It is not an exaggeration to say that "Kong Yiji", "Journey to the West", or even "Don Quixote" - the story of "Space Exploration Editorial Department" is constantly intertwined in light science fiction, folklore, funny, absurdity, highway, spiritual psychology and other elements, forming a wonderful and unified integration; In an absurd way, it tells a story of loss and pursuit.
Author: Liang Xiang
Editor: Blue Two
Format: Wang Wei
Tang Zhijun is the only person who sits in office and wears a spacesuit. He speaks to people, always full of cosmic truth, teaching people what they don't understand, what "red giant star collapses", what "the snowflakes of the TV are alien civilization interference" and so on, causing the audience to laugh: the movie theater is full of happy air.
Looking at the protagonist's character alone, "Space Exploration Editorial Department" seems to be a "Kong Yiji"-style story. As early as the 2021 Pingyao International Film Festival, "Space Exploration Editorial Department" won four awards for its unique image texture and impressive Chinese literary idealistic characters. And until the movie is released now, peeling off the veil of the movie like an onion, the audience found that this is actually a story similar to "Journey to the West".
Whether it is "Kong Yiji", "Journey to the West", or even "Don Quixote", the story of "Space Exploration Editorial Department" is constantly intertwined in light science fiction, folklore, funny, absurdity, highway, spiritual psychology and other elements, forming a wonderful and unified integration, just like the two intertwined spiral structures at the end of the movie - in the movie, this is what the universe looks like.
Because the film carries a "folk" perspective, director Kong Dashan said that "Space Exploration Editorial Department" is a "floor tile" of Chinese science fiction movies; But in fact, it tells a story of loss and pursuit in an absurd way.
When "Kong Yiji" put on a spacesuit
In the movie, Tang Zhijun is the editor-in-chief of the magazine "Space Exploration", a declining magazine that is so poor that it can't even pay for heating. In order to save the magazine that was on the verge of bankruptcy, Qin Cairong in the company found Wang Zong's investment from Apollo Company. To show his sincerity, Tang Zhijun was forced to wear a spacesuit purchased by the editorial office in the nineties.
As a result, he stuck.
This comedic jam has a strong satirical flavor and sets the tone for the whole film from the beginning. The spacesuit that Tang Zhijun couldn't take off was like a long robe that Kong Yiji couldn't take off, which was obviously not suitable, but he insisted on being obsessed with the bones. When Tang Zhijun, who almost suffocated to death, was pulled out of the window by a crane, he seemed to be really weightless in the universe - at that moment, the end had actually been revealed.
This is a strong character with a literary color of the eighties, with romantic ideals, profound knowledge and the most embarrassing life. Director Kong Dashan referred to many films when creating this character, including a documentary called "Bicycles and Old Electric Steel". Zhang Yisu in the film is a musician who plays the piano, Kong Dashan was deeply moved by it, "This kind of person exists in this world, it is very unreal, he is more charming than the characters you create through literature and images." As a result, Kong Dashan had the prototype of Tang Zhijun in his mind: there was a Nietzsche-like fury on his body, a temperament of a wine god, and on the other hand, there were some very contradictory things in himself, and there was a feeling of a so-called idealist.
Such a comprehensive film and television image has actually exceeded Kong Yiji's scope, although both of them carry a pedantic sense of joy: obviously trapped in life, but full of stars and the sea of stars makes people laugh, but after laughter, it is desolation full of chicken feathers.
Such a strong character must have a strong mission, that is, to find aliens.
From character narrative to plot narrative, "Space Exploration Editorial Department" suddenly moved towards the logic of "Journey to the West", and even the English name of the movie "Journey to the West" is the same translation of "Journey to the West". Official ridicule, the most deadly.
In this journey to the west in search of aliens, Tang Zhijun is Tang Sanzang with strong beliefs, and in his team, there are "sand monks" Narisu from Inner Mongolia who is always responsible for all luggage, there is Qin Cairong, the "Bajie" who always complains and does not want to go on the ground at every turn, and there is also the girl "White Dragon Horse" Xiaoxiao who joined later. The key role is naturally Sun Wukong, with a pot on his head, holding a bone that will grow longer in the later stage, and Sun Yitong, whose soul does not seem to belong to the mortal world, claims to be able to accept signals from alien civilizations and has become the most core guide of Tang Zhijun.
It is a farce, a pilgrimage, and a self-redemption in search of answers.
It's not easy to handle this grotesque but realistic story, and in addition to the improvised and robust performances of the actors, "Space Exploration Editorial Office" makes extensive use of handheld shooting to enhance the realism of the story. In Kong Dashan's view, pseudo-documentaries "have a natural sense of presence", and the camera's perspective represents the line of sight from the audience. Coupled with the emotional sense of the large inner monologue and the jump cut editing, the actual presentation effect of the film is also given a greater appeal: all kinds of characters confide in the camera, mumble to themselves while also outlining their own lonely light, uncovering the absurd shell, the audience will always be moved at a certain moment, shocked to "such a person, I can also understand ah".
