Tomorrow (April 1), the movie "Space Exploration Editorial Department" that many fans have been waiting for for a long time will finally be officially released. This is a film that mixes science fiction, comedy, road movies, pseudo-documentaries and other genre elements, black humorous stories, Don Quixote characters, but people can see the philosophy and poetry of science fiction movies.
Although "Space Exploration Editorial Office" is a sci-fi comedy, it is not a large-scale production with gorgeous special effects shots like "The Wandering Earth" and "Walking on the Moon Alone", but it is very ornamental and intriguing at the same time. As Guo Fan, director of "The Wandering Earth" and producer of the film, said: The film explores another possibility of Chinese science fiction films.
Douban scored 8.7 and won four awards at the Pingyao Film Festival
"Space Exploration Editorial Department" is directed by young director Kong Dashan, written by Kong Dashan and Wang Yitong, produced by Wang Hongwei and Guo Fan, starring Yang Haoyu and Arya, starring Jiang Qiming, Wang Yitong and Sheng Chenchen.
The film tells a black humorous absurd science fiction story: Tang Zhijun is the editor-in-chief of a science fiction magazine "Space Exploration" founded in the 80s of the last century, and now the magazine is declining, he is increasingly down, but he is still obsessed with finding aliens, one day he according to the clues, once again led people to embark on a journey to find aliens, and the encounters along the way were ridiculous...
"Space Exploration Editorial Office" is a movie that has been favored by many industry professionals and veteran fans. As early as November 3, 2019, it won the Best Original Screenplay Award of the Science Fiction Film and Television Venture Capital Association of China Science Fiction Conference.
The award speech described it as "a highly operable and solid local Chinese comedy." Under the shell of absurdity and bizarre, the restrained speculation of realism is wrapped in humorous banter. Lie on the ground and look up at the stars". Wang Hongwei, one of the final judges at the time and a professor at the Beijing Film Academy, later served as the film's producer.
In October 2021, "Space Exploration Editorial Department" won the 5th Pingyao International Film Festival Fei Mu Honor - Best Film, Youth Jury Honor - Best Film, Fan Choice Honor - Best Film and Audience Choice Honor - [Hidden Dragon] Most Popular Film Award Four Awards.
In 2022, the film has won many awards at the 51st Rotterdam International Film Festival, the 46th Hong Kong International Film Festival, and the 12th Beijing International Film Festival.
As of the eve of the release of "Film and Television Vane", the film has not yet been officially released, and those industry insiders and fans who have seen it in advance at the above-mentioned film festival exhibition or pre-screening point screening have already scored a high score of 8.7 on Douban.
Compared with the fact that Douban can't open scores a few days after the release of some new domestic films, this situation of "Space Exploration Editorial Department" is really rare, which just shows that the film has excellent quality, good reputation and full confidence.
A novel sci-fi comedy that is highly watchable and intriguing
The author is also fortunate to watch the movie in advance, and I personally think that the reason why "Space Exploration Editorial Department" became popular before it was released and loved and expected by so many fans is because the film uses pseudo-documentary-style lens language to tell a black humorous sci-fi story, the plot seems absurd, but it is actually very grounded, the expression method is novel, and it is a sci-fi comedy with strong viewing and intriguing taste.
It may seem paradoxical to be absurd and true, but everyone who has seen the film has this perception. The film's story was inspired by a real news: a man in Shandong claimed to have captured an alien, and the reporter went to his house to open the freezer and found that it was just a silicone alien toy, and finally the man was detained for 5 days for rumors.
In the film, the male protagonist Tang Zhijun came to the mountains of Sichuan to look for aliens because of a similar news clue, and after being charged 520 yuan in the "alien liaison station on Earth" set up by a farmer himself, he saw a so-called alien corpse, and the farmer also gave him an alien thigh bone that was still growing.
However, this is just a small episode of the encounter of the four-person team led by Tang Zhijun to find aliens, the highlight of which is after they meet Sun Yitong, a mysterious mountain village teenager who wears an aluminum pot on his head, reads poetry on the radio, and faints from time to time.
As the plot develops, stone lions, sparrows, mountain village radios, poems, donkeys... Various commonplace real elements are combined in a wild way, giving a unique "earthy" sci-fi atmosphere of Chinese folk.
The science fiction magazine "Space Exploration" in the film is reminiscent of the Chinese science fiction magazine "UFO Exploration" founded in 1981. The magazine became famous in the 80s for reporting flying saucers and special functions, and was the enlightenment magazine for many people who came into contact with aliens when they were children.
"Space Exploration Editorial Office" can bring a familiar and intimate feeling to many Chinese audiences who have read such science fiction magazines when they were children and have a science fiction dream of looking for alien civilizations.
The whole story is very watchable, the laughter brought by black humor is constant, and the pseudo-documentary-style lens language not only presents a retro nostalgic image texture, but also gives people a sense of fake reality, bringing both absurd and real feelings, intriguing.
A novel sci-fi comedy that is highly watchable and intriguing
What is intriguing is not only the absurd and true storyline, but also reflected in the film's male protagonist Tang Zhijun. Yang Haoyu plays Tang Zhijun, the editor-in-chief of "Space Exploration" magazine, is an obsessive science and engineering man and folk scientist who is obsessed with finding aliens and is a Don Quixote figure.
He has been searching for alien civilizations for decades, almost paranoid but determined, and has his own set of scientific theories. For example, he believes that the snowflake spot that appears when the TV has no signal: "This is not an ordinary snowflake point, this is the afterglow of the birth of the universe." He repeatedly failed to search for aliens, but persevered and repeatedly lost.
For this, he is a weirdo in the eyes of colleagues and loved ones. Qin Cairong, a female colleague played by Arya, usually sneers at him and only thinks of his role when sponsoring the magazine. At the beginning of the film, the old spacesuit almost suffocated him, but after he came out of the hospital, he still regretted that he damaged the spacesuit helmet to save him.
After discovering the clues of suspected aliens again, Tang Zhijun insisted on taking the young man Nari Su, the female volunteer Xiaoxiao and the reluctant Qin Cairong to form a four-person team looking for aliens and take a train to the mountains of Sichuan, despite everyone's opposition.
This spirit of dedication is ridiculous at first, but then unconsciously moving. He is like a lone brave man immersed in his own scientific world, with a color of romanticism and heroism.
Another purpose of Tang Zhijun's search for aliens is to try to explore "what is the meaning of human existence in the universe", so as to find the reason why his daughter committed suicide due to depression.
At the end of the story, the journey to find aliens ended in a dreamland, and "Space Exploration" magazine was subsequently suspended, and Tang Zhijun said with some understanding: "It turns out that each of us is both a puzzle of existence and an answer to a puzzle." ”
Such an ending has the common philosophical thinking of science fiction films and the unique poetry of this film, just like the poems full of literary and artistic flavor that Sun Yitong recited on the radio in the mountain village in the film.
"Space Exploration Editorial Department" is a successful exploration of young Chinese filmmakers. While exploring another possibility of Chinese science fiction films, it presents the audience with a highly watchable and intriguing work, which is worth watching in theaters.
【Film and Television Vane】Edited by Hu Jianli, a senior media person, secretary-general of the China Film Critics Society, secretary-general of the New Media Literary and Art Critics Committee of the China Literary and Art Critics Association, member of the Theoretical Review Committee of the China Film Association, and secretary-general of the Australwood Film Critics Association. It covers WeChat public account, people's account, Weibo, Baijia number, Penguin number, Sina, Netease, Sohu, Toutiao, Little Information, Big Fish and other self-media platforms.