Truth"
The uninvited guest, which uses a multi-line narrative and does not follow the traditional linear narrative method, has been called the God Reversal Comedy of the Year by many viewers. The story takes place in a dilapidated rental house, which is originally a thief Lao Li (Fan Wei) who steals the house, the owner of the house (later confirmed not to be the real owner) suddenly returns, hiding under the bed, he unintentionally "bumps into" the owner of the house to kill his lover Lily (Zhu Zhu), and is involved in a mystery case that looks like Rashomon, but in fact has a hole in the sky.
After that, The takeaway worker Ma Mingming, played by Dou Xiao, You Dacheng, the real owner of the real house played by Liang Chao, and the trader Zhang Yaozhong played by Hu Ming, and his subordinates all appeared on the scene, sending the truth about this incident from their respective perspectives, and what is the truth? When all the events in the room point to the behind-the-scenes transactions of child trafficking, the use of black humor and the reversal of the way to point directly at reality seem to become the "routine" of the genre, but director Liu Xiang unveils the final link of the Russian nesting doll-like puzzle when the audience thinks that willow is dark and bright: the murder story of a fugitive delivery man.
Throughout the development of the whole story, each character becomes the protagonist of his own story while constantly becoming a supporting role in other people's stories, as different characters tell the events, the curve of the truth is gradually outlined, it seems that each narrator is restoring the truth of the event, but as more people enter the room, each telling may be the tip of the iceberg of the truth or the truth. Until the end of the film, no one is sure that they have seen the original appearance of the matter, which is also the eye-catching point of the reversal of "Uninvited Guest".
Beginning with old Li entering the house and being knocked unconscious by Yan Zheng (Zhang Songwen), there are Lily (Zhu Zhu), who was killed, Ma Mingming, who was also knocked unconscious, and Yan Zheng, who hid the body and hid the identity. As Lao Li and Ma Liang join forces, Yan is killed in a fight with Ma Liang, and the fourth person in the room appears, he is the real owner of the house, You Dacheng, who also brings his own story.
In this story, there is a hidden deal that further clarifies Lily's relationship with the owner and the delivery man, paving the way for the other characters who are about to appear. After the transaction begins, Zhang Yaozhong and his subordinate Shrimp Hair (Gao Shang), the case of child abduction in the confrontation between the four gradually surfaces, and the film is nearing the end, the children are saved, and each character has their own home.
However, "Uninvited Guest" did not end the film, the case at the end is like an Easter egg, and the case of the newlyweds killed by the delivery man mentioned more than once in the film is exposed to the world with Ma Liang's "blackening", but it makes people fall into the thinking of "who is the real evil person".
When all the "truths" overlap, whether it is a concern for reality or a realistic contemporary fable presented to the audience, everyone has their own answers.
For director Liu Xiang, the main reason for opening his big-screen debut with god reversal comedy comedy is that "this kind of subject is fun and interesting." Admitting that he was deeply influenced by the Coen brothers, he said in an interview: "I used a lot of means in this movie, and the actual core is close to the Coen brothers (movie)." In fact, there is my personal experience in this movie, I will be forty years old next year, may experience a midlife crisis, sometimes will have the same sense of futility as the characters in the film, I tried everything but ended up leaving four words "I don't exist". ”
In order to let the audience also deeply feel this non-existence, he buried the concept of "non-existence" in a series of designs of Ma Liangming, while ridiculing himself: "'Uninvited Guest' is actually the process of 'constantly digging a pit' for himself and the screenwriter Long Fei, fortunately, this 'pit' was finally filled." "It turned out to be well filled in.
2 full members of the acting school, who are uninvited guests
In addition to the story of layers of reversals, the actors of "Uninvited Guest" also contributed a lot of attention to the film. Among them, the small character combination of Fan Wei and Dou Xiao contributed a lot of comedy "laughter" results. One is the Golden Horse Film Emperor, a famous comedy performance artist, and the other is a hormonal literary and artistic film god, and the two are witnesses to all the events in the room, almost at the end of the film, they give the audience a sense of brotherhood and brotherhood. If Lao Li represents the goodness of human nature blinded by the sufferings of life, then Ma Mingliang, who spends most of his time with him, is the unmistakable evil of human nature, and the two swollen eyes seem to be supported.
Back to the actor's performance part, in a single scene enclosed space, clearly express the story at the same time can bring the audience naturally into the reversal of the test is the actor's acting skills. Even as a newcomer director, Liu Xiang showed a tribute to classic films and well-known directors from the main role collocation and some role modeling, and it has to be said that the casting of "Uninvited Guest" has both stability and surprise at the same time.
Lao Li, played by Fan Wei, is an ordinary father whose son is seriously ill, and becoming a thief is a shortcut for him to raise the cost of his son's surgery. He has a lot of comedic performance details in the film, including the bridge section for Ma Liang, the expression, the rhythm of the lines, etc. all show an unexpected comedic reversal effect, and finally the fatherly heart and human kindness shown in order to rescue the abducted children have also become a major tear point in the film.
