Source: Cinematic Pie (ID: dyp833)
I don't know if you remember that there is a domestic drama at the end of 2021.
Recently on a drama, the gimmick is very full!
The first episode staged the plot of "throwing corpses".
Some corpses, going around in circles, broke the peaceful life of ordinary people.
But just as you sit on your back, ready to meet the horrors of murder, it shows the magic of comedy.
You see starring Qin Hao.
In "Hidden Corner", he is a black-bellied man who "can't work below, bald above".
And in this drama, he transformed into a greasy middle-aged man with a big belly.
Looking at it again, this drama is filled with an inexorable confusion and sadness.
Let's put it this way.
It's well worth a closer look.
Because you've probably never seen anyone shoot a suspense story like that.
"Long Season" can be said to be a must-see domestic drama in the near future.
The most direct reason is that its director is Xin Shuang.
He filmed "Hidden Corner" in 2020, which became the first depth charge of the Theater of the Mist.
Many plots or lines in the play have become Internet hot memes——
"Do you think I still have a chance?"
"Let's go hiking."
In The Long Season, he also called back and forth.
This time, Xin Shuang changed, and the story went from "netherworld" to "yang".
"The Long Season" is ambitious.
The story has three timelines.
In 2016.
Gong Biao (played by Qin Hao) thought that he bought a brand new second-hand car at a low price, and also carried a valuable car logo to show off with his brother-in-law Wang Xiang (played by Fan Wei).
With or without vigor
Wang Xiang stepped forward and took a closer look.
The car has been soaked in water and the engine has been overhauled.
Drive on the road and try again.
The engine oil is burned, and the gearbox is sluggish.
Gotta, pitted!
Worse is yet to come.
This car has hit people, or maliciously.
To be precise, someone put on Gong Biao's license plate and deliberately injured people.
In order to clear their grievances, Wang Xiang and Gong Biao decided to go into battle in person to find out who was in the deck.
Second timeline, 1998.
Wang Xiang called his son Wang Yang (played by Liu Yitie) to get up.
Wang Yang's face was full of misery, and he was full of worries when he saw it.
During this time period, both father and son are facing their own life crises.
In the 90s, the whole society was undergoing economic transformation, state-owned enterprises had to be reformed, and workers had to be laid off.
Wang Xiang drives a train and has a high status, but he still can't get rid of the fate of being laid off.
The only way to solve it is to participate in solving the case of shredded corpses and make meritorious contributions to change their lives.
Wang Yang, as soon as he came into contact with the relevant information of the shredded corpse case, he was terrified, as if he had been hit by an evil.
And in 1997.
He was very sunny and cheerful, not as gloomy as he is now.
Wang Yang is not the material for studying, and he can't get into college, but he rushes to welcome new students and talk to other people's students.
Moreover, he was also moved by the fresh and beautiful freshman Shen Mo (played by Li Gengxi).
Wang Yang was very attentive, silent military training rain, he went to support the umbrella.
In order to work and study, Shen Mo went to the entertainment city to play piano music part-time.
Wang Yang became a waiter and a flower messenger.
And in the 90s, the social environment was complicated.
The casino manager moves the foot on the basis of size.
The guests also made it difficult in every way, obviously playing piano music, and he had to point to "The Love of the Slimman".
Back to the shredding case.
The deceased was a woman, and Silent mysteriously disappeared.
This case of crushing corpses also completely shattered the lives of Wang Yang and Wang Xiang.
How does this change manifest itself?
Director Xin Shuang used a transition shot.
How much contrast between tone and mood is, how much the character's mood changes.
A few key issues -
Was the deceased silent?
What is Wang Yang's relationship with the shredded corpse case?
Wang Xiang's participation in solving the case, what is the impact on his life? Why did his son Wang Yang die?
The story is full of doubts.
The director's refreshing handling method is to carefully describe the life scene, slowly release the amount of information, and let the suspense of the mad slowly surface.
But it seems that the focus of "The Long Season" is not suspense, but comedy.
Friends who are familiar with Xin Shuang should know that he is a die-hard fan of the TV series "Ma Dashuai".
In the crew, he wore a T-shirt with a pattern printed with Biao.
There are a lot of tributes in The Long Season.
For example, the entertainment city is called "Victoria".
The waiters are all short.
Like casting.
Xin Shuang's director uses Mr. Fan Wei, which should also be out of love for this comedy performance artist.
Only, there is a rewrite.
Fan Wei played his brother-in-law this time; And Gong Biao, played by Qin Hao, has the oily, worldly, flirtatious and timidious energy on the "first ruthless man in the northeast" Biao, and can't shake off.
More subtle, there is also the affair of Brother Biao.
Guiying style barbecue
From these tribute elements, it can be seen that Xin Shuang seems to want to fully release his comedic interest through "The Long Season".