Through the combination of script, actors, shooting and post-editing, "Space Exploration Editorial Department" presents the atmosphere of the era with documentary texture. In the TV interview video of the prologue of the film, the "highlight" moment of the protagonist Tang Zhijun was permanently recorded in 1990, and then in the following 30 years, it became the madness of the civil science. Kong Yiji couldn't take off his spacesuit, so an external force helped him pull off his clothes. Chainsaw cutting helmets, a beheading, but also a farewell - this Journey to the West is actually an epitaph from the 80s. Until the end, whether it was the hallucination of the poisonous mushroom that worked, or Tang Zhijun really saw a miracle, none of this mattered, the important thing was that the audience found that this middle-aged man who was plagued by depression and hysteria was actually trying to pursue the cause of his daughter's suicide.
The "floor tiles" of personal narrative fly into the universe, and finally return to the individual heavily. The depths of the universe and the suffering of individuals have become unsolvable mysteries. All emotions finally detached with the soaring sporches, and Tang Zhijun, who experienced all this magic, returned to life, and finally faced his heart and cried, which is catharsis and a calm. It turns out that the editorial office is disbanded, the red giant star collapses, the TV is full of snowflakes, and the donkey walks in the mountain stream, all because of the little love and paranoia of human beings. Being able to shoot the crazy words of "Minke" so movingly, and being so gentle about paranoia and vulnerability, the audience was finally moved by the romantic heart of the main creative team.
Author of the film who has the guts and luck enough
"Space Exploration Editorial Department", which shined at the film festival, can be successfully released in theaters, which is really not easy. It is worth mentioning that the first producer of "Space Exploration Editorial Department" is Guo Fan's director studio of the "Wandering Earth" series. Director Guo Fan, as the producer of this film, even made a cameo appearance in friendship.
Some viewers may have known Kong Dashan since "Legal Future Tense". This absurd short film about the arrest of literary and artistic workers because literary and artistic films suffocate people, is full of humor and irony that deconstructs reality, and already has the shadow of "Space Exploration Editorial Department". Until Kong Dashan graduated from university, the adaptation of the animation "The Adventures of Li Xianji" filmed a short film called "The Troubles of Young Ma Liao", and in the same year, the feature film "The Adventures of Li Xianji" made by director Guo Fan was released, and the two got acquainted. Because of his love for talent, Guo Fan revealed his appreciation and trust in Kong Dashan, and even invited him to be the director's assistant of "You at the Same Table".
From a certain point of view, Kong Dashan is Tang Zhijun, co-screenwriter Wang Yitong is Tang Zhijun, and Guo Fan is also Tang Zhijun. There is a plot in the movie, Guo Fan needs a spacesuit because of filming, and because of financial constraints, he has to buy the pirated spacesuit that stuck Tang Zhijun. This obviously reaches an intertext within and outside the play with the current status quo of domestic science fiction films.
In a media interview, producer Gong Geer said that when it comes to science fiction films, people naturally think of labels such as emphasis on effectiveness, big production, and stars, and the characteristics of "Space Exploration Editorial Department" are precisely that Chinese audiences have more reverie and perception of science fiction stories under cost-effective conditions. "Space Exploration Editorial Department" is the first film outside the IP of "The Wandering Earth" that Guo Fan directs and controls, and Kong Dashan will also participate in the subsequent spin-off episodes of "The Wandering Earth". This cooperation, which has been maintained because of sympathy for each other, will continue.
There are many talented filmmakers with ideas, and obviously, not all of them have Kong Dashan's opportunities. More than that, it is the bottom of the pyramid where films are submitted to film festivals and then waiting for appreciation.
As the artistic creation force of the group, since the sixth generation of film directors, the independent era of independent filmmakers has gradually been incorporated into the mainstream film system, especially feature films as a film genre that requires a lot of capital investment, it is difficult to support by relying on independent forces, and the main creator needs to balance the relationship between art and the market, and weigh in the box office and personal style. There is a famous saying in Hollywood: "Making movies is first and foremost doing business". In the film industry, if you are not commercial, you are not professional. It's true that independence has nothing to do with money in nature, but the film must empathize with the public to highlight the value of independent thinking.
It is true that taking science fiction movies as an example, the development of technology has made commercial films and streaming media movies pay more and more attention to technology and special effects, but if the story core of the film is abandoned, the trend of film production and audience taste are biased, and it is not only the author of the plot that suffers in the market. Young filmmakers need to shift their search for emotional and social depth to grasp and respond to personal experience, and find a balance between self, market and system. Although China's authorial films are not going to have a larger space, they are generally moving in a favorable direction. In the case of opportunities everywhere, it is more necessary for the main creator to calm down and highlight the encirclement with really good content. At this level, the Space Exploration Editorial Office is a brave attempt.
In an interview, Kong Dashan said that he could not label the "Space Exploration Editorial Department" to determine what kind of group portrait its audience was. But the movie itself has a breath, it will definitely attract a part of the audience who can accurately capture this temperament, just like the detector in Tang Zhijun's hand, receiving the same frequency signal. "I think it's a film that really needs to find audiences of the same frequency, but those audiences are probably scattered all over our society."
"Space Exploration Editorial Department" may be just a "floor tile", but as long as they study the content vigorously, more young filmmakers may fly to their own sea of stars like the last sparrow of the movie.
THE END