This is also the only character in the film with a character archetype, director Liu Xiang said: "Old Li's name comes from my small hair, in life I call him Old Li, his father has uremia, many years, so I wrote him as the role of Fan Wei." This story seems to be realism, but it is actually a fable story, and I have a metaphor in each character. ”
In the film, Ma Liangming, a delivery man who "digs out" the truth behind the scenes with Lao Li, is played by Dou Xiao, which is a "wall grass" like a character sandwiched between two drama bones, and most of the time, Ma Liangming is a follower-like existence.
Even if he hooks up with Lily to cheat You Dacheng's millions of cash, in the eyes of the audience, he is just a small person who is bent on seeking wealth, and even does not have the strong purpose of old Li played by Fan Wei, there is no aggression and lethality, and instigation and nest are the obvious labels on him.
However, as the biggest Easter egg in the film, Dou Xiao's blackening moment with a certain sense of beauty becomes one of the highlight moments of the film, bleeding the swollen eyelids, taking off the takeaway clothes to reveal beautiful muscle lines, and transforming from a cowardly little person into a murderer repeatedly broadcast in the news, a real murderer full of greed.
Interpreting such a role has no small challenge for Dou Xiao, on the one hand, to play with the film emperor Fan Wei and the drama bone Zhang Songwen, what is important is that Ma Liangming himself carries an important reversal mission, and he needs to be aware of his identity in nearly 4/5 of the film, which is not a small test for the actor itself.
Playing the "evil" centaur bright is a fresh challenge for Dou Xiao, adding comedy to the crime genre, swollen eyes, lame legs, and speaking dialects have become the three magic weapons he designed for the character.
He felt: "The challenge of this role is that he is meticulous in his thinking, the whole bureau is set by him, and then there are often accidents in this bureau, and he wants to 'act' along with the accident, he must maintain his early sincere and somewhat humble character image, and the later reversal is powerful." At the same time, he also admitted that for the sake of the "marginal people" in this film, director Liu Xiang has also made a lot of designs from the aspects of character characteristics and shooting methods.
Dou Xiao said: "Director Liu Xiang's role positioning of Ma Liang is 'a praise'. He also did play a role in the film, steadily catching the oncoming baggage, whether it was the comedic effect of trying his best to save the old Li, or a confused and trembling dialogue with Zhang Yaozhong, a "relative" of the same village who could not be beaten by the Shaanxi dialect and eight rods, the audience was not difficult to feel Dou Xiao's comedic talent and continuously mature performance skills from his detailed handling of the role.
In fact, "Uninvited Guest" is difficult to describe as a protagonist or a double protagonist, and with the development of the story, the film finally condensed a wonderful group portrait scene.
Zhang Songwen, who plays Yan Zheng, uses a cold expression to create the image of a murderous killer for the audience, and hides his true identity in the details of his behavior before being stunned by Ma Liangming: a former policeman, a sick father. Therefore, after the story about Yan Zheng was revealed, everyone suddenly realized all the actions of this father, he revealed the sin, and also paved the way for saving the children.
Liang Chao, who plays the owner of the house, is a well-deserved comedian in the film, lactic acid intolerant of diarrhea, wearing underwear and wearing funny eye mask confession clips, even if it is an opponent play with Fan Wei DouXiao, his wonderful one-man show also left a deep impression on the audience; Hu Ming, who played Zhang Yaozhong, and The noble who played shrimp hair, the two from the beginning of the "professional discussion" dialogue at the door sent a lot of laughter to the audience, and after entering the room, they added a lot of flavoring to this "script killing" with a very contrasting personality, and they are the evil people of public cognition. He has the fierceness and knowledge of "people on the road".
Each character in "Uninvited Guest" carries their own unique comedy and characteristics, even if it is Fat Shui (Cai Lu), who has not appeared many times and has been fighting with the toilet door, lily (Zhu Zhu), who was accidentally killed at the beginning, has contributed a lot of surprises, thus constituting one highlight moment after another in the film.
Everyone has the truth, everyone is the protagonist, and they are all supporting roles in other people's stories, such a character structure is finally presented to the audience through wonderful performances, which will inevitably achieve a good play.
With the "Uninvited Guest" on-demand box office exceeding 10 million, the audience's evaluation of the film also confirmed the watchability of the film: "Rashomon-style script killing, constantly nesting flashbacks to peel off the cocoon, taking the audience to solve the case together, God reversing the comedy plot is to satisfy the appetite, and confirming the film theme of seeing the void again and again" "A wonderful chamber of lies constructed God reversal comedy" "Layer by layer of black humor, I have seen the best script of the year killed that I want to enter the game"...
Undoubtedly, as a debut work, "Uninvited Guest" may show the authorship that all young directors cannot avoid in their first works, and it is not difficult to glimpse the creator's tribute to the same type of classics, but more importantly, it shows the possibility of the new generation of directors innovating in the integration and constantly using strength to iterate on the future of genre films.
Who exactly is an "uninvited visitor"? To paraphrase a line from The Squid Game: It's happier to watch without participating.