Notice the man at the beginning who spat on Wang Xiang's taxi in a tricycle.
If Pai Ye is not mistaken, this should be the director's personal cameo.
And this drama is also interesting, and the comedy is constant.
For example, Wang Xiang is an activist, as soon as he heard that there was a case, he rushed to shake hands with policeman Ma Desheng (played by Chen Minghao) and cordially asked about the situation.
When Ma Desheng told the case of the shredded corpse.
Wang Xiang's reaction was...
Wang Xiang held back his fear and nausea and patiently introduced the situation around the factory.
Present, another handshake.
Look at Wang Xiang's reaction again...
Two good actors with superb acting skills have created natural jokes through daily performances.
For example, Wang Xiang was hospitalized and received a bouquet of flowers and was very angry.
Who sent this flower!
How is it still white?
As soon as he heard that it was sent by Gong Biao, a high-quality student, he immediately changed his words.
This can be understood by literate people
It is to describe me as holy
Where did this flower come from?
Gong Biao took a fancy to Wang Xiang's cousin Huang Liru (played by Wang Jiajia), peeked again, and talked again, making the girl tremble between words.
But it's coming.
Who gave me flowers for this?!
"The Long Season" is mostly like this, blending jokes into the plot, not only playing a funny effect, but also highlighting the personality of the characters.
Some jokes, from the contrast of the characters.
This is Ma Desheng in middle age, not angry.
This is Ma Desheng in old age, sexy and enchanting.
There are also some dialogue scenes, and the lines are also sculpted.
A sense of humor slips aside.
Thus.
Director Xin Shuang deliberately broke the cold and murderous atmosphere of traditional suspense dramas.
So.
What is he trying to stand on?
Judging by the existing plot.
The main content of "The Long Season" is not a layer of meticulous reasoning.
If you want to summarize the theme, it actually wants to talk about "how the elderly should face the drastic changes in the times and life".
Pai Ye tried to rearrange the plot and details from this perspective.
In the 90s, in the face of corporate transformation and layoff crisis, Wang Xiang regarded the shredding case as an opportunity, tried to solve the case and make meritorious achievements, and changed his life against the sky.
After his son dies, he has to spend the rest of his life digesting the pain of losing his son.
At the same time, Wang Xiang also has to deal with time and aging.
"The Long Season" tirelessly presents Wang Xiang's appearance of sleeping and urinating in old age, and everything is detailed.
There is a scene in the film that is impressive.
Wang Xiang ran the taxi, and there was a small solution halfway, because the time was too long, the passengers were dissatisfied, honked the horn, and he was interrupted.
Back in the taxi, he kept apologizing to the passengers.
When you are older, you are slow to do anything
The car gives you some speed
"Speeding up" is not only about cars.
And his mentality as an old man, he must desperately catch up in order to catch up with the speed of the times.
In fact, this play is to solve the problem.
In the play, the main creator used a lot of details.
For example, Wang Xiang and Li Qiaoyun (played by Liu Lin) two old men bought a lot cute, and they had to wear reading glasses to study it carefully when they opened the bag.
I want to eat it, and I think it's too sweet.
So, the two of them sat on the bench and began to think about the past.
For another example, Wang Xiang, Gong Biao and Ma Desheng formed an "elderly detective team" to find the person in the deck.
They targeted Xing San, the former head of the security section.
The three people pulled hard and pulled out some license plates.
They saw what Xing San was still protecting, and then searched.
What is he desperately protecting?
Urine bags.
Dignity at the end.
Xing San picked up his coat in embarrassment.
The coat is also metaphorical: it is the only object that embodies his identity.
That's the nature of The Long Season.
The most superficial layer is suspense.
Another layer is comedy.
And at its core is sadness.
Obviously, director Xin Shuang did not want to handle the story so sadly.
The background of the entire drama is set in the northeast.
General suspense-themed film and television dramas, such as "Undocumented Crime" and "Coward", often choose winter; "The Long Season" is uncharacteristically chosen for a very short autumn in the northeast.
In terms of photographic tone, this drama deliberately highlights warmth and poetry.
If you look forward to "The Long Season" by the standard of "Hidden Corner", then you will most likely feel lost.
It does not have a twisty plot, no layers of progressive suspense, and it is not so "netherworld", forcing the audience to examine the depraved and dirty human nature.
Objectively speaking, at the narrative level, it also has the problem of paying attention to one over the other in terms of comedy and suspense.
However, Pai Ye still wants to recommend this drama.
Because it has the courage to break the old and establish the new, it puts the perspective on the old man, and also makes a very complete expression.
It no longer relies on suspense to advance the story.
Therefore, it broke through the shackles of the genre of suspense dramas and gained unprecedented creative freedom.
Through those solid and rich details.
What you can feel is a complex, profound taste of